A Class Water Act

Ali Hassanali, long-term visiting scientist at ICTP, studies molecular motions of water and its constituent ions. Sounds complicated? Well, he knows how to break it for a non-specialist audience-by dressing up as a water molecule and explaining the 'water dance', the molecular motions of water under different environments.

Hassanali's water act earned him second place at FameLab 2014 held on 7 March 2014 at Trieste's Teatro Miela. FameLab is a science communication talent show where researchers are given three minutes to communicate their research in a fun but clear way to a general audience.

Hassanali won the jury's nod for being simultaneously entertaining and informative. He used three balloons to dress up as a water molecule and explain his research. "I anthropomorphized water which made it easier to simplify communicating the ideas within the short period of 3 minutes," he says. "The experience was lot of fun, and it was nice to meet people with similar interests working on rather disparate topics," he adds.

Hassanali and first-prize winner Riccardo Cucini (researcher at Elettra Synchrotron Laboratory, Trieste) beat 13 other compititors for spots in the Italian final of FameLab, which will be held on 3 May 2014 in Perugia. The two winners also took home cash prizes of €400 (first palce) and €200 (second place). The event was organised by Immaginario Scientifico, the University of Trieste and the Municipality of Trieste .