All posts by Oliver Lehmann

Under the sign of the pea

Mayor Michael Ludwig and City Councillor for Science Veronica Kaup-Hasler presented the program for the ball on January 28, 2023 at a press conference on January 17 at the town hall.

Vienna (OTS) – “Intellectual pleasure, that’s what the Science Ball at Vienna City Hall stands for. And thus it fits perfectly into the tradition of this city as a leading European metropolis of research and innovation, as well as a city of the classic form of entertainment ball,” explained Mayor Michael Ludwig on the occasion of the program presentation. On January 28, the 8th Vienna Ball of Science will take place again after a two-year break. Continue reading Under the sign of the pea

The wrinkle-free photo box

 

It is a particular favorite at the Science Ball: the wrinkle-free photo box creates graceful silhouettes reminiscent of 18th-century silhouettes – depicting the faces of ball guests free of all worry lines and signs of exertion on the dance floor. The symbols are borrowed from science. Proceeds from the free-will donations will go to the MORE Refugee Initiative of the University Conference uniko.

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Mendel’s disco

The artists (from left to right) are students of the department of representational painting at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna: Bahare Rahimi, Alberto Cappai, Nam Kim and Pourea Alimirzaee; supervised by Nino Svireli and Christoph Rodler. / Photos: Nam Kim

How do you set genetics in motion? Students of the Academy of Fine Arts project their ideas onto the walls of the ball disco. Continue reading Mendel’s disco

Midnight extravaganza at 1am

For the midnight interlude at 1 a.m. in the discotheque, Anna Mabo climbs onto the stage “with ease”. She can do it all: arena in an ankle-deep mire and Musikverein in Eurovision. For the 2023 New Year’s concert, Mabo wrote a text to the piece “Heiterer Muth. Polka française” by Josef Strauss. The text was sung by the Vienna Boys’ Choir and – dig out the smelling salts – for the very first time in the history of the New Year’s Concert, the Vienna Choral Girls.

www.medienmanufaktur.com/annamabo

Precious pea


A tavola! Club sandwich with chive hummus. Just one of many meals derived from peas and their protein./ Photo: Planted

People have been using peas for thousands of years, and rightly so, as they are full of protein. Thanks to modern food technology, these very proteins make it possible to enjoy meat in a sustainable way.

A tasting by Dorian Schiffer

When Gregor Mendel founded the theory of heredity with the pea plants from his Brno monastery garden, mankind had already been cultivating the little green balls for thousands of years – because the pea is not only an object of study for genetics, but also one of the oldest staple foods. Originally from Asia Minor, the pea has been with us for 10,000 years. And there is a reason for this: the seeds of the pea plants are a rich source of nutrients and can be easily stored when dried. Continue reading Precious pea

Venus at the Science Ball

Taking the measure of Venus / Photo: Christina Rittmannsperger

Archetype of femininity, goddess, sex symbol: For millennia, the Venus of Willendorf has excited and fueled the interest of science and the public.

by Denise Meier

Today is the day of the first fitting. She gets her own dress. If someone had told her that almost 30,000 years ago, she probably wouldn’t have believed it. But now, in 2022, the time has finally come. Her small, roundish figure will be wrapped in the most beautiful fabrics that designer Michaela Mayer-Lee has to offer. Mayer considers – black is too plain, red won’t set her apart enough from the background, silver is perfect. It flatters her terracotta skin tone so beautifully. Continue reading Venus at the Science Ball

Mendel’s legacy between Brno and Vienna

To mark the anniversary, the Mendel Museum in Brno had what is believed to be the world’s largest pea made and sent it on a tour: here, for example, in front of the opera house in the capital of Moravia. / Photo: Mendel Museum

by Anna Goldenberg

The pea sighted in Vienna in the spring of 2022 was seven meters tall. Gregor Mendel would probably have racked his brains over how this cultivation succeeded. The inflatable pea had traveled from his hometown of Brno and made a stop at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (BOKU) and the University in Vienna as part of the anniversary year. It also paid a visit to the Science Ball. Continue reading Mendel’s legacy between Brno and Vienna