Science only happens in an ivory tower? The university of applied sciences in Munich does not accept that! Because science can inspire. That’s why the Munich University of Applied Sciences has been organizing science slams since 2018. The 13th “Applied Science Slam” was moderated in a very humorous way by Prof Dr Georg Eggers and Michael Sachs.
Hannes Taubenböck was invited to the Science Slam (https://hm.edu/aktuelles/veranstaltungen/applied_science_slam/index.de.html) representing the EOC of the DLR and our EORC of JMU. And, he was able to win the competition with his thought-provoking science slam “Saßen Sie schon mal in einem Zug nach Mumbai? – Forschung im Grenzbereich zwischen Armut, Reichtum und Moral” [engl.: “Have you ever been on a train to Mumbai? – Research on the borderline between poverty, wealth and morality“]”.
This particular slam topic on the borderline between poverty, wealth and morality is a balancing act – from the catastrophe of absolute poverty to the wealth worth billions that exists next door. Poverty affects people, but it also affects neighborhoods. The absurdities of outrageous inequalities can, for example, be seen in building structures derived from space-borne remote sensing data. Inequalities can, for example, also be identified in official population statistics. With remote sensing and population modeling approaches the ignorance or sometimes active denial of population numbers in official statistics in poor slum areas can be revealed. These discrepancies are one statistical aspect that undermine human dignity. Even if these facts are disconcerting, in the slam Hannes Taubenböck presents these realities in an entertaining and sometimes absurdly funny way encouraging the audience to critically think about the underlying causes and reflect what this has to do with ourselves – one is often not sure whether it’s okay to laugh at these sad absurdities or not. With it, the demands of our own morals and the perplexing realities in our world, in this case revealed by scientific works.
It was a very humorous evening in which science was presented in an entertaining way and in many facets. In the scientific short lecture tournament, everything is allowed to elicit the loudest applause from the audience. The event has once again made it possible to bring science into society.
