A new blend of science and art has taken shape in Israel’s Bar Ilan University Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials (BINA) Compex, where dozens of professors, students and scientists dive into the world of nanotechnology research. With so much dedication to the study of the smallest things on Earth, one visionary scientist and former Director of BINA Prof Yuval Garini had a big vision – to bring visitors and expose them to the importance of nanotechnology through showing “scientific principles and the vast research possibilities in the natural sciences.”
Today, the BINA Complex has morphed into the Fetter Museum of Nanotechnology and Art, but the project launched about seven years ago when a hackathon was organized at BINA. Thirty scientists and forty artists gathered for two days, formed teams, ideas, and projects to create an integrated approach to research. Teams worked together for over a year, ultimately creating 20 projects, 13 of which make up the New Languages Exhibit in the museum today.
Projects are interactive and “visitors can witness live and dynamic research processes that take place through the laboratories at the institute, and learn of the dialogue between the researchers and the artists.” One project invites a multi-screened approach with electric violinists to play between the ideas of harmony and chaos theory. Another project includes a spinning top to represent how human body molecules interact with energy in the body.
Prof Dror Fixler, BINA’S current director shares “I have always believed it is important to do great science but also educational initiatives that can contribute to the community and help people understand how science is relevant to them.”
Museum Curator Tal Yizrael says “We ventured on a journey to conceptually and technically distant worlds, which are at the same time very close to the essence of our being. In doing so, we opened a window to the wonderland of the invisible. Like art, nanoscience delves deep into substances and essence, allowing us to discover new phenomena and universes.”
