Science Reactors at the Xanthi Riddle Festival

The Science Reactors take part in Xanthi Riddle Festival | 4-6 April 2025

After four years of successful organisation, the Puzzle Festival (PF), an innovative institution combining science, technology, puzzles and art, travels from Kastellorizo to Xanthi, proving that a science event can unite two remote regions of Greece.

A few words about the history of the Puzzle Festival

From Kastellorizo, the birthplace of Greece's unique puzzle makers, to Xanthi, a city with a rich cultural life, the PF cultivates thought, creativity and inquiry through exhibitions, competitions, workshops and original activities.

The success of the Puzzle Festival is due to the uniqueness of its subject – puzzles, framed by science events, workshops, experiments, talks and artistic happenings. Its momentum is strengthened by the participation of leading academics, researchers, educators and artists, who support the organisers' vision pro bono: mathematician Pantazis Houlis, founder of the Museum of Puzzles of Megisti, and Eleni Grammatikopoulou, a specialist in science communication.

The successful course of the PF and the support of a dedicated community of fellow travellers led to its geographical expansion. In 2022, it began its journey beyond Kastellorizo, with a first stop in Patras (October 2022) and a second in Athens (December 2022), in collaboration with the Library of the Hellenic Parliament, under the auspices of the Hellenic Parliament.

Why a Puzzle Festival?

Kastellorizo, the birthplace of the PF, has a long tradition in puzzles. The island is home to the only Greek puzzle makers representing the country at the International Puzzle Party: Pantazis Houlis and Michalis Toulouzas. Moreover, since October 2020, the Museum of Puzzles of Megisti has been operating on Kastellorizo – the only one of its kind in Greece and one of the few worldwide, recognised as a European Centre of Science, Technology and Art.

Building on this heritage, the first Puzzle Festival took place on the island in 2021 and has been evolving ever since.

Why in Xanthi?

The choice of Xanthi is no coincidence. It is a city with a rich tradition in organising social and cultural events (Thracian Folklore Festivities, Old Town Festivities, Festival of Music Schools “Xanthi, City of Dreams”, Youth Festivities, etc.).

The collaboration with the Athena Research Centre is a decisive factor for the success of Xanthi Riddle Festival. Based in Athens and present in Patras and Xanthi, Athena has a long tradition in organising science events, such as the Researcher's Night. Athena takes on the role of main co-organiser and supporter, strengthening the link between science and society in the region.

The goals of Xanthi Riddle Festival are:

• To highlight the value of puzzles by strengthening skills such as observation, patience, perseverance, cooperation and inventiveness, while making learning more fun.
• To boost interest in science & technology through a hands-on approach, where students and adults will have the chance to experiment, create and experience science as a thrilling adventure.
• To establish the Festival in Xanthi with the aim of supporting the local community and enriching the city's participation in cultural and science events.

The Science Reactors will take part dynamically with their own presentations, with Stand up Science kids shows and with the Science Rap battle show.

https://xanthipuzzlefestival.gr/category/symmetexontes/events/

For more information about the festival: www.xanthipuzzlefestival.gr

See you in Xanthi, 4-6 April 2025!

The Science Reactors meet their young and not-so-young friends at Xanthi Riddle Festival and talk with them about Science…

A. Activity: Stand up Science kids

The Science Reactors, in their own characteristic way with Stand up Science kids, will try to prove that:

• Knowledge can also be fun,
• It can easily reach children, spark their curiosity, thrill them and above all charm them?
• Difficult scientific concepts can become accessible to children.

But why Stand up Science kids?

As part of their collaboration with ATRAKTO (2019), they also entered the digital era, adapting, for the first time, texts addressed to children — Stand up Science kids — making knowledge more attractive and accessible. The reactions were particularly positive, and as a result Stand up kids became part of their programme. Since then they have taken part, live, in many events: at all the Kastellorizo Riddle Festivals, in two events of RODION PAIDEIA Schools, at ATRAKTO, at the Athens Science Festival 2024, at the NTUA Researcher's Night 2024, and more, impressing their young friends

At the festival, Antonia Karamolegkou, Chrysanthi Saliagkopoulou, Christina-Anthi Charisidou, Giorgos Galanopoulos, Takis Lazos and Konstantinos Antonaropoulos will present interesting scientific topics, in a simple way and with a broad smile, aiming to win over their young — and not only young — audience.

What the Science Reactors will present to us:

Christina – Anthi Charisidou, Teacher

But what is the suitcase hiding?

• Can a suitcase "carry" a little Physics sprinkled with a little organic Chemistry?
• Can a musical instrument be related to Mathematics and Physics?

These answers and many more are for us to discover… where else? Inside the suitcase… with music and… daring!

Konstantinos Antonaropoulos, Philosophy – Rhetoric

The voice… the most perfect instrument!

For thousands of years, one tool has allowed us to communicate speech and ideas. It is none other than the human voice. Have you ever wondered how it works, why we can speak and what actually happens in our body when we make a sound? If you share these questions, come and let's discover together the fascinating world of the voice, and at the end watch a demonstration of what it can do. We're waiting for you.

P.S. Don't forget to bring your voices!

Georgios Galanopoulos, Dr Electrical Engineer

How many pears fit in the sack…

If the question above puzzles you, the same won't be true of the "unexpected" questions you'll be asked to answer in an interactive quiz reviewing what you saw at the Festival.

Chrysanthi Saliagkopoulou, Biologist

The lazy wagtail, the one-eyed mermaid and "Darwin's Finches" on the Galápagos Islands.

Antonia Karamolegkou

What's the probability that scientists have a sense of humour?

How does mathematics help us overcome our fears?

Come and laugh at our luck: improbable and probable mathematical adventures!

Takis Lazos, Physicist

Let's see how we hear!

A presentation that will make — literally — noise. What is sound? How is it produced, how do we perceive it? What are its characteristics? Which rice is best for pilaf? These and even fewer completely insignificant questions will be raised — probably without an answer — in less than 700 seconds.

B Activity: Stand up Science

The Science Reactors have in store a special evening for their adult friends with the show Science Rap Battle. A Stand up in the footsteps of Stand up comedy with topics chosen from science.

A show that combines science with humour. Contemporary scientific topics are approached in a vivid, self-deprecating and subversive style.

Giorgos Galanopoulos, Antonia Karamolegkou, Takis Lazos, Thomas Pappas, Chrysanthi Saliagkopoulou, Christina-Anthi Charisidou, with Konstantinos Antonaropoulos as host/coordinator, will reveal another face of science!!