Science: Cicap Fest takes care of ‘Measuring the world’ with the VII edition in Padua

In a complex era like ours, it is crucial to have the right tools to understand and analyze what is happening around us and interpret the story that is given. For this reason, the Italian Committee for the Control of Claims on Pseudoscience (Cicap) dedicates the seventh edition of its festival, which will take place in Padua from 11 to 13 October 2024, to the theme Measuring the World. Among the international protagonists expected are Joe Schwarcz, professor of chemistry at McGill University in Montreal, and James Vincent, journalist and writer expert in artificial intelligence and robotics (author of Oltre misura, Mondadori, 2024).

Also this year, the festival will be preceded by the Cicap Fest Edu, which from Monday 7 to Friday 11 October will dedicate a rich program of events to teachers and students. The appointments will be free of charge. Different thematic threads guide the investigation into current events, thanks to a program rich in protagonists and facets. The presentation of the kermesse will be held in Padua on 18 September; the threads are: measure in the strict sense, out of measure, on the limit, everyday stories, other dimensions, signs and symbols.

During the three-day event, the frontiers of measurement will be explored with Lorenzo Colombo, astrophysicist and popularizer, who will try to convey the idea of ​​the scale of the Universe starting from Why doesn’t the sky fall on our heads?, his essay coming out on September 20th for Hoepli (written with Matteo Miluzio). The meteorologist and climatologist Giulio Betti will instead dismantle the lies of climate change deniers starting from his new text It’s always been hot! (coming out for Aboca in September). Thanks to the collaboration with the Galileo Literary Prize for scientific popularization, promoted by the Municipality of Padua, meetings will be scheduled with the finalists of the XVIII edition. Among them, Edwige Pezzulli, author of Oltre marie (Le plurali, 2023), will discuss the limit of measuring words with the sociolinguist Vera Gheno and the scientific journalist Roberta Fulci, who wrote Il male detto (Codice, 2023) on the delicate topic of measuring pain.

From pseudosciences to hoaxes, from space to AI, Angela’s memories

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Nello Cristianini, professor of Artificial Intelligence and author of Machina sapiens (il Mulino, 2024), engaged in debunking the rhetoric on AI, will speak about ‘other’ dimensions, from pseudosciences to hoaxes, up to space. Furthermore, starting from the volume La meraviglie del tutto (Mondadori, 2024), Massimo Polidoro – who is the author – together with Lorenzo Montali, president of Cicap and social psychologist of the University of Milan-Bicocca, will remember Piero Angela, founder of the association and of the Fest, born in 2018, from an idea of ​​Massimo Polidoro, journalist, writer, as well as founder of Cicap.

The Fest also offers the public a wide selection of ‘out of program’ events. For example, the Extra Conferences, created in collaboration with Magia, the association’s magazine on the world of illusionism and mentalism. These are events on the border between entertainment and dissemination, such as the one dedicated to enchantment and television together with the magicians Raul Cremona, Carlo Faggi and Gaia Elisa Rossi, hosted by Alex Rusconi. The Query Conferences are back, which take up themes addressed in the pages of the CICAP magazine of the same name. Stand up comedy shows are on the program, such as the one with Francesco Lancia, Chiara Galeazzi, Valeria Pusceddu, Luca Ravenna, Daniele Tinti and Yoko Yamada.

The Fest is promoted by Cicap, the scientific and organizational direction is by Frame – Scientific Divagations – and is realized in collaboration with the University of Padua and, for the first time, with the European Parliament. To promote the event, in addition to the institutional collaboration of the Municipality of Padua, the Province, the Chamber of Commerce and Venicepromex, as well as the patronage and contribution of the Veneto Region, the support of the Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo Foundation. Confindustria Veneto Est is an institutional partner; Umberto Veronesi Ets Foundation, Airc Foundation for Cancer Research Ets and Pezcoller Foundation are scientific partners; Federchimica is the main partner; Corepla is a partner; Coop Alleanza 3.0 is a sponsor; Feltrinelli Librerie is a cultural partner.

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