Public events @ S³ 2025

Clothing is one of the most visible parts of our daily lives, but behind the scenes, the fashion industry is also one of the most wasteful. Consider this: online retailers report that up to 30% of clothing purchases are returned, contributing to massive waste, from excess shipping to discarded garments. Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform fashion throughout the production chain. It can simplify the design process, help optimize fabric usage and visualize outfits for customers before buying. The key to these innovations? Computer vision, the technology that allows machines to "see" and understand images.

In this swapshop, we will break down the science behind computer vision and generative AI, experiment with pre-trained models, and evaluate their real-world usefulness. You’ll even apply these tools to two key challenges. The first is Virtual Try-Off, where we want to generate clean product images from model photos. The second is Virtual Try-On where we aim to transfer garments between people in images. By the end, you’ll understand how AI could make fashion more sustainable and where the tech still falls short.

What do bacteria and gamblers have in common? They both rely on random numbers! In this workshop, we’ll explore how randomness – something that might seem messy or unpredictable – actually plays a key role in both biology and physics. You’ll learn about Brownian motion – the tiny, jittery movement of particles floating in a liquid. Even though each particle moves randomly, together they create patterns we can predict. This is how diffusion works, and it’s one of the most important natural processes, especially inside living cells.

Along the way, you’ll get an intro to probability, statistics, and statistical physics – a branch of physics that helps us understand how large groups of things behave, like molecules in a cell or even sheep in a herd! You’ll get a glance of how physics and maths help scientists tackle real-world problems in biology, from how cells grow to how medicines spread through the body – or even how cancer develops. Bring your curiosity (and a bit of luck), and get ready to roll the dice!

RNA sequencing is one of the most powerful tools in cancer research. It helps scientists understand what is happening inside cancer cells, which is very important when developing anti-cancer therapies. In this swapshop, you will step into the shoes of a cancer researcher and explore how tumors evolve and adapt to treatment through interactive data simulations. You will learn what RNA-sequencing is, what makes cancer cells so unique, and how therapy can sometimes drive the emergence of resistant cancer cell clones. No prior programming experience is needed – only curiosity!

Welcome to the world of immunology, where the intricate mysteries of blood groups are unlocked. In this fascinating field, we delve into the complexity of blood groups, deciphering their significance and understanding their role in our immune system. While most people are familiar with the ABO system, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, scientists have identified 44 different blood group systems, including Rh, Kell, Duffy, and many others. And what does that mean? Where do we use this knowledge? Do animals have blood groups? Well, let's leave this for our workshop.

This workshop will introduce the science behind blood typing, the immune responses linked to compatibility, and the real-world applications in medicine, genetics, and even forensics. Expect hands-on activities, engaging discussions, and surprising facts that may change the way you look at a drop of blood forever.

Curious to know more? Great! Because that’s exactly what we’ll uncover together. Let’s save the deep questions, and some fascinating experiments for the workshop. Come ready to learn, question, and explore!

Peroxy acids are reagents widely used during organic synthesis. They are mostly used in electrophilic reactions with molecules containing double bonds and in certain rearrangement reactions which often serve as steps in a more complex organic synthesis. No matter the mechanism, the reaction ends up being a redox process. That may beg the question, in what other reactions can peroxy acids serve as oxidants? The answer is connected to a, usually slow and boring, phenomena well known to everyone, corrosion! During this workshop we aim to speed up the redox reactions connected to corrosion and maximize the destruction! After the rust has settled, we will try to be creative with some controlled destruction.

Have you ever wondered how your air conditioner maintains a precise temperature, or how a drone steadily hovers in place? It is often thanks to the widely used PID controller! PID, meaning Proportional-Derivative-Integral, is a fundamental algorithm used in numerous industry applications and closed loop systems, such as temperature control in reactors and distillation columns or flow control of fluids through pipes, pumps, and valves.

In this workshop we will assume basic knowledge of Arduino, cover some analog sensor and motor basics and focus on closed loop-systems employing PID regulation. We will work together incrementally creating our own PID regulator in Arduino IDE and using it to balance a ball on a lever. Finally, well get familiar with Arduino’s own PID library.

All throughout history, people used earth to build their homes and shelters. Today, over a third of the world's population lives in earth structures, so why is it not so common to build with earth?

In this swapshop I will introduce you to architecture and how science is applied to it. We’re going to see why someone would want to build something from earth and what are the structures that can be built from it. As everything has their bad characteristics, we are going to go over them and how they can be overcome or fixed.

We’re also going to make our own mixture for rammed earth and test how well we did.

Earth architecture is closely related to human ecology, so if that’s something you’re interested in and want to extend your horizons, you’re welcome to join me.