Tuesday Rostrum speaker hopes to head for Mars
IT might sound like Tuesday Rostrum is stepping into the realms of science fiction, but next month the women’s club is taking a serious look at moving to Mars.
November guest speaker, physicist and quantum biologist Adriana Marais, hopes to be one of the first earthlings to immigrate to the red planet. It is the possibility of contributing to the discovery of evidence of extraterrestrial life that she she finds most fascinating about the prospect. She will give a presentation on her Mars aspirations and on how non-government initiatives like Mars One Project and Africa2Moon are ushering in an era of innovative space exploration.
Since childhood Adriana has dreamed of living on another planet. Now it looks as though her dream might come true. She is one of the 100 Mars One Project astronaut candidates in the running to move to Mars in 2026.
Adriana studied theoretical physics and philosophy at the University of Cape Town, then completed her MSc summa cum laude in quantum cryptography at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where she also earned her PhD in quantum biology. She is a member of the Quantum Research Group, established by Prof Francesco Petruccione at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Her future plans are to continue doing research in quantum biology, specifically studying quantum effects in photosynthesis, as well as the origin of prebiotoc molecules – and of life itself.
With a number of scientific and media articles to her credit, Adriana and her team have just notched up another with the recent publication if their article, ‘A Quantum Protective Mechanism’ in a prestigious nature journal. Last year she was one of 200 young South African achievers recognised by the Mail and Guardian. This year, she was one of 15 recipients worldwide of the L’Oreal-Unesco International Rising Talent Grant for Women in Science.
Adriana believes that education is a privilege that comes with the responsibility to share knowledge. For this reason she has been involved in a range of science development programmes. She lectures for the Centre for Science Access at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and at the BPH Billiton BSc for Educators programme in the Northern Cape.
While still on earth she remains actively involved in the promotion of science and space exploration as special project coordinator for the Foundation of Space Development South Africa. The Africa2Moon is an exciting initiative of this organisation.
By giving many talks to schoolchildren, teenagers and adults around South Africa, she has inspired thousands of people to get excited about science, to believe in their dreams and to remember Nelson Mandela’s words: “It always seems impossible until it is done.”
Guests, including the men folk, are more than welcome to come and hear what Adriana has to say. Lunch at Mbango costs R120 for members and R195 for guests. To book contact Denise Millar at 039 3172600.
