Editing British Science Association (section)

===British Science Festival===
The Association's major emphasis in recent decades has been on [[public understanding of science|public engagement in science]]. Its annual meeting, now called the British Science Festival, is the largest public showcase for science in the UK and attracts a great deal of media attention. It is held at UK universities in early September for one week, with visits to science-related local cultural attractions.

The 2010 Festival, held in Birmingham with [[Aston University]] as lead University partner, featured a prank event: the unveiling of ''Dulcis foetidus'', a fictional plant purported to emit a pungent odour. An experiment in [[herd mentality]], some audience members were induced into believing they could smell it.<ref>{{Cite web
|title='Greatest smell' tests audience
|author=David Gregory
|date=16 September 2010
|publisher=BBC Birmingham
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/birmingham/hi/people_and_places/newsid_9006000/9006857.stm
|access-date=19 September 2010
|archive-date=21 September 2010
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100921034025/http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/birmingham/hi/people_and_places/newsid_9006000/9006857.stm
|url-status=live
}}</ref> 
The Festival has also been the home to protest and debate. In 1970 there were protestors over the use of science for weapons.