North Carolina Science Festival has its own mascot: a robot named Kelvin! Well, actually Kelvin is a spokesbot -- its mission is to be an ambassador for the Festival and to help kids explore all the fun in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (or STEM).
Curious about Kelvin? Here's a behind-the-bolts peek at its life:
Birthday: September 25, 2010 (Kelvin shares its name with the Kelvin scale of temperature, in which the zero point is "absolute zero" -- the temperature at which all thermal motion ceases. On the Kelvin scale, water freezes at 273.15K and boils at 373.15K!)
Favorite Foods: bolts, batteries, microchips and barbecue!
Favorite Music: techno, of course
Most Wants To Meet: WALL-E
Science Heroes (each with a North Carolina connection!):
- Dr. Oliver Smithies, geneticist and Nobel Prize winner
- Mae Jemison, physicist and astronaut
- H.H. Brimley, zoologist and co-founder of the NC Museum of Natural Sciences
- Rachel Carson, marine biologist and conservationist
Favorite Subjects: marine sciences and geology
Pet Peeve: software updates
Hobbies: Kelvin loves watching NASCAR. The races are fast, exciting, and a great source of spare parts! Science and engineering make the cars go around the track at lightning speed. Kelvin also enjoys SCUBA diving and exploring the shipwrecks of the Outer Banks, but it has to be careful to clean off the salt water so its joints won't rust. Next on its list: spelunking!
Best Friend: Kelvin's best friend is its pet dinosaur, Pleo. Of course, Pleo isn't a real dinosaur (those are extinct, as you know). Pleo is actually a high-tech robot pet, built to look and act like a baby Camarasaurus. Pleo likes to visit the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences to see his huge dino cousins!
Click here to download a coloring page of Kelvin exploring space in its own rocket!