Do you know a rising star in science communication?



Zena, a STEM Ambassador, science busking at MSF 2010.



We're on the hunt for the best science communication talent in the UK and nominations for the 2011 Joshua Phillips Award for Innovation in Science Engagement are now open.

Steve Cross, winner of the 2010 Josh Award.

The Joshua Phillips Award (or Josh Award) is intended to recognise and nurture the finest practitioners in science communication who, whilst being young professional science communicators, have already demonstrated exceptional potential for innovation in the relatively new field of public engagement with science.

The Award is open to anyone who is recognised as an up-and-coming talent in science communication, with innovative and new ideas.

The successful nominee will receive a personal prize of £1,000 and be appointed as “Science Communicator in residence” at the Manchester Science Festival 2012.

For more information about the about and to download the nomination form head to the Manchester Science Festival website. 

Joshua Phillips Award for Innovation in Science Engagement 2011

Nominations for the 2011 Joshua Phillips Award for Innovation in Science Engagement are now open.

The Joshua Phillips Award (or Josh Award) is intended to recognise and nurture the finest practitioners in science communication who, whilst being young professional science communicators, have already demonstrated exceptional potential for innovation in the relatively new field of public engagement with science.

The Award is open to anyone who is recognised as an up-and-coming talent in science communication, with innovative and new ideas.

The successful nominee will receive a personal prize of £1,000 and be appointed as “Science Communicator in residence” at the Manchester Science Festival 2012.

Previous winners include Chris Smith from the Naked Scientists, Karen Bultitude from the UWE , Bristol (middle), David Price from Science Made Simple (left) and Steve Cross from UCL (right).

Make a nomination

Find out more more about the Josh Award and how to nominate someone.

Nominations must be received by Sunday 28 August 2011.

Science and theatre meet at the Contact

When I decided to book myself a ticket to the first Manchester showing of Reykjavik last night the last thing I expected was to end up dancing, in a Tyvek suit, with strangers, to Sting’s Walking on the Moon.

At the beginning of the show, the audience dons white Tyvek suits and goggles, and embarks upon a meandering journey, from memory to memory of the main character who describes himself as ‘Y’.

Played by Jonathan Young, Y tells you the story of his past relationship with S, who he met in Paris. She was married with two children, but ends the marriage and together they move to S's homeland, Iceland, to begin a new life which is threatened by patterns of the past. The story is illustrated with vivid flash-backs to key events and connected experiences. The audience perspective flits from the fly on the wall to becoming the set. In some memories you observe from the edge of the stage, which is transformed into a runway or a swimming pool; in other memories you are a statue in Rodin’s garden or a dancing at a late night party.

These immersive scenes are conjured with lighting, sound and minimal props that plunge you into the past. I loved the parallels between this use of sensory prompts and how specific sights, sounds and tastes can trigger specific memories.

Patterns are mentioned a lot in the dialogue, emphasized with the set, and in a hand out distributed at the end of the performance, Dr Hugo Spiers (a neuroscientist at UCL) discusses the parallels between these patterns and those of memories. Y reflects on how patterns of cracks in glacial ice form and reform through thawing and refreezing; Spiers writes how patterns of memories are not fixed but can be shifted each time they are recalled, altering what you remember from initial experiences.

Reykjavik is absorbing, playful and meditative. The scientific angle is not obvious, but the play provides for some interesting reflection on what and how we remember, and what is lost.

You can catch Reykjavik at Contact from Tuesday 7 to Saturday 11 June 2011, 7pm & 9pm.
Head to Contact's website to book tickets.
Reykjavik is part of Lost & Found, a festival of interdisciplinary arts and performance in Manchester.

Funded by Wellcome trust, created in collaboration with the neuroscientist Dr Hugo Spiers, and produced by Time Won't Wait.


Emily Wiles - Manchester Science Festival Officer

International Year of Chemistry Celebration Event!

As part of the International Year of Chemistry we are hosting a chemistry themed day as part of the Museum of Science and Industry's "Meet the Scientist" programme as well as a Manchester Science Festival 2011 Trailblazer!

In the Museum's Power Hall there will be hands-on chemistry experiments for you to try all day (from 10:30am to 3:30pm). Things like freaky hand (see picture), making plasma, making toothpaste for elephants, coke and mentos explosions and magic sand (is it magic or nanotechnology?) to name but a few.

We are also hosting a special, one off chemistry show. How long can you make a bubble float?
How fast can you make it sink?
Explore the wonderful world of molecules; find out about all the gases in the air we breathe, and what happens when we cool them down, and heat them up.
You can do all that for yourself, but there are some things only a trained chemist can do (without being put in jail for arson!): See some more spectacular experiments in the Learning Loft: find out about the nature of colour, where it comes from, and how chemists make it; find out about the importance of chemistry to finding new fuel technologies, and all about digestion, combustion, and explosion, with memorable flashes and bangs amongst some rarely-seen demonstration-experiments. What does 400 calories actually look like? Find out in the learning loft, 2-3pm , this Saturday! Learning has never been more fun! Spaces are limited for this show so (free) tickets are available from the MOSI information desk.

The event is run with the help of chemists from the University of Manchester and the Royal Society of Chemistry. We look forward to seeing you all there tomorrow.

Vote for Manchester Science Festival

Help us to win £5000 to put towards creative programming for young people as part of Manchester Science Festival. All you need to do is vote for us on the Co-operative’s ‘Join the Revolution’ website.

Last year we had a really strong programme of innovative events that engaged the local community with cutting-edge science. We want to continue this for the fifth Manchester Science Festival, with a particular focus on involving hard-to-engage young people who may not normally have an interest in science. We also want to actively engage young people in development and delivery of events, empowering them to make some of the decisions about the Festival.

All you need to do is vote for us on the Co-operative’s ‘Join the Revolution’ website. Anyone can vote for their chosen cause and whoever has the most votes by 29 May is awarded the funding. It takes a few clicks to register and then you’re free to vote.

Vote now and help us to make Manchester Science Festival 2011 the most creative and diverse programme yet.

Once you've voted please share this on Facebook and Twitter.

MadLab - Love to learn

Here’s a quick update on two new projects that MadLab have added to their plethora of creative/techy goings-on. If you love to learn about science/techy/crafty things then read on...

Omniversity
This spring, Madlab launched the Omniversity, a series of professional training courses at the MadLab lead by some of the sharpest minds and most cutting-edge practitioners in digital and future-looking sectors in the country.

Topics covered will include progressive technologies like Arduino, an open source programming tool that can be used to make interactive electronic objects and is a favourite with artists and crafty hackers. It’s designed to be easy to use, so you don’t need a background in programming to work it out. To get an idea of what you could do with this tool, check out Hacknmod.com for an inspiring list of weird and wonderful Arduino-based creations). 

The Beginner's Guide to Arduino course will be starting on June 4th 2011 – head over to the Omniversity site for details or follow their tweets @Omniversity.

DIYBIOMCR
Madlab and MMU have been awarded a Wellcome Trust grant for public engagement and have launched 12 month DIYbio project in Manchester, riding on the wave of the popularity of community labs that have been springing up over the last couple of years. DIYBio is “dedicated to making biology an accessible pursuit for citizen scientists, amateur biologists and biological engineers who value openness and safety.” Anyone can get involved, you just need passion and an inquisitive mind! Head over to the DIYBio page for details of projects and how to get on board.

Messages from space - Gagarin celebration at MOSI

We had a brilliant time yesterday. We were making and launching rockets with the museum's fabulous presenters and 'sending' messages to and from space at MOSI, all in celebration of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space 50 years ago. Kids were asked to write messages that they would send back to Earth if they were the first person in space. Here are our favourites...

Festival Director, Natalie Ireland, making rockets.

"I have reached the moon. Let's get cake when I come back."



"Hello Mum. You are the Jupiter in my solar sytem. XXX"



"In the future we may discover bacterial life on Europa. Please can I be alive to see that."

 Check out the rest of the photos on our Flickr group. Thanks to everyone who came along and participated. We had over 200 messages and they were all fantastic!

50th anniversary of Yuri Gargarin's flight into space

It’s been three weeks since our last post, so here’s some epic history to make up for our absence.

Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space when he lauched from Kazakstan on April 12th 1961, and this month we’ll be honouring the 50th anniversary of this mission by taking part in a nationwide day of rocket launching - Rockets for Yuri. Come and make rockets and send them off into the sky with us at the Museum of Science and Industry. We'll be there between 11-1pm and 2-4pm but there will be other activities, including Planetarium shows, at the museum throughout the day. Check out the Festival website for details.

After orbiting the earth and returning safely, Gagarin promptly commenced a world tour. This included a visit to Manchester and Trafford three months after his flight and we’ve managed to uncover some photos of this appearance. 



Gagarin on Chester Road, near the Manchester United football ground.

Taken by Bill Wilcox, an amateur photographer, working for Smith's Autos on Chester Road in Stretford.






Gagarin greets the crowds in Manchester



Yuri Gagarin and Bernard Lovell



Hands on science at Manchester Metropolitan University

Ever wondered what muscles sound like? Can you tell the difference between a human and a computer? Want to play with magic sand? Interested in forensics and crime scenes?

This fun-packed day of real science is for you and all your family. Enjoy extraordinary experiments, use the latest lab technology and get up-close and personal with real scientists and technicians. There’s robots, racing cars and even an ant colony! Activity stations will be running throughout the day, so drop in anytime between the hours of 11 and 5 and stay for as long as you like...

Light refreshments available for purchase, or bring your own picnic lunch!

Workshops
As well as all of the fabulous fun stuff there are also practical workshop sessions on "Build a Morse code communication device" and "Make your own DNA necklace" running throughout the day (booking required details on the website below).

For more information and to reserve a free ticket go to the Nano Info Bio website.

  

Look out for more exciting science-related events and activities at the 2011 Manchester Science Festival running from 22 – 30 October www.manchestersciencefestival.com

19^th March 2011, MMU John Dalton Building, Oxford Road, Manchester, M1 5GD. 

Open 11am – 5pm

The Hidden Science Map - update!

The Hidden Science Map is coming on in leaps and bounds. The designs for the site are looking very good and all the various science bodies that have been contacted about the project have been very supportive. It's a bit nerve wracking to start something 'national' (gulp) from scratch, so to have the mega-force that is the Manchester science community behind it from the off has felt very warm and fuzzy, big thank you.

There's a way to go before the map, with pins, appears for us (and more importantly young people in search of careers information) to play with, but now the questionnaires are all up for you in a rough format. There are separate questionnaires for working science people, students or those in training, retired science people, and organisations or teams within organisations. (Science in this context very much includes technology, engineering and maths.)

They are in rough format, just to collect information so that the map has pins when it launches.

If you'd like to put yourself or your organisation in pre-launch, have a photo ready to upload that you like, and remember you don't need to give your full or real name. Make a cup of tea (or coffee, anything really)
and settle for about half an hour to answer the questions that will form your profile on the map.

The questionnaires can be accessed from the Science Council website.

The other development last week is that the Norwich Research Park turned out in the cold for a very impressive 200 person 'Portrait' of themselves for the map. Massive thanks to all of them and to the BBSRC's Dee Rawsthorne who organised it, and Andrew Chapple who took this film of proceedings.



The picture will, eventually, be dotted with profile pins. Do not be daunted by this very special image! Place portraits of smaller work teams, in the warm, also very welcome. If you do make one of these place-portraits soon for your organisation/team please keep hold of it until further notice.

If you're planning a Big Picture like this, please get in touch, as it would be great to record the process and the final photography, and I can offer you some advice too, based on how your image will be finally presented.

Please get in touch with Katie Walsh if you have any questions.

Seeking Perfection

How far would you go to make yourself stronger, more intelligent or more beautiful? Would you get a chip in your brain? Would you be a guinea pig for stem cell therapy? These are some of the questions that young performers explored in the Seeking Perfection project, funded by the Wellcome Trust, last Autumn.

In the run up to the Festival in 2010, we worked with Nowgen, Contact and the University of Manchester to delve into the exciting mix of science, ethics and performance. Together, we worked with a group of young performers and science undergraduates to create a short, thought-provoking performance based on the theme of Human Enhancement.
First came a series of workshops with researchers and ethicists from Manchester and across the UK, including Dr Mark Gasson (the first man to be infected with a computer virus), covering the research into and bioethical concerns about Human Enhancement.


The performance was shown alongside a debate at the Zion Arts Centre.

 Over a period of 4 weeks, the group came together to debate, research and think about how researchers are pushing the boundaries of what it means to be human. Using the science and ethics as the theme and inspiration, the group created a short performace incorporating ideas from these discussions. A mix of acting, music, rap and circus skills, the performance brought together an exciting mix of performance styles. This was premiered on stage in the Manchester Arndale, the city's busiest shopping area, taking science to the streets and engaging people who might not attend a Festival event. The performance was then run alongside a debate chaired by Sarah Chan.

Most of the group who developed the final performances hadn’t studied science after their GCSEs but said that they were amazed by the research they discovered and really enjoyed getting to grips with science again.

“I’ve learned more about science… I didn’t really pay attention in school to science. Now I’ve got involved with this it’s opened my eyes more to where science is going to in the future.”

“I thought when I finished science at school I would never have to think about science again,
and I’ve learned it’s around us all the time and I should maybe pay more attention – I might blink and the world could be a completely different place.”

We captured the project on video which you can see below. It gives highlights from the project and the performance and interviews with some of the participants and project leaders.



Thanks to Andy Miah for the photo of the event at the Zion Arts Centre. You can see more on his Flickr profile.

If you would like a copy of the project evaluation for Seeking Perfection, please get in contact with Natalie Ireland, Festival Director.

The Hidden Science Map – calling everyone working in science in Manchester!

Think back to when you were sixteen… what did you think you could do with a science degree? Did you think about becoming a brewer, bioethicist or a clown that uses the medium of balloons to explain geometry?

A new project led by the Science Council aims to uncover ‘hidden’ careers in STEM subjects so that teenagers can see that they are surrounded by science, at all levels and being done by all sorts of people, which will hopefully persuade them to continue to study science.

The Hidden Science Map aims to make a real variety of interesting STEM careers visible to teenagers.

How can I get involved?
This pilot project is developing a website, set to launch on 10 March 2011, which will present photos and profiles of people in ‘hidden’, surprising, interesting, in fact all STEM careers across the UK. These profiles will be dotted across a Google-based map, set to eventually cover the whole country but starting in a few cities with a strong science community, including Manchester.

The project leader, Katie Walsh, is looking for anyone and everyone who studied science, technology, engineering or maths post 18, and uses their qualification in their work life to upload a profile and picture.

The map will have another layer of organised portraits of STEM places of work, featuring lots of individual STEM workers there, if you’d like to plan and submit one of these for your organisation please get in touch with Katie, otherwise any individual STEM people should stand by for further info of how to upload a profile and picture when the Hidden Science Map is open for business in a week or so.

Katie Walsh can be contacted at the Science Council via email: K.walsh@sciencecouncil.org.

My favourite place: The intersection of art and science

Inspired by Prof John Hyatt’s talk about cymatics at MKC’s Innovation Boardroom event the other week, I thought I’d take a little exploration into the world of art inspired by science.

My current favourite has to be Rachel Sussman, who creates beautiful photography with a strong and inspiring message. Here she is at TED last year, talking about her current project, The oldest living things in the world. This voyage of artistic and scientific discovery has taken her to the far corners of the planet to capture images of the oldest organisms alive. She's covered quite some ground, including some of the most extreme environments on the planet, such as Siberia’s premafrost and Namibia's super-arid Namib Naukluft desert.

Double-click to view in full screen... otherwise you'll miss half of the presentation!



You can also hear her talking about her project on last week’s BBC Human Planet podcast… she’s on at around 21:00.

Emily Wiles - Manchester Science Festival Officer

Science on the stage, in film and on paper

The National Science Museum takes to the stage to communicate science through the medium of theatrical performance with Science Museum Live on Tour, starting on the 29th January at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds. Suitable for ages 7 and upwards, you can expect experiments, explosions and excitement. Did you catch Dr Bunhead at MSF in 2009? This show is created by the same team, who also produced Brainiac. They’re touring the country - other dates in the North West include Preston, Buxton and Bradford - check out the Science Museum's website for full dates.

Love sci fi? Never Let Me Go, which will be screened soon at the Cornerhouse, is based on the powerful and moving novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, with plenty to make you ponder about what it means to be human. Keep your eyes peeled for the release of the screening dates!

There’s also been a bit of a shout-out for Sci-fi lovers to join the MadLab Sci-fi book club who meet every Tuesday at Madlab. Interested? Follow the chatter on twitter with the hashtag #mcrsf.

Emily Wiles, Manchester Science Festival Officer

MSF Innovative boardroom event with Manchester: Knowledge Capital

We’re feeling rejuvenated after Monday’s Innovative Boardroom session, which was run by the lovely Kate Pickering and her team from Manchester: Knowledge Capital (MKC). Grabbing the chance to escape from the confines of the meeting room, partners, organisers and new faces came together to collaboratively create some brilliant new ideas for MSF 2011 in a structured session.
We don’t want to give too much away, but one of our favourite events developed was a Haunted House filled with interactive workshops about the science of fear, gore and all things scary. We’re all planning to use inspiration from these ideas for programming for the festival, with organisers being able to take an event and develop it themselves.
MKC brought along illustrator Paul Chappell, who created brilliant visual interpretations of our ideas on the go. Here’s one that Kate snapped during the event.


The idea generation kicked off with a talk by Professor John Hyatt, a local artist, musician and academic at MMU whose artwork takes inspiration from science. He’s also the artist who designed the ‘windmills’ in Manchester’s Exchange Square.

John talked to us about his current passion, Cymatics (visualising sound waves by studying the movements of vibrating media such as sand), and created a beautiful simile, comparing the movements of the vibrating sand in his work (see video below for an example) to the progress and common purpose of everyone involved in the Festival. He also gave examples of generating event ideas from scientific themes (my personal favourite was ‘Shake, Baby, Shake – science, music and aesthetics’, inspired by Cymatic research).



If you missed this session but would still like to organise an event, don’t fret - it’s not too late! Just contact Natalie Ireland.

Emily Wiles, Manchester Science Festival Officer

Stargazing @ MOSI this weekend

MOSI have concocted a brilliant programme of events around the BBC Two Stargazing Live programme this Saturday (15 January), including a workshop where you can make your own constellation projector, a talk by the Gresham Professor of Astronomy, Ian Morison in the Planetarium and an outdoor stargazing event (let’s pray for clear skies!). Check out the MOSI website for full event details.

And if you're looking for something crafty to do on Sunday, keep yourselves busy with making a constellation night lamp with this lovely guide at instructables.com.

Emily Wiles, Manchester Science Festival Officer

Bring on 2011!

Happy New Year! We’re back, raring to go and have bravely committed ourselves to writing one blog a week for our New Year’s resolution. We’ll be here to ramble and write on everything from neutrons to neurons, with a particular emphasis on activity in Manchester.

Let’s start by shaking off the Christmas cobwebs and having a peek at what’s going on science-wise in the neighborhood this month!

For an epic Saturday trip, hop on the train to Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, where the World Premier of Polar will be hosted this weekend. This show combines stunning footage of Earths’ Arctic and Antarctic regions and a live orchestral soundtrack arranged and conducted by John Harle.

BBC 2 are currently running a new series, Stargazing LIVE, presented by Brian Cox and Dara O Briain, to inspire a generation to look to the skies and learn to stargaze. This started on Monday and a programme of live events around the country have been arranged to compliment these broadcasts. To experience this first hand, head down to MMU’s John Dalton building on 13th January for a talk from Dr Paul Ruffle about the birth, life and death of starts, hosted by Manchester Astronomical Society. Image by John Gray (Eoepaidh on Flickr), taken in the Outer Hebridies.
MOSI will also be running an event later in January - more details next week!

Let us know what you think of any of these events and we look forward to seeing you at events in 2011.

Emily Wiles, Manchester Science Festival Officer

Manchester Science Festival 2011 Innovation Boardroom

Join us at this creative session led by Innovation Manchester to generate ideas and connections for the 2011 Manchester Science Festival.

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.” Mary Lou Cook

Any group can have a brainstorming session, but how do you make it truly productive? Sometimes we all need a little help to think of new ideas that can really work.

On Tuesday 11 January 2011 at the Museum of Science and Industry from 10am to 2pm we will be engaging in a special creative session: the Innovation Boardroom.

The Innovation Boardroom acts as your guide to be productively creative. We combine fast and furious idea generation with collaborative working that builds partnerships to get great results.

Join us at the Manchester Science Festival's Innovation Boardroom to:
- Make new connections with others involved with the Festival
- Generate great ideas that will have life beyond the Innovation Boardroom session
- Get a freshness boost in creativity, helping you tackle the everyday in a different way
- Combine forces to make the Manchester Science Festival 2011 the best it can be

Please note this is not a funding opportunity.

If you are interested in attending, please contact Natalie Ireland, Manchester Science Festival Director: n.ireland@mosi.org.uk with your name and organisation, detailing your/your organisation's experience of science engagement and why you are interested in the session.

Manchester Science Festival 2010 - reflections and thank you

Manchester is an amazing place for a science festival. There’s so much rich industrial heritage and iconic scientists to draw inspiration from and so much innovation and exciting research happening in the city, it provides a unique backdrop. The fourth Manchester Science Festival has just taken place and since it began in 2007, so many people have got behind the Festival, sharing their ideas, creativity and passion for science. It’s a real thrill to be putting science at the heart of the cultural calendar in Manchester.

A huge thank you goes out to all the funders, partners, organisers, speakers, researchers, community groups and volunteers who made this year’s Festival happen. The Festival is a huge partnership effort and we’re proud to work with so many (over 75!) different partner organisations. This year’s Festival was particularly exciting and so many great projects came together to create an inspiring and innovative programme. In fact there was such an action packed programme of event, it’s hard to pick a particular highlight to shout about. However, there are a few projects we’re particularly chuffed about and thought they were worth a mention.

This year we embarked on an ambitious community programme. As well as science busking, we delivered kitchen science workshops through each of the ten Greater Manchester boroughs. We put young people at the heart of the Festival, inviting them to get involved in the development and delivery of key projects. 18 year olds with no previous interest in science got together to work with scientists, ethicists and artists to explore the topic of human enhancement and develop creative performances for the public. We also added a twist to the Dragon’s Den. As part of the Manchester Beacon Science Festival Community Awards scientists pitched their creative event ideas to a panel of ruthless dragons (teenagers), who chose which project to fund and work with to shape and deliver an event. The winning idea, the bacteria party saw students sharing their work, getting hands-on, eating bacteria shaped cake and playing games with the local community. It was such a fantastic event and exactly the kind of programming we want to encourage as part of the Festival.

We really provided some unique experiences for people this year with projects like Super K Sonic Booooum, an immersive experience where you could experience what it’s like to be in neutrino observatory. Unsuspecting members of the public donned their wellies and lab coat and jumped aboard a boat to see what it’s like to be a particle physicist in Japan. The installation explored some really serious and exciting science, as well as being fun and giving you the chance to experience an environment you would never dream of seeing.

We welcomed over 80 volunteers who assisted at events and went to venues throughout Greater Manchester, entertaining the masses with science busking – fun, hands-on science demonstrations that capture the imagination as you’re on the commute or out shopping. They were passionate, enthusiastic and committed. A huge thank you goes to our volunteers who are helping to inspire our future scientists!

This diverse and innovative programme could only be put together by the people in Manchester for the people of Manchester. Manchester is a truly original science city and I hope you enjoyed this exciting, passionate and ambitious Festival. So thank you for coming and getting involved and we'll keep you posted on the blog with plans for next year!

Natalie Ireland,
Manchester Science Festival Director

Winter greetings from the Manchester Science Festival team!

Struggling for ideas of how to fill your holidays with science? Fear not - the festival team have been compiling brilliant ideas. Read on!

If you’ve got children to entertain over the break why not discover some fun, wintery science activities you can do in the kitchen? Check out these instructions on how to make jewellery with ice cubes or learn about how ice melts with London Science museum’s activity about coloured ice balloons. Alternatively, you could wait until Christmas dinner and demonstrate the siphoning effect at the dinner table with your napkin.

Curl up with a few books from MSF 2010’s speakers. Check out Frank Close’s latest publication, Neutrino, which charts the detection and research into the elusive particles that are emitted by the sun and ever-so-difficult to detect. Have a gander at Jim Al-Khalili’s Pathfinders, which reveals the hidden history of the Arabic scientific revolution that took place between the more celebrated Ancient Greeks and Italian Renaissance.

Have an alternative Christmas meal and bring molecular gastronomy to the table. Take a peek at Stefan Gates’ latest book, The Extraordinary Cookbook, for inspiration. This tome is packed with eccentric and fun recipes, from poaching fish in your dishwasher to making gin and tonic jelly that fluoresces under UV light. Photo - Stefan Gates at Gastronuts, Manchester Science Festival 2010.

Don’t forget to check out the Waterside Arts Centre’s current exhibition, Altered States, which explores artist’s responses to biomedical research through media including installation, sculpture, photography, film and printmaking. This exhibition runs until Saturday 8 January. Photo - Hinged Crucifix by Susan Aldworth.




Emily Wiles, Manchester Science Festival Officer