Falkirk Science Festival 2019

11-26 MAY 2019 JOIN US FOR HANDS-ON INNOVATIVE SCIENCE ACTIVITIES, SHOWS, TALKS AND SCREENINGS

-- PARKS --

INNOVATE 11am – 3pm | 11 May Zetland Park | 5+ yrs | FREE Explore the SCI-FUN Roadshow: a science centre experience from the University of Edinburgh.

Featuring more than fifty hands-on activities, there is plenty for the whole family to enjoy. Take the challenge of the reaction wall, generate electricity, solve a variety of mind-bending puzzles, and find out if you actually see colours as they really are…

Be prepared to lose track of time at this highly interactive event. Due to the nature of the building this event may not be suitable for those with access needs.

MUIRAVONSIDE GALA DAY 11am – 3pm | 26 May | Muiravonside Park 5+ yrs FREE Join River Forth Trust, Light Lab, and Falkirk Community Trust for a day amongst nature discovering the science of our natural landscape. Make rivers flow, learn stone carving, build a bug hotel, learn about UV light and how our eyes work and watch bees do their honey dance.

A science filled day for all the family.

-- THE HELIX --

STEM@THE HELIX OPEN DAY 11am – 4pm | 18 May Great Lawn Helix Park | 5 yrs+ | FREE STEM@The Helix returns for its third year.

Interactive workshops, experiments and insights to science will bring a fun filled day to the Great Lawn. Science favourites Dr Bunhead and THINKscience are back with their jaw dropping science experiments, and Zoolab are returning with their creatures great and small.

Can you conduct a giant operation, make a bridge, and explore the inside of a wind turbine? Find out this May.

-- SCIENCE IN A KELPIE -A SERIES OF EVENTS IN A KELPIE

Photo by Samuel Zeller on Unsplash

The Good News About Climate Change A VR Experience 1pm | 1:45pm | 2:30pm | 3:15pm 18th May Meet in The Visitor Centre Helix Park Age restriction: Ages 10 years or older £7.50/£6.50 concessions Enter the world of virtual reality inside Falkirk’s famous Kelpies. Explore the effects of climate change by traveling the globe, and discovering the positive and innovative ways we are tackling its future impacts - in our world and beyond.

What are they REALLY doing up there?

A History of Cancer Research in Scotland 2pm-3pm | 20 May Meet in The Visitor Centre Helix Park 16+ | FREE Discover the fascinating history of medical innovation in Scotland and how these early breakthroughs built the foundations of cancer research today. Join Dr Sarah Thomas of Cancer Research UK, as we explore the vital discoveries that took place here in Scotland and how these have shaped modern medicine across the globe. From the first ever clinical trial run in 1747, to the development of MRI technology in 1980, to the incredible advances being made today in the treatment of cancer, the impact of Scotland’s scientific heritage continues to shape healthcare around the world.

2pm – 3pm, 26 May Meet in The Visitor Centre Helix Park 16+ | FREE A light-hearted exploration of life in and out of various orbits with topics on astronaut food in space and on Earth, satellite surveillance of your back yard, and establishing a new empire in the sky with Lunar and Martian colonies. With some discussion, jokes, and even a tiny bit of terrible tasting poetry – what’s not to like?

TO BOOK YOUR PLACE PLEASE VISIT www.thehelix.co.uk

POWER OF THE HUMAN MIND: A MINI FILM SEASON WITH TALKS

--HIPPODROME CINEMA--

The Innocents Sat 11 May 19:30 Tickets: £7 (£5.40 conc.)

One of the best ghost stories of all time presented with an introduction

by Dr Steve Kelly, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Strathclyde, on the science behind why people believe in the paranormal and the scientific evidence for psychic abilities.

Starring Deborah Kerr as an overly imaginative young woman who takes a job as a governess, caring for two precocious children in a vast and shadowy gothic mansion… Are they possessed or are they the subject of the twisted fantasies of their suggestible governess?

The Silence of the Lambs Fri 17 May 19:30 Tickets: £7 (£5.40 conc.)

Jonathan Demme’s multi- award-winning thriller which broke the mould of cinematic portrayals of insanity and crime, presented with an introduction by Dr Steve Kelly on the calculating manipulative mind of a psychopath. Anthony Hopkins is forever associated with his mesmerising portrayal of Hannibal “the Cannibal” in this devastatingly unnerving masterpiece featuring cinema’s most enduring psycho-killer. Dr Kelly’s talk examines the behavioural characteristics of a psychopath and considers what might be going wrong in the brain to make someone kill without caring.

Blade Runner: The Final Cut Thursday 23 May 19:30 Tickets: £7 (£5.40 conc.)

Join us for a special screening of this sci-fi classic, with an introduction by Dr Anthony Anderson, Senior Teaching Fellow in Psychology at the University of Strathclyde, on the psychological, moral and philosophical implications of Artificial Intelligence…

In a bleak future version of Los Angeles, the troubled special agent ‘Blade Runner’ Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) tracks down illegal ‘replicants’ who are attempting to pass themselves off as human.

The Hippodrome, 10 Hope St, Bo'ness EH51 0AA | Box Office: 01324 506850

-- CALLENDAR HOUSE --

GLADIATORS: A CEMETERY OF SECRETS Daily 10am – 5pm (excl. Tuesdays) 19 May – 6 October Callendar House | £5/£3

For the first time in Scotland see a rare exhibition of real Gladiators who were discovered just outside York dating back to the early 2nd to late 3rd century during the Roman times. Who were these men? Using forensic science and archaeology, you decide. Learn more about the Roman times with a hands-on Roman market play area.

Calendar House Callendar Rd, Falkirk FK1 1YR

TO BOOK YOUR PLACE PLEASE CALL 01324 506850

AN ANCIENT CRIME SCENE – EXCAVATING A CEMETERY OF SECRETS 2pm – 3pm, 26 May Callendar House Queens Room 10yrs+ | £6/£4

Forensic expert Lara Lee will talk to you about how science can be the key to solving mysteries of the past. From Ancient Egypt to more recent times, learn how modern techniques can shed light on historic cases. The gruesome truths revealed by science surrounding the cemetery of secrets will also be examined before you set off to personally explore the evidence from this ancient crime scene. Ticket price includes entry to Gladiators: A Cemetery of Secrets Exhibition.

Falkirk Community Trust gratefully acknowledges the support of Falkirk Council | Registered Charity No. SC042403 IDENTITY GUIDELINES 2016