The living lab above: science of the sky (Theatre)

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Join engineer and broadcaster Lucy Rogers as she blends hands-on demonstrations, modern science, and personal adventure to reveal the wonders visible to anyone who simply looks up.

Lucy will begin by recreating classic Victorian experiments, including some from the Ri's own history —from John Tyndall’s light-scattering demonstrations explaining why the sky is blue, to the buoyancy that underpins everything from drifting clouds to soaring gliders. From there, the exploration widens to the many phenomena unfolding overhead: from migrating butterflies and murmurating starlings, to shimmering aurorae and the planets beyond.

Interwoven throughout are stories from Lucy’s own field adventures, paired with clear scientific insight into navigation, flight, atmospheric optics, and the technologies that help us study the sky today. The talk will also bring the latest frontier research into focus, inviting you to rediscover the sky as a place of science, beauty, and ongoing discovery. Look up - and see the world in a whole new way.

Copies of Lucy's book "Up: A Scientist’s Guide to the Magic Above Us" will be available for purchase after the talk.

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Event image by Ritam Baishya via Unsplash