Science

Edinburgh International Science Festival 2012 - highlights

Derren Brown and giant eyes among the top events at this year's EISF

8 Mar 2012

Illusions, experiments, fire-walking and food are just some of the treats in store at this year’s Edinburgh International Science Festival. With events in more venues than ever before, 2012’s programme welcomes scientists, comedians, psychologists…

Design and Democracy exhibition - Free Family Weekend to mark St Andrew's Day

Free events include building your own rocket and radio-controlled car

16 Nov 2011

Design affects the lives of all of us. Whether it’s an intuitive new phone, a car that tells us we’ve left the lights on, or the Kindle doing something nobody expected and actually improving on the design of a book, who of us have not had our lives…

TED Global 2011 talks set for Edinburgh

Alain de Botton, Niall Ferguson and Robin Ince deliver talks in Scotland's capital

28 Jun 2011

A slew of artists, musicians, scientists, architects, historians, filmmakers, actresses and many more will descend on the capital this July, as part of a four-day programme devoted to ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’. Helmed by non-profit organisation TED, the…

Robots Live! brings Robot Wars and a robotic football squad to Edinburgh

Robot Wars and football-playing robots at the National Museum of Flight

14 Jun 2011

It’s difficult to talk about the appeal of robots. How do you talk about the appeal of something as universally loved. What’s not to love about robots? Since technology first enabled humans to build machines that could to programmed to perform…

Glasgow Science Festival programme appeals to both children and adults

Opportunities to do some gardening, bread-making and seabird tracking

23 May 2011

For some parents, it’s always been fascinating, for others it was the worst block at school. But one thing’s for sure, these days the world of science offers more fun and creativity than you can shake a pipette at. With four action-packed family days on…

The best Easter 2011 events in Glasgow and Edinburgh

Easter egg hunts, beaches, boat trips and activities for Easter weekend

18 Mar 2011

Beach Babies Scotland is scattered with some of the most peaceful and well-kept beaches in the UK. In particular, North Berwick on the east coast is a famously picturesque seaside town, complete with miles of sand, cobbled streets full of friendly cafés…

The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh

Newly renovated NMS showcases Scottish achievements

16 Feb 2011

A country with as many scientists, inventors and explorers as Scotland needs a place to show off all its achievements – and nowhere does the job better than the newly renovated National Museum

Your Days Are Numbered

Somehow making maths funny

23 Aug 2010

It’s hard to believe that travel and science journalist Timandra Harkness once had a Princess Diana joke banned by Carlton TV. Alongside stand-up mathematician Matt Parker, the mood of this show is light and fluffy, even if it is chiefly covering the…

Dance Doctor Dance

Joining in with the lord of the dance

11 Aug 2010

As the lights go up on PowerPoint equipment and a bespectacled, middle-aged man announcing himself as a reader in psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, you fear you’re in for a lecture rather than an hour of Fringe fun. But twinkle-toed Dr…

After Dolly: Where Do You Draw the Line?

9 Jun 2010

It’s been 13 years since Edinburgh-based scientists successfully cloned a sheep, and as the first man-made life forms blubber onto the planet, scientists from Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute, where Dolly the Sheep was created, get together with their…

Edinburgh International Science Festival

7 Apr 2010

Science is neither just for school kids, nor for stuffy academics – at least that’s the message at this year’s annual Edinburgh science jamboree. The festival is seeking to rouse the interest of people in their late teens and early 20s, as well as the…

Premier of BBC’s World of Wonder series among highlights of Edinburgh Science Festival Film strand

31 Mar 2010

The film strand of the Edinburgh’s Science Festival taking place between the 3-17 April includes preview screenings of the BBC’s new World of Wonder series films, American documentary Blast! – a giddy journey in to the complex world of astrophysics and…

Social Science at Glasgow Science Centre

Let’s get physics, y'all!

19 Nov 2009

There are certain ‘childish’ ways of being that we’re encouraged to leave behind when we grow up. Throwing tantrums in the street, for example, or scratching yourself there in public. Unfortunately, just simply playing, and indulging a wide-eyed sense…

Chris Packham - Wild thing

30 Oct 2009

Chris Packham recently suggested that we should just let the giant panda die out. As he comes to Glasgow, Kirstin Innes talks to the controversial conservationist.

The Weatherman

30 Oct 2009

The inclement Scottish weather can be responsible for many things, most of them negative, so it’s nice to see that excessive rainfall can occasionally lead to some good. Moving to Glasgow from Dublin, musician Dave Boyd was immediately struck by how wet…

Doctor Austin and Doug Safety's Time-Tastical Time Tale

It’s science Jim, but not as we know it

16 Aug 2009

Time travel is a gift to fiction writers, but when it comes to the facts, even Doctor Who had to resort to describing it as ‘a big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff’. Dr Austin and Doug Safety have set themselves a hard task. Starting with…

Visualise Reloaded

16 Aug 2009

There are an awful lot of confusingly big words in the world of science – which is why these guys don’t use any at all. Instead, Science Made Simple blend physical theatre with live science demonstrations, projected images and music to create a…

Minibeast Safari & A Wander With Bugs and Butterflies

Ugly Bug Ball

6 Aug 2009

If you’re already bored of staring at comedians, why not spend a little time investigating a very different kind of wild and unpredictable beastie? Summer is excellent bug-spotting time, as both Cammo Visitor Centre, who are offering A Wander With Bugs…

Doctor Austin and Doug Safety's Time-Tastical Time Tale and Visualise: Reloaded

Time travel, techno-clowns and Darwin: science theatre for everyone

13 Jul 2009

Whether it’s cryogenics or time travel, Darwin or the speed of light, one thing the Fringe seldom lacks is imagination. Always on hand to entertain all ages, this year’s Festival looks set to engage and inspire with an array of science-related shows for…

Best of the Rest - Politics

Political highlights at the Edinburgh Festivals

13 Jul 2009

Highlights include Annie Lennox and the SING campaign, From Darwin to Dolly: And Beyond, A Life in Politics: Dennis Canavan, Devolution and the Arts, Young Peoples Question Time, Burns' Radical Voice and Love But Her

Walking with Dinosaurs

25 Jun 2009

Despite none of us really knowing what it was like when dinosaurs ruled the earth, the BBC made a fine attempt at recreating it a few years back. Walking with Dinosaurs took nature documentaries to a whole new level, using scientific research and…

Simon Gage’s head did not explode at the Science Festival launch

7 Apr 2009

1000 people came to this 21st birthday party and enjoyed an evening competing with their children to enjoy the 7 floor of activities and exhibitions. The party was launched by the Science Festival Director, Simon Gage, who stepped forward to correctly…

Edinburgh International Science Festival: The Appliance of Science

2 Apr 2009

With 170 events taking place in 26 venues, it’s safe to say that Edinburgh International Science Festival has got everything pretty much covered. The star of the show this year is ASIMO, the world’s most advanced robot. Appearing four times a day at the…

Edinburgh International Science Festival: Brain Busters

2 Apr 2009

It's through events such as this that the Science Festival really comes into its own: activities that bring the whole family together, teach you a bit about science and give you as much (or little) fun as you can handle. Drop into the National Museum's…

Hitlist - Kids

19 Feb 2009

Peter Pan - A thrilling new production of the JM Barrie classic, LazyTown Live – The Pirate Adventure Join Sportacus, Baby Loves Disco, That’s Rubbish and Rocking Rascals.

Visualise Reloaded

Technoclowns inspire again

14 Aug 2008

Following last year's Visualise show, Science Made Simple duo, Debbie Sirop and Gareth Smith illuminate young minds once again with Visualise: Reloaded, an entertaining blend of physical theatre and scientific exploration. Against a highly energetic…

Here comes the fun

17 Jul 2008

As the school holidays stretch out before us, Kelly Apter finds there’s no shortage of ways to get your hands dirty and learn something new this summer

Good Vibrations

3 Jul 2008

One of the Capital’s most exciting visitor attractions, Our Dynamic Earth, has teamed up with Edinburgh International Science Festival to bring you Good Vibrations. Join Maestro and Bella as they embark on a journey of discovery to find out how noise is…

Edinburgh International Science Festival

27 Mar 2008

Since 1988, the Edinburgh International Science Festival has proved that the words ‘science’ and ‘fun’ are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, the Festival’s extensive programme of hands-on events has become a highlight in the interactive kiddie…

An Inconvenient Truth: judge identifies ‘nine errors’ in Gore film

11 Oct 2007

A High Court judge has said that Al Gore’s Oscar winning documentary on climate change contains ‘nine scientific errors’ - but can be shown in schools if accompanied by information giving the other side of the argument. Mr Justice Barton said there…

DT Max

23 Aug 2007

Three things compelled DT Max to set about writing The Family that Couldn’t Sleep. Firstly, as a science writer for the New Yorker and New York Times, he had an interest in prions, the rogue proteins behind mad cow disease. The second was personal: he…

Richard Dawkins

16 Aug 2007

These are combative times to be a God-denier. It’s not only loopy Christians who are trying to make us believe the world was made in a week, now certain Muslims are jumping on the creationist bandwagon. Turkey’s Adnan Oktar, writing as Harun Yahya, has…

Lucy Hawking

19 Jul 2007

What do you do when your father is one of the world’s most respected theoretical physicists, author of the bestseller A Brief History of Time and you want to be a writer? The answer was obvious to Lucy Hawking, daughter of Stephen: write a book…

Edinburgh International Science Festival

World of Wonder

26 Mar 2007

Once upon a time, only the biggest geeks at school were ever even vaguely interested in the ways and doings of test tubes and Bunsen burners. Nowadays, it’s not just the cool kids who are getting into science, as everyone with an interest in making any…

Richard Dawkins

The God Delusion (Bantam)

28 Sep 2006

Like a latter day John Thomas Scopes (the Tennessee biology teacher who was the inspiration for the play and film Inherit the Wind) Richard Dawkins has long been vocal about his belief that all children should be taught the Darwinian Theory of Evolution…