Giant Poo Palace. Milking snakes. Devil cancer. And the surprising beauty of slime moulds.
Highlights from the final day of National Science Week
Sunday 23 August
Researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country.
TAS: Nature’s jewels: The tiny, enchanting world of slime moulds.
QLD: Racing a contagious cancer to save the Tasmanian devil.
NSW: Follow food from lips to lavatory in the giant inflatable Poo Palace, in Newcastle.
ACT: Iranian refugee and Trekkie founds space film festival exploring a ‘better future’.
NSW: Milking venomous snakes to save lives, near Gosford.
NSW: Meet a dinosaur (and others) at Lizard Log.
ACT: Snakes, space, rockets, rocks and scientists take over Canberra’s shopping centres.
TAS: Science through the lens, from microbes to Antarctic ice.
Read on for more on these, including direct event contact details.
Also today:
- VIC: See the sun close up: solar astronomy at Melbourne Observatory in the Botanic Gardens.
- WA: WA Museum Boola Bardip in Perth transforms into a giant hands-on science lab.
- SA: Chemistry and chaos in the kitchen.
National Science Week 2026 runs from 15 to 23 August.
Read on for direct contact details for each event, or contact Tanya Ha, [email protected] or 0404 083 863.
- More highlights by state: ACT - NSW - NT - QLD - SA - TAS - VIC - WA.
- More stories by round: The Arts - Business - Children & Family - Environment - Entertainment - Film - Food - Health - Indigenous - Queer - Seniors - Women in Science – Youth – Talkback talent.
- Visit the Media Centre for all media releases and images.
- Or visit ScienceWeek.net.au/events to find more stories in your area.
More about the event highlights
Native bees and seaweed at Redfern - Redfern, NSW
Nature’s jewels: The tiny, enchanting world of slime moulds – Rosny Park, TAS
It isn’t an animal, a plant, or a fungus. It has no brain but can learn and teach what it’s learnt to its fellows.
It’s a strange, creeping, feeding giant blob-like cell that produces miniscule fruiting bodies that release spores.
Slime moulds... What are they? What ecological roles do they play? Why do they look so beautiful?
Find out from Sarah Lloyd OAM, who started photographing and collecting slime moulds (myxomycetes) in the tall wet eucalypt forest that surround her home in Northern Tasmania in 2010.
From this site, she discovered an undocumented genus, Tasmaniomyxa umbilicata, and 4 new species.
Sarah shares photographs, micrographs, and numerous specimens she has accumulated over the past 16 years in this exhibition.
Find out more about the different species including Fuligo septica, which is also known as dog’s vomit slime, demon droppings, and caca de luna (moon shit)!
Friday 16 August to Sunday 23 August. www.scienceweek.net.au/event/enchanted-slime-mould-forest/rosny-park/
Media enquiries: Matt Fraser, [email protected] or 0401 326 007.
Racing a contagious cancer to save the Tasmanian devil – Enoggera Reservoir, QLD
Tasmanian devils are threatened by devil facial tumour disease – a rare transmissible cancer that spreads when the animals bite one another. This event reveals how scientists and conservation teams are racing to protect them.
From special breeding programs to tracking devils in the wild and returning them to their homes, visitors will learn how understanding the animals’ health, genes and habitats could keep this iconic species around for future generations.
Sunday 23 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/saving-the-tasmanian-devil-2/enoggera-reservoir
Media enquiries: Dr Junming He, ARC Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science, [email protected]or 0426 283 303.
Ambassadors available for interview: Director Professor David Craik, COO Dr Richard Kim and Dr Junming He.
Robots, stunt clown, garbology, and the giant inflatable Poo Palace - Newcastle, NSW
- Follow food from lips to lavatory in a giant inflatable Poo Palace
- Meet stunt clown The Pretty Amazing Jono
- Climb inside a City of Newcastle Garbage truck and talk to the driver
- Build and race your own mini solar car
- See humanoid, dog and combat robots
- Plus, shark eggs, video games, explosive stage shows, science-themed baked goods, and more...
The Hunter Science Festival is a free public event held annually at Newcastle Museum. It’s full day of hands-on science, live shows and interactive displays, presented with help from local researchers, councils, universities, community groups, small businesses and charities. The event celebrates science in the community, promotes science as a career choice, and showcases local science achievements and personalities. Highlights include science demonstrations, Indigenous science, The Bubble Laboratory, roving entertainment, and popular attractions such as Hunter Medical Research Institute’s Poo Palace.
Sunday 23 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/hunter-science-festival-4/newcastle
Media enquiries: Michelle Meehan, [email protected] or 0438 325 303.
Iranian refugee and Trekkie founds space film festival exploring a ‘better future’ - Canberra, ACT
Former IT professional-turned-filmmaker Masoud Varjavandi found strength watching Star Trek while growing up in a Baha’i family persecuted in Iran during the 1980s.
Today, he shares stories for a better future through Canberra’s Space Faring Civilisation Film Festival, featuring award-winning sci-fi and documentary shorts.
Masoud says: “This isn’t about escapism. It’s about reminding people that progress, peace and a better future are still within reach.”
Free stop-motion animation workshops will be held in Canberra’s shopping centres in the lead-up to the Space Faring Civilisation (SFC) Film Festival on Sunday 23 August.
The SFC Film Festival’s mission to bring together the next generation of filmmakers and science storytellers, culminating in a full-day event that includes creative workshops, Q&A panel, and screenings of award-winning sci-fi and documentary shorts with a positive perspective on science and space exploration.
Sunday 23 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/2026-space-faring-civilisation-sfc-film-festival/canberra
Media enquiries: Masoud Varjavandi, [email protected], 0432 902 619.
SFC Film Festival director Masoud Varjavandi is available for media interviews. View the 2025 Highlight Reel.
Milking venomous snakes to save lives – Somersby (near Gosford), NSW
Meet the Venom Keepers at the Australian Reptile Park. The wrangle and milk some of our most venomous snakes to help create life-saving anti-venom.
See Billy Collett (Park Manager), Brandon Gifford (Operations Manager), Annika Barker (2IC Reptiles) and zookeeper Logan Graff in action during live snake milking demonstrations at the Australian Reptile Park’s Weigel Venom Centre.
Ask them what venom does, why different snakes have different types of venom, and how keepers work safely with these animals every day.
Saturday 15 August to Sunday 23 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/daily-antivenom-talk/somersby/
Media enquiries: Chloe Burgess-Jones, [email protected] or 0455 066 607.
Venom Keepers/reptile experts are available for media interviews. Photos and footage available here. Watch one of their Venom Diaries videos.
Meet a dinosaur (and others) at Lizard Log – Abbotsbury, NSW
Say hello to Ginger the life-sized Australovenator dinosaur, catch bugs, discover Indigenous seaweed harvesting and taste bush cordial.
‘Science in the Scrub’ returns to Lizard Log in Western Sydney Parklands. This year it features a First Nations Science Village, the pop-up Ocean Lab, robotics and engineering challenges, native animals, frogs and insects up close, and other activities.
Sunday 23 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/science-in-the-scrub-2025-2/abbotsbury
Media enquiries: Jemma Pepper [email protected] or 0417 740 789.
Snakes, space, rockets, rocks and more while you shop – multiple locations, ACT
Pop-up activity centres will give shoppers the chance to discover the science behind native plants, reptiles, engineering, space (and sci fi!), pollen mapping and the environment.
Canberra Centre, Westfield Belconnen, Westfield Woden, South.Point Tuggeranong, Majura Park Shopping Centre, Cooleman Court, and Marketplace Gungahlin will host a variety of displays and hands-on science activities during the weekends of National Science Week (15 - 16 and 22 - 23 August).
Media enquiries: Brook Clinton, [email protected] or 0406 356 207.
Science through the lens, from microbes to Antarctic ice – Hobart, TAS
See stunning images of science and choose a winner at the Beaker Street Science Photography Prize. It celebrates images that reveal how science shapes our understanding of the world, with a focus on Tasmania, the Southern Ocean and Antarctica.
This finalist exhibition features 12 images – from microscopic structures to vast Antarctic landscapes – chosen through judging and public voting. This year’s judges are Wiradjuri astrophysicist and science communicator Dr Kirsten Banks and Australian Geographic 2025 Nature Photographer of the Year Marley Butler. Visitors can vote for the People’s Choice Award.
Part of the Beaker Street Festival, on show at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.
Runs 5 August – 6 September, during TMAG opening hours and TMAG After Dark: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/beaker-street-science-photography-prize-finalist-exhibition-3/hobart
Media enquiries: Matt Fraser, [email protected] or 0401 326 007.
About National Science Week
National Science Week is Australia’s annual opportunity to meet scientists, discuss hot topics, do science and celebrate its contribution to our lives. Science drives economic and social change – from safe and nutritious food to reducing cancer deaths; from smart phones to AI; from under Antarctica’s ice floes to distant planets.
First held in 1997, National Science Week has become one of Australia’s largest festivals. Last year about 3 million people participated in more than 2,500 registered events and activities.
National Science Week 2026 runs from Saturday 15 to Sunday 23 August. Event details can be found at www.scienceweek.net.au.
National Science Week is proudly supported by the Australian Government, alongside key partners Questacon, CSIRO, the Australian Science Teachers Association, and ABC Science.
