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Lunar food gardening. Olympic science. Stem cell art. Canberra's adorable predators. Giant inflatable surf wave.

Day 1 of National Science Week

Saturday 15 August

Highlights from day 1 of National Science Week

Researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country.

NSW: Dinosaurs, displays and the Surfing Scientist: two huge family-friendly events in Sydney.

QLD: Olympians, sports science and STEM in the tropics, in Cairns.

ACT: Earth science (and much more) revealed in an adults-only geological striptease cabaret.

NSW: Saving lives at sea – the science behind marine rescue, in Port Macquarie.

QLD: Flying taxi made by Sunshine Coast students.

SA: How will we grow a veggie garden on the Moon?

NT: Gnarly inflatable surf wave sets stage for marine education at Darwin Festival.

ACT: Platypus and rakali: why these cute predators a sign of healthy waterways.

TAS: Mushrooms, LSD and MDMA: How psychedelics could reshape mental health care.

VIC: Still life with stem cells: artist Patricia Piccinini spent a year in a lab.

Read on for more on these, including direct event contact details.

Also today:

• SA: Chemistry and chaos in the kitchen – a science show with Dr Julie.
• NT: Hooked on Science – An indoor simulated fishing experience.
• WA: Butterfly basics and up close at Canning River Eco Education Centre.

Coming up tomorrow:

Super-fast planes. Koala census. Female fossil rockers. Facts vs fiction in sci-fi movies. Garden with Costa: see a preview of tomorrow’s highlights.

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

Dinosaurs, displays and the Surfing Scientist: two huge family-friendly events – Darlinghurst & Centennial Park, NSW

Giant dinosaur puppets, liquid nitrogen science shows, animals, scientists, and crowds of kids having fun – great filming and photo opportunities in two locations.

Saturday 15 August at Australian Museum, Darlinghurst

Sydney Science Trail at Australian Museum features the Museum’s resident dinosaur Winny, Research Institute scientists and their favourite museum objects, science shows with liquid nitrogen, and hands-on activities for kids, all hosted by The Surfing Scientist Ruben Meerman.

www.scienceweek.net.au/event/sydney-science-trail-community-day-3/darlinghurst

Media enquiries: [email protected]

50 stalls, wildlife encounters and a giant ginger dinosaur: Sunday 16 August at Centennial Park

Science in the Swamp transforms Centennial Park into a large-scale, hands-on, outdoor science experience with more than 50 stalls, workshops and activity zones. Highlights include the life-sized roaming Australoventor Ginger, wildlife, interactive robotics, virtual reality experiences, and dozens of scientists to talk to.

www.scienceweek.net.au/event/science-in-the-swamp-2025-2/centennial-park

Media enquiries: Jemma Pepper [email protected] or 0417 740 789.

STEM in the Tropics and science in sport with guest Olympians – Cairns, QLD

National Science Week kicks off in Cairns, the city set to host preliminary football and basketball at Barlow Park for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Launch event with:

• James Connor: Cairns-born Olympic diver, who represented Australia in the 10m platform at the London 2012 Olympics (aged 17) and again at Rio 2016.
• Korey Boddington OAM, Paralympic gold medallist and world record holder in para-cycling. Boddington won gold in the men's C4-5 1000m time trial at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, breaking the world record in the process. A serious motocross accident at 15 left him with an acquired brain injury and having to relearn how to walk and talk; he took up competitive track cycling in 2023 and was Paralympic champion within a year.

The launch is part of STEM in the Tropics, a pop-up science fair with hands-on activities spanning conservation, eco-tourism, local innovation and business, and First Nations bush foods initiatives.

Where: Tank 5 in the Cairns Botanic Gardens

Media enquiries: Dr Anita Milroy, [email protected] or 0417 602 412.

More information: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/stem-in-the-tropics-queensland-launch-for-national-science-week/cairns/

Striptease meets ‘dirty’ science – Canberra, ACT

Canberran researcher Dr Karina Judd presents a smart, sexy, adults-only exploration of geological and earth sciences.

By day, Dr Judd conducts science-engineering-social science research at the Australian National University to make the zero-carbon transition more people-friendly.

By night, she moonlights as ‘Roxie’ in her one-woman cabaret Rock Hard! The Geological Cabaret, winning the 2026 Science at the Fringe Award.

“Funny and bold … an enjoyable learning experience!” - judge’s comments, Adelaide Fringe Festival.

What to expect? Cocktail hour geology with sultry songs, smouldering dance, sharp wit and a shimmer of burlesque. No safety glasses required.

Saturday 15 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/rock-hard-the-geological-cabaret-2/canberra/

Media enquiries: Dr Karina Judd, [email protected] or 0448 318 748.

Dr Judd, who wrote and produced Rock Hard! The Geological Cabaret, is available for media interviews. She studied environmental geology at UNSW Sydney, specialising in soil and mineral chemistry before completing Honours in geology showcasing soil chemistry techniques as a useful tool in identifying past tsunami. And she is a seasoned performer of cabaret, burlesque and dance. See ANU profile: https://cpas.anu.edu.au/people/karina-judd

Saving lives at sea – the science behind marine rescue - Port Macquarie, NSW

How do life-jackets fill up with air. How do emergency beacons know where you are, and where do flood waters like to go first. For the volunteers of Port Macquarie Marine Rescue, this is the science and technology they use to save lives.

The Marine Rescue team is throwing open their boat shed to explore high-tech equipment, high-stakes sea rescues and give some hands-on physics demonstrations (ie, how to tie a really, really good knot). 

Saturday 15 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/the-science-behind-saving-lives-at-sea/port-macquarie

Media enquiries: Lilly De Belle, [email protected] or 0434 762 544.

Flying taxi made by Sunshine Coast students – Warana, QLD

A group of Sunshine Coast high school and university students have built a full-scale electric flying taxi, assisted by industry mentors.

Their eVTOL - Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing aircraft, often called an air taxi - is capable of flying autonomously from Maroochydore to Brisbane in just 20 minutes.

The full-scale aircraft seats one person. It can fly at speeds exceeding 250 km/h, cover distances over 200km, reach altitudes of up to 3,000 ft, and take off and land on a helipad. It is built primarily from carbon fibre composite, with aerospace-grade aluminium, titanium, glass, and a small amount of steel.

The project is an initiative of Manufacturing Excellence Forum, developing its own eVTOL in partnership with the University of the Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast Council, and the Queensland Government, backed by the effort of more than 50 students.

Meet the people involved and see the prototype and scale models at the Future Flight Science Fair at Javelin Aerospace & MKRS Space Sunshine Coast. Visitors will also have the chance to design, 3D print, and launch their own glider, experience a six-degree-of-freedom flight simulator, and other activities.

Saturday 15 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/future-flight-science-fair

Media enquiries: Bhavna Reetoo, eVTOL Sunshine Coast Manufacturing Excellence Forum, [email protected] or 0451 042 406.

Gnarly inflatable surf wave sets stage for marine education – The Gardens, NT

Acrobatic performers take on environmental education.

Legs On The Wall theatre company brings Australian surf culture and physical theatre together in a show celebrating our shared obsession with the sea.

Performed on a gnarly inflatable wave, Waverider is a family-friendly physical performance that reflects on the marine life who call the ocean their home, and the importance of looking after each other when plunging into the deep.

After the show the inflatable wave turns into a play zone for audience members.

Presented by Darwin Festival and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.

Saturday 15 August and Sunday 16 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/waverider

Media enquiries: Kirsti Abbott, [email protected] or call on 0466 726 525.

Platypus and rakali: cute predators a sign of healthy waterways – Queanbeyan East, ACT

The waterways around the nation’s capital are home to some of Australia’s most adorable predators.

Platypus are expert hunters, with special sensors in their bills enable them to detect tiny electric signals of moving prey. They can eat 40,000 waterbugs and other organisms a day.

Rakali, the native water rat often referred to as Australia’s otter, is a clever creature. Rakali in Australia’s north have learnt to kill cane toads and eat their non-toxic organs with “surgical precision”.

As top predators, they can only survive where there’s a substantial supply of smaller creatures, making them a sign of a healthy freshwater ecosystem. That’s why Dan Harris-Pascal and his colleagues at Upper Murrumbidgee Waterwatch monitor platypus and rakali populations with the help of volunteers.

This National Science Week, the program is running guided platypus and rakali walks to spot them in their natural environment, waterbug hunt bioblitzes to collect and identify aquatic macroinvertebrates (platypus food), and a screening of the film ‘The Platypus Guardian’ and Q&A with its star Tasmanian photographer Pete Walsh who is working to protect Hobart’s platypus population.

Queanbeyan River Walks: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/guided-platypus-walks-on-the-queanbeyan-river/queanbeyan-east/

Platypus Guardian Film and Q&A with Pete Walsh: Tuesday 18 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/platypus-guardian-film-screening-and-q-and-a-with-pete-walsh/acton/

Media enquiries: Daniel Harris-Pascal, [email protected] or 0413 246 761.

 

Psychedelics reshaping mental health care - Hobart, TAS

Medical mushrooms, LSD, MDMA and other once-taboo substances are reshaping mental health care.

Psychedelic plants and fungi have long been used in traditional medicine. Substances like LSD and MDMA were later scientifically studied as potential treatments for conditions from addiction to anxiety. Then came the War on Drugs, bringing most psychedelic research to a halt for decades.

Now, psychedelics are having a second act. In 2023, Australia became the first country to approve the clinical use of MDMA and psilocybin at a national level for specific mental health conditions.

Dr Paul Liknaitzky ─ head of Monash University’s Clinical Psychedelics Lab ─ has played a central role in establishing the field of clinical psychedelic research in Australia and has led several world-first studies and psychedelic trials.

He will speak at Tasmania’s Beaker Street Festival – along with a participant in a recent psychedelics trial – to discuss emerging findings, future directions, and the lived experience of psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Saturday 15 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/psychedelics-revisited/hobart

Media enquiries: Matt Fraser, [email protected] or 0401 326 007.

Paul Liknaitzky is available for media interviews.

Still life with stem cells: artist Patricia Piccinini spent a year in a lab - Parkville, VIC

World-renowned Australian artist Patricia Piccininni spent a year immersed in stem cell research laboratories to create her newest work, Células Madre, which revisits her seminal early work Still Life in Stem Cells 25 years later.

Patricia will explore hope, art and science in conversation with leading stem-cell expert Professor Melissa Little, as part of the EMERGENCE(Y) exhibition at the Melbourne Science Gallery.

Saturday 15 August: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/in-conversation-patricia-piccinini-and-professor-melissa-little-2/parkville

Patricia Piccininni and Melissa Little are available for interviews.

Media enquiries for Ms Piccininni: Katrina Hall, [email protected] or 0421 153 046

Media enquiries for Prof Little: Helen Flett, [email protected] or 0408 341 182.

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.