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Who wants to live forever; thunderstorm asthma; crochet, cocktails and maths; Baroque space music; computing 101

National Science Week - Saturday 9 to Sunday 17 August 2025

Great National Science Week for 55+ audiences stories up for grabs now around Australia

• Computer programmers aged 55+ wanted. No experience required – Greenway, ACT
• Crochet meets maths with cocktails – Joondalup, WA
• Pharmacies of the future: 3D-printed pills, nanomedicine and more – Brisbane, QLD
• Do you want to live forever? Hear what neuroscience and health experts have to say during the FOREVER exhibition – Adelaide, SA
• Step inside a giant, woolly gut: community knit-in explores gut-brain axis – Gymea, NSW
• Nature and your attention span? – North Fitzroy, VIC
• Who to call if you find a dinosaur bone – Ryde, NSW
• Are you at risk of thunderstorm asthma? – Beechworth, VIC
• Aurora-chasers capture the rarely-seen ‘STEVE’ and other phenomena – Hobart, TAS
• Space music with NASA astrophysicist and Baroque orchestra – Perth, WA
• Deep space and time exploration in Australia’s Red Centre – Alice Springs, NT
• Closing health gaps with wearable tech – Bundoora, VIC
• Multimedia project captures 65,000+ years of Indigenous Knowledge through voices of elders, scientists and environmentalists – online
• Legally blind artist drives multisensory Quantum Year exhibition – multi-state (Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane)

See details below and visit ScienceWeek.net.au/events to find stories in your area.

Scientists, experts, performers and event organisers are available for interview throughout National Science Week.

Read on for direct contact details for each event, or contact Tanya Ha, [email protected] or 0404 083 863; or Shelley Thomas, [email protected] or 0416 377 444.

Media centre here. Images for media here.

Seeking computer programmers aged 55+ – Greenway, ACT

Senior Australians will have the opportunity to learn computer programming at workshops tailored for people who aren’t digital natives. 

Billed as more fun than Sudoku or crosswords, Creative Computing for Seniors focuses on keeping brains active by learning how to write and run programs via a block-based coding platform called Scratch. 

The free workshop at Canberra Institute of Technology Tuggeranong offers an introduction to the platform that empowers students to create games, animations, stories and interactive art. 

Saturday 9 August and Saturday 16 August. Event details

Media enquiries: Thomas McCoy, [email protected] or 0402 050 852. Thomas McCoy, a CIT teacher who developed the Creative Computing for Seniors workshop, is available for media interviews. 

 

Crochet: where maths meets craft, with cocktails - Joondalup, WA

Create your own hyperbolic geometry shape with yarn at Birra Bar at Edith Cowan University and learn the pattern from ECU mathematician Dr Julia Collins, while sipping on a specialty cocktail.

Julia is co-founder of Maths Craft Australia and has a PhD in 4-dimensional knot theory from the University of Edinburgh. She shares the maths that underpins crochet in a workshop-cocktail party. 

You will need to have mastered the basic crochet stitch to take part in this workshop. It is not for absolute beginners, and you can BYO yarn and hooks if you like.

Friday 15 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/crochet-and-cocktails-2/joondalup/

Media enquiries: Cass Rowles, [email protected] or 08 6304 2467.

Julia Collins is available for media interviews.

 

Pharmacies of the future – Woolloongabba, Brisbane, QLD

3D-printed pills. Nanomedicine. Personalised skin patches. Step inside The University of Queensland’s pharmacy lab and meet experts behind future meds:

• Dr Taskeen Janjua Khan, specialist in brain drug delivery.
• Dr Anjana Jayasree, specialist in local drug delivery (targeted administration of medication to a specific site in the body).
• Professor Amirali Popat, specialist in nano-formulation of drugs.

Visitors can tour the tableting room, create and taste juice-flavoured ‘medicine bubbles’ (to understand microencapsulation techniques), and join panel discussions. 

Wednesday 13 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/science-in-your-hands/woolloongabba/

Media enquiries: [email protected] or 0429 056 139.

 

Who wants to live forever? – Adelaide, SA

What will it take to keep your body going and would you really want to?

Hear what neuroscience and health experts have to say during the FOREVER exhibition at University of South Australia’s Museum of Discovery (MOD). Panellists include:

• University of South Australia’s Professor Grant Tomkinson, who focuses on the link between physical fitness and health.
• The University of Adelaide’s Associate Professor Lyndsey Collins-Praino, who leads the Cognition, Ageing and Neurodegenerative Disease Laboratory.

Thursday 14 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/q-do-you-want-to-live-forever/adelaide/

Media enquiries: Melissa Keogh, [email protected] or 0403 659 154.

 

Step inside a giant, woolly gut – Gymea, NSW

Textile artists and community members have knitted a giant walk-in gut to explore the gut microbiome and its impact on mental health. 

It’s part of the ‘Gut Feelings’ exhibition, the brainchild of three artists behind a collaborative science-based crafting initiative that builds on the success of the Neural Knitworks project.

For the past two years, the team has presented numerous workshops and informal knit and stitch sessions across Sydney. This has brought people of all ages and abilities together to create textile microbes and intestinal villi and find out about the gut-brain connection. 

Community members involved in ‘Gut Feelings’ have engaged with researchers and followed scientifically-informed patterns to knit, crochet, weave and stitch more than 4,000 villi, 450 gut epithelial cells, hundreds of microbes, a life-size figure showing the longest nerve in the body, and an assortment of food. 

Researchers who participated in the project are from UNSW Sydney, University of Sydney, University of Technology and ANSTO. Others from Flinders University (South Australia) and the University of Western Australia have provided research images on display alongside the crafted installations. 

The free exhibition at Hazelhurt Arts Centre aims to immerse visitors in ‘a playful yet serious’ exploration of the gut-brain axis, including a talk on Sunday 17 August.

Friday 15 August – Tuesday 2 September. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/gut-feelings/gymea/

Media enquiries: Pat Pillai, [email protected] or 0408 213 844. Rita Pearce, 0421 049 825, and Mary Hyman, 0424 100 597.

Lead artist Pat Pillai, textile artist Rita Pearce (life-size figure) and art educator Mary Hayman (walk-in gut) are available for interviews.  

 

Can nature help us concentrate? - North Fitzroy, VIC

Melbourne researchers say looking to nature can improve your attention span. 

University of Melbourne Psychology Professor Katherine Johnson discusses related findings about staying focussed. 

Her research in the field of developmental cognitive neuroscience involves children and adults with developmental disorders including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Thursday 14 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/the-science-of-attention-how-nature-can-help/north-fitzroy

Media enquiries: Katherine Johnson, [email protected] or 0406 780 657.

Professor Katherine Johnson is available for media interviews. 

 

What happens if you find a dinosaur bone in your back yard? – Ryde, NSW

Find out what to do if you dig up a fossil or First Nations artefact from palaeontologist and archaeologist Sally Hurst, who launched ‘Found a Fossil Project’. 

She talks about life as a female fossil hunter and invites audience questions when Ryde Library hosts ‘Dinosaurs after Dark’. 

Thursday 14 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/dinosaurs-after-dark-with-palaeontologist-sally-hurst-ryde-library/ryde/

Media enquiries: Sally Hurst, [email protected] or 0400 906 823.

Sally Hurst is available for media interviews. The event forms part of the ‘Digging up Ryde’ series, also featuring Jurassic VR experiences, fun fossil digs, volcanoes, and encounters with live lizards, frogs and crocodiles: multiple dates from Saturday 9 August. 

 

Deadly pollen: are you at risk of thunderstorm asthma? - Beechworth, VIC

Thunderstorm asthma, a condition triggered by high levels of pollen during a storm, can cause severe asthma attacks, even in people who have never had asthma. People who get hay fever might be at risk.

Allergy sufferer, scientist and Superstar of STEM Dr Kira Hughes is bringing asthma education to regional Victoria – a place where high grass pollen levels make it vitally important.

While thunderstorm asthma events are rare, around 40 per cent of all worldwide events happened in Australia and have resulted in hospitalisations and even deaths.

Kira will share the science of thunderstorm asthma, why Australia is a hotspot, and the innovative solutions in development in a free presentation at Beechworth Library. 

Saturday 9 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/thunderstorm-asthma/beechworth/

Media enquiries: Martyn Pearce, [email protected] or 0432 606 828.

Kira Hughes is available for media interviews.

 

Space music with NASA astrophysicist and orchestra in Perth – Kwinana, WA

Dr Antony Brian – an astrophysicist, planetary geologist and Venusian volcanologist (who mapped the surface of Venus for NASA) – is on a mission to launch Baroque concertgoers into deep space.

In ‘Space Music’, he joins forces with Perth-based orchestra Australian Baroque providing accompaniment in the form of striking NASA images. The multi-sensory experience takes place at Koorliny Arts Centre.

Saturday 16 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/space-music-presented-by-australian-baroque/waikiki/

Media enquiries: Brad Coleman, [email protected] or 0403 539 529.

Dr Antony Brian is available for media interviews.

 

Aurora-chasers reveal rarely-seen ‘STEVE’ and other phenomena – Hobart, TAS

Find out:

• what causes mesmerising aurora displays like arcs, rays, curtains and a rare phenomenon called STEVE
• why Tasmania is the best place in the world to see the Southern Lights (aka Aurora Australis).

See how space weather, solar activity and particles from the Sun create epic displays when they hit Earth’s atmosphere in the ‘Southern Nights’ exhibition at Salamanca Arts Centre. 

Timed during the 2025 solar maximum (11-year peak of Sun’s activity) the exhibition brings together award-winning photography, timelapse footage and a ‘live aurora dashboard’ with real-time space weather data.

Saturday 9 August – Monday 18 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/southern-nights-the-science-beauty-of-aurora-australis/hobart/

Media enquiries: Luke Tscharke, [email protected] / [email protected] or 0422 171 453.

 

Can wearable tech reduce rural/remote health gaps? – Bundoora, VIC

Wearable health technology and apps have been around since the mid-2000s. But what’s the science behind them, and why should you care?

Find out in workshops, talks and demonstrations that showcase how innovative technologies can reduce health disparities and improve access to preventative care. The program includes stories from people in places like regional Australia, Nepal, India, and Africa, showing how technology is helping their communities stay healthy.

Thursday 14 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/empowering-health-through-science-and-technology/bundoora/

Media enquiries: Manoj Khadka, [email protected] or 0426 086 532.

 

Deep space and time exploration in the heart of Australia’s Red Centre – Alice Springs, NT

Discover how Central Australia provides insights into the history of life on Earth.

Explore our abundance of fossil sites, from the precursors of multi-cellular life (which lived billions of years before dinosaurs) to the world’s largest bird. 

See how Australia’s Red Centre has changed through deep time and learn about our more recent geological past by exploring the 12 craters created just 4,700 years ago by the Henbury Meteor!

The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory hosts a series of events with experts including astrophysicist Dr Sara Webb; ecologist Dr Steve Morton; and the museum’s Dr Kirsti Abbott (Head of Science) and Dr Adam Yates (Senior Curator, Earth Sciences). 

Plus, a palaeo-musical show by touring Aussie girl-geek band, The Ammonites. 

Multiple dates and locations. 

Media enquiries: Alison Copley, [email protected] or 0438 111 343.

 

Legally blind artist and musician collaborate in multisensory science exhibition to celebrate Quantum Year – Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane

‘A Different Light: Multisensory Science Books of X-Ray Crystallography’ touring exhibition builds on the work of the Monash Sensory Science initiative and will be delivered through partnerships with Vision Australia (VIC), Next Sense (NSW), Braille House (QLD) and other key educational organisations.

Designed by legally blind artist Dr Erica Tandori, from Monash University’s Rossjohn Laboratory, and designer/musician Dr Stu Favilla, from Swinburne University of Technology, it explores hidden atomic structures and protein formations revealed through X-ray crystallography in a series of 10 multisensory science books.

Showcasing accessible and inclusive science during Quantum Year, the exhibition enables blind, low vision and diverse needs (BLVDN) audiences to connect with cutting-edge Australian science and scientists (past and present) – including Nobel Prize winners Henry and Lawrence Bragg, the Australian father-and-son duo who pioneered X-ray crystallography.

It also features interactive mock-ups of the Braggs’ X-ray crystallography machines from the early 20th Century, image and data sonification, science inspired electronic music, and tactile artworks and graphics that represent atomic structures, diffraction patters and protein formations.

Multiple dates and locations

Media enquiries: Dr Erica Tandori, [email protected] or 0407 806 733.

 

How do you capture 65,000+ years of Indigenous Knowledge? – online

Powerfully… through a series of videos, articles, podcasts and interactive online events that showcase traditional knowledge, environmental stewardship and deadly inventions of Australia’s First Scientists.

The ‘Indigenous STEM Virtual Gallery’ highlights the intersection between Indigenous Knowledge systems and modern STEM innovations by capturing the voices of Indigenous elders, scientists and environmentalists who lead the way in conservation, technology and sustainable practices. 

The multimedia project, led by Community News Hub Aboriginal Corporation (based in Gunnedah, NSW), includes educational toolkits for schools and community groups.

Saturday 16 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/indigenous-stem-virtual-gallery/

Media enquiries: Dean Foley, [email protected] or 0458 980 232.

 

 

About National Science Week

National Science Week is Australia’s annual opportunity to meet scientists, discuss hot topics, do science and celebrate its cultural and economic impact on society – from art to astrophysics, chemistry to climate change, and forensics to future food.

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 2,000 events and activities.

The festival is proudly supported by the Australian Government, CSIRO, the Australian Science Teachers Association, and the ABC.

In 2025 it runs from Saturday 9 to Sunday 17 August. Event details can be found at www.scienceweek.net.au.