British Science Week 2026

Our event for British Science Week 2026 was a great success. The question was “Curiosity; what’s your question?” and we thought that exploring the senses was a good way to spark curiosity.

We first had a discussion about the states of matter and substances that are solid, liquid, or gas. Then we talked about Sir Isaac Newton - and his laws of relativity and viscosity. Once we had the context of what viscosity is and how liquids move - we used cornflour and water o create oobleck, a substance that acts like both a liquid and a solid depending on the force applied to it. Everyone had great fun playing around with the oobleck and seeing the different ways it would move. We tried rolling it into a solid ball then letting the liquid drip down between our fingers, and seeing what force and speed of the hand would cause it to turn solid.

We explored each of the senses one by one, focussing overall on taste. We investigated how other senses like sight and smell can affect your sense of taste. We asked what flavour a yellow drink would be to initiate the connection between the senses; all answering somewhere in the realm of orange or pineapple. Then we had them drink a cup of lemonade containing red food colouring and asked what flavour it was - with an overwhelming unanimity that the drink must have contained strawberry! Furthermore, we tested the sense of taste, asking participants to breathe through their mouth as we brought a scented candle around - and we were still able to smell it due to the connection between the nose and the mouth.

We finished up the science portion of the evening by making string from algae. We made the soon-to-be string from sodium alginate mixed with food ingredients, and then used calcium chloride to set the algae. The algae gel solution was added to the calcium chloride solution with a syringe, making it a long and maleable piece of faux-plastic string. Once the gel had set, everyone had fun feeling their own algae string and sharing them with others. The participants got a rare opportunity to to explore their sense of touch, and enjoying some care free sensory play. This activity had an element of sustainability and the environment, as we are replicating a process used to create plastic alternatives.

Finally, we ended the night by cooking and eating flatbreads with Sara. Food is a large element of almost every culture in the world - bread in particular - and the session took place during Ramadan so eating together when the sun went down was very moving. We heard and shared stories of their lives, their favourite foods and much more.

The purpose of the event was to welcome New Scots (refugees and asylum seekers) to attend a fun and welcoming session to meet new people, learn something new, and feel welcomed in our space.

Overall, I think the session was a tremendous success. Massive thanks to the workers who assisted me - Sam G/Princess, and Sara - the volunteer CJ - and all the young people who attended for making this such a fantastic evening.