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What's on in Explore-At-Bristol It's a speedy, sporty Spring here at Explore! Get active with LoveSport, the family-friendly exhibition celebrating sporting bodies and minds. Then hurry to Inside DNA, the second of our brand-new exhibitions, where you can find out more about your health, identity, and evolution.	Events Newsletter Keep up to date with At-Bristol's events in our monthly e-update Click here to subscribe
Hearts will be thumping at our explosive Fizz, whizz, bang! show, and you can exercise your brain with the amazing space stories in the new Spring night sky Planetarium show! It's an action-packed day out for both your brain and body in Explore this Spring, so race on down!

Fossils and funny bones A special exhibition for the under 8s! Through imaginative play and hands-on activities, children will discover the magic of prehistoric worlds! This new interactive exhibition will stimulate children’s curiosity about the creatures that once walked the Earth - taking them on a journey of discovery through time. Venue: Explore-At-Bristol Cost: Free with a ticket to Explore Date: 15 September 2007 - 30 June 2008 Click here for more information.

Inside DNA Man or monkey? Girl or boy? Innocent or guilty? High risk or healthy? A little DNA can make a big difference. Inside DNA: A Genomic Revolution is all about you… your health, your identity and your ancestry. It is a unique new exhibition investigating developments in the fast-moving field of human genomics, and the ethical issues that they raise.

Inside DNA is your opportunity to explore the developments and hear from leading researchers. What are their views and experiences of genomic research? And what impact will their research have on you and on your family’s future?

Venue: Explore-At-Bristol
Cost: Free with a ticket to Explore
Date: 29 November 2007 to 2 September 2008

Inside DNA was developed by At-Bristol on behalf of Ecsite-uk, with funding from the Wellcome Trust and support from the Sanger Institute.

Click here for more information.

LoveSport LoveSport is everything that sport should be – accessible, challenging, healthy and fun and most of all – for everyone! Get active, and try your hand at a range of sports in our new exhibition - why not shoot for goal in Penalty Pressure, slam-dunk in Hectic Hoops basketball or Go the Distance in the Tour de France? Venue: Explore-At-Bristol Cost: Free with a ticket to Explore Date: 1 December 2007 to 2 September 2008 Click here for more information.

Biodiversity - what on earth is it? Biodiversity is life on Earth. This one word describes the variety of all living things - plants, animals and microbes - and all the places where they are found. This variety provides us with our needs - food, medicine, fuel, clean air and water. But it also brings us things we don’t want - superbugs that are resistant to conventional antibiotics, invading alien plants and potential new killers like bird flu. Is all biodiversity equally important, or is something that has occurred in nature inherently more valuable? Should we worry about species extinctions, whether natural or our fault? Or should we just worry about conserving and creating variation we can use? Should we be able to create diversity for our own use, or is that unethical? Do we understand enough about biodiversity - its challenges and opportunities? “Biodiversity - what on earth is it?” is a special exhibition in Explore that describes some of the science behind biodiversity - where it is, why it’s there, how we measure it, and what happens when we destroy it.

Venue: Explore-At-Bristol Cost: Free with a ticket to Explore Date: From 14 February 2008 Designed and funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

PuzzleMania!

Bristol Art Market Millennium Square plays host to a monthly art market, showcasing the talent of local artists and giving you the perfect opportunity to buy original artworks at affordable prices. Come along and see what's on offer! For further information please contact - Paul Witt on 07903 698026 or David Douthwaite-Hodges on 0117 915 7199 Venue: Millennium Square Cost: Free to browse! Dates: 24-25 May 2008 Times: 10am - 5pm

Toddler time Come and meet other parents in the fun, friendly surroundings of Explore on our special toddler afternoons. Entry to carers is half-price during these special sessions, and children under 5 go free. Don't miss the story-telling sessions! Suitable for children under 5 and their families. Venue: Explore-At-Bristol Cost: Half-price entry to carers (max. 2 adults per child). Children under 5 go free. Dates: 28 April, 12, 19 May, 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 June 2008 Times: 2pm to 5pm

Fossilise! A host of truly monster activities including story-telling, ammonite art and dinosaur footprinting. Uncover fascinating fossils and dig deeper into the world of dinosaurs. Designed for children under 8 and their families. Venue: Explore-At-Bristol Cost: Free with ticket to Explore. Dates: 3-5, 10-11, 17-18, 24-31 May 2008 Times: Drop-in between 10am and 5pm

Fizz, whizz, bang! Come and see the colourful and chaotic reactions and amazing experiments of the chemistry of the world around us. Get involved with bubbling potions and noisy explosions in this fun, interactive show for all the family! Venue: Explore-At-Bristol Cost: Free with a ticket to Explore. Date: 3-5 May 2008.

Get Inside DNA

Hands-on activities, including making DNA origami and DNA bracelets, to complement a visit to the Inside DNA exhibition - ask our staff for a demonstration!
Suitable for ages 14 and over. Drop in between 10am and 5pm; see Calendar for dates.

Inside DNA was developed by At-Bristol on behalf of Ecsite-uk, with funding from the Wellcome Trust and support from the Sanger Institute.

Venue: Explore-At-Bristol
Cost: Free with a ticket to Explore.
Times: Drop in between 10am and 5pm.
Dates: 1-30 April; 1-31 May; 1-30 June.

Sports day!

From taking part in the egg and spoon race to finding out just how big the surface area of your lungs is, these exciting, interactive sport and science activities will provide exercise for body and brain.
 

Venue: Explore-At-Bristol Cost: Free with a ticket to Explore. Dates: 1-30 April, 1-31 May, 1-30 June 2008.

The speedy sporty show

Hop skip and jump to Explore's Studio for a new science show all about sport! Find out how your muscles work and see balls fly in this exciting family show. How speedy are you?

Venue: The Studio, Explore-At-Bristol
Cost: Free with a ticket to Explore.
Times: Shows run between 10am and 4pm.
Dates: 10-11, 17-18, 24-31 May, 1, 7-8, 14-15, 21-22, 28-29 June 2008.
 

Action reaction

How much puff do you have? How fast are your reactions? Find out with these heart-racing hands-on activities in the Live Science zone!

Venue: Live Science zone, Explore-At-Bristol
Cost: Free with a ticket to Explore.
Times: Drop in between 10am and 4pm.
Dates: 10-31 May, 1-30 June 2008.
 

Science Café
 

Genetic Futures With DNA sequencing and genetic testing technologies advancing all the time, the reality of a personal genomic profile for any one of us is just around the corner. But what could receiving your genetic profile mean to you? How might this affect the way we live our lives? How important are our genes in predicting our future health? What ethical issues might arise? Would we rather not know what information our genes hold? To ask these questions and more come along to Explore-At-Bristol's first Science Café on Tuesday 13 May, and find out more about this interesting area of social and scientific dilemma. Our first Science Café speaker will be Ainsley Newson. Lecturer in Biomedical Ethics at the Centre for Ethics in Medicine, at the University of Bristol, Ainsley spends her time unpicking the social and moral issues of developments in genetic technologies.

Image: Ainsley Newson © David Graeme-Baker, Imperial College London

www.sciencecafe.co.uk

Venue: Explore-At-Bristol, Theory Café
Audience: 16+
Cost: Free
Times: 8pm - 10pm (Drop in from 7.30pm for 8pm start)
Dates: 13 May 2008
 

Meet the expert: Cricket

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club will be launching the Twenty20 cricket season here on 21 May with a mini game on Millennium Square, so come and down and join in! Then come back on 27 May to bat against the professionals in the inflatable nets. Subject to good weather.
 

Venue: Millennium Square Cost: Free. Times: Drop in between 12pm-2pm on 21 May, and 11am-3pm on 27 May. Dates: 21, 27 May 2008.

Alan Weisman - The World Without Us
 

'On the day after humans disappear, nature takes over and immediately begins cleaning house - or houses, that is. Cleans them right off the face of the earth. They all go.' Alan Weisman looks to the future to discover what the world might be like, and how it would change, if humans disappeared right now, for good. In the current age of anxiety over our impact on the earth's climate and environment, this timely book offers an intriguing glimpse of what the real legacy of our time on the planet may be. How would the natural world respond if it were suddenly relieved of the burden of humanity? Would the climate return to where it was before we fired up our engines? Could nature ever obliterate all traces of human civilization? How would it undo our largest buildings and public works, and could it reduce our myriad plastics and synthetics to benign, basic elements? And what about architecture and art? What will be our most enduring legacy?

This groundbreaking book examines areas of the world that have been abandoned or never occupied by humans to see how they have fared without us and looks beyond to discover whether, and for how long, our largest cities, biggest achievements and most devastating mistakes will last after we are gone. In doing so it wrestles with some of the key concerns of our time and reveals a picture of the future that is both illuminating and terrifying.

Note: This lecture is first in a double bill event.  'Gary Marcus - On the Human Mind' (below) follows at 7.30pm.
Double bill price - £10.00 (£7.00 concessions).

Supported by At-Bristol in association with Science City Bristol.

Call 0117 915 5000 to book (50p telephone booking fee).

www.ideasfestival.co.uk
 

Venue: Explore-At-Bristol Cost: £6.00 (£4.00 concessions). Double bill price - £10.00 (£7.00 concessions). Times: 6pm-7pm. Dates: 28 May 2008.

Gary Marcus - On the Human Mind
 

A 'kluge' is an engineering term for a makeshift solution, an inelegant construction that somehow works. This is Gary Marcus' analogy for the way the human mind has evolved. Arguing against a whole tradition that praises our human minds as the most perfect result of evolution, Marcus shows how imperfect and ill-adapted our brains really are. They have had to adapt from the environment of our early hominid origins to a complex world in which our penchant for short-term satisfactions is literally fatal. We are prone to rages, addictions and other habits that limit our capacity for rational action in every sphere, from food to politics.

Note: This lecture is second in a double bill event.  'Alan Weisman - The World Without Us' (above) precedes at 6pm.
Double bill price - £10.00 (£7.00 concessions).

Supported by At-Bristol in association with Science City Bristol.

Call 0117 915 5000 to book (50p telephone booking fee).

www.ideasfestival.co.uk
 

Venue: Explore-At-Bristol Cost: £6.00 (£4.00 concessions). Double bill price - £10.00 (£7.00 concessions). Times: 7.30pm-8.30pm. Dates: 28 May 2008.