DIAS Samhain agus Science mini science festival
| Over the half-term break, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS), will be holding the annual Samhain agus Science mini-festival, which brings together researchers from DIAS and from partner institutions for an imaginative series of free events that explore the dark side of science and Celtic civilisation in time for the ancient Gaelic feast of Samhain. This year, they will be holding six free events over Zoom from 26th October to 3rd November and the focus of the talks will be general and accessible to students approaching or already undertaking the Leaving Certificate cycle in secondary school. As Ireland moves to a Level 5 lock-down over the coming days, many young people will have had plans for social and extracurricular activities disrupted, and they would like to warmly welcome your students and you to join them for these events. Anyone with an interest in history, science, and the Irish language should find something of interest. The theme this year is the boundaries of space and time and the secrets that lie there. Some of the events at this year’s Samhain agus Science include: • Black Holes, the Boundaries of Reality, and the Deep Structure of Space and Time: Black holes are among the most fascinating objects that our universe harbours. Join Dr. Astrid Eichhorn to explore what black holes hide from us behind their event horizon (Monday, 26th October at 6 pm). • Close Encounters with the Other Kind: International storyteller and bestselling author Steve Lally will be discussing his book ‘Irish Gothic – Fairy Stories from the 32 Counties of Ireland’. He will recount the various strange and eerie experiences he had while collecting the fairy stories for the book (Wednesday, 28th October at 2 pm). • Searching for Dark Matter: A True Story of Things that Go Bump in the Night: It’s a remarkable claim, but today’s scientists are convinced that everything we have ever observed, stars, planets, ourselves – everything! – constitutes but a small fraction of the Universe. Join Professor Alex Murphy to find out how scientists have come to this conclusion. (Saturday 31st October at 6 pm). It is hoped that these will provide some welcome diversion during this challenging time and offer insight into the topics young adults might encounter around the edges of the school curriculum or if they choose to pursue third-level education. The talks promise to transport the audience to far-flung places across the universe and our landscape, even if only digitally this year! You can find more details, including how to register, here: https://www.dias.ie/2020/10/09/samhain-agus-science Samhain agus Science is an annual initiative of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies taking place each year during Halloween. From spooky science to the mysteries of the Celtic festival of Samhain, DIAS scholars from the Schools of Celtic Studies, Theoretical Physics, Astrophysics and Geophysics host a programme of public events.  26th October 2020 at 6pm  28th October 2020 at 2pm  30th October 2020 at 6pm 31st October at 6pm 02nd November 2020 at 6pm Citizen Science – Meteor Spotting with DIAS Astronomy and Astrophysics – More Soon |
