Fossils, skin microbes, rockets - all the fun of Science Week!

“IF you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself,” is a quote often attributed to Albert Einstein.

Whether the great man said it or not is questionable, but explaining complicated things simply to curious young minds is unquestionably a good test of knowledge and communication skills.

Digestion, dinosaurs and DNA were big scientific topics explained to thousands of eager smallies at the Celebrate Science Family Day in UCC on Sunday, kicking off Cork Science Festival’s programme of events for this year’s Science Week.

There are lots of now hoarse researchers and science communicators after hours of patient explaining and demonstrating to wide-eyed six-year-olds, covering everything from the acidity of lemons to the skeletons of giraffes.

The infinite possibilities of science is the theme for Science Week 2022. A science smorgasbord of table top workshops and demonstrations was certainly on display in UCC.

Newborn brainwaves, battery building, the ph scale, the gut microbiome, computer science without computers, magnetism, red blood cells, rockets, renewable energy, and so much more were made accessible and interesting to crowds of youngsters thirsty for new knowledge.

Cork Science Festival is a great opportunity to tap into the bright minds and fascinating research that is happening in the city and around the county. Lucky schoolchildren will be digging into Lego, rocket and robotics workshops throughout the week and there is lots happening virtually too.

UCC’s School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences are running an online nationwide poll to pick Ireland’s Favourite Fossil. Our fossil heritage spans more than 500 million years and includes some of the earliest evidence for fossil animals and life on land.

The shortlist of ten has been selected by Irish palaeontologists and includes fossil plants, animals, and even fossil footprints.

I gave my vote to Archaeopteris, which was a tree-like plant with fern-like leaves from 400 million years ago. I had an opportunity to examine an Archaeopteris fossil up close once from the National Botanic Garden collection. I was amazed to have, in my hand, the earliest type of tree that made up the planet’s first forests, which potentially kickstarted the planet’s oxygenated atmosphere that we enjoy today.

You, however, might think Valentia’s tetrapod trackway or Antrim’s Ichthyosaurs deserves a No.1! Get voting.

The wildlife conservation organisation, Cork Nature Network, is hosting an online talk on Thursday evening about choughs in Ireland. Choughs are members of the crow family and they reside along the rocky coasts of Ireland’s south and west. They are the most spectacular aerialists, performing barrel rolls and flying upside down, and the talk is sure to be interesting.

An aerialist of a different kind features in SpaceFest, which is happening at the National Space Centre in Elfordstown, near Midleton, promising “Out of this World Science and Art Events”.

A collaboration between Circus Factory Cork and an engineer to explore the physics of aerial flight is sold out, but there are still online spots available to hear about the science of science fiction from New York Times best-selling author Diane Duane tonight.

Regardless, if you are the type of person who washes their face with whatever bar of soap is lying in the sink, or someone who engages in a 9-step skincare regime of carefully curated products picked following extensive internet research, I’m hosting an event tomorrow that promises to be fascinating for all.

‘Skin Deep’ brings together some of Ireland’s top skincare professionals, scientists, and dermatologists to find out about the science behind skincare, explore the ground-breaking world of the skin microbiome, and find out how the microbiome influences skin health.

Just like the gut, our skin is home to trillions of microbes and we need these as much as they need us - they do everything from helping to heal wounds to keeping acne at bay.

The global skincare industry is worth $140 billion and is catching on that keeping the skin microbiome happy and healthy might be as important as slathering the body’s largest organ in a cocktail of chemicals and moisturisers. Expect to see ads featuring references to the skin’s microbiome in the not too distant future. Less superficially, scientists are also investigating the skin’s microbiome to see if it might help address the world’s problem of antimicrobial resistance.

The search for a new generation of antibiotics is on and the answer might lie in the millions of microbes literally in front of our faces.

The beauty of Science Week is how it brings science to people and audiences who might not ordinarily seek it out.

‘Skin Deep’ promises to be an accessible and fun night and there are still a few tickets available for the event at Hayfield Manor, so come along to find out if the cure to the MRSA superbug lies in our pores, or if the holy grail of radiant skin involves abandoning soap and letting the microbes do their thing.

Find out more about ‘Skin Deep’ at Hayfield Manor on Wednesday, November 16 at 7pm, and other Cork Science Festival events, at www.corksciencefestival.ie