Welcome to Day four of our first virtual Midlothian Science Festival. Each day we’ll release a new page of links to content about the science on your doorstep, and further afield. Every day there’ll be things to read, videos to watch and of course experiments for you to do at home!
Today we have two more special live events at 2pm and 5pm (book your free place using the links below) as well as a selection of activities to do at any time.
As ever, the Midlothian Science Festival is all about sharing science with people in Midlothian, and we need your help! Spread the news, follow the Festival on Twitter and Facebook, share our posts and most importantly. tag us on social media and add your pictures to let us know what you’re enjoying about Midlothian Science Festival 2020.
Find us on Twitter @MidlothSciFest and on Facebook @MidlothianScienceFestival and tag us using #MSFonline
 
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Each year the Fun Scientists support our festival with their fun family science shows. This year we’re delighted to announce that they’re taking their shows online, with two new shows each day until Saturday!
Today’s 2pm show is all about the science of circular motion. Follow the link to book your free place, and if you want to take part at home, check out the short equipment list (all household items). |
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The Fun Scientists second show is today at 5pm and is all about the science of bubbles! Follow the link to book your free place, and check the equipment list (all household items) if you want to take part in your kitchen or bathroom! |
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Image (c) Wellcome Centre for Parasitology, Glasgow |
Scientists at the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology at the University of Glasgow study all kinds of parasites. Find out more in “Malaria”, the next instalment in their series of comics that tell the story behind the science. | 
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Today’s short video from the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh is all about the constellation Leo.
This is the third in a series of videos about the constellations in our night sky – look out for a new video each day. |
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Meet Professor Kostya Novoselov, a physics researcher at the University of Manchester and winner of a Nobel Prize in 2010 for his work on graphene, a special form of carbon. |
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Virtually Explore King’s Buildings, the main Science and Engineering campus at The University of Edinburgh, home of most (but not all!) of the scientists and engineers at the University of Edinburgh.
Go behind-the-scenes at our research facilities, including the Edinburgh Genome Foundry in the Swann Building; the Anechoic Chamber in JCMB; the FloWave facility for marine renewables; as well as labs in the Sanderson and Joseph Black Buildings. |
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Get colourful with “Incredible You” from the Royal College of Pathologists, a collection of printable colouring sheets for adults and children, revealing the surprising beauty of your body at a tiny scale.
Don’t forget to share your colouring-in using #MSFonline !
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Our friends at STEAM Experiments have put together lots of experiments that you can try at home. They have also provided links to the science behind the experiments, to make the activities suitable for all ages.
Today’s experiment shows you how to levitate a ping pong ball using the power of physics! |
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We have partnered with our friends at the Silesian Science Festival in Poland to bring the first ever international content to our festival.
Today’s video: KAŻDE SŁOWO JEST PTAKIEM, KTÓREGO UCZYMY ŚPIEWAĆ (EVERY WORD IS A BIRD THAT WE TEACH TO SING) features the European record-holder in remembering Pi number digits, talking about his personal experience with languages, numbers and letters. |
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Want to learn about birds, and be able to identify them, but not sure where to start?
Check out this “Getting started with birdwatching” guide from the Scottish Seabird Centre, which will have you outdoors and spotting birds in no time!
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Getting Started with Birdwatching
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Today we’ve got a bumper selection of reading from Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh’s Science Centre.
Browse the selection to learn about famous scientists and maybe meet a few you haven’t heard of, as well as exploring some of the largest science projects around today. |
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Don’t forget you can also book our free online live shows for the week here
Missed a day? No problem! See all of our festival content so far here
