Dark side of science and Celtic civilisation to feature in Halloween festival

19 Oct 2020

Image: © Andrey Kiselev/Stock.adobe.com

DIAS is holding its third Samhain agus Science festival, this time online, to explore the mysterious and spooky history of science.

Those looking to get their fix of science and history this Halloween are being offered the chance to tune in to a free online event held by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS). Now in its third year, the Samhain agus Science festival will take place between 26 October and 4 November.

The festival aims to make the big scientific questions of our time and Celtic history relevant, accessible and fun to a general audience who might not normally be familiar with these topics.

Dr Astrid Eichhorn will explore black holes and what it is that hides them from us behind their event horizon, and international storyteller and 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.

Also, Prof Alex Murphy will give insight into the mysterious world of dark matter and how it potentially makes up the vast majority of everything in the universe.

‘Not for the faint-hearted’

Commenting on this year’s event, DIAS CEO and registrar Dr Eucharia Meehan said it is “not for the faint-hearted”.

“As DIAS is celebrating our 80th anniversary this year, we have made a special effort to make this the spookiest Samhain agus Science yet,” she said.

“Only those daring enough to find out more about the dark side of science and Celtic civilisation are encouraged to attend. [The festival] is a great way for anyone that is curious about the world and universe around them, particularly younger people, to learn about the work that we do at DIAS and engage with our research. We’re inviting anyone with an interest in science and history to check out the full programme of events.”

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

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