Looking Ahead Lecture | National Science Week with Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith

Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith is coming to the Newcastle Conservatorium of Music on Monday 17 August for a talk titled Looking Ahead, part of National Science Week. She's an astrophysicist and a science communicator, and she'll be spending the evening talking through astronomy, space discoveries, and the mysteries of the universe.

It's a broad remit, and that's where the appeal is. Rather than focusing on one narrow slice of the field, she'll be pulling from the wider world of astrophysics — the kind of stuff that usually stays in the textbooks or the late-night documentaries. If you've ever spent a clear night looking up and wondering how any of it actually works, this is exactly that sort of thing. It's a chance to hear a professional break down the scale of the universe and the discoveries that keep the field moving, all in one go.

Harvey-Smith is as much a communicator as she is a scientist, which makes a difference when you're sitting in a room listening to someone talk about the cosmos. The whole thing is tied into National Science Week, so it's part of a wider run of science events happening across the country that week, with this one landing right here in Newcastle. It's a good way to get a proper look at the subject without needing a degree in physics to follow along.

The talk is at the Newcastle Conservatorium of Music on Auckland Street, and it's free to attend. If you're around on 17 August and fancy a night of space and stars, that's your spot.