The Geology of Star Trek

The Geology of Star Trek is running at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History from 7 September to 8 November 2026. It's an exhibition that marks the franchise's 60th anniversary by looking at the real geology and palaeontology that inspired it, drawing on the Museum's own collections to separate science fact from science fiction.

The displays take a few specific questions and run with them. There's a look at whether Kirk's sulphur cannon could actually work, and what a tyrannosaur would really do to Starfleet personnel. It also asks what communicators were made of and what dilithium actually is. The whole thing is built around the Museum's own specimens, so you're seeing the real-world equivalents of the things that end up on screen.

It's a fitting spot for it, too. The Oxford University Museum of Natural History opened in 1860 as the world's first purpose-built natural history museum, and its neogothic building dates back to the 1850s. It now holds over seven million natural history specimens, so there's plenty to pull from when you're trying to figure out where the science ends and the fiction begins.

Entry is free, though groups of more than ten people need to book ahead. The Museum is open every day from 10:00 to 17:00, with the last entry at 16:45, and the exhibition runs until 8 November.