Explore the museum’s galleries, exhibitions and shops after hours, before joining Imperial teams to hear about their latest colour and light themed research.
Exhibitions
The wonderful world of polarization – See how certain species of beetles from the Natural History Museum collection reflect light that rotates in a circle to help keep themselves hidden from predators but identifiable to each other, with some of our Photonics students.
‘In/Visibility- the art of Polarization’ – Using a polarising filter similar to those within bee eyes; admire specially developed paintings made by Imperial College’s Vinita Khanna Hassard. Invisible to our eyes in normal light, it is only through the eyes of a bee that you reveal their beautiful kaleidoscope of colours.
Glistening drops – Shine a light on the microscopic world of pond creatures and discover how cutting edge laser microscopes can provide stunning videos of living cells. A team from our Physics department will be showing off a laser microscope projector and using it to reveal minute life in pond water. By shining a laser light you can turn a suspended drop into a spherical lens. Any creatures within the droplet can be blown up hundreds of times and projected on to a wall or screen in real-time so you can see them moving around. On the evening the team will provide volunteers who can discuss both the physics behind the laser technology and biological applications of the project.