There’s a storm brewing at Science Gallery

A forthcoming event at the Dublin venue is all about ‘battening down the hatches and imagining you are trapped in a storm’

‘Raindrop’ by Alistair McClymont, part of the ‘Strange Weather’ exhibition at the Science Gallery
‘Raindrop’ by Alistair McClymont, part of the ‘Strange Weather’ exhibition at the Science Gallery

This summer has had us swapping between wellies and sunscreen, but tomorrow evening at Dublin's Science Gallery, the wellies will surely win. Dark & Stormy will whip up a storm of science, entertainment and MacGyver-style survival skills against the backdrop of an imagined spell of lousy weather.

"It's about battening down the hatches and imagining you are trapped in a storm," says the gallery's director, Lynn Scarff. "We will have tents with weird and wonderful board games, a live band, comedy and workshops about survival skills like how to build a crystal radio."

The event is part of the ongoing Strange Weather exhibition, and visitors tomorrow evening will be able to check that out too, says Scarff.

A popular turn is a “green screen” set-up that lets you deliver scripts of potential forecasts from the future, including an especially bleak scenario where the sun is “going out” and time for life on Earth is limited.

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On a brighter note, Scarff hopes that visitors will leave the "festivalesque" Dark & Stormy evening with some new talking points about weather, climate and how to survive. "We hope people can go and have really interesting conversations with their mates," she says.

Dark & Stormy is on tomorrow at Science Gallery, Dublin, from 7pm. The event is free but you need to register at sciencegallery.com. Strange Weather is at Science Gallery until early October

Claire O'Connell

Claire O'Connell

Claire O'Connell is a contributor to The Irish Times who writes about health, science and innovation