Examine your brainwaves and listen to the sun at PROBE

Posted on: 27 September 2016

• PROBE features music, debate, comedy, storytelling, screenings, and live experiments
• Over 40 free events will showcase how Irish research is shaping society

 From the sharing economy to symbiotic microorganisms and music that moves around the room, the diverse world of academic research will be laid bare at PROBE: Research Uncovered at Trinity College Dublin on September 30th.

This free event, hosted in partnership with Science Gallery Dublin, invites visitors to take an up-close look at the fascinating research that is shaping our world, exploring solutions to society’s biggest problems, and learning about cutting-edge thinking through debates, interactive workshops, secret screenings and much more. 

In Trinity’s historic Front Square, visitors will be invited to contribute to live research experiments and join workshops dealing with a range of topics, from perception and intimacy to food security and global migration.

There’ll be cooking demos, soundscapes created from sonified radio data from the sun, a crowdsourced meal made from surplus food collected on Trinity campus, and displays from innovative Irish tech companies working on digital stress-management solutions and affordable 3D-printed medical devices.

Other highlights include:

• Hidden Histories: Visit Trinity’s famous Long Room and get an insight into the imagery, materials and techniques used to produce our most precious early manuscripts, such as the Book of Kells.
• Sharing Station: Facilitated by community group WeShare Dublin, the sharing station is a one-stop shop where visitors can drop off something they don't need, or take something they do need.
• Changing Ireland, Changing Law: Can legal action trigger positive social change? Law professors Ivana Bacik and Mary Rogan will be joined in this debate by Máirín De Burca, David Norris, and Lydia Foy — three litigants whose cases sparked legal and social change in Ireland — as well as Rachel Power from the Public Interest Law Alliance.
• How to be a badger: The perfect family-friendly event. Everyone knows what a badger looks like, right? Test your knowledge by trying out where you think their stripes go — there’ll be rewards for those who know! You’ll also have the chance to see how badgers are tracked, work out where they go, and see maps of badger movement.
• Digital Footprints: Visitors will be able to analyse their digital footprint with new app BigFoot, getting a live view of how much personal information they're leaking through social media.

For the full Probe programme, visit: www.tcd.ie/research/probe.