Brand new exhibition Horrible Science: Cosmic Chaos lands at the Science and Industry Museum in 2026

The Science and Industry Museum has officially announced a ‘universe-first’ experience that invites families on a thrilling mission across the solar system in 2026, illuminating the wonder of space with interactive experiments, playful challenges and sensory exploration.

Horrible Science: Cosmic Chaos will premiere in Manchester on Fri 13 Feb, running until Sun 3 Jan 2027 before touching down at the Science Museum in London from March.

Inspired by the hit BBC Children’s and Education TV show and the much-loved book series by Nick Arnold and Tony De Saulles, this brand new exhibition blasts off a riotous journey through our astonishing space, where magical mysteries, interstellar intrigue and star-hopping surprises await. Guests will encounter a series of cosmic zones where they can walk in the shoes of astronauts, explore the Sun’s life-giving energy, marvel at mystifying moons, venture across far-off weird worlds and peer into the depths in search of extraterrestrial neighbours.

Along the way, they can sniff astronauts’ famously smelly socks, dance on an alien disco planet, feel tremors from a distant moonquake and even launch a space rocket as they take one giant leap into a dazzling universe packed with fascinating facts and sensory experiences.

Throughout the experience, familiar faces from the Horrible Science will be on hand to guide adventurers on their mission. Dr. Big Brain, the galaxy’s greatest evil genius, will also be on the lookout for recruits to help with his latest diabolical plan, leaving visitors to decide whether to use their new science skills to make sense of space or cause cosmic chaos of their own.

Developed by the Science and Industry Museum in collaboration with BBC Children’s and Education, Lion Television and Scholastic, Cosmic Chaos will be the first major exhibition to bring Horrible Science to life on a grand scale. It will also showcase remarkable objects from the Science Museum Group’s world-class space collection, offering a rare chance to get up close to unusual items that reveal how humans have tried to understand our celestial surroundings.

Before Cosmic Chaos lands in February, visitors can still enjoy plenty of gleefully gross, super-sized science in the museum’s current blockbuster exhibition, Operation Ouch: Brains, Bogies and You, open until Sun 4 Jan.

Horrible Science: Cosmic Chaos opens Fri 13 Feb at the Science and Industry Museum. Tickets are £10 with family discounts available and under-threes going free. Book yours below.