Manchester Science Festival – the event that brought you a disco in an ball pool for adults last year – returns with more curiosities for all ages this month. The programme is large and brilliant, and we’ve picked out just three highlights to get you in the mood.

Immersive web experience: Live the life of a spider with Tape (pictured)
Award-winning artists Numen/For Use have transformed the 1830 Warehouse into a giant spider’s web made from sticky tape. Climb through a translucent “stretched biomorphic skin” strung above the ground and crawl along winding networks of cocooning passageways to get your spidey-sense a tingling.
Thu 19 – Sun 29 Oct, Museum of Science and Industry Liverpool Road, Manchester, M3 4FP. www.msimanchester.org.uk

New exhibition: The history of robots uncovered with more than 100 examples of robots from the last 500 years
Though the idea of automatons might be a distinctly 21st century notion, it turns out the world has been harnassing the power of robots for the last 500 years. This exhibition showcases a unique collection of more than 100 robots from as far back as the 1600s.
Thu 19 Oct – Sun 15 Apr, Great Western Warehouse, £8/5, www.msimanchester.org.uk

One-off evening performance: The Music of Proof
This evening event, aimed at adults, includes a string quartet performance and a debate about whether you really can hear maths in music.
Tue 24 Oct, Great Western Warehouse, FREE, 7.30pm, adv booking required, www.msimanchester.org.uk

Thu 19 Oct - Sun 15 Apr
Words:
John Stansfield
Published on:
Thu 26 Oct 2017