Event of the Week
Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition, July 2–5

This annual fixture showcases the best of UK research, with 23 exhibitions covering everything from synthetic biology to growing plants on Mars. Scientists and the general public alike can question researchers about their work.

Conferences and meetings
In a busy week for conferences, highlights include the World Congress on Engineering (Imperial, July 2–4) and the 13th International Symposium on Particles, Strings and Cosmology (Imperial, July 2–7). To coincide with Le Tour de France, which begins in London this weekend, the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining is organising a one-day event on materials in bicycles (July 6). Finally, Imperial’s Facility for Imaging by Light Microscopy opens on July 4. An afternoon of lectures, demonstrations and celebrations is planned.

Public lectures
The new Wellcome Collection offers the chance to see open-heart surgery on July 5. Papworth Hospital’s Francis Wells will reconstruct a faulty heart valve while viewers at the Wellcome watch via video link.

On July 3, eminent Harvard chemist George Whitesides speaks at UCL about his life as an ‘intellectual ragpicker’, in an event organised by the Royal Institution. The following day, Bob Forrest from the University of Hertfordshire Observatory talks at the British Interplanetary Society about the design and operation of space-based observatories.

UCL’s Joe Cain delivers an entertaining account of pranks, jokes and other silliness in science on July 5. The talk is followed by a wine reception and a private tour of the Grant Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy.

And finally…
For something a little different, take an audio tour of the Tate Modern after downloading the ‘What Can the Matter Be?’ podcast. The tour considers the materials behind the Tate’s exhibits, and the building itself.