The dreary early spring weather did little to dampen the spirits of visitors to this years' "Science on Saturday" event, who packed out the Cambridge Guildhall to enjoy a range of fun, hands-on activities offered by our Faculty of Science and Technology.

The Science Festival is now in its sixth year, and seems to be going from strength to strength, with an ever-expanding programme of activities taking place around Cambridge in the two-week period running from the 12 - 25 March. Anglia Ruskin University were again proud to be an associate sponsor of the festival, whose theme this year was "Breaking Boundaries", celebrating the upcoming London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It was perhaps fitting then that our sport and exercise Sciences programme offered it's largest ever range of sporting activities under the title "Have you got what it takes to be an Olympian?". The tests proved hugely popular with visitors, who were able to try out some of our highly sophisticated kit and learn about performance levels required to be an elite athlete. In the case of some of the younger athletes taking part the kit also provided the chance to jump, cycle and row like dervishes!

Our psychology department posed the more esoteric question of "can we really believe what we see?" using visual illusions to confuse and befuddle visitors before explaining the science behind why their eyes were tricking them. The team also set up eye tracking equipment for visitors to test and model brains to take apart and reassemble.

Our forensic science team returned this year with "Crime scene science", and their mock excavation, fingerprinting, forged bank note detection and crime scene photography activities once again proved to be one of the days biggest draws.

On the guildhall stage, festival newcomer Peter Brown's stand provided an eye-catching centrepiece, with giant model ladybirds on display, and fluffy ladybird bugs and sticker giveaways proving incredibly popular. Peter's activity "Is there an alien in your garden?" focused on his research into the spread of the invasive "Harlequin" ladybird in the UK, and visitors were able to test their ladybird identification skills on the 26 species present in the UK and also learn how to carry out their own ladybird survey.

More, unusual creepy crawlies were also on the display, with Jenny Brandham from the College of West Anglia bringing along some of their collection, which included African hissing cockroaches, giant millipedes and giant snails, for some hands-on interaction. The chance to get up close and touch and handle these surprisingly friendly and well-behaved creatures proved massively popular with both young and old - with more than a few shouts of "can I keep it?" being heard!

Accompanying the creepy crawlies, Alison Northrop and students from our equine studies pathways ran their ever-popular gait analysis and fun animal quiz activities. Using a video camera linked to advanced gait analysis software, visitors were able to measure their length of stride and compare the way they walked to animals such as horses and dogs.

Taking over the entirety of a very busy guildhall small hall, the team from our department of vision and hearing sciences had assembled some impressive looking technical kit that allowed visitors to get a truly in-depth look at their own eyes and ears, and the ever popular arts and crafts corner returned, allowing visitors young and old to let their creativity run wild to create their own extravagant frame designs.

The Faculty would like to extend its thanks to all of the staff and students who give their time to make this such a special event, here's to next year!