Seeing the unseen: the exhibition opening up the universe to teenagers

Scienceworks museum takes a new approach to getting young people interested in Stem subjects – with playful results

• Jane Howard
• The Guardian

Dr Kendall Ackley pushes her fist into the universe: purples and pinks and flashes of yellow, two black holes spin across the screen.

As she pushes, the universe responds, concaving inwards.

Her fist becomes a “potential well”, its gravity overriding that of the other black holes, pulling them into its orbit.

Ackley was a member of the team of scientists who discovered gravitational waves in 2016.

Looking at her work displayed in a tactile, interactive form, she grins: “This is unbelievable. It’s everything that I could’ve wanted to show about how this work…

• Seeing the unseen…