‘Geist’ to Illuminate Liverpool ONE for the British Science Festival

Published August 27, 2025
Last Updated September 10, 2025
By Editor

The British Science Festival and Culture Liverpool will bring Geist, an immersive light installation by This is Loop (artists Harriet Lumby and Alan Hayes) to Liverpool ONE.

Shining a spotlight on one of the universe’s great enigmas, Geist explores neutrinos, the so-called “ghost particles.” These are the most abundant massive particles in the cosmos, yet they’re extremely hard to detect—and the three known types can even transform into one another.

The large-scale sculpture uses a mirror illusion to reveal a suspended, glowing orb that “wakes up” in response to people nearby. Individually addressable LEDs flicker and shimmer with audience movement, echoing how neutrinos are only revealed through rare interactions with atoms.

Developed in collaboration with the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), which has a major campus at Daresbury in the Liverpool City Region, Geist incorporates real neutrino experiment data.

You can check out Geist from Wednesday 10 September until Sunday 14 September. From Wednesday – Saturday 10am-10pm and Sunday 11am – 5pm.

Alongside the installation, leading physicists will unpack how we’re decoding the universe’s building blocks. Speakers include:

Graziano Venanzoni (University of Liverpool)
Saskia Charity (University of Liverpool)
Mark Thomson (CERN)
Jocelyn Monroe (University of Oxford)

Claire McColgan CBE, Liverpool’s Director of Culture and Associate Director of Culture for Liverpool City Region said:

“We are delighted that Liverpool is hosting this amazing crossover of science and culture in the heart of the city, giving people a rare chance to see a hidden but vital part of our universe.

“This project is such an innovative and artful way to make science accessible. We are looking forward to seeing how it sparks intrigue among our many visitors and residents and highlights some of the brilliant innovation happening in the city.”

James Brown, Director of the British Science Festival said:

“We’re so pleased to be able to showcase the world leading science and innovation taking place across the Liverpool City Region, including research into the very building blocks of our universe! Geist brings together art and science in a way that lets us experience and explore this incredible phenomenon which is happening all around us – even if we can’t detect it!”

Donna Howitt, Place Strategy Director at Liverpool ONE said:

“We are looking forward to welcoming the British Science Festival to Liverpool. Science, just like fashion, sport and music, is part of the city’s identity, and it’s fantastic to see such an ambitious, diverse programme come to life right across the city.

“At Liverpool ONE, we’re passionate about supporting events that spark curiosity and bring communities together. We are proud to play our part in showcasing the city on a national stage and help to inspire the next generation of scientists, researchers and engineers.”

They’ll discuss cutting-edge projects including the Muon g-2 experiment, DarkSide-20k, and the Large Hadron Collider. Free tickets are available via the British Science Association website.

Researchers from the University of Liverpool’s Department of Physics will also showcase working particle detectors, explain how they’re designed, and run hands-on demos. Plus, the public can join an interactive virtual tour of the Boulby Underground Laboratory in Yorkshire, home to pioneering searches for elusive dark matter.

For full details, visit the British Science Festival website.