The Planetary Lab

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The Planetary Lab We are a CIO (charity no. 1194239) with a mission to educate, motivate and empower the public to make a difference in the world.

We’re popping up around during half term! On Tuesday 27th October from 10-3, we’ll be in Green Lanes Shopping Centre w...
23/10/2026

We’re popping up around during half term! On Tuesday 27th October from 10-3, we’ll be in Green Lanes Shopping Centre with drop-in activities around biodiversity…

… and on Wednesday 28th October we’ll be joining Barnstaple Library’s Wellbeing Wednesday Cafe from 10-12…

… then we’re bringing some of the Our World From Space activities to Barnstaple Pannier Market on Thursday 29th from 10-3.

All free to attend – and our drop in events at Green Lanes and the Pannier Market feature hands-on activities for all ages.

Stay tuned for more events coming up soon across the region!

We had a great day at a careers fair in Barnstaple yesterday! We took a couple of our favourite experiments, and lots of...
21/10/2026

We had a great day at a careers fair in Barnstaple yesterday! We took a couple of our favourite experiments, and lots of information about surprising careers related to science - from personal training to music! 🎛️💽

The students we met were brilliant, and one of them even showed one of the exhibitors from the army stand how sound travels through materials - the coat hanger experiment (pictured)! 👂

Mark and Alice had an inspiring time at the Association for Science and Discovery Centres (ASDC) conference hosted in b...
18/10/2026

Mark and Alice had an inspiring time at the Association for Science and Discovery Centres (ASDC) conference hosted in beautiful Cardiff at Techniquest, which is celebrating it's 40th year! The ASDC is an amazing network of people making an enormous difference across science education, skills, curiosity, inclusion and diversity. They're also a network of people that truly support each other and we're really lucky to be part of it.

The conference focused on the theme of 'Who cares about science?' - a really important question in a time when science is increasingly entwined in all our lives but funding for informal engagement with science is waning.

Highlights:
🤩 Talks from 6 brave and brilliant young people, from a local school in Cardiff, highlighting why science is important to them.
🚀 Keynotes from Prof. Anu Ohja (UK Space Agency Space Chief Technology Officer) and Prof Dame Angela McLean (Government Chief Scientific Advisor).
🤝 Networking with people from across the science engagement community.
🎙Stunning music from community choir CF1.

Thanks so much to the ASDC team and Techniquest for hosting!

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While we look for a permanent home for the science centre we are excited to take science into other spaces!If your schoo...
13/10/2026

While we look for a permanent home for the science centre we are excited to take science into other spaces!

If your school, community group or organisation would like to book a visit send us an email!
You can check our website for more information.

See you soon!

We're at the Sidmouth Science Festival this Saturday! Find us in Kennaway House for the Demystifying AI experience 🤩
09/10/2026

We're at the Sidmouth Science Festival this Saturday! Find us in Kennaway House for the Demystifying AI experience 🤩

After a crazy week of packing down and moving out, The Planetary Lab team are EXHAUSTED (and a bit sad 😭) but super grat...
03/10/2026

After a crazy week of packing down and moving out, The Planetary Lab team are EXHAUSTED (and a bit sad 😭) but super grateful for all the pack down support we've had from our volunteers Ethan (Alice's Dad!), Aaron, Cal and Mark and the awesome Green Lanes Shopping Centre, Barnstaple security team.

Sharing the space with Athena Jane Churchill has been an utter joy and we can't wait to work more with her in the future!

Huge thank you to North Devon Council for providing us with the space for our pilot science centre!

Now we're looking for a permanent home... but in the meantime you'll see us running activities and workshops across the region for the next few months! We'll see you soon!

01/10/2026

👀 Behind the scenes at The Planetary Lab...

👋 We're currently packing up The Planetary Lab in Barnstaple, while we find a longer-term home 🥲

🍃 Here's a flashback from our first few weeks - exploring the 'leaves of inspiration' contributed by our visitors to the beautiful tree of hope 🌳

🌎 Stay tuned for news of our upcoming events at community spaces in the region!

26/09/2026

It was the final opening day today for our pilot space in Green Lanes Shopping Centre, Barnstaple 🥲

Huge thanks to everyone who has helped make it happen - especially to our amazing volunteers who have given their time so generously, our brilliant collaborators including the inspiring scientists from the University of Exeter and our extended centre team: our fantastic Centre Coordinator Abi, plus Cal, Mark and our wonderful Artist in Residence Athena Jane Churchill...
.. Plus a special thank you to North Devon Council for hosting us, The Fore for core costs funding to support our growth, all the kind people who have provided help, furniture and decor...
.. And to all our lovely visitors for their interest and enthusiasm! 🙌

We hope to see you soon at a future longer term home 🤞 and in the meantime we'll be popping up in communities across the region - starting with The Sidmouth Science Festival on 10th Oct!

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Castle Street
Exeter
EX4 3PQ

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