On Tuesday I travelled down to Southampton with artist Phil Coy to document the start of the education element of new Invisible Dust project, Invisible Wave.  Curated by Alice Sharp, the project looks at how scientists use water temperature readings, taken from satellites, to help contribute to the study of climate change.

Working with space scientist Dr Hugh Mortimer from Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) and Phil, the Year 9 students at Hounsdown School, on the edge of the New Forest, will visit RAL, the Queen Mary 2 Cruise Ship, which houses some RAL technology, and then create films exploring these issues.  This education strand is part of the wider project, which sees Turner Prize winning artist Elizabeth Price create new works after a residency at RAL.

During this first session, students were introduced to the concepts of infrared technology, with a brilliant demonstration of how applied colours to temperatures are used to help read satellite images.  The video below shows an ice-cube melting in boiling water, making quite beautiful patters if it’s moved around.  If anyone has a spare £10,000, I would very much like one of these infrared cameras myself!

Ice cube / boiling water / infrared camera from Emma Crouch on Vimeo.