Family Physics singalong at Have A LAFFF! 2026

At the end of July, Dr Johnston was part of a Physics Sing-along at the Lincoln Arts Centre’s Have A LAFFF! 2026, where she talked about her job as an astronomer, her observations of molecules in regions of space where stars are being born and helped families write their own songs about space! The workshop was led by LAC Innovate Artists Helen Arney, Brian Mackenwells and Jenni Pinnock, who have also been working with Performing Arts students at Lincoln to stage their new musical “The Cambridge First All-Ladies Fire Brigade”. We also talked about a physicist who should be famous, Hertha Ayrton, who is one of the real-life trail-blazing women physicists from the musical. The musical tells the story of Hertha, who along with others (including an astronomer and solar-expert, Annie Maunder!) started a fire brigade at their college to ensure that it would be protected, as the nearest fire station was too far away.