What’s blue, yellow and black all over? Answer: a reconstruction of a fruit fly’s midgut. It’s on the cover of the listings booklet for theCambridge Science Festival, a free science festival run by theUniversity of Cambridge.

The fruit fly is part of research at the university into cell growth and the prevention of the spread of cancer. Although this particular topic isn’t covered at the festival, there are other events about cancer research such as cancer and metabolism and early cancer detection.

The Science Festival Runs for two weeks in March and features talks, hands-on activities, exhibitions, films and performances. But you don’t have to be a boffin yourself. The talks are aimed at the general public. However, they’re not dumbed down.

So you’ll need to pay attention – and you’ll want to, because you’ll learn about issues of scientific interest and concern, presented by the staff of the university’s departments as well as by research institutions, charities and industry in the eastern region.

There are talks and events for all age levels. At ‘Bug Your Bedroom’, for example, teenagers learn how to programme aRaspberry Pi computerto help them protect their bedrooms from invading siblings or parents. Many events are great for families. On 18 March, theCambridge Hands-On Science group (CHaOS)provides a day of talks and demonstrations on a number of subjects called ‘CHaOS talks at Crash, Bang, Squelch’.

Almost all events are free. However, you must pre-book for many events. Contact the festival organisers for help If you are hearing-impaired or have limited mobility.

The Cambridge Science Festival runs from 13 – 26 March 2017.

For more information, go towww.sciencefestival.cam.ac.ukor call 01223 766766 from 10:30 am to 4 pm, Monday to Friday.

(Image: detail from Tree of Life by Saskia Suijkerbuijk, Piddini Laboratory, The Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge. For more information, go towww.sciencefestival.cam.ac.uk/tree-life.)