My favourite event in the science calendar just rolled round again. The Royal Society hosts an annual jamboree celebrating the best of UK science. This year, 27 exhibitors fill the marbled halls of the RS to show off their research to the general public.

The exhibition seems more diverse than ever. Research teams cover climate change, plant biology, space research, materials science, medical technologies…just about every discipline. I like to play a game when talking to the researchers: pretend I know absolutely nothing about science, nod politely as they explain the really basic stuff, then ask a devastatingly insightful question about the role of semaphorins in axon guidance. I’ve never seen a researcher’s face moves through such a complicated parade of expressions (especially when asking an astrophysicist about the role of semaphorins in axon guidance).

My favourite bit, because I’m obsessed with all things spacey, was the display from the European Space Agency and partner universities. I spoke for about 20 minutes with one of the team working on the next generation of Mars missions. ESA are keen to put a series of probes at various locations around the red planet, to test for Marsquakes and other geological phenomena. That’s after they send the ExoMars rover in 2013, a flimsy-looking test model of which can be seen at the exhibition.

You should get down there today, if you can, when the show stays open till 9. It continues tomorrow and Thursday, but only during working hours.