THE science behind one of the star attractions of the Lumiere festival will be explained at a free lecture this weekend.

Thousands of visitors were impressed by The World Machine, a projection onto the face of Durham Cathedral telling the story of mankind’s understanding of the Universe.

A team of Durham University scientists and historians, led by Professor Richard Bower from Durham’s Institute for Computational Cosmology, worked together to produce the projection, which included high-powered, immensely accurate computer simulations of the Universe and images from medieval manuscripts.

Prof Bower will talk about the physics and cosmology behind the show in a free lecture on Saturday (Nov 21).

The hour-long lecture starts at 10.30am in the James Duff Lecture Theatre, at the university’s Department of Physics on South Road, Durham.