Astrophysicist to be part of musical swimming baths show

The Moseley Road baths in Birmingham opened in 1907

An astrophysicist and an audio-visual specialist are due to take over a 100-year-old swimming baths in Birmingham.

Moseley Road Baths has invited Dr Andrew Spencer and Leon Trimble to entertain swimmers with an immersive talk about gravitational waves.

The event will be the first of a series of "music takeovers" at the pool.

Dr Spencer said it would be the first time he had given a talk at a swimming pool, but thought the venue would enhance the experience.

He is based at the University of Glasgow and said it would be "a great way to open up the field and to show to people who may have been put off science at some stage how interesting and creative [the] science industry can be".

Under the water

Dr Spencer added it would be "a fantastic opportunity to show-off some cutting-edge science while having a lot of fun".

The site in Balsall Heath is the oldest surviving grade II* listed swimming pool currently operating in Britain.

It closed in 2003, but a partnership including community groups and the city council revived it and in 2021 it was allocated £15.5m by the government to pay for improvements.

Friday evening's event is aimed at placing "art side by side with science" and giving people the chance to be in and under the water while listening to gravity synth and "feel more in tune with how gravitational waves travel through the universe".

Future music takeovers, on the last Friday of each month, are due to include "well-established and emerging DJ's, music producers and well-loved Birmingham promoters".