Some of today's most exciting research comes to Science Oxford, writes ANNE LECHELLE

What links blinking, the Big Bang, and the brain, with planets orbiting distant stars and atoms trapped in carbon cages? The answer is that they are all featured in The Cutting Edge, a snapshot of the most fascinating science and engineering research taking place in the UK and Europe.

Hosted by Science Oxford, the exhibition will be the only chance outside London to see five of the best exhibits from this year's Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition.

The five exhibits cover every area of science, from physics to biology, and from psychology to astronomy.

How fast is your brain? asks how the brain deals with needing to react quickly, and lets visitors test their own reaction times using our special timer. They can also take part in Science Oxford's staring competition, as they discover how blinking rates differ in different people and across different species.

The discovery journey continues with Wonder in carbon land, which explains how scientists can control carbon at the atomic scale to build almost unimaginably small structures called nanotubes and nanocages.

At the other end of the spectrum, Back to the Big Bang gives an insight into the amazing world of the newly opened Large Hadron Collider, a 17-mile long experiment deep below the Alps which allows physicists to smash atoms together at 99.99 per cent of the speed of light. This will create conditions similar to those just after the Big Bang, and allow scientists to answer fundamental questions about life, the universe and everything.

And last, but not least, Is there anybody out there? allows visitors to enter the world of the astronomers who are trying to find planets orbiting distant stars. They will be able to find out how light curves in space, and how astronomers use this to discover new planets.

This free exhibition is open Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm, until August 29. The Cutting Edge series also offers evening events for the public, including the secret life of bacteria, the science of the teenage brain as well as GM crops and global food security. For more information, please visit www.scienceoxford.com or call 01865 728953.

Anne Lechelle is from Science Oxford, cultural centre for science in St Clements. Science Matters is co-ordinated by Science Oxford. For more information see www.scienceoxford.com