The third day of I’m a Scientist: Get me out of here! is just about done with, the scientists — we’re sure — will be answering questions late into the night, but for now, let’s take a look at what happened today.

Today in the Tellurium Zone, carrotcake116 wanted to know why some people have different coloured eyes; heterochromia is what it’s called, and it’s caused by distribution of a substance called melanin.

In the Particle Physics Zone, science1234321 wanted to know if it is possible to control lightning:

Yes, to some extent. lightning is attracted by charge. we can divert it with Faraday cages. after all, it’s just a bunch of electrons flying about. We can work with that.

Robots, were a big topic of conversation today. In the Iodine Zone, epicduckofepicness wanted to know whether it will ever be possible to create a human-like artificial intelligence; a question generating a little disagreement between the scientists.

In the Genes Zone, eoconnor wanted to know why only some diseases are genetic:

Some diseases are carried by bacteria or viruses and we get exposed to them if we are exposed to the carrier rather than already having them in our genes. Genetic diseases evolve over time via mutations in our DNA which can then be passed on from parents to offspring. … Many common diseases are caused by things like viruses and bacteria, which tend to give us short diseases (like a cold) that we don’t then pass on to our children. Our genes can sometimes affect how likely we are to get diseases though (perhaps you know the example of sickle cell disease and malaria?).

We’re grateful to the Wellcome Trust for providing part funding to run I’m a Scientist: Get me out of here!, as well as to the STFC for providing funding for the Particle Physics and Extreme Clean Zones.

We’ve plenty more live chats to come in the next two weeks, check back tomorrow for more updates.