Day three of I’m a Scientist and a day of packed live chats has found students and scientists discussing why leaves change colour, the causes of cancer, and germs: which has more, finger-nails or toilet seats?

One fantastic question asked how science has changed since the scientists were in school:

Student: What is different about science when you where at school to now?

Iain Moal: When I was at school the internet was a new thing and people didn’t really use it until later. Nowadays it has revolutionised science by making it so much easier for scientists around to world to communicate and share data. At the moment I am working with people in the USA, Holland and France. That would be almost impossible when I was at school.

Scientists in the Nuclear and Plants Zones are overjoyed, and have finally been sent some questions! One brilliant question asked why it’s important to know about radioactive materials:

Why is it important to know the properties of radioactive materials?

Students in the Organs Zone wanted to know which organ the scientists would choose to be, and why:

If you were an organ which organ would you be?

…and in the Extreme Size Zone, the students have been wondering what you might see of Earth from the perspective of a star:

I know that when we look at stars, we are looking back in time. Do you think that if someone stood on a star and looked at Earth through a telescope, would they see the dinosaurs?

Make sure to keep ASKing questions, and don’t forget you can comment on other students’ questions if you want to find out more!

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Thanks to the Wellcome Trust for part funding I’m a Scientist, and to the Science and Technology Facilities Council for funding the Extreme Size and Nuclear Zones, to the Institute of Physics for funding the Light Zone, and the Royal Society of Chemistry for funding the Colour Zone.