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The sun is setting on another day of I’m a Scientist: Get me out of here! and here we are again to look at the questions the students have been putting to the scientists. In the Particle Physics Zone, the scientists were asked to consider what they might change about the Universe, given the chance: What law of physics would you change? Joel wants to change the second law of thermodynamics, making the world a much more spontaneously tidy place, Kristian would happily leave his desk a mess if he could change special relativity and travel through the stars. In the Genes Zone, students wondered just how plausible a zombie outbreak might really be, the advice: “Don’t panic.” In the live chats, we caught up with the old favorite questions of nature vs. nurture, Do you think genes or environment have the biggest effect on characteristics? A great question, and … Continue reading →

Well. We did it. We’re coming to the end of the first day of our November 2013 round of I’m a Scientist: Get me out of here!, and what a first day it has been. Students have asked questions on everything from radioactive cottage pies, to life elsewhere in the Universe, to house cleaning robots. Among the major themes today were the old favourites, “Does your work harm animals?”, “How does your work help people?”, and “Why is the sky blue?”. In the Ecology Zone, students had the scientists evaluating how interesting they find their research; while in the Genes Zone, the students were interested in different ways of curing cancer, and whether curing inherited diseases might play a role. In the Iodine Zone, the live chats looked at everything from football playing robots, to the future of DNA mapping; and in the Particle Physics Zone the students were looking … Continue reading →

I’m a Scientist: Get me out of here! is back from 11th–22nd November with 7 brand new zones, 35 scientists, and more than 70 schools taking part. With more than eight applicants for every scientist’s place, there was fierce competition, but we’re ready to announce the scientists who will be competing for the final I’m a Scientist titles of 2013, and the schools who will be deciding their fates. Our thanks to the Wellcome Trust for part funding the event, and to the STFC for funding the Extreme Clean, and Particle Physics Zones. Ecology Zone The Scientists: Thomas Doherty-Bone University of Leeds Aliens in our water – I look at how introduced crayfish, crabs, newts, plants, microbes affect rivers, lakes and ponds – should we worry? Sofia Franko Newcastle University I try to understand the best way to make marine animals happy in our aquariums, so that they will eat, … Continue reading →

On Ada Lovelace Day we are asked to write about a female scientist who has inspired you. This year we’re listing the 52 female winners of our zones. There are 50 from I’m a Scientist and 2 from I’m an Engineer. They’ve all been brilliant and inspiring to thousands of school students: Katy Milne Kiran Meekings Kirstin Zechner Joanna Buckley Ceri Thomas Sally Fenton Vicki Onions Katy Mee Jo Watson Joanna Brooks Suze Kundu Zara Gladman Anna Williams Jen Gupta Emily Robinson Carys Cook Gemma Sharp Rika Nair Ceri Brenner Barbara Guinn Wei Xun Amy Reeve Cat O’Connor Peta Foster Vicky Young Katherine Haxton Fiona Hatch Paige Brown Alison Atkin Carol White Samantha Weaver Lizzie Eaves Nuala Carson Nik Ibberson Kirsty Ross Anouk Gouvras Sarah Martin Jo Cruden Jo Giles Jen Paxton Jen Todd Jones Laura Soul Hayley Evers-King Leila Nichol Nicola Lazenby Suzanne Harvey Ee Lyn Lim Sarah-Jane Walsh … Continue reading →

Here at I’m a Scientist HQ, we’re busy ramping up for the November event, but we wanted to take a moment to update you on some of the zones we’ll be running over the next twelve months. All scientists’ applications are in for November 2013, and we’re currently choosing our scientists for each zone; but there’s plenty of time to register to take part in for March and June 2014. If you see any zones in March or June that are up your street, make sure to get your applications in. Equally, if you suspect your friends, colleagues, or family members may be up one of these streets; make sure to tweet them, email them, or copy-out long-hand the URL onto a post-it for them. Of course, if your streets lie elsewhere—and we’re in serious danger of over-extending this metaphor now—remember we always run a couple of general zones, so … Continue reading →

This November we’ve got some exciting new STFC-funded zones running alongside three zones teachers have asked for and two general zones: Ecology Zone – Looking at the natural environment – plants, animals and their interactions – whether on land or in water Extreme Clean Zone – Funded by STFC. Covering everything from scientists working in clean room environments to soap and detergent science and decontamination, this new zone will investigate what it means to be really clean Genes Zone – Genetics is a pretty broad topic, from DNA damage and cell growth to proteins and genetic diseases, this zone is open to all Particle Physics Zone – Funded by STFC. This zone will explore the fundamental objects of the universe: particles of matter and radiation. Scientists could be working on high energy particle accelerators like the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, trying to make sense of the huge amounts of data collected in these massive experiments, or looking at some of the … Continue reading →

So we’ve just wrapped up the June 2013 event, and we’re already storming ahead with lots of future plans. To make it even easier for you to plan your schedule and to take part, here are the I’m a Scientist and I’m an Engineer event dates for our next events: 11th – 22nd November 2013 — I’m a Scientist UK plus I’m a Scientist Ireland 10th – 21st March 2014 — I’m a Scientist and I’m an Engineer (during National Science and Engineering Week) 16th – 27th June 2014 — I’m a Scientist and I’m an Engineer Teachers, sign up here: imascientist.org.uk/teachers Scientists, apply here: imascientist.org.uk/scientist-apply

After each event we ask all of the moderators and scientists to select students who they think asked great questions and engaged really well in the chats. Well done to all of the student winners below, and also to the runners up and everyone who took part – so many of you came up with interesting questions and comments and were both polite and enthusiastic, but we could only pick one winner in each zone…

Zone Winning Scientist Employer Animal Behaviour Suzanne University College London Antimony Becki KU Leuven Blood Andrew Royal Liverpool University Hospital Cadmium Becky University College London Cells Mario University College London Crystallography Dave University of Manchester Disease Lyn Babraham Institute, University of Cambridge Earth Simon British Geologial Survey Energy Rhod University of Bath Extreme Speed Sam Observatoire de Lyon Hormones Keith University of Cambridge Human Limits Alan University of Brighton Indium Jess University of Bath New Materials Stu University of Sheffield Quantum Dave University of Nottingham Reproduction Chris University of Manchester Silver Sarah-Jane University of Essex Tin Hannah University of Manchester Thanks to all of the students who took part and voted, we’re looking forward to the next event! There’s lots of excitement on Twitter…

Top two (or three!) scientists announced in each zone On the penultimate day of the competition, we’re down to just 2 scientists in each zone. The votes were tied in both the Quantum Zone and the Reproduction Zone, with 3 scientists in each of these zones remaining in the running for the prize money – every student vote really does count! Today’s highlights: In the Reproduction Zone, we learnt how to treat wasp stings and not to eat zebra fish… tararuby00 : Why do wasp and bee stings really hurt? chriswhittle : They are based on acids and alkalis, bee stings are acidic I think, wasps alkaline. Best thing to do with a wasp sting is rub on vinegar! — peterprules : can you eat zebra fish or are they poisonous albertolapedriza : they are not poisonous, but I dont think they are very tasty either In the Animal Behaviour … Continue reading →