News

The final three We’re down to the top 3 scientists as voted for by the students, but who will make it to the top two? Today’s highlights: In the Indium Zone, some interesting eclipse facts: dhynoable : How does a solar eclipse occur christinapagel : it’s when our moon is exactly in the way of the sun… by coincidence the moon is 400 times smaller than the sun but the sun is 400 times further away so they look the same size to us! dhynoable : So are we lucky that were in the right place for it to happen christinapagel : yes we are! and eventually we won’t get them anymore as the moon as gradually moving further away from us Over in the Human Limits Zone they were talking about the future of computers: Do you think that in 200-300 years time that computers will be able to … Continue reading →

The first eviction The competition was on leading up to today’s first evictions. We’ve just lost one scientist from each zone (though we hope they’ll still take part in some chats!), leaving four to battle it out for the prize money. Keep voting! Today’s highlights: In the Disease Zone, it was all about genetics, from baby blue eyes to criminal minds: miasinnett : why do babies have blue eyes when born? peterbalfe : Great question, their melanin cells don’t switch on for several months after birth. miasinnett : are criminals born with a different type of cell that makes them want to kill or do they develop it? peterbalfe : There is no “criminal” gene… eelynlim : not that we know of! but there is a genetic condition that makes them more aggressive than other people, we’ve found an unusually high number of these guys in prison! In the Silver … Continue reading →

Evictions start tomorrow It’s week 2 and tomorrow sees the start of  the evictions, who will be first to go? Get your votes in! Today’s highlights: In the Tin Zone, we learnt why there are so many seagulls: percypig1 : why do sea gulls fly over the sea? hannahbrotherton : because this is where they breed and nest. But we have more seagulls than ever and this is because of landfills. they love to eat rubbish lol percypig1 : because if they flew over the bay they would be bagels They got creative over in the Earth Zone: If you could find a new element, what would it do and what would you call it? In the Crystallography Zone they were discussing the good and the bad of oxygen: charliee : why is ozone able to kill us but oxygen helps us survive if they are both made of oxygen davidbriggs : good question – … Continue reading →

The halfway point Week 1 may nearly be over, but we have the evictions to look forward to next week! The power is in the hands of the 5,000+ students. Today’s highlights: A great question on gravity and spiders in the Disease Zone: sapphireskyjen : is it true that if earth had less gravity, spiders would die? katybrown : hmm, maybe! I guess the heavier you are, the less gravity you need – would all the spiders float away? That would be OK by me. eelynlim : i’m not sure about spiders! but the rest of us might not do so well, either – our skeletal structures are suitable for this kind of gravity. whales, who live in the sea, have a different bone structure altogether! 10whittao : but without all the spders, flies would take over the world peterbalfe : If the flies weren’t all killed they estimate in a year we’d be walking … Continue reading →

At day 4 we’re nearly half way through the event. Hope you’re all chatting, asking and voting! Today’s highlights: In the Cadmium Zone we found out how extra suns might have affected humans: How would humans have evolved differently if we had multiple suns? We found out what a brain stimulator is over in the Human Limits Zone: tess2fisher : what is the most intresting equitment you use? emmaross : the most interesting bit of kit I use is the brain stimulator. you hold it over someones head, and it sends a small signal to thier brain which tells their muscles to move. It means that we can move peoples arms or legs without them thinking about it – very cool! I have had someone faint because they didn’t like the feeling of thier muscles moving without them trying! A headache-inducing question in the Quantum Zone: Where is the Universe? It gives … Continue reading →

Day 3 and there’s no let up in the number of chats and questions – 4,400 students registered and nearly 2,500 answered questions, not to mention loads more chats! Today’s highlights: They were discussing robotic hearts in the Indium Zone: 11sumnerh : could we survive without a heart could it be replaced with a robotic device? christinapagel : yes we could! even now children wiating for a heart transplant can be fitted with artificial hearts that si outside their body (on their laps!!) and pump the blood round… but the longer you use them the more dangerosu it gets christinapagel : and it gets dangerous becaue eventually your blood will clot inside the device and you get a stroke.. matildawyatt1999 : why arent people immortal if you can have a robotic heart? jessbean : as for the robotic heart. that might still work but other bits of your body can … Continue reading →

It’s only day 2 but the questions keep coming! Over 35 live chats and hundreds more great questions. Today’s highlights: In the Animal Behaviour Zone, they were talking about baby baboons: msteststudent : do Babboons show any similraties to humans ???? suzanneharvey : baboons do show similarities to humans – baby baboons have tantrums juct like children until their mothers give them what they want! Over in the Crystallography Zone student crouchingmurloc asks: Do any of you live up to the nerdy stereotype that comes with being a scientist? There was talk of artificial volcanoes in the Earth Zone: stargazer : where would you put the artificial volcanoe(s) angusferraro : Great question. If people decided to go down the artificial volcano route, we would need to find a way to do it. A big explosion is quite expensive. Instead people might use a balloon and pump stuff up a pipe. It would … Continue reading →

And so it begins… I’m a Scientist June 2013 has got off to a busy start. Across all zones we’ve had around 30 live chats, a few thousand questions asked outside of the chats, and there are now 3,300 students registered! Today’s highlights: In the Blood Zone,  robynkeith97‘s question has brought up more questions than answers: If you eat yourself, would you become twice as big, or cease to exist as matter? Over in an Antimony Zone chat they’ve come up with an alternative way to cook eggs: ainedoyle541 : can you cook a egg with a laser? ricksmith : Ha yes, I think you could cook an egg with a laser, It wouldn’t be very safe (or tastey) but there are infrared (heating) lasers… In the Extreme Speed Zone, some interesting links between bananas and astronomy: Is there something astronomical about bananas? And a joke from Rhod in the … Continue reading →

Are you ready to take part? Hope you’re all ready for I’m a Scientist June 2013, as the live chats start on Monday! Over 270 chats have already been booked in, and we’re still getting more chat requests. There are over 2,000 questions queued on the ASK section of the website, asked by some of the 2,500+ students already registered. It’s going to be a very busy two weeks! Take a look… Crystallography Zone’s Sam has uploaded some cool pictures of protein crystals and says he has a funny story about setting a pipette on fire… we’ll have to wait until Monday to ask him about that! Great profile joke from Suzanne in the Animal Behaviour Zone – What do you call an exploding monkey? Check out Human Limits Zone Alan‘s blog ‘Learning Through Adventure‘ about his research out in Peru. Don’t forget you can take a look at all of the scientists’ … Continue reading →

We’re pleased to announce the schools and scientists taking part in our upcoming event which will run from 17th – 28th June. As you can see from the map to the right, we have schools from all over the UK taking part, and there are a few from even further afield, including Spain and India. As usual there’s been lots of interest – 5 scientists applied for each place – but we can now confirm those taking part in each zone… &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Animal Behaviour Zone The Scientists: Suzanne Harvey (University College London) I study primate communication, which involves trekking around the jungle with a microphone, recording monkey sounds! Using these recordings, we hope to learn about the evolution of human language as well as finding out what monkey sounds really mean… Renata Medeiros (Cardiff University) I study the life of very tiny and mysterious … Continue reading →