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Oh no! It’s the second day of evictions today, and the scientists have been working tirelessly at answering all the questions and taking part in live chats, but unfortunately we must say goodbye to 8 more scientists today – as there were no evictions in Organs yesterday, and only one today – we will have a double eviction tomorrow! The second scientists to go are: Harriet in Yttrium Zone Rebecca in Zirconium Zone Anil in Niobium Zone Davie in Earth Zone Pip in Laser Zone Gemma in Molybdenum Zone Vee in Organs Zone Michael in Pathology Zone Here are some top questions from the day.. If you had to, what would you release into the Earth’s atmosphere. Neurotoxin or Hydrogen Cyanide? (Molybdenum Zone) Is it possible to be completely invisible? (Laser Zone) When a tornado hits, what happens to things which are sucked up inside? Are they just dropped off … Continue reading →

The scientists have been working hard to answer over 2, 409 questions and have taken part in over 70 live chats collectively. But as only one scientist can win in each zone it’s time to announce the first to be evicted… The first scientists to go are: Angela in Yttrium Zone Ellie in Zirconium Zone Cees in Niobium Zone Gemma in Earth Zone Tianfu in Laser Zone Andrew in Molybdenum Zone A draw in Organs Zone! Anna in Pathology Zone Here are some of the top questions from the week so far.. Do you agree with Michael Gove’s opinions concerning GCSEs? Do you think they are too easy?Do you agree with Michael Gove’s opinions concerning GCSEs? Do you think they are too easy? (Molybdenum Zone) How have childrens reactions changed to divorce over the last 50 years? (Zirconium Zone) Why Don’t Birds get Electrocuted… (Pathology Zone) In the future do … Continue reading →

The Monday morning blues were quickly banished by means of a show of school students and their excellent questions in the live chats. alan1421 : @emma how come on earth there oxygen and in space theres none i mean why doesn’t the oxygen go from earth and fill in the space emmatrantham : @alan1421 Brilliant question! I didn’t know the answer to this until recently. At least part of the reason is that the gravity of the earth attracts the oxygen to it (Niobium Zone) hamsa : Why is there no mammal with green fur? Green is a good camouflage color, and nonmammals (for example, frogs, snakes, and birds) do come in green. Why not mammals? (Earth Zone) mayerar01 : could the moon have moonquakes?? shaunarose : Since clouds contain tiny water droplets, why are rainbows not permanently present? johnwelford : @shaunarose, there needs to be quite a lot of sunlight … Continue reading →

After a busy 2 weeks we want to say a big well done to the student zone winners from I’m a Scientist from June 11th – 25th. We asked moderators and scientists to recommend students in each zone who asked great questions or engaged really well in the Live Chats, or even left some thought provoking comments. The winner in each zone gets a £20 WH Smiths voucher and a certificate. We’ve also listed a few runners up in each zone who we thought participated really well. Thanks to all the students who took part. You asked some great questions and there were some fabulous live chats, from the deep and thought provoking to the more lively where you really challenged the scientists (and their typing skills). So well done to: Animal Behaviour Winner: emily72, Loreto Grammar School – for asking lots of thoughtful science based questions Runners up: lucyluvslemurs, … Continue reading →

What a day, the week has progressively gotten busier and busier! Today seemed to explode with questions – over 460 in laser, with over 200 waiting to be checked by our BEAUTIFUL moderators, and that’s just one zone! Trying to pick highlights for the day has been almost impossible, as there are so many brilliant questions, probably, some of the best of the week: liv99 : are scientist more likely to get ill than other people?? blankasengerova : @liv99. I don’t think they’re more likely to get ill, I think teachers and nursery teachers are actually because they come in contact with lots of people in their work. (Niobium) themadman2477 : r u ever scared of when your doing sciecne that you are going to find something out that u didnt realy want to know (Molybdenum) brokenhalo : is there any possibility of parralel universes?? carolwhite : @brokenhalo – there’s … Continue reading →

Another hefty day of live chats and questions – mods have approved over 1540 questions from over 1320 registered students – scientists are starting to feel the burn, but are thirsty for more! Here are some of today’s highlights, there was quite a bit of focus on evolution and religion throughout: selmae : Do you think that humans will eventually evolve to be completely bald, because we have clothes? andrewthomas : @selmae that is a good question. I don’t really know the answer to this. There are also predictions that we might all evolve big thumbs from playing computer games! I guess there will always be some people who live in very cold climates where the hair + clothes is still necessary to keep wrm since you lose most of your body heat through your head (Molybdenum Zone live chat) nmahammed : how do people predict the human evolution? (Organs … Continue reading →

Today was a big day for live chats, and they all were brilliant – we had quite the collection of questions; Some early morning, morbid questions from Zirconium live chat: alexmizia : would a human explode in a miceowave? hazzabazza123 : how much air time would you have if you jumped off the eifell tower? amberscally : would we suffocate if there was no trees? More ecological and philosophical in Earth Zone: leggooo : @jamespope What does it mean for our future? jamespope : @leggooo I’m a climate scientist working in the geological past, (so I am called a palaeoclimate scientist) I run a climate model in the warmer world 3 million years ago, to try and improve our knowledge of how climate works and what this means for the future! chelsealittle : @nuala why do penguins have wings if they dont fly then And some thoughtful question in Molybdenum … Continue reading →

We’re only at the end of day two but already there are popular topics emerging in questions and live chats. Some are, unsurprisingly, linked to themed zones. In an Earth Zone chat scientists were asked; “rumforde : Have you experienced an earthquake? And did it help you learn more a bout earthquakes“, “capp : why are there so many types of rock and how can you tell the difference between them?” and “cat24 : why is carbon capture needed?“. And in the Laser Zone students are going crazy for lasers; Can lasers be used to benefit people in poorer countries, When you cut through the skin with the lasers how long does it take to heal? and, of course, Do you think that it is possible to make a light saber. Other popular topics are: Space – Since you said that super conuctors are colder than space, what is the … Continue reading →

I’m a Scientist started today, calmly and smoothly, with scientists chatting, answering questions and commenting throughout. It was almost too smooth.. Like a gentle teaser of tranquility before the rest of the week. Have you seen how many live chats are booked!! Top questions of the day go to some in the Niobium live chat; “partypoison : Can we control our dreams? If so, how?” “ellabella1611 : @mike How do computer cheats work?” and “niaisrandomlol : @cees why don’t limbs grow back?” This one from Zirconium – Why do some people have a shorter temper than other people? Is it to do with how they grew up? This from Molybdenum – Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons? This one from Laser – If you really could dig a hole to China, and you did, and you fell in, would you stop … Continue reading →

It’s been such an intense two weeks of energised live chats and weird, wonderful and thought-provoking questions, all bringing lots of topical issues and tricky subjects up for debate. The seven winning scientists have made it through four nail biting rounds of evictions. Each student vote counted and in some zones the evictions came down to just a few votes. It’s time to reveal the winner in each zone. Congratulations to: Zone Winner Where they work Bromine Zone John Short University of St Andrews Krypton Zone Kirsty Ross University of Strathclyde Rubidium Zone Nik Ibberson Cambridge University Hospitals Strontium Zone Sarah Martin SynthSys, University of Edinburgh Animal Behaviour Zone Jo Cruden GlaxoSmithKline Genes Zone Anouk Gouvras Natural History Museum Materials Zone Lizzie Eaves University of Manchester The winning scientists all receive £500 to spend on science communication, and we can’t wait to see their wonderful ideas put into practice! Thank … Continue reading →