News

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 →

It’s now under 24 hours until we’ll be announcing the zone winners! Which unfortunately means, saying goodbye to more scientists today. The final set of scientists to go are: Artem in Bromine. Austin in Krypton. Hitesh in Rubidium. Amy in Strontium. Valeria in Animal Behaviour. Judith in Genes. Lindy in Materials. Thank you for all the time and effort you’ve put into answering student questions and taking part in live chats. We gave the results out during a live chat in the Rubidium Zone.  Here’s what Hitesh from Rubidium said: “thanks for all support from students, teachers, my fellow scientists…and I’m scientist group for wonderful opportunity..I have learnt so much” Highlights from student questions include: are certain people prone to cancer? (Bromine) if you click your joints in your fingers, will you get arthritis? (Krypton)  how did the seas and oceans become salty? (Strontium)  how do cockroaches survive radiation (Rubidium) … Continue reading →

Second day of evictions today, but only one scientist can win each zone and so today we had to say goodbye to more scientists. The second set of scientists to go are: Matt Gunther in Bromine. Nicola in Krypton. Hywel in Rubidium. Karen in Strontium.. Louise in Animal Behaviour. Seyyed in Genes. Bruce in Materials. Thank you for all the time and effort you’ve put into answering student questions and taking part in live chats! Matt Gunther Tweeted about the questions, despite the amount, he’s had a fantastic time answering them!   Highlights from student questions include: Bromine – does the stereotype of scientist being nerd and having no social life affect you? Krypton – How do you like your steak? Strontium – If humans have evolved from monkey’s or apes, why are they still here? Rubidium – What causes spontaneous human combustion? Is it real? Animal Behaviour – What ethical issues have you been … Continue reading →

Scientists have been working hard to answer over 1, 500 questions and have taken part in over 60 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: Alison in Bromine. Sarah in Krypton. Mae in Rubidium. Vijay in Strontium. Charlotte in Animal Behaviour. Leisha in Genes. Beth in Materials. We’d like to say thank you to all the scientists for all the time and effort you’ve put into answering student questions and taking part in live chats. We hope you’ve enjoyed taking part. Here are some of the best picked questions; What is a headache and what is the cause of it? (Bromine) how come you dont sleep in day and play in night (Krypton) what causes Schizophrenia and how can it be cured? (Rubidium) Why don’t our knee-caaps snap when … Continue reading →

Under 24 hours until the FIRST eviction of this event! It’s week two, and the scientists have been blasting through the questions and live chats in preparation for tomorrow’s first eviction! Here are a couple of daily wonders; why do men have nipples, Just wondering do they have 6ft killer rats in africa or is my friend talking rubbish??, Have you ever had worms as a result of your fieldwork?, do you like doctor who? (this has come up in the live chats once or twice), as well as “olivia13 : @sarah cool. So could we ever turn into people like wolverine with superpowers it we are turning into superhumans?” and What mutation would you do to yourself? We also discovered a lot of philosophical questions; why do we laugh?, does the work you do inprove who you are as a person or not? and Do you think kids should … Continue reading →

The first week is over, and after the sudden bombardment of live chats and questions, we’re able to have a rest, have a cuppa and go through all the questions. We thought we’d find you some of the gems from the week, there were so many, over 1,200 questions asked by over 1,100 registered students  – but there were obviously a few stand out questions that made us giggle and some that made us think. I’m sure we’ve asked this about many annoying noises before how do you drown out the noise of justin bieber? Bromine bring religion to the table, when they answered is god real if not why is there religion?? Sarah and Austin from Krypton, describe Why aren’t gases as heavy as liquids and solids? to a class of 9 year olds – which meant, even I could understand it. Will from Strontium gives us tips on … Continue reading →

As day four draws to a close, the mods continue to go through the mass of questions, which came flooding in after the very lively livechats. A lot of todays questions took quite a delicate approach, with a very interesting conversation between students and scientists in a Bromine live chat: “kirstynic99 : @caroline – Do you think IVF is right?” “speccy4eyes : @caroline who do you think should pay for IVF” “carolinedalton : @speccy @kirsty those are very interesting questions. I think if we look at infertility as a disease then it is right to treat people who are suffering from it if we have the technology and the knowledge to do so safely”. As well as can you really die of a broken heart? and What is your opinion on people ending their own life? Obviously we still had a lot of ‘If the zombie apocalypse happened what would … Continue reading →

Today was busy, with more live chats and a sudden influx of questions in Rubidium! Animal Behaviour is still ahead with the most questions.. Students really want to know about the emotional wellbeing of animals.. have you ever heard a whales cry underwater?, why do dogs wag their tails when they are happy?, do animals form bonds with people and other animals? There were also some diverse questions and theories in the Live Chats “noogieman : can too much exposure to methane kill you? “ from Bromine Zone and “homasoftamre123 : Do shadows have particles?” and “alysha : why is ice clear and snow white?” from Rubidium Zone. We also witnessed a beautiful coming together of zones and events (even mods joined in) for one very scientific question.. A question we’ve all asked ourselves at some point.. how fast can you type the alphabet? Catch up with what happened on … Continue reading →

Day two is over, we had lots more live chats today, which resulted in some interesting questions.. “laurajoseph : is there anything you can do to stop a heart attack?” and “reem : ants dont sleep. is that true?” and “vanessa1234 : Isit true that even if your brain is working but your heart isnt, you can still surive?”. We also ploughed through questions, the mods were quick to spot the JLS, One Direction and new to the ‘who’s your fave band’ bench.. The Wanted.  A very important question! It also seems the Animal Behaviour Zone has gone mad with dolphin questions (I have heard that dolphins can kill sharks, is it true?) and cat questions (Is it true cats are more likely to survive falling from a larger height than a smaller one?) The mods managed to approve over 390 questions from over 800 students registered so far on the site. And … Continue reading →

I’m a Scientist kicked off today with scientists answering lots of great questions queued up by students over the last few weeks. Scientists started with some of the really important questions, like… “How many hobnobs and cups of tea do you could have in one sitting?” ” is there scientific proof that having a moustache makes you more attractive?” and “Do cats actually like their owners?“. Students then asked more questions including.. “do you think cells can kill themselves?” or “is it possible to clone a person” and the tough decision of “If you were the last thousand of people on earth and you had to make a desicion between saving the knowledge of mankind, setting up a new goverment or finding food and shelter which one would you chosse“. The two common themes that have appeared today are cats and dolphins, unsuprisingly in the Animal Behaviour Zone as Kevin … Continue reading →