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A big THANK YOU to everyone who voted for me! I’m a scientist was a hectic, exciting and incredibly interesting fortnight, and I am really grateful to all the students and teachers who took part in the event. I think that chatting with the students and answering (or trying to answer 😀 ) the incredible variety of fantastic questions has given me a reminder of what it was like to be at school, and how important it is for me as a scientist to communicate to everyone what it is that I am doing. After all, so much of the science being done in the UK is funded by either Charities (like Cancer Research UK or Arthritis Research UK) or by the tax payer (through research councils like the Medical research Council) – so it is you and your parents that are contributing you my research – so THANK YOU … Continue reading →

Students have spoken. The votes have been counted. Congratulations Dave, we look forward to hearing how you spend your £500 prize money. Hard luck to Ben and thank you to all the other scientists who took part. You were all brilliant and each and every single one of you has contributed to the great success of this event. We’ve had two weeks of hot debate, stimulating chat and mind-boggling facts. Students, don’t forget to tell us what you think about science now you’ve taken part. Log in and fill in 4 quick questions in the pink box on the right of the browser, to be in with a chance to win a £20 WH Smith voucher.

We’ve counted, checked and rechecked the votes and now it’s game over for… SUSANA This leaves just “caffeinated, curious, creative” Dave and “energetic, thoughtful, tireless” Ben to fight it out for the £500 prize tomorrow. What would they both do with the money, you ask? Dave says “Buy a small tablet and projector to take my “Bluffers Guide to Crystallography” talk on the road!” and Ben says “Donate it to a charity which provides access to practical science lessons for kids in developing countries.” The competition is hotting up and the scientists are pulling out all the stops to secure your all important final vote. Only you decide who gets the £500 prize. Not your teacher, not the other scientists. Vote NOW to make sure your favourite scientist walks off with the prize – VOTE HERE If you haven’t made up your mind why not ask the scientists those all important tie … Continue reading →

We’ve counted the votes and now it’s time to evict… SAM Sorry to see Sam go after all your hard work. We hope you’ve had fun. In just 24 hours time the final 2 Crystallography Zone scientists will be revealed to battle it out in the final. Who gets through to the final for a chance to win £500? YOU decide! Will it be “curious, optimist, chocoholic” Susana, “caffeinated, curious, creative” David or “energetic, thoughtful, tireless” Ben? The last 3 scientists have it all to play for and they need your vote. So vote NOW to make sure your favourite scientist makes it through to Friday’s final – VOTE HERE What do you think about science NOW? We hope that taking part in I’m a Scientist has been fun and interesting. But has it changed your view of science and scientists? Please tell us what you think about science now … Continue reading →

It’s been a fantastic event so far and the scientists have worked hard, answering hundreds of questions between them. But on Friday there can only be one winner in each zone, so some of them have to go. We are sorry to have to do this to you, but the first scientist to be evicted is… ED Thanks so much for all you’ve done. We hope you’ve enjoyed taking part. There will be evictions every day for the rest of the week, with the winner announced on Friday. Keep voting students! Who will walk off with the prize? YOU decide!

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 Crystallography Zone: Why oxygen keeps us alive but can also kill us: charliee : why is ozone able to kill us but oxygen helps us survive if they are both made of oxygen davidbriggs : good question – Oxygen is O2 (two atoms of Oxygen stuck together) – Ozone is O3. O3 just happens to be toxic to us. samhorrell : Ozone is very reactive and damages living tissue. Oxygen is innert And the placebo effect explained: Why does the placebo effect work?

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 in the Crystallography Zone: Time travel: muse : what is your opinion on time travel? davidbriggs : I don’t think that TIme Travel (like in Dr Who) is possible, but you could perhaps change the way time flowed for you (relative to everyone else) by living near a black hole or travelling close to the speed of light A bad job interview… 11jdymond : what is your most funniest moment in science so far? susanateixeira : In my job interview I kicked the power cable and the whole building went dark for nearly 20mins… BIG ops And more great questions in ASK: If we originate from monkeys/apes why can’t we understand them? What is your favourite experiment that … 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 Crystallography Zone: Giant crystals: What is the biggest crystal you have seen? The progress of crystallography research… finleye : is research progressing in the crystallography world susanateixeira : Well, if I can find what is behind taste we can change the way we eat and make better use of our resources…. or if I can find what stopps potatoes and strawberries rotening we can stop crops going from waste. Clicking joints: shrinab : does clicking your joints help give you arthritis? davidbriggs : No it doesn’t! Lots of people think it does but that’s not true! It might damage your tendons, but it won’t give you arthritis. lozzaf : isn’t clicking your fingers just the air making a noise? davidbriggs : clicking your fingers is, but crunching your knuckles … 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 in the Crystallography Zone: Talk of potato plants… scoodle12 : What would happen if the potato plant died out or if any other food plant died out? benjaminhall : It depends really, the potato is a massively important food crop (the 4th most important in the world) and if it disappeared then we’d have a big shortage of food. The same goes for things like wheat and maize. brandinosaur69 : But initially you could grow a whole new potato plant in its self from just a few chemicals benjaminhall : I think I’m fairly clever but not clever enough to spontaneously create a potato. We find out about arthritis: esnughh : how does arthiritus work davidbriggs : Arthritis is … 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 Crystallography Zone: What’s all the fuss about atoms? Why do you like looking at atoms so much? We find out just how nerdy the scientists are… Do any of you live up to the ‘nerdy’ stereotype that comes with being a scientist? And ask what they think about other stereotypes: The typical image of a scientist is a white male. What do you think about this stereotype?  

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 Crystallography Zone: Curing arthritis: Will there ever be a cure for arthritis? You can’t crystallise milk: How you ever crystalised milk? And the scientists’ favourite crystals: What is your favorite type of crystal to look at?