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Hello! Yes, you. Hi there. Thanks so much for voting for me to win the Extreme Speed zone of I’m A Scientist: Get Me Out Of Here. It was very nice of you to do so without making me eat a single bug (I mean, I might have done if I slept with my mouth open and one just flew in there, I dunno. Also I’m currently *being* eaten *by* bugs, so thanks, mosquitos). You asked so many great questions (SO MANY QUESTIONS) and I learned a lot Googling for the answers. Yeah, so as a scientist you tend to specialise a lot, and it’s entirely probable that your biology knowledge is better than mine, and if you ask me what the fastest land animal is that begins with a q I’m just gonna up and Google it. Sorry. The live chats were great fun, even if there were like five back-to-back and it was 35 degrees. The q thing is … Continue reading →

Students have spoken. The votes have been counted. Congratulations Sam, we look forward to hearing how you spend your £500 prize money. Hard luck to Claire 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… MATT This leaves just “hi I’m a” Sam and “curious, adrenaline junkie” Claire to fight it out for the £500 prize tomorrow. What would they both do with the money, you ask? Sam says “How does making your own galaxy and then flying through it in 3D with VR goggles sound?” and Claire says “Bring some of you over here to visit CERN!!!” 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 breaker questions to help you decide? ASK … Continue reading →

We’ve counted the votes and now it’s time to evict… ROB Sorry to see Rob go after all your hard work. We hope you’ve had fun. In just 24 hours time the final 2 Extreme Speed 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 “hi I’m a” Sam, “curious, active, happy” Matt or “curious, adrenaline junkie” Claire? 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 … 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… KATE 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 Extreme Speed Zone: Gardening on the moon: khaknegarmoghaddam : Hey Sam! Is it possible to plant trees on the moon? (So humans can live there in the future?)Lol samgeen : You could plant trees on the moon, but they’d need soil and air. So you could plant trees in a dome on the Moon, but not on the surface And colliding galaxies: ace12 : what would happen if galaxies clashed katehusband : That often happens and we can observe it. When galaxies clash often the stars won’t touch each other as they are so widely spaced, instead think of everything moving inbetween each other. But the gravity of all these stars and gas will pull on the other galaxy and almost destroy it. … 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 in the Extreme Speed Zone: One student was particularly excited about their live chat: phoro : wooo! i’m a true budding scientist and can’t wait for this fun-filled exhilirating chat! Interesting animal facts: morganfreeman : what is the Dodos closest relative? samgeen : Dodos are related to pigeons! Just how big is the Universe? clairelee : Everything we see in the universe – everything we know about in the ENTIRE universe, makes up only about 4% of the universe student : What is the rest of the 96% of the universe? clairelee : We. Have. No. Idea. Plus loads more great questions in ASK: How would a room become anti-gravity? What do you do to get rid of … 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 Extreme Speed Zone: Volcanoes are very very hot… Precisely how hot is it in a volcano? A great explanation from Claire: What is a worm hole and how does it work? And moon movement and lightning… Other than its orbit, does the moon move? If lightning produces so much energy, couldn’t mankind harness it?  

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 Extreme Speed Zone: The Universe is expanding very slowly: daisybamber : How fast does the universe grow and if there is nothing beyond the universe then what does it grow into? samgeen : The universe travels at the speed of the Hubble constant – which is 21 km/s for something 1 million light years away. So it expands very slowly We can’t count the number of particles inside a black hole: What thing has the most atoms in it and particles? And Matt gets weekly email updates on the latest volcanic eruptions… When did the last volcano erupt?  

It’s only day 2 but the questions keep coming! Over 35 live chats and hundreds more great questions. Today’s highlights in the Extreme Speed Zone: Tarbert Academy students offer Sam a job (sort of)… archiandlaura : would you like to work as a physics teacher in Tarbert Academy? samgeen : Ha, maybe if I get bored of research I could be a teacher! aaronjohnstone : we have a very interesting school! no getting bored here We learn why our ears pop: kirstyi : Why does popping your ears help withstand pressure? samgeen : Pressure differences happen when the air inside your ear is higher or lower than the air outside – popping your ears causes the air to mix, and the pressure to become the same And how much does data weigh? jamesagrear : If you have a full memory stick and an empty one, will the full one weigh … 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 Extreme Speed Zone: Building bridges across the universe: emmaruaridh : could you build bridges other planets? samgeen : Emmaruaridh: Not quite! Planets orbit at different speeds, so the bridge would stretch and break. But you can build space elevators that go into orbit above the Earth, which have been suggested before. Sam explains Einstein’s theory of relativity: lhodgkinson : could you put einstiens theory of relativity into simpler words? I am not 100% sure that I understand it fully. samgeen : Relativity: Nothing travels faster than the speed of light Some interesting links between bananas and astronomy: Is there something astronomical about bananas?