The first week has taken off with a bang! It’s been exciting, fast and chaotic! It felt like today exploded with questions and live chats – I couldn’t keep up, the scientists were on form though! They’ve been given over 490 questions and taken part in over 35 live chats – well done students and obviously, well done scientists! 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: eoinconnolly : This might sound like a stupid question, but will the explosion damage the other planets in our solar system? paulhiggins : eoinconnolly when the sun turns into a red giant it will burn up the earth and mars, venus and mercury, but the outer planets might not change too much gingaaaaa : could you get shot on the moon? davidmckeown : gingaaaaa Maybe, … Continue reading →

The live chats today were busy! We had 9 live chats with a bombardment of follow up questions coming through ASK. We’re also really excited about how much the students have been commenting, it’s really encouraging to know that the scientists hard work (answering all the questions) is paying off. Good work students! why to lions have manes [Health Zone] so if I constantly eat carrots can I turn orange? [Hydrogen Zone] where did god come from? [Space Zone] patoleary : why dont girls voices change when they get older and boys do? paulhiggins : @pat the vocal cords are like a guitar string, it is like you are holding your finger low on the neck to make a high note, and as you get older the finger moves down the neck and makes a lower sound. I think it is do to testosterone, which girls have different amounts of … Continue reading →

The live chats were nice and fast today, there were so many questions, especially in the Hydrogen Zone live chats.. We were desperately trying to grab as many snippets as we could, here are a couple of great ones from the students: sineadgarvin : why do some people write with there left hand and others with there right hand? andrewjackson : @sineadgarvin. nice question! the reason is that our right hand brain controls the left side of our body, and the left side of the brain our right side of our body. Most people have a side of their brain that is slight better at doing fine movements such as writing. About 9 out of 10 people are dominant with their right hand traceymoran2 : how do scientist know how to make a flu vaccine if viruses can be different each year? andrewjackson : @traceymoran2 wow… nice question. The answer … Continue reading →

Today was all about experiments gone wrong, accidents, gross laboratory stories and a lot of flamingo talk (thanks to Eileen from the Hydrogen Zone). So far there have been 222 questions approved and 51 live chats booked for the event so far, and it’s only the second day! Do you think every student in ireland should have to do science without a choice? [Hydrogen Zone] Some people believe it was god that put everyone where we are now, but some other people say its the big bang. Can you explain to me what the big bang is? [Hydrogen Zone] how do you make pancakes in space [Space Zone] What is you favourite planet or star? Why this planet/star? [Space Zone] when a baby is born with the bowel on the outside why does this happen and why?? [Health Zone] how do we know there isnt any more planets in space? … Continue reading →

The first ever I’m a Scientist Ireland kicked off today, with a bang.. A massive technical bang! None of the live chats were working, despite the heavy duty testing and usage before the event.  Thankfully, our technical support managed to swiftly sort it out and got them working again for the rest of the event, and ready for all the zones to get stuck in with their questions and live chats. Now for a little taster as to what the scientists have been answering today.. Here are some of the questions that have been asked so far: has your robot ever attacked you [Health Zone] why did you want to work with poo [Health Zone] how do the stars explode [Space Zone] How do you make the nanosheets that are a 100,000 smaller than a single strand of hair? [Space Zone] why are baby flamingos grey [Hydrogen Zone] what kind … Continue reading →

We’ve been overwhelmed by all the support for I’m a Scientist, Ireland. A big thank you to everyone who has spread the word. Alumni scientists have been tweeting and blogging about I’m a Scientist coming to Ireland, with some even signing up to take part again. Teacher Humphrey Jones from St. Colomba’s College, Dublin wrote a lovely post on the Frog Blog about I’m a Scientist coming to Ireland, that sums up what I’m a Scientist is about perfectly. And it’s not just people who’ve taken part before who’ve been supportive. Thank you to everyone who’s tweeted, written about & talked about I’m a Scientist to friends, colleagues and anyone who might be interested. It worked. We were oversubscribed with scientists wanting to take part, and nearly all of the class spaces have been filled (teachers can still sign up for the last few spaces). You can see who’s taking … Continue reading →

It’s countdown time! I’m a Scientists, Ireland is running from 12th – 23rd November, and with only a few weeks left it’s time to announce the scientists and schools taking part! Schools So far there are 28 schools across Ireland taking part in the event. There are still a few places left and teachers can sign up here to take part!. Space Zone The Space Zone is sponsored by the European Space Education Resource Office (ESERO) Ireland. Scientists Paul Higgins Trinity College Dublin I study sunspots and try to find out which ones are likely to erupt and send super heated gas hurtling toward the Earth! Eugene Hickey Institute of Technology Tallaght Dublin Astrophysicist – we look for new planets orbiting distant stars. David McKeown University College Dublin I work on ways of moving spacecraft about so they point the right way. Colin Johnston Armagh Planetarium I explain the amazing … Continue reading →

This weekend Shane made his debut on Irish radio, on NewsTalk‘s science and technology programme Futureproof. He talked to Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin (PhD student in Mathematics Education at Trinity College Dublin and former Rose of Tralee, no less) about I’m a Scientist running in Ireland for the first time this November. You can listen to the interview online at http://media.newstalk.ie/listenbacks/popup by selecting ‘Futureproof’ under Listen Back. We’re just after 18:30 minutes in. If you listened to it what did you think? Are you interested in taking part, either as a teacher or a scientist? If you’ve got any questions just leave a comment here, or on twitter (@imascientist) with the hashtag #IASIE.

We’ve decided the 3 zones that will run in I’m a Scientist this November. Choosing the zones is important as we need to make sure the topics are relevent to the curriculum, and that there are scientists researching in that area! So we’ve gone for: Space Zone Health Zone Hydrogen Zone The Hydrogen Zone isn’t just for scientists working with hydrogen, but is a general zone, named after the first element in the period table. The 5 scientists in this zone will be working across all areas of science, rather than all researching round the zone theme like the other 2 zones. The Space Zone is sponsored by the European Space Education Resource Office (ESERO), who use space as a theme to inspire and engage young people in Science, Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects. We’ve run space zones in the UK event before which have gone down really well with students. … Continue reading →

We’ve set up the I’m a Scientist site and agreed the dates it will run, the 12th – 23rd November. The next step is to decide on the zones. And for this we need your advice. What zones would you like to see in I’m a Scientist? Zones? Let me explain. We split the event into ‘zones’ – groups of scientists and students. Each zone has 5 scientists and up to 350 students in 20 classes. We’ll be running 3 zones in November – 2 will be themed and 1 will be general. The scientists in the themed zones will have some connection to the theme, whereas there will be a spread of scientists in the general zone. We’ve come up with a longlist of 10 themed zones but want to know what teachers and scientists think will, and won’t, work. We’ll use your comments to decide on the final 2 themed … Continue reading →

We’ve been running I’m a Scientist in the UK since 2008 and in that time we’ve had a fair few Irish scientists take part, and a handful of Irish schools. But that’s not enough. We want to involve lots more. So this November we’re running an I’m a Scientist event as part of the Dublin City of Science 2012. I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here! will be one of the 160 events that “showcase the best of Irish culture, arts and science”. What can I’m a Scientist offer? It gets students and scientists talking, simple as that. It runs online over 2 weeks from 12th-23rd November, tying in with Science Week Ireland. Students ASK scientists questions about science and beyond, have live CHATs with them and VOTE for their favourite scientist to win €500 to spend on science communication. Students become more enthused about science, see how what they learn … Continue reading →