2016

Platinum Zone Report – March 2016

READ THE FULL REPORT The Platinum Zone was a general science zone funded by the Wellcome Trust. Daniel works with Embryonic Stem Cells and is funded by the organisation. Lowri studies people’s behaviour in relation to energy consumption, Greg is a doctor who researches how we can prevent diseases like cancer and diabetes, Kelly is an Intellectual Property Analyst for a chemical company and Giovanna is an experimental physicist who works with tiny electrical circuits. The zone was quite busy throughout the two weeks, with a higher than average amount of live chats (22) compared to the rest of the zones in this event. There was an even spread of activity within the live chats from the scientists, and in the ASK section Lowri, the winner of the zone, accounted for 42% of all activity by scientists

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Medical Physics Zone Reprt – March 2016

READ THE FULL REPORT The Medical Physics Zone was funded by the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine of which Paul, Mobeen, Jennifer and Greg were members and the Institute of Physics. Mobeen and Jennifer were members. Paul researches new ways of using light to treat skin diseases, Mobeen is working on ways of imaging the brain to pick out age related diseases, Laura is a clinical vascular scientist who studies arteries and veins, Jen is a radiotherapy physicist and Greg is researching new ways to detect cancer. The zone was quite busy with a higher than average amount of questions approved and answers given, although just 70% of students who logged in were active throughout the event. There was a lot of interest in health and disease, especially in the cancer research focus of the scientists.

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Iridium Zone Report – March 2016

READ THE FULL REPORT The Iridium Zone was a general science zone funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council. Scott is a particle accelerator physicist at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Jim and Adrian are STFC funded PhD students; Jim analyses data to find new planets and Adrian is a particle physicist. Vicky works in flu vaccine stability management at MedImmune and Gaia studies genetic mutations in children. The zone was busy with students mostly asking science questions rather than wanting to know about the scientists’ careers, with students interested in topics like black holes, gravity and disease. Most of the scientists were very active within the zone and there was a higher than average number of answers given compared to the other March zones. Scott, the winner of the zone, was the most active of all the scientists and contributed almost half of all live chat lines by scientists and … Continue reading

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Gravity Zone Report – March 2016

READ THE FULL REPORT The Gravity Zone was a themed zone funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council and Steve is a Post-Doctorate researcher who works on the Large Hadron Collider. The other four scientists are all supported by STFC; Emma studies how neutron stars emit gravitational waves, Bose studies gravity at a galactic scale working on testing gravity theories, Alice models explosions on neutron stars and Christian is a physicist who builds experiments to detect gravitational waves. The majority of the questions were thoughtful and on topic with interest in current scientific discoveries, black holes and space in general. Most of the scientists were highly active throughout the event and were very encouraging towards students who wanted to learn more about physics.

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Gold Zone Report – March 2016

READ THE FULL REPORT The Gold Zone was a general primary school zone funded by the Wellcome Trust. Omur studies how stem cells become neurons to help cure brain disease, Chris looks at the birth and formulation of galaxies, Hayley researches sleep and how DNA relates to people’s sleeping patterns, Maddison creates tiny structures to improve smartphones and Jimi works with mass spectrometers to help fight cancer. The zone was very quiet during the first week, however in the second week activity picked up and it became the one of busiest zones in the March event, with the highest number of questions approved and answers given. Students were interested in the work of the scientists, especially on the topics of cancer and sleep. There was an extremely high number of comments, with 629 in total and over 90% of student comments were from Lathom Junior School. Students interacted really well … Continue reading

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Fat Zone Report – March 2016

READ THE FULL REPORT The Fat Zone was a themed zone funded by the Wellcome Trust. Majid looks at blood vessels in obesity, Hannah is a Lecturer in Health and Exercise Physiology, Sam researches how to keep healthy as we get older with Cancer Research UK, Charlotte studies how fats stored in the liver affect our health and Richard studies the role of a hormone that can make people healthier when they eat less food. A large amount of questions were focussed on the topic, with interest in health related topics revolving around exercise and diets, for example. There was a high percentage of active students (92%) and chats were busy and engaging. There was a below average number of students logging in compared to the rest of the zones in this event which resulted in a lower number of questions approved.

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Climate Change Zone Report – March 2016

READ THE FULL REPORT The Climate Change Zone was a themed Primary School zone, funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry, and Helena, Iain and Cat were members. Iain studies the effect of cars and factories on the air, Elaine studies the chemistry of fossils to find out about what the climate was like in the past, Helena is researching new ways to make biodegradable plastics, Gabriel is a PhD student researching the sources of pollutants in the air and Cat is looking at how the chemicals emitted from trees affect the climate of the planet. Within ASK and the live chats there were a lot of on topic questions about weather and climate, with students taking the topic of climate change quite seriously with an interest in how global warming can affect our future. The two final scientists, Cat and Helena, accounted for over two thirds of all scientist … Continue reading

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Biochemistry Zone Report – March 2016

READ THE FULL REPORT The Biochemistry Zone was funded by the Biochemical Society, which Harriet was a member of, and the Royal Society of Chemistry. Harriet, Chris, Andy and Jessica were all members of this society. Nikki is a microbiologist and laboratory manager researching new antibiotics, Jess builds machines to help doctors hunt for diseases and Harriet designs new materials to be used to treat cancer. Andy and Chris are both lecturers at universities, Andy working in inorganic chemistry and Chris in biomaterials. The zone had an above average amount of questions in the ASK section, where students engaged with the scientists’ individual work and research, as well as asking a variety of general science questions. Each scientist answered a very similar amount of questions in ASK.

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