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Well first off I have to say a big THANK YOU to everyone for voting… it was quite the surprise for me when I won (and a big congrats to Heather who gave me a serious run for my money and who managed to answer every question… superwoman)! Also a standing ovation to the students, teachers and organisers of IAS, it was an absolute pleasure to be part of this wonderful event! When I entered IAS I thought I knew what to expect having talked with my friend Fiona Hatch (last year’s winner of the Sports Zone) and having been involved with The Physiological Society that funded the Human Limits Zone this year… how wrong was I?!?! It was even more frantic, fast-paced and exciting than I imagined. I loved getting all your questions, ranging from the specifics of my kidney/blood pressure research, animal experimentation, and impact of hormones on … Continue reading →

Students have spoken. The votes have been counted. Congratulations Keith, we look forward to hearing how you spend your £500 prize money. Hard luck to Heather 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… ELAINE This leaves just “creative, fun-loving, quirky” Keith and “penguins, purple and rock music” Heather to fight it out for the £500 prize tomorrow. What would they both do with the money, you ask? Keith says “Visit schools to run practicals to show how the kidneys filter our blood and make urine” and Heather says “Develop the ‘diabetes’ game for schools.” 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 your question … Continue reading →

We’ve counted the votes and now it’s time to evict… DEREK Sorry to see DEREK go after all your hard work. We hope you’ve had fun. In just 24 hours time the final 2 Hormones 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 “creative, fun-loving, quirky” Keith, “penguins, purple and rock music” Heather or “bubbly, honest, friendly” Elaine? 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 … Continue reading →

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 Hormones Zone: An interesting paradox: What’s your favourite paradox? And type 1 vs type 2 diabetes: What is more severe, type one or type two diabetes?

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. Scientist Bimpe withdrew from the event yesterday, so the first Hormones eviction won’t be until next Wednesday. Today’s highlights in the Hormones Zone: We learnt how artificial hormones are made: samw : where are the hormones used in injections (such as insulin or some sex hormones) ‘harvested’ from? heathereyre :  originally they used sheep, but I think a lot of them are now made by genetically modified bacteria that secrete the hormones. How hormones deteriorate: samw : Why dose taking HGH from cadavers lead to Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease? Do the hormones deteriorate after death and how long does that take? keithsiew :  well onces the body dies… it begins to decompose… there are lots of enzymes that break down things like … 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 Hormones Zone: Animal testing vs animal cruelty: Do you think that there is a difference between animal cruelty and animal testing? Adrenaline has to work pretty quickly: How long does adrenalin released from the glands take to reach the brain? And why we’d be jelly-like without water… What would happen if there was no water in our bodies and what would we look like?  

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 Hormones Zone: We learnt how flies cope with strong winds: tye962 : If a fly has such a small brain, how can it know what to do when it gets put off balance by some force (e.g.wind)? keithsiew : specially developed nervous system… just cause it has fewer brain cells doesn’t mean it can’t do complex tasks… so some of the brain cells of insects do many tasks… whereas we may require lots of brain cells to do the same thing An interesting question from student nawe: nawe : is it possible to create a hormone based bio weapon keithsiew : Yes… if you had a toxin that inhibited vital hormones or caused overproduction I think you … 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 Hormones Zone: Heather tells us (almost) everything she knows about the kidneys: lgs11garnc : Please can u tell me some info on kidneys please, would really love to know! heathereyre : Some people have an extra one, but you can live a perfectly normal life with just one. Years ago when surgeons first strated cutting them up in live people they nearly always died because, like cutting up an orange, if you cut the wrong way you cut through all the blood vessels and tubes inside it! It filteres your blood and makes sure you have the right amount of fluid in you blood too. We find out just how clever our bodies are: lgs11coopa : what function of the kidneys do u like the most keithsiew : … 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 Hormones Zone: Keith explains how he uses lego in his research: ginge0407 : @kieth how does the lego come into play? keithsiew : oh the lego keithsiew : well I used it to build a stage that held a laser beam that I could move up and down to shine on the specimen… so I could get my images at different depths keithsiew : and used lego to build a stage that could be rotated so when I had specimens in a gel rod I could see them in 360 degrees shadowdude64 : @keithsiew so why lego? I’m sure you have an engineer who could … Continue reading →