Science Week 2012 Launched

Science Week 2012 was launched yesterday by the Rubberbandits and Dr. Sarah Kelly a recent graduate from DCU.

This year, the theme of the week-long science spectacular will be: "Everyday Experimenting". Science Week, which runs from November 11th-18th, aims to demonstrate that you are a part of Science. You are constantly experimenting. From attempting a new level on a game, to trialling a new recipe and even embarking on a first date – these are everyday experiments.

For more information on Science Week and events in your area, see www.scienceweek.ie

 

I'm A Scientist comes to Ireland

The wonderful I'm a Scientist, get me out of here (IAS) will take place, for the first time, in Ireland this Autumn.

As I posted back in July, IAS will run in conjunction with Science Week and will consist of five zones where school-goers can ask scientists anything they like!

It's been described as an 'X-Factor for scientists' and allows the sort of relaxed interaction between scientists and potential scientists that provides for a wonderful learning experience for everyone who takes part.

I took part in IAS in the Spring of 2011 when it was a predominantly UK event (and got the mug to prove it!). If you're a scientist and think you might like to participate or a teacher who might like to get your students involved, the following posts I wrote on the subject might be a useful read:

Here's a 'before' post talking about what I wanted to achieve from participating.

Here's a post detailing how it all worked and the types of questions I was asked.

And finally, a post I wrote after I was booted out. A reflection on the whole event and it's value to student and scientists alike.

I really enjoyed taking part in IAS and it gave me a view of science outreach that I hadn't had before. If you're interested in taking part, I can highly recommend it. Find out more information on the IAS Ireland website.

Science Snap Winners Unveiled

'Love is Sweet' Anna McCarthy

The winners of the Science Snaps competition were announced today as part of Science Week 2011.

The competition is now an annual event run by the Tyndall National Institute and Discover Science and Engineering and aims to challenge people to think about the prevalence of science in their everyday lives.

In keeping with the Science Week theme, the theme for entries to this year's Science Snaps competition was 'The Chemistry of Life'.

First prize in the junior cycle category went to Paul McKay from Wesley College Dublin for his photo entitled 'Water Drop'. First prize in the senior cycle schools category went to Anna McCarthy from Coláiste An Phiarsaigh Glanmire, Cork for her creative and clever shot 'Love is Sweet'.

'Pollen Fest' Christina Ni Dheaghaidh

The competition was open to the general public also and first prize in that category went to Christina Ní Dheaghaidh from Dublin for her image 'Pollen Fest'.

Exhibitions of highly commended entries from the annual Science Snaps photography competition take place at the Discovery Exhibition in Cork City Hall on Nov 12th-15th, in the Gallery of Photography in Temple Bar and in Dublin City Libraries and Cork City Libraries during Science Week Nov 13th-20th and beyond.

To view a gallery of the entries, visit www.pix.ie/go/sciencesnaps

'Water Drop' Paul McKay

C.O.R.Y. gets to work, exploring the skies

CORY (Image: Blackrock Castle Observatory)

After receiving hundreds of entries to their Name the Big Dish competition, Blackrock Castle Observatory have chosen a winner. Drum roll please....

Rebecca Cantwell from Regina Mundi in Douglas, Cork came up with the winning name: C.O.R.Y., which stands for "Computer Operated Radio Yoke".

BCO said in a statement that the name "shows not only Rebecca’s Cork wit but also her knowledge of astronomy and science".

Rebecca joined NASA astronaut Greg Johnson in activating and lighting up CORY last night when it officially began receiving visual and audio signals from space - making it the largest radio dish available for educational purposes in Europe!

The 32 metre dish is based at the National Space Centre, at Elfordstown Earthstation near Midleton in Co. Cork and was originally constructed in 1984 to carry transatlantic telephone calls from Europe to the US. It was retired from this function in the mid 90's when underground cables were laid.

Now, in a partnership between the National Space Centre and Cork Institute of Technology, the dish is being refurbished to act as a state-of-the-art educational and research tool.

Minister for Research and Innovation, Sean Sherlock TD with CORY (Image: Blackrock Castle Observatory)

Dr Niall Smith, Head of Research at CIT, who outlined Phase I and Phase II of the project said that “This project will see a €10m radio telescope brought back to life for less than €10,000 thanks to the partnership between National Space Centre and CIT. It’s a great example of using world-class infrastructure in the most cost-effective way to reach out into the community and to embed our growing scientific heritage alongside our world-renowned culture.

It will excite students in schools who will get to listen in on the radio signals from outer space; it will be a testbed for engineering and science projects from primary through to PhD; it will be available to researchers from across Ireland and beyond; it will be an iconic structure only minutes from the famous Jameson Distillery, which we hope in the future to open to tourists and public alike.”

Phase 1 of the project to refurbish the telescope is now complete and next year it is hoped to see the further refurbishment of the dish allowing it to turn and slew as it originally did, along with the installation of new sensors and receivers.

The dish is capable of detecting a host of cosmic phenomena including:

    the emission of giant slow moving hydrogen clouds
    the violent explosions of stars
    eruptions of the solar surface
    storms on Jupiter
    enormous galaxy-scale jets of quasars

The switch-on ceremony took place as part of Science Week, which continues until next Sunday.

Science in Stone

Hidden away in the courtyard of a building close to Cork's Saint Finbarre's Cathedral is a unique reminder of Cork's scientific heritage crafted by one of Ireland's greatest craftsmen.

The piece is made up of 3 individual limestones panels each measuring 74 x 94 cm. Arranged one above the other, with a chiselled limestone surround the panels are unmistakeably the work of the Cork stonecarver Seamus Murphy.

Born near Mallow, Co. Cork in 1907, Murphy went on to become an award winning sculptor and stone carver, crafting some of Ireland's most important public art - including the O'Donovan Rossa plaque and Countess Markievicz bust at St. Stephan's Green, Dublin; the bust of Michael Collins at Fitzgerald Park, Cork.

From top to bottom, the Crawford panels are:
CEIMHIOCHT A FISIC, bearing the symbols of chemistry and physics.
INNEALTÓIREACHT, bearing the symbols of engineering.
FOIRGNÍOCHT, bearing the symbols of building and construction.

The work is located at the Crawford College of Art and Design on Sharman Crawford Street, Cork and is a reminder of the former use of the building - as the Crawford Technical School (built as the then Cork Municipal Technical Institute in 1909).

The institute was built on a site donated by Mr. AF Sharman Crawford (whose grandfather was William Crawford of Lakelands who had already proven himself a great benefactor of science and art on Cork), Chairman of the Cork Technical Instruction Committee and a managing director of Beamish and Crawford, brewers.

The old Arnotts brewery that previously occupied the site was partially demolished and a new building of Little Island limestone, brick from Ballinphelic, Co. Cork, Galway granite, as well as marble from Connemara, Cork, Mitchelstown and Beaumont Quarry in Ballintemple was erected.

From November 1911, the Institute taught electrical and mechanical engineering, building construction, typography, painting and decorating, chemistry, domestic science, carpentry, plumbing, botany, tailors’ cutting, cooking, laundry, shirtmaking, dressmaking, millinery and needlework.

Seamus Murphy's stonework was installed in  1967 and now serves as a permanant link between the Crawford Technical School and the Crawford College of Art and as a tribute to the philantrophic activities of several generations of the Crawford family in art and science.

Unfortunately, while the artwork has survived well, despite being exposed to the elements for over 40 years it is now almost obscured from view by an unsympathetically positioned metal smoking  shelter. Surely such a fine piece of craftsmanship should be worthy of a little bit more respect?

As we begin Science Week 2011, the theme of which is 'Chemistry of Life' we could do worse than reflect of Murphy's interpretation of the science in stone.

Robert Boyle Science Festival

2011 represents the 350th anniversary of the publication of Robert Boyle’s famous scientific paper entitled, “The Sceptical Chymist”. This document set the scene for the establishment of the academic topic we now call the Chemical Sciences. 

2011 is also the year that has been designated the International Year of Chemistry (or more simply, IYC) and so it is appropriate that Robert Boyle’s enormous... contribution to the subject will be celebrated in a Science Festival to be hosted at his birthplace in Lismore Castle, Co. Waterford. 

The Festival will take place between Thursday 17th November and Sunday 20th November 2011 to coincide with Science Week. Events will be mounted by Eoin Gill (WIT) and Dr Declan Kennedy (UCC) suitable for both children and adults including lectures, demonstrations and “hands-on” experiences. Talks by Professor Duncan Thorburn Burns (QUB) and Dr Allan Chapman (of Channel 4 TV fame) will emphasise material on Boyle himself and also his scientific partnership with the equally famous Robert Hooke. 

Due to the universal importance of Boyle’s law of gases, two further lectures will be devoted to Earth’s atmosphere. The first is to be presented by the Chief Scientific Officer to DEFRA in the UK, Professor Bob Watson, and will provide a political perspective relevant to human activities on air pollution, climate change and agriculture. The second, by Professor Richard Wayne from Oxford University, will attempt to put the evolution of our atmosphere in proper perspective with our neighbouring planets in the Solar System and answer the question: Why Life on Earth? 

The celebration ends with a spectacular Firework Display at the Castle to point at the essential “Air” that covers our planet and allows all forms of life to exist. The Robert Boyle Science Festival is organised by the Lismore Heritage Centre along with representatives from Lismore Castle, University College Cork, Waterford Institute of Technology and local chemical industry. It is sponsored currently by the RIA and UCC. 

You can keep up to date on the festival using their Facebook page.

See our earlier post on Robert Boyle and his science here.

A scientist walks into a bar....

Update 13/11/2010
And the winner is.... Eukaryote for this beauty:

Man walks into a pharmacy and says "how much is your adenosine triphosphate?" The pharmacist says "to you, it's 80p"

Boom, Boom!!
Eukaryote will get a book token for his trouble.
Thanks for all your entries.


To celebrate Science Week, I'm looking for the best short science joke. But you have just until 5pm (Irish Time) today to get your entries in.

So, this is going to be short and sweet. You can tweet your joke, remembering to use the hashtag #scijoke , and the whole joke must fit into one tweet (140 characters). You can follow me on twitter @blogscience

You can also leave your joke as a comment to this post, but you need to observe a similar maximum length.

I'll dig out a nice prize for the best joke of the day (which may also be the worst....I love terrible puns), so spread the word and get joking.

Science Snapshot Five: California and Cork Link Up

Science Week is ongoing in Ireland and continues until the 14th. For more details of events taking place around the country, you can visit here.

Here on Communicate Science, for the duration of Science Week, along with our usual posts, we'll be posting a 'Science Snapshot' every day. If you have a Science Snapshot you'd like to share, you can email here and we'll post the best later in the week.

Today's snapshot comes from the Blackrock Castle Observatory (BCO) in Cork. It features scenes from their recent "First Friday at the Castle Open Night" which took place on Friday last (5th November) and kicked off Blackrock's programme for Science Week.

The image above captures the scene in the packed interactive theatre at BCO. Ben Burness, astronomer at Chabot Space & Science Center (CSSC) in Oakland California can be seen on the screen to the right on a live video link from the dome of one of Chabot's telescopes.

The left hand screen in that image shows transition year students at BCO creating cool astronomy images from data supplied directly from the telescopes in California.

The image below shows the magnificant Chabot Space and Science Center at night. BCO has already featured in one of our Science Snapshots this week and is well worth a visit!

Discover Science in Cork

DISCOVERY, Cork's Science Festival will will host Family Days this weekend, as Science Week draws to a close.

Discovery has been hosting activities for schools in Cork's City Hall since Monday, but this weekend, the general public get a chance to have some science-themed fun.

"Discovery educates through enjoyment. Experimenting with slime, creating an electronic circuit or zapping the microbes in your gut – that’s chemistry, physics and biology you’re learning, as well as IT!" says the Discovery spokesperson.

The event is organised by Cork City Learning Forum and the Chair of that organisation, Ted Owens says: "This event aims to encourage young people to be inquisitive and to seek a better understand of how things work - hopefully it will also provide the motivation for more young people to pursue a career in these important fields".

The event will include MEGAMOLECULES - scaled up models of everyday, molecular structures; as well as a Science Magic Show by Declan Kennedy on Sunday.

Other exhibitors include Cork's Lifetime lab, CIT, the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (the guys behind the 'Science Raps' competition), UCC, TYndall, Blackrock Castle Observatory and many more!

The event takes place in Cork's City Hall. For more details see the Discovery Website.

Science Snapshot Four: Science Live!

Science Week is ongoing in Ireland and continues until the 14th. For more details of events taking place around the country, you can visit here.

Here on Communicate Science, for the duration of Science Week, along with our usual posts, we'll be posting a 'Science Snapshot' every day. If you have a Science Snapshot you'd like to share, you can email here and we'll post the best later in the week.

Today's snapshot comes courtesy of the RDS and features images from the recent RDS Science Live for Teachers event which took place last Saturday, November 6th.

The event is designed to encourage teachers to find new and innovative ways to teach the primary school science and maths curriculum.

Top Science Sites for Science Week

Since it's Science Week and with all this talk of awards and websites going on, I present to you my (current) top ten science websites for general science fun! These may be particularly useful for younger students of science, but will be enjoyed by all.

Now, if you were to ask me next month, the list could be completely different, given the huge number of great science sites out there. However, here, for the record is my top ten (in no particular order).

Have I missed out on any? What's your favourite science site? Let me know.

I'm a Scientist
Based loosely on the TV programme "I'm a celebrity", students and scientists get to chat online and school students get to ask all the questions they like. The 2010 event is now over, but already the 2011 version is shaping up to be lots of fun.

How Stuff Works
Organised by the people behind the Discovery Channel, this site allows you to find out the science behind every day and some not-so-every-day things. Find out how sunglasses, fireworks and zips work!

The Frog Blog
A great Irish science blog edited by Humphrey Jones. Don't let the name fool you though; frogs aren't the only thing on offer. Check out this site for articles on everything from vampire squid to science education.

NASA Science
This site is stuffed with brilliant imagery from space programmes and excellent explanations of complex stuff like the Big Bang and Dark Matter. Just the thing for this space themed Science Week.

Guardian Science
An excellent source for the latest science news, this website also contains a range of science blogs (to which I occasionally contribute) which are excellent for encouraging debate around scientific issues.

Secret Life of Scientists
Another declaration of interests here, because I also contribute to this site as a guest blogger. This US-based site is brought to you by the people behind the NOVA science programmes available on PBS. It takes a look at the scientists themselves, asking why they became scientists and what else they like to get up to outside the lab.

Science Gallery
Another Irish site, this comes direct from the Science Gallery based at Trinity College Dublin. Check out their upcoming exhibitions and their excellent science blog.


Scientific American
Back to the US now and although I really can't stand the font used in their new design, it is still the place to go for "the science that matters".

The Scientist
Now, here's a site that has also had a makeover but with much more successful results (are you listening Scientific American?). Excellent and in-depth coverage of the latest news in the biosciences. Their Naturally Selected blog is always informative.

Science Week
Can't leave this one out being the week that it is. Check this site for all the latest science week news and to find out where and when cool science events are happening all over the country.

Have I missed out on any? What's your favourite science site? Let me know by leaving a comment below.

Black Hole Radiation Simulated in Lab

For the first time, scientists have been able to simulate the type of radiation likely to be emitted from black holes.

A team of Italian scientists fired a laser beam into a chunk of glass to create an analogue (or simulation) of the Hawking radiation that many physicists expect is emitted by black holes.

A spokesperson for the research group said: "Although the laser experiment superficially bears little resemblance to ultra-dense black holes, the mathematical theories used to describe both are similar enough that confirmation of laser-induced Hawking radiation would bolster confidence that black holes also emit Hawking radiation."

The renowned physicist Stephen Hawking first predicted this sort of radiation in 1974 but it has proved elusive to detect, even in the lab. This research group was able to use a "bulk glass target" to isolate the apparent Hawking radiation from the other forms of light emitted during such experiments.

Black holes are region in space where nothing can escape, not even light. However, and despite their name, they are believed to emit weak forms of radiation (such as Hawking radiation). Physicists expect that this radiation may be so weak as to be undetectable.

The research appears in the current issue of Physical Review Letters (Free) and is also reviewed in Physics (Free).

The experimental setup for Hawking radiation detection

Rap for Science

Second-level students in Ireland are being invited to rap about science as part of a nationwide competition being run for Science Week (7-14 November).

The Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (APC) at University College Cork are seeking budding rapper/scientists to compose a rap based on this year's Science Week theme: Our Place in Space". An iPad is on offer for the winner.

Entrants must video their performance and upload it to the APC's Youtube Channel by November 3rd 2010. Full details area available here.

Take a look at an example of one of last year's winning raps: