First of all, a big thank you to everyone who voted for me 🙂 Winning I’m a Scientist has come as a big surprise. I’ve had a great couple of weeks working with the scientists, moderators and students in the Animal Behaviour Zone, and will miss the live chats that became a regular part of my day! Also, congratulations to the student winner in our zone. Great questions, Gecko678!
Students have spoken. The votes have been counted. Congratulations Suzanne, we look forward to hearing how you spend your ÂŁ500 prize money. Hard luck to Renata 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 ÂŁ20 WH Smith voucher.
We’ve counted, checked and rechecked the votes and now it’s game over for… CLAIRE This leaves just “professional monkey watcher” Suzanne and “epic, scatterbrain, nerd” Renata to fight it out for the ÂŁ500 prize tomorrow. What would they both do with the money, you ask? Suzanne says “I’d organise events at UCL and school visits to experiment with human understanding of baboon sounds – I want to know whether you can guess what the baboons are saying!” and Renata says “I would use the money to promote the project “Storm Petrels in Portugal”, which gives people, from all ages and backgrounds, the opportunity to join a research expedition and experience science from inside.” 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 ÂŁ500 prize. Not your teacher, not the other scientists. Vote NOW to … Continue reading
We’ve counted the votes and now it’s time to evict… KAPILA Sorry to see KAPILA go after all your hard work. We hope you’ve had fun. In just 24 hours time the final 2 Animal Behaviour Zone scientists will be revealed to battle it out in the final. Who gets through to the final for a chance to win ÂŁ500? YOU decide! Will it be “professional monkey watcher” Suzanne, “epic, scatterbrain, nerd” Renata or “always drinking tea” 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 now … 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… JOANNA 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 Animal Behaviour Zone: Religion vs science: Do you think religion is an important part of science? And modifying genes: Is there a way to modify genes, for example giving an animal super strength on purpose or making an animal really big?
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 Animal Behaviour Zone: Parrot digestion: How long does a parrot take to digest its food? Measuring animal intelligence: What kind of animal has the hardest intelligence to find out about? And baboon gods… cookiemonster76 : what is the most interesting thing you have found out about baboon speech? suzanneharvey : the most interesting fact is a tough question! not strictly science based, but i think i was most surprised to find out that ancient egyptians had 4 baboon gods and thought their language was more complex than ours and that’s why it’s hard to understand! it amazes me that there were people trying to understand baboons thousands of years ago just like i am now
At day 4 we’re nearly half way through the event. Hope you’re all chatting, asking and voting! Today’s highlights in the Animal Behaviour Zone: Questions on animal languages: Do any animal’s languages interlink? Did you know that some monkeys have a sound that means ‘eagle’ and a sound that means ‘leopard’? Why are you so interested about different languages that animals speak? And baboon attacks… tangoblast101 : can baboons be viloent and have you ever been attacked??? suzanneharvey : baboons can definitely be violent, but no one at our field site has ever been attacked. the wild baboons aren’t dangerous as they’re mostly scared of humans and would rather run away than get into a fight, but don’t ever approach a baboon in a town, they will attack humans because they know we carry food!
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 Animal Behaviour Zone: Do baboons understand us? nicollmanimal : do you think that baboons hear every word we say or do they just hear a plain noise coming from us? suzanneharvey : i think baboons understand some of the things we say from getting used to us being around, but it’s so hard for us to understand them without a lot of work, so they probably would struggle to understand us too! nicollmanimal : wow thats a great answer suzanneharvey : thanks, it was a great question! Saving the planet: How can we save our planet and why is no one really bothering? And undiscovered animals… Is there any unfound creatures?
It’s only day 2 but the questions keep coming! Over 35 live chats and hundreds more great questions. Today’s highlights in the Animal Behaviour Zone: Baboon tantrums: msteststudent : do Babboons show any similraties to humans ???? suzanneharvey : baboons do show similarities to humans – baby baboons have tantrums juct like children until their mothers give them what they want! Penguin feet: maryerskineschool : do penguins feet get cold? renatamedeiros : Penguins do get cold feet but they have very thick skin on their feet so it doesn’t get as cold as we would and that is why they can manage it And bird health: How can you tell if a bird is healthy or unhealthy?
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 Animal Behaviour Zone: Some interesting questions on language: Why do you think that humans can speak but other animals cannot? Do you think baboon will ever become a language that people can learn- like french or spanish? Some animals have impressive memories: Which animal is the smartest ?? And some birds eat dolphin meat: What is the most odd thing you have found that a bird has eaten?