• Question: Hello I would like to ask if being a Scientist and what is the best experiment you have done?

    Asked by anon-259409 on 11 Sep 2020.
    • Photo: Ashleigh Barron

      Ashleigh Barron answered on 11 Sep 2020:

      I think the best experiment I have ever done had nothing to do with my work at the time. When I was at university I used to go to various schools to do STEM workshops where we’d take liquid nitrogen and do various experiments with it that the pupils could interact with like making clouds, producing lots of bubble, freezing flowers and crumbling it in your hands. We’d always end with making ice cream with it which was always really fun (I think the kids loved that part the best too). As a researcher the best experiment I ever did was the focus of my PhD, I made a probe that could hold E-coli cells in a grid formed by light using a method called optical trapping. It was using a different technique than other groups at the time so I got to give presentations on my results in different countries.

    • Photo: Josh Wolstenholme

      Josh Wolstenholme answered on 11 Sep 2020:

      My favourite science thing I’ve done was in school where we build rockets and launched them in the field behind the school – nothing related to what I do now though! For my Masters I was looking at how water interacts with different ground surfaces; so what would happen when there were more stones or grass, or if it was steeper or shallower? It was a week of controlled throwing water down hills in Portugal, and was great!

    • Photo: Rachel Edwards

      Rachel Edwards answered on 15 Sep 2020:

      My favourite experiments are the same as Ashleigh – anything involving liquid nitrogen! The best experiment I ever did though was probably the first one where I found out something that no-one knew or had ever known before, which was during my PhD. I found out how a new material conducted electricity at different temperatures and why it behaved that way. Probably about 20 people in the world cared, but it was really exciting :).

    • Photo: Hazel Jeffery

      Hazel Jeffery answered on 21 Sep 2020:

      On a chemistry course, I once created a new compound through quite a number of different steps. You kind of think that everything has been done already, but that is far from the truth – there is so much more to discover!

    • Photo: Azarmidokht Gholamipour-Shirazi

      Azarmidokht Gholamipour-Shirazi answered on 22 Sep 2020:

      Making a small volcano for my kids. They enjoyed a lot

Comments

  • Photo: Alex

    Alex commented on :

    My favourite is one of the simplest. I had different levels of an Iodine solution and a starch. Both clear. When mixed they go black but this time taken to go black can vary based on the concentrations. I mixed around 15 and was teaching a class and started them all off. The children loved trying to predict when the beakers would go black, and big cheers followed each one. It distracted the whole class for the whole seminar but was priceless in gelling a class and for engagement / enthusiasm.