Happy British Science Week 2021!
British Science Week (BSW) 2021 takes place from 5-14 March, and we've gathered some science content with this year's themes of #GenerationScience and #SmashingStereotypes. BSW takes place annually and encourages youth to participate in science activites and discussions, with the aim of getting people involved with science.
We celebrate and support this aim, including in past years, where we've developed science activities to share with the family. Keep reading for more on these activities, as well as some podcasts to listen to while doing your experiments!
Darshna "Dusty" Vyas has been a Senior Scientist at LGC specialising in plant genetics for the past 9 years. She uses her skillset to help farmers and plant breeders use technology to combat food insecurity and the effects of climate change. Dusty is committed to using genomics tools and agricultural biotechnology to build a more sustainable food systems, starting with local farmers themselves. Listen to this podcast featuring Dusty as she describes her more than 20 year career in agrigenomics and the future of food technology.
Listen to another episode about the mole unit and its role in chemistry here.
These activities, developed with one of our scientists, Charlotte Maughan, are best enjoyed at home with the kids or in school. With many children home schooling during the global pandemic, now is a good time to join them for some fun. The list of activities includes a tye dye experiment, building a sound bridge structure and testing mini parachutes. Find the experiment guidelines at the bottom of this blog.
For children in secondary school, might you be considering a career in science? Perhaps an apprenticeship is the path for you! Apprenticeships provide an alternative to young people who either don’t wish to or are unable to attend university, and in some cases, they can complement university studies. And at LGC, we work with many apprenticeships each year. Read the experiences of one such apprentice, Krzysztof, who wrote about what his apprenticeship meant to him in this blog.
Want to learn more about what a bioanalytical career in pharmaceuticals is like? Watch this video to hear one of our colleagues, Claire, discuss her work with the Royal Society of Chemistry here.
Interested in learning about the chemistry of food? Last Christmas, we spoke with LGC scientists Thomas Rettberg and Julie Mangada about the role that metals and amino acids play in some festive food and beverages. Listen to the episode here.
Read more about some of history's greatest scientific breakthroughs.