Blog posts
Nick Clegg visits At-Bristol - again!
Blogging science to life
Fri 27 August 2010, Written by: Nicole
At-Bristol was delighted to be chosen as the venue for Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s visit to Bristol on Saturday. The visit was part of The Big Society tour and involved a question and answer session with local delegates. But for those of you who could not get into the 140 strong audience here is the lowdown…
Before the grilling began Mr Clegg got to meet At-Bristol’s CEO Goéry Delacôte and was taken for a bit of respite on the At-Bristol floor. He went to see the new Live Lab space and was delighted to hear about the exciting experiments which are being planned as part of the All About Us exhibition which opens February 2011. In particular the idea of live dissections on the floor grabbed his attention and he commented ‘it sounds pretty gruesome but my daughter would love it’ – we hope so too!
The Live Science team then treated Mr Clegg to a bit of At-Bristol science busking and put him through his paces with ‘egg-whack’, a tricky task requiring a fast hand and a keen eye, which he performed like a true professional!
And then after a quick interview with Heart FM’s Breakfast presenter Andy Bush and Paulina Gillispie, it was onto the main event which was aired live on the BBC. The questions spanned a range of issues from spending cuts, international poverty and how the government plans to support those with learning difficulties as well as how funding for scientific research is vital for the future of the country – hear hear!
The DPM's visit started off a busy week for At-Bristol which included a trip to Brean Lesiure Park with Wallace & Gromit, welcoming a visit from Bristol and South Gloucestershire People First as well as having our busiest day of the summer holidays so far – phew what a whirlwind!
Question of the fortnight: Why do onions make you cry?
Blogging science to life
Tue 10 August 2010, Written by: Nicole
Why do onions make you cry?
Question via twitter @Madame Moll
Thank you Madame Moll for this interesting question – as these bullying vegetables have troubled most of us at some point! To get to the root of the matter we must first look at what type of plant an onion is, its chemical make up and why it causes your body to have such a reaction.
Onions are a member of the Allium plant family, which also includes garlic, chives and leeks. This family of plants absorb the sulphur which is contained in the soil and binds it with other molecules in the plant to create amino acid sulphoxides. These chemicals are fine and completely harmless when the onion is whole, but the problem arises once you cut into it, break its cells and release its contents.
The amino acid sulphoxides form sulphenic acids and enzymes contained in the cells react with the sulphenic acids to create propanethiol s-oxide. This substance wafts up towards your eye and reacts with the water on the surface of your eye creating the chemical sulphuric acid.
This acid burns your eye and so to dilute the acid, get rid of it and the horrible burning sensation - your tear glands produce tears. Tears are produced when an irritant, such as chemicals or dust, triggers nerve endings in the cornea to communicate with the brain stem. The brain then starts the process for tear production to clean the surface of your eye and keep it free of any pesky invaders! These types of tears are called reflex tears and are slightly different from the tears you shed when something makes you happy or sad.
Tips for preventing the upsetting substances from reaching your eye include chilling the onion before it goes under the knife as the cooler it is the less of the propanethiol s-oxide will evaporate up into the air and so make its way to your eye, or chopping the onion under water as the chemicals are water soluble and so are contained in the water and can’t float up to you eye! If you don't fancy either of those options there are some special onion goggles available to buy – Happy chopping :)
If you have any other interesting or funny solutions to prevent onion tears we would love to hear about them…
You can find out even more about your amazing body when All About Us opens!
Every fortnight, we are answering your science questions about the human body. It's all part of finding out how amazing you are, in the run up to the opening of our new exhibition All About Us in February 2011.
Do you have a science question about the human body?
Tweet your question to @atbristol using the hashtag #QF and we’ll answer one question every fortnight!
Find out more information about our new exhibition All About Us opening in February 2011
Question of the fortnight: How do you eat without teeth?
Blogging science to life
Fri 30 July 2010, Written by: Nicole
How do you eat without teeth?
Question from Bethany aged 7 via At-Bristol News and Views.
Well, that is an interesting question! Teeth play an important part in the digestion process; in fact they start the whole thing off. There are two different types of digestion – mechanical digestion and chemical digestion. Your teeth are involved in the mechanical type, which breaks pieces of food in to a manageable size for you to swallow. The mechanical digestion which happens in your mouth is also known as chewing. Teeth cut and tear your food into smaller sized pieces so the enzymes in your saliva can start the chemical breakdown of food, without teeth the important chemical breakdown of food cannot start. 
You have four different types of teeth, incisors, canines, premolars and molars, which breakdown the different types of food in our omnivorous diet. Some are sharp and pointy and used to tear and pierce meat, others are broad and flat and used to crush and grind plants and vegetables.
People who don’t have teeth need food to have been broken down into manageable chunks before it enters their mouths - so that the saliva can start working. This is why babies are often given soft foods which have already been mashed or cut up as they have no teeth of their own to do this.
If you have lost your teeth, you can get dentures, which are a set of false teeth. These can crush and tear of the food as teeth do. However certain tough or chewy foods may need to be avoided otherwise you could find the dentures get dislodged or worse come out mid-chew!
So to answer your question, you can eat without teeth but it is chewing which might be a bit more difficult!
You can find out even more about the digestive process when All About Us opens!
Every fortnight, we are answering your science questions about the human body. It's all part of finding out how amazing you are, in the run up to the opening of our new exhibition All About Us in February 2011.
Do you have a science question about the human body?
Tweet your question to @atbristol using the hashtag #QF and we’ll answer one question every fortnight!
Find out more information about our new exhibition All About Us opening in February 2011
Get your ticket to inspiring science all summer long…
Blogging science to life
Tue 20 July 2010, Written by: Nicole
At-Bristol is introducing this summer’s hottest ticket - the At-Bristol Summer Passport!
If, like us, you feel you simply can’t get enough of At-Bristol’s exciting exhibits, Live Science shows and a changing schedule of events - the Summer Passport is the very thing for you! Once purchased it gives you 6 weeks of unlimited visits to At-Bristol!
Available from the 24 July and running until 5 September, the Passport means you can visit as often as you like for as long as you like. Whether you want a whole day out to explore over 300 interactive exhibits, to pop in for 20 minutes and let your imaginations run wild with Storytelling or to take a quick trip to the stars of the Summer night sky – At-Bristol is your oyster!
It works out that you only have to visit twice to get the most from your passport. But with our packed schedule of activities, such as Altitude: the fantastic flight show, Take off in the Live Science zone, the Little Stars Planetarium show and Fossils and funny bones – there is enough to entertain you all summer long!
So for fun and laughter on your summer holiday, get the At-Bristol Summer Passport – it’s a dream come true!
Happy Birthday to Us!
Blogging science to life
Thu 7 July 2011, Written by: Nicole
At-Bristol is celebrating ten years of science fun today!
But rather than just having a slice of cake and resting on our laurels, on Saturday we will be holding the first ever Golden Morphs awards – a prize-giving ceremony to give the Oscars a run for their money! The winners from the quarterly rounds of the annual Animate It! competition will start by having their films premiered on the Big Screen in Millennium Square. But the red carpet treatment doesn’t stop there, the winners will then get to mingle with animation stars Wallace & Gromit and Richard Williams, the Animator Director for Who Framed Roger Rabbit. And then on to the prize-giving to find out who will walk away with the coveted Golden Morph award!
In the venue we are celebrating At-Bristol style with loads of experiments and our favourite science demos from over the years! With screaming Jellybabies and Marshmallow men – there are fizzes and whizzes a-plenty! And as well as attending award ceremonies, Wallace & Gromit will also be popping up throughout the day to greet visitors, so why not come down, meet them and celebrate our birthday with us!
And if you do fancy a slice of cake we have a special ‘Celebrating 10 years of At-Bristol’ exhibition in the Café so you can reminisce about the changing faces of At-Bristol with a lovely cup of tea!
Summer Night Sky
Blogging science to life
Wed 23 June 2010, Written by: Nicole
If all this sun and heat is getting a bit too much for you or you are looking for a place to cool down this week, why not take a trip to the At-Bristol Planetarium to watch the new seasonal star show - Summer night sky – which has just launched…
Let our presenters wow you with the wonders of the night sky at this time of year, with giant galaxies, black holes and coloured planets - it is truly awe-inspiring!
The celestial journey will also take you round Jupiter and the stars which make up the Summer Triangle, giving you the stories and science behind them.
And with the beautifully balmy nights we hare having at the moment, you can have a late night stroll and test out your new found astronomy skills!
Tickets for the Planetarium are included in the entry price to At-Bristol.
Buy tickets to visit At-Bristol
Come down to Murray’s Millennium Square for tennis, sun, strawberries and cream…
Blogging science to life
Mon 21 June 2010, Written by: Nicole
If you are looking for somewhere to enjoy the tennis in the sun, head down to Millennium square where the Big Screen is showing all the Wimbledon 2010 action.
Forget Henman’s Hill, it is all about Murray’s Millennium Square this year, where you can bring your picnic blankets or take advantage of the deck chairs which will be provided, and settle in for some amazing tennis! It is especially perfect if you want to enjoy a summer sporting event and fancy a change from the World Cup!
The crowds at Wimbledon are not the only ones who can enjoy the English summer tradition of tennis and strawberries and cream as At-Bristol’s café will be serving them along with a selection of hot and cold drinks for you to enjoy throughout the tennis tournament. The At-Bristol kiosk on the Square will also be open from Wednesday 23 June.
So whether you fancy watching some super smashes in the sun on your lunch break, or filling your evenings with fantastic forehands, Millennium Square is the place to do it!
At-Bristol is doing it for the boys…
Blogging science to life
Thu 17 June 2010, Written by: Nicole
If you are racking your brains about what to give your Dad this Sunday, fret no more At-Bristol is full of diverse and exciting gifts for your darling Dad!
Whatever you are after the
At-Bristol shop has lots of gadgets and gizmos for you to treat your Dad with. If he is a bit of a practical joker why not beat him at his own game and surprise him with a whoopee cushion!
There’s a selection gorgeous recycled bottle glasses and groovy retro mugs from which he can enjoy his favourite beverage – although be warned if you give him this he might expect you to keep it constantly topped up! And if you are tired of your Dad badgering you about your homework and generally being a know-it-all, you can give him a taste of his own medicine and put him to the test with this ‘Homework for Grown-ups’ book.
Finally, if you are looking for something to do on Sunday, bring your Dad to At-Bristol for a Father’s Day with a difference. As well as the 300 exciting exhibitions you can wow your Dad with Altitude: the fantastic flight show which is full of trivia about the science of flight. You can even make your own Dad-inspired animation and email it to him for a personalised dynamic Father’s Day card! Pre-book your tickets here
(Retro ice cube tray £6.00, ‘Homework for Grown-ups’ book £12.99, Recycled ‘Grolsh’ glasses £14.00, Whoopee cushion £3.00, Retro weather mug £6.50)
Cool new café exhibition…
Blogging science to life
Mon 14 June 2010, Written by: Nicole
Things are hotting up in At-Bristol’s café, with a brand new art exhibition ‘Nature in a Different Light’ which is inviting you to take a closer look at the science behind thermography. .jpg "'Nature in a Different Light' exhibition")
The images are the innovative work of Dr Chris Lavers, a Senior Lecturer at Plymouth University, with the collaboration of Dr Amy Plowman of Paignton Zoo and Mr David Fields of Buckfastleigh Otter and Butterfly Sanctuary and show some familiar and some less familiar animals as seen through a thermal imaging camera.
As visually stunning as they are intriguing the images give an insight into not just the biology of the animal but the physics showing the animals in a new fascinating light.
So you can explore the wonders of all things thermal in the Café whether you are enjoying a cold drink or a lovely warm cup of tea! And if that inspires you, don’t forget we have our own thermal imaging camera in the venue, so why not come and thermal image yourself!
If you are interested in seeing your work in the At-Bristol café exhibition space simply email cafeexhibition@at-bristol.org.uk
Be a cultural chameleon with At-Bristol this Tuesday!
Blogging science to life
Mon 7 June 2010, Written by: Nicole
Whether you fancy expanding your scientific and social consciousness or your cultural repertoire At-Bristol has it all this Tuesday.
Come and explore the issues surrounding ‘Geoengineering the climate’ in this month’s Science Café from 7.30pm. With substantial cuts in carbon dioxide emissions unlikely to prevent dangerous climate change – what are the alternative engineering options for cooling down the planet?
Join Andy Ridgewell and Daniel Schmidt from The University of Bristol’s Geographical and Earth Sciences in the At-Bristol Café to discuss the issues over a coffee or a glass of wine.
For those of you who fancy a musical evening, the big screen on Millennium Square will be showing Carmen live from the Royal Opera house from 7pm. Bring your deck chairs or picnic blankets and enjoy some al fresco culture with local pre-curtain entertainment from 6pm. Set in Serville, Carmen tells the dangerous tale of seduction, betrayal, jealousy and murder – blimey!
And as At-Bristol is all about the interactive experience you can even download a sing-along-song sheet to find out whether you are a Baritone or a Soprano!
So come rain or shine At-Bristol has plenty of free activities to expand you mind and keep you entertained!
