By Lachlan Sims: On the 29th of November, Mum and I were going to Canberra, and along the way we stopped at Nimmitabel to see the Boco Rock Wind Farm. We went for the open day - which was held to gain exposure for the farm and also combat negative beliefs about wind turbines - and there was a free guided bus tour around the location. Mum and I went on the tour and headed towards the forty third (there are 67) wind turbine. The wind turbines were designed in America, constructed in China and Thailand and then shipped ... Read More

By Lachlan: On the 1st of October, Jade and I went to the ANU campus for the first day of the Conoco Phillips Science Experience. After I wandered through ANU, I finally made it to the elusive physics building. Then I received my nametag and joined the circle around the Greg Lane, the ACT director of Conoco Phillips and our guide. He gave a brief introduction and then Patrick Helean from Questacon began his demonstration. He showed us many experiments that used household materials, such as milo tins, aluminium foil, liquid nitrogen… Personally my favourite demonstration was when he ... Read More

By Lachlan: The next day, we had to be dropped off at the National Dinosaur Museum, where we received a private tour of the facility. First impressions, for me at least, were bleak, but I was pleasantly surprised when the tour turned out to be a lot more interesting than I expected. For example, a dinosaur in Australia was found that had an extremely long neck, large body and a small head (the size of a horse’s). It was a herbivore and swallowed its food whole. So to actually congest the food, the dinosaur would swallow rocks and when ... Read More

By Lachlan: On the third and final day (10th of October) , we again arrived at outside building 38 and once everyone had arrived, we went into the lecture theatre, to listen to (and watch) a laser demonstration. It was hosted by Professor Hans Bachor and Patrick Helean. It was an informative talk and had some cool demonstrations, such as demonstrating how lasers are used in optic surgery. They did this by having one large balloon, representing the eye, and a smaller balloon inside the eye, representing a tumour or cancer. Then, they used the laser to pop the ... Read More

By Louise Stewart: During the winter school holidays, I went to a three day science experience at Wollongong University with a group of 40 people and was exposed to a broad range of sciences. On the first day we were put into smaller groups of eight kids and played many ice breaker games. Afterwards we saw a fabulous science show (picture above) and then listened to a lecture about nursing, medical and health science with some exciting hands on experiments. More experiments were done in earth and environmental science before the day ended. Friendships were easily made with the ... Read More

If you haven't caught these yet, they are podcasts which see Dr Karl and Adam Spencer mix science with humour as they set out to answer some of the perplexing scientific mysteries we encounter on a daily basis. Download and enjoy this highly entertaining science-fuelled knowledge whirlwind and, as the Sleek Geeks like to say, "Learn something without even noticing"... https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/sleek-geeks/id893405381?mt=2 It seems they are producing a new one each week.

By Lachlan: Last long weekend, I went to Canberra with my mother to play for a representive hockey team in a carnival. There were large gaps between the games, so we decided to fill them in by going to Questacon and the National Zoo and Aquarium. We arrived at Questacon as soon as the doors opened, but it was still packed. It had been four years since I had been to Questacon and a lot had changed, but it was still an interesting experience. Questacon has 6 levels and two seperate galleries on the final floor. The levels are ... Read More

By Jade: On 11th April, after a short flight to Sydney, my Nana and I spent three days visiting the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney Aquarium, Maritime Museum, Wildlife Sydney Zoo and Harbour Bridge. Day 1 Powerhouse Museum At the Powerhouse Museum we looked at numerous exhibits, with the majority of scientific displays being interactive. We experimented with temperature, pressure, electricity, magnetism, light, gravity, motion and chemistry. As well as the interactive experiments, we wandered around the engineering, technology, fashion, nuclear, cyber, music, space, gaming, designing, transport and ecological exhibits. After this, we made our way to the newly introduced ... Read More

By Louise Stewart: In April school holidays I visited, together with two of my sisters and Mum, the Museum of Human Disease at the University of New South Wales in Kensington. Inside were over 3000 different interesting specimens which displayed diseased human tissue, preserved in formalin. The various lungs, livers, brains etc. show the impact of both infectious and non-infectious diseases as well as impact of antibiotics, genetic factors and lifestyle choices as smoking, drinking and drugs. Each piece is numbered and museum catalogues provide any know clinical history and a description of the abnormalities displayed in the ... Read More