Micropod Episode 3 - Microbiology for all

11/13/12 • 18 min

The winner's of the 2012 SfAM Communication Award talk to us about the novel ways in which they engage with diverse audiences on a huge variety of topics, especially microbiology. Artist Anna Dumitriu explains how she's made a 'MRSA quilt' which members of the public can add to while they chat with her about infectious disease. PhD student Vicky Young describes her sparkly uterus through which sperm race. She uses this as a hook to discuss endometriosis with people at a music festival.

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Micropod Episode 2 - Lewis Dartnell and Louisa Preston

This month's Micropod looks at the possibility of microbial life in space. Dr Louisa Preston talks about extremophiles (or extreme-lovers as she calls them) which live in hostile environments on earth. These places are extremely hot, acidic, cold, alkaline and can be used as potential analogues for other-worldly environments. Then we hear from BBC Horizon star, Dr Lewis Dartnell, who chats about the Mars Curiosity Rover that's due to land on the red planet on 6 August 2012. He tells us about his use of Raman spectroscopy to look for organic molecules and microbes, as well as the ExoMars rover that will fly this instrument to Mars. Look out for more on Astrobiology in the September issue of Microbiologist.

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Micropod Episode 4 - ScienceGrrl Calendar 2013

Scientists and science communicators have joined forces to make a beautiful calendar which showcases real women (and men) doing great science. The money raised will make sure girls continue to achieve great things in STEM subjects. We went to the launch party and spoke to some of the team, including Director Heather Williams and TV presenter Gareth Jones. Science - it's for everyone!