Talk Science

Psychics, psychologists and even friends attempt to read our minds; navigating what we do and how we say it to predict our actions. German-born Franz Joseph Gall took this one step further by suggesting an individual’s actions and disposition could be seen by literally examining the physical construction of their head. Sound like a wild idea?

How bumpy is your brain? Phrenological head, 1825.

Phrenology, from the Greek phren: ‘mind’ and logos: study/discourse’ (a fact for you all), was a complex method which examined the bumps of the skull to attempt to determine an individuals psychological attributes. Practitioners ran their fingertips and palms over the patient’s skull noting any enlargements or indentation, and used callipers to measure the overall size of the head.

So, the theory: Gall believed that the mind possessed a number of different faculties, discrete departments, each specialized and corresponding to a particular task or tendency, and that the cranium responded accordingly to accommodate these differences in size and shape within the brain. Gall had previously examined skulls of pickpockets noting many exhibited bumps slightly above the ear and suggested that these characteristics of stealing or deceiving could be linked to a formation in the brain.

Logically for Gall, these differences across the cranium could be linked to areas of the brain (or mind) which corresponded to particular characteristics and therefore could be used to predict the temperament of the patient. This was similar to Hippocrates’ ideas in Ancient Greece that excessive amounts of blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm caused certain moods, behaviours and emotions.  

Whilst some of Gall’s ideas regarding the brain have been influential in 19^th century psychiatry and modern neuroscience, the practice of Phrenology is considered a pseudoscience by many. Gall was unwilling to respect or acknowledge data suggesting the inaccuracy of his technique whilst any anecdote or evidence seeming to confirm his ideas was met with enthusiasm.

Gall’s method of analysis show how new scientific developments require rigorous questioning and interrogation through peer reviews and honest data. However, it also demonstrates that whilst an idea may not be sound overall it can help in new developments.

The Phrenology head can be found in Who Am I? on the first floor of the Wellcome Wing.

-Christopher Whitby

Meet Pregnant Man.

We recently made a film that we hope will get people thinking (and that you might consider using in the classroom!).

Watch our Pregnant Man tell his story

First off, let me start by saying that this is not currently possible, and a genetic male of the human species has not yet managed to become pregnant!

Thomas Beatie, the ‘pregnant man’ that you probably heard about a few years ago, is a transgender man (ie a woman undergoing gender reassignment), and actually had female reproductive organs when he became pregnant.

What we ARE saying is, ‘what if…’

• A little bit about the science behind male pregnancy as depicted in our film. It’s based on ectopic pregnancies in women where a fertilized egg implants outside the womb; the idea is that IVF would be used to fertilize an egg, and the resulting zygote implanted into the man’s abdominal cavity.
• The placenta would develop and attach to an organ in the abdomen, such as a kidney, to provide it with a good blood supply. The man would need to take loads of oestrogen and progesterone, female hormones that regulate pregnancy. Side effects of the hormones would be growing breasts, shrinking testicles and smoother skin.
• The baby would have to be delivered by caesarean, and part of the organ supporting the placenta would have to be removed during birth as well. The entire process would be really risky for both the man and the baby- but as with any medical procedure, further research could increase safety and success rates.

So, whilst it’s not a reality now, it could feasibly happen- with enough research into it. Should we do it, just because we can? 

And sure, it sounds really ‘out there’ but then again, so was IVF when it first came out. Now IVF is very much accepted and even paid for on the NHS. In what circumstances would it be acceptable to have children this way?

Would the world be turned on its head if the traditional reproductive role of women were suddenly shared by men? And what would it be like for the child?

So much to consider, so much that could change! Would any of your students be willing to try it?

Imagine if your best friend -or even worse, your boss- could read your thoughts!  It sounds like the stuff from Star Trek but scientists are now experimenting with technology that could do just that.

The technology they are using is the electroencephalogram, or EEG.  This is a machine that detects the brain’s electrical activity and records it onto paper or a computer as wavy lines.    

The first human EEG recording, 1924

This image is the first human EEG, which was recorded in 1924.  The recordings are taken using electrodes, which are flat metal discs that are placed at specific points on your scalp or are fitted into a special cap that you can wear.  The electrodes pick up the electrical signals in your brain as they jump across your synapses and transfer the signals to the EEG machine.  This records the activity as lines like this one.  

EEG tests are usually used by doctors to help them diagnose conditions that affect the brain, such as epilepsy or for detecting head injuries.  Scientists are now experimenting with them to see if it is possible to read people’s thoughts through them. 

EEG cap. What could this reveal about our minds?

Similar experiments have already occurred in the computer games industry.  Emotiv Systems have created a game which uses an EEG to record a players’ brain activity for six seconds.  The player then has to repeat the exact same brain signals and, if successful, they will be able to manipulate an image on the computer screen.  Of course, this isn’t actually reading your thoughts as you could have been thinking about anything during the game.  As long as you can replicate the brain activity it recorded you will win.      

At the moment it isn’t possible to decipher exact thoughts through an EEG but they can be used to successfully detect people’s emotions and when they are lying!  This is done by combining the EEG recording with image scans of the brain to see in which area the electrical activity originated. 

This has real potential to help those suffering from Locked-In Syndrome (who are only able to communicate using very basic means such as blinking) and even those with Total Locked-In Syndrome, where they are totally paralysed and cannot communicate at all. 

At present then, it isn’t possible for your boss to read your mind… but they might be able to work out how you really feel about them!

Can your students think of any pros or cons to this technology?

How would you feel if the police started using EEG’s and brain scans in their investigations? Would you happily take the test?

The mind-reading EEG cap is on display in the Who Am I? gallery on the 1^st floor of the Wellcome Wing.

 -Kate Davis

Guess what’s going on tomorrow in the Museum?  Science Museum Lates! A chance to visit the Museum and have a go (and a drink!) without your students having all the fun. Ahem. It’s free to get in and kicks off at 18:45 (kicks out at 22:00).

We hold  Lates regularly, on the last Wednesday of the month. Each Lates has a specific theme, and this month our theme is the Science of Mental Health. From the silent disco to the pub quiz, to talks and tours, there’s enough going on to keep your whole crew delighted for the evening.

Even better, this time we have an exclusive Teacher Zone! This means that if you are a teacher (and we know there are some of you out there, trying to live semi-normal lives…) you can rock up to the Flight Gallery on the 3rd floor, and find loads of fun classroom activities to try out with a complimentary drink in hand. You can also enter to win one of our Launchboxes, watch a show, or just take in the atmosphere over a few nibbles.

What more could you possibly want on a Wednesday evening?

See you there!

Hello all, welcome back after your holidays! (or are you still off, lucky you?) 

Did any of you see the TES, the Times Educational Supplement, last Friday? If you did, then you might have spotted an announcement that has thrilled our little boots off!

An exciting partnership!

The Science Museum has become content partners with TES. This means that all our classroom resources, from hands-on practicals to discussion activities, are now available directly on TES Connect. 

I don’t need to tell you that TES Connect is an inspiring collection of teaching resources across all ages and all areas of the curriculum- do get stuck in and explore the site.  Being linked up with TES means that everything you can find on the Science Museum classroom resource pages is right there on TES Connect for you too, so as we add new resources to our site, they will also be updated on TES. 

Big, huge, chocolatey thanks to everyone in the Science Museum and on the TES team who worked to make this happen-  we hope this will make it a little easier and more fun for you to get your students excited about science!

Using humour in your teaching can help you engage your students- that’s nothing new. But what about LITERALLY using humour?

Check out my favourite (frankly, awful) selection of science jokes below…

 -Biology is the only science in which multiplication is the same thing as division.

-Did you hear about the famous microbiologist who traveled in thirty different countries and learned to speak six languages? He was a man of many cultures.

-Q: What is the fastest way to determine the sex of a chromosome?
A: Pull down its genes!

-When a year 3 pupil was asked to cite Newton’s first law, she said, “Bodies in motion remain in motion, and bodies at rest stay in bed unless their mothers call them to get up.”

-What did the male stamen say to the female pistil?
I like your “style”

-Two atoms were walking across a road when one of them said, “I think I lost an electron!” “Really!” the other replied, “Are you sure?” “Yes, I ‘m absolutely positive!”

Image sclick.net

OK, I might have you shaking your head- but you probably had a little chuckle too! If your students get the joke, it’s likely they understand the science behind it. If they don’t, its a good way to  see where they might need to brush up a little.

A quick google search will bring up loads of science jokes and humour. You can experiment using jokes as discussion starters, or even end a lesson with one to consolidate what you’ve covered. Or perhaps you just want to make your students laugh (or groan)!

Happy LOLs

On one side stands your typical everyday house mouse, cowering before his fearsome opponent: a mouse almost twice the size and boasting an incredible physique, nicknamed, appropriately, “Knock Out”.

Knock Out mouse to wimpy mouse: 'I'll eat you for breakfast"

So, is this brutal mismatch down to years of obsessive bodybuilding on the running wheel? Far from it. The only difference between these two individuals is that one mouse has had a specific gene type known as Myostatin (MSTN) removed or “knocked out”. This genetic alteration has allowed its muscles to grow to a colossal size. The ‘Mighty Mouse’ strain was first created by geneticists in 1997.

The implications of the discovery are vast. Such a technique might eventually allow the treatment of certain degenerative diseases such as muscular dystrophy and even allow humans to maintain a high level of muscle strength into old age. Athletes could, in theory, build muscle mass without exercising!

However, in an age where advertising, magazines, comic book movie adaptations and popular culture bombard us with images of bodies seeking perfection, it is argued that an important distinction needs to be made between using genetic technologies to treat those who are suffering, and using them on healthy people seeking to become superior to the average person.

Imagine if you were granted the power to use gene knock-out technology in humans to not only cure illness but also enhance an individuals abilities:

How would you decide who would be entitled to such treatment?

If you could genetically improve one thing about yourself, what would it be and why?

Should people who can afford it, be able to pay to become ‘super-human’?

To see our monstrous Mighty Mouse and discover other gene modification techniques used on animals, visit the Who Am I gallery on the first floor in the Welcome wing.

-John Inch

Do the simplest questions drive the greatest thinking? Here, Mythbusters’ Adam Savage gives a really cool, inspiring TED talk exploring this very idea.

One of the most important scientific ideas that you can communicate to your students is that science is never a ‘done deal’, more fantastic innovations and incredible technology are endlessly possible. Science is spurred by creativity, and very much based on asking questions- and seeking answers to some of the simplest questions can in fact reveal an entire universe.

Keep asking, little one!

‘most people think of science as a closed black box- and in fact, it is an open field’

One of the ways we work with teachers and students to model this process of creativity, and questioning that drives scientific exploration, is with our mystery boxes activity.

How do you get your students thinking about what science is and how it works?

We’ve all seen those celebrities who’ve been household names for decades, who appear to be comfortable in their non- size-zero bodies. Then, lo and behold, one day, they appear with new sleek, svelte figures.

 How do they do it? Simple: a bit of prosthetic surgery and hey presto, goodbye spare tyre! I am of course, talking about gastric banding which has been in use since the mid 1980s.

A gastric band helps reduce the amount of food you eat. It simply acts like a belt around the top portion of your stomach, creating a small pouch. It restricts the amount of food that can fit into your stomach, meaning that you feel full after eating a small amount of food, resulting in weight loss.

Fancy a tummy squeeze? Gastric band on model stomach

According to The British Obesity Surgery Patient Association, on average, people lose between 50–65% of their excess weight in the two years after placement of a gastric band. Long before they reach that stage, they start to feel the benefits, especially if they also have any of the obesity–related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease or high blood pressure. They also have a much greater capacity for physical activity and more self–confidence; not like this gentleman in the public health poster below!

Heavy hitting - late 20th century public health poster

Having a gastric band is regarded as major surgery as patients undergo a general anesthetic. This presents some very real risks, side-effects and complications. Each operation costs the NHS around £8,000, but only those who fit specific criteria qualify to receive the surgery.

Is gastric banding an easy way to lose weight without having to diet or exercise as much? 

Would knowing someone who has had a gastric band change your perception/opinion of them? 

Is obesity a problem that humans inflict on themselves?

Should the NHS (and taxpayers) pay for gastric band surgery for very obese patients? What about if someone just wants to lose a few pounds? 

The gastric band is in the Who am I? gallery on the 1st floor of the Wellcome Wing.

-Denise Cook

Guess where we were last week?

The Big Bang Fair, of course! Where were YOU?

We were  on the Science Museum stand for 3 days, doing experiments from carbon dioxide bubbles to three-way balancing, and meeting lots of excited students, teachers and families.

The Science Museum stand at the Big Bang - always a hive of activity!

We had a brilliant- if exhausting- time (I see one teacher on the far left who is looking ever more knackered than us!) and were amazed to see how huge the fair has gotten. It’s not just the Big Bang anymore, its the MASSIVE Bang now. It filled two whole giant halls at the Birmingham NEC! It’s exciting to think that in only a few years since its inception, it has become such a massive destination for young people to explore careers in science.

We think the most wonderful, inspiring part of it all are the young scientists who brought their projects to the fair, creating displays to showcase their work and talking to the public and school groups about what they did. Projects as simple and beautiful as multi-density fruit cocktails, or as intricate and brilliant as a washing machine made entirely of salvaged materials – these young engineers and scientists BLEW US AWAY.

They were competing for the Young Engineers of the Year award, and, frankly, all deserved a prize just for being there.

And delightfully, we discovered that one of the judges for the Award is our very own inventor-in-residence, Mark Champkins. He is everywhere these days!

Were you at the Big Bang this year? What did you think?