Here in the merry old land of Oz, National Science Week is almost upon us. (It starts tomorrow.) All across the land, the country's biggest festival will run for a week with events for all ages encouraging community interest in science. My wildlife group will be running two free activities for kids (one in Perth and one in Margaret River) to learn about raptors in the environment and dissect some owl pellets - then they'll see if they can reassemble an entire mouse skeleton from what they find. Gross but fascinating! (I'm going to have thirty homeschoolers and their families to supervise - what fun.) I had a WTF moment when one parent asked if the activity was suitable for her 4-year-old. Um, hello? Dissection activity? Lasting two hours? Pointy things? Hygiene ? Science? The answer I wanted to give was, "Not if they inherited their brains from you, sweetheart," but instead I said something along the lines of a two-hour science-based activity with pointy instruments and strict hygiene protocols probably being not suitable for children under 8. I was very polite. Outwardly. Which led me to wonder if the Doctors Nambu, Anderson, Keane and Brighthead feel like this all the time? Because, you know, they're usually the smartest* person in the room, and canonically, Anderson at least has shown flashes of sarcasm at times. The team mentors are probably the last people you'd want to have running Science Week activities, though. Can you imagine what they'd do? "Hey, kids! Line up for free rides in Dr Nambu's centrifuge!" "Red Mist** And You - learn how to tell when NOT to go swimming." "Radiation studies - meet our glow-in-the-dark Science Ninjas!" "Androids From Planet Spectra - build your own Goon! (Batteries not included.)" "Explore the ISO's new Duck and Cover app! Available for Android and iOS!" "Ask Sosai X: the latest in big-screen interactive entertainment." EDIT: Almost forgot! For our Aussie Gatchamaniacs, if you'd like to find a National Science Week event near you, visit the website at https://www.scienceweek.net.au/. Many of the events are free. I don't think there are any giant centrifuges, though. * Also the most bat-shit crazy person in the room. ** Island of Fear (BotP) 'Red Mist' was described by Zoltar as "their dangerous disintegrator." Just the thing you want floating around in a coral atoll ecosystem.

Aaaah this post brings back so many memories! Until I went to Australia as an exchange student I had never had a biology lesson where things got dissected (no labs at the time in most Greek schools), so my first experience with pointy things was in Sydney... Interesting, no doubt -- but I didn't miss it when I got back to our books-only education

LOL yes any form of KNT/G-Force/etc science week run by the mentor would be fraught with peril, and probably infiltrated by the baddies on top of that.

And surly some BotP events would have Zark involved! *shudder*

I can see it now... Zark: ...and you know what kids? With the laser targeting on the vehicle-mounted fifty-calibre cannon, we can direct fire with pinpoint precision, thus... uh... well... That is, we can, er... ensure that everyone gets out okay. Yes... That was what I meant to say. Moving right along, you can see a nice selection of high-yield... uh.... Say, who wants to visit the ISO Cafeteria?

Zark is never allowed to give kids a tour again.

Can you imagine a young Condor giving a tour of the ISO's Weapons Development Section? (EW lets out a small, evil chuckle before suddenly falling unconscious. Meanwhile, a man standing a few meters away, wearing a lab coat and glasses that are miraculously balanced on his nose lowers what looks like a ray-gun. His lips form a small, satisfied grin as he walks away.)

Originally posted by Daniella T Aaaah this post brings back so many memories! Until I went to Australia as an exchange student I had never had a biology lesson where things got dissected (no labs at the time in most Greek schools), so my first experience with pointy things was in Sydney... Interesting, no doubt -- but I didn't miss it when I got back to our books-only education

That brings back memories of frozen mice in science... shudders...I remember trying not vomit all through class. (I wasn't good with somethings.) I would throw up if something smelled odd, looked gross or couldn't handle it all through my childhood. No one could explain it, turns out I have heightened sensory. Still happens occasionally. But blood is fine, can handle it, even donate it. Stopped me from going into nursing which I considered in my teens.

Originally posted by Ebonyswanne

Originally posted by Daniella T Aaaah this post brings back so many memories! Until I went to Australia as an exchange student I had never had a biology lesson where things got dissected (no labs at the time in most Greek schools), so my first experience with pointy things was in Sydney... Interesting, no doubt -- but I didn't miss it when I got back to our books-only education

That brings back memories of frozen mice in science... shudders...I remember trying not vomit all through class. (I wasn't good with somethings.) I would throw up if something smelled odd, looked gross or couldn't handle it all through my childhood. No one could explain it, turns out I have heightened sensory. Still happens occasionally. But blood is fine, can handle it, even donate it. Stopped me from going into nursing which I considered in my teens.

You might not have enjoyed today's owl pellet dissection, then. Each pair of children was given two steam-sterilised owl pellets, which we then soaked in a little bowl of water with some Dettol added (in case any germs had survived the autoclaving process) then we sieved the contents and the kids were challenged to rebuild a mouse skeleton on the laminated template provided. I think the phrase I repeated most today was, "Okay, who's ready to get gross?" as we sieved and dumped little lumps of regurgitated undigested hair, bone, teeth and claws onto the workmats to be picked over with forceps and probes. I think the parents had as much fun as the kids, especially when everyone had found a skull and was asked to pick it up and examine the teeth through their magnifying glasses. (Cue a chorus of, "Eeeeeewwwww... Cool!") One of the kids wanted to bring his mouse bones home. His mother was okay with it so I let him have one of the plastic templates and suggested he use some PVA glue to stick the bones in place and make a display project out of it. Possibly a scientist in the making The Swallows would have loved it. And after a day of doing science to things, I'm wiped.

When we dissected rats in high school science, one of the more rebellious boys in the classs cut off the rat's tail and kept it in his pencil case for a few days! The dissection that I hated most in high school was the pig's eye. I was fine with the heart, the brain, the rat, the lungs - but the eye was a slippery little bugger that threatened to shoot across the room under the pressure of the scalpel instead of being sliced.

Yeah, rat tails can last quite a while without getting stinky because they're basically bone, cartilage and sinew with a slightly scaly skin covering. There's no fat or muscle to speak of. They are a pain to deal with - the birds tend to leave them lying around the aviary or draped over the perches, so I cut them off using secateurs while the rats are still frozen. (You can't say I don't give a rat's arse, because I frequently do.) Removing the tails also lets me fit more of them in the defrosting tray since I don't have to deal with all the frozen tails sticking up every which way and it makes it a lot easier to shut the lid. I also like to remove the intestines because the birds' idea of interior decorating is decorating with someone else's interior. They can get quite artistic at times, which can (a) be messy and (b) freak out visitors. With eyes you really need an egg cup or one of those little sauce dishes to put it in with a bit of cotton or a couple of gauze swabs so that it stays put. (Things your biology teacher should have told you... and didn't.) Rabbits are my least favourite - the lower intestine is invariably full of sh*t in various stages of production and don't get me started on bladders... Quail testes are a bit gross, too. Sometimes they burst and... well, that's why I wear gloves. One of my friends has decided to have a career change in her thirties and is studying to become a medical imaging technologist. Her class gets to play with human cadavers. I think I'd draw the line there. My vet has a bumper sticker which reads: "Veterinary Medicine... because humans are gross."

My strengths are in other area's. Science of textiles composition I'm okay with. Psychology... those areas... guess its a science too but I tend to use it helping people without beakers and chemicals. CBT...other psychodynamic, experiential.. can't be a Nambu or Anderson in those areas.

You wouldn't want to be a Nambu or an Anderson in any area.* Those guys are one lab accident away from turning themselves into flies. * Except possibly the art of balancing your glasses on your nose.** That would be a really cool party trick. ** You can get spectacles without wings. They're called pince nez and they work by having a little clip that grips on to the bridge of your nose. You wouldn't want to get sinus congestion while wearing them. Said clip appears to be absent from Nambu's glasses, so I can only assume that (a) the artists didn't know how to draw them and/or (b) it's Sufficiently Advanced Technology. Maybe the frames are made out of Unobtainium or something.

Originally posted by GrumpyGhostOwl ** You can get spectacles without wings. They're called pince nez and they work by having a little clip that grips on to the bridge of your nose. You wouldn't want to get sinus congestion while wearing them. Said clip appears to be absent from Nambu's glasses, so I can only assume that (a) the artists didn't know how to draw them and/or (b) it's Sufficiently Advanced Technology. Maybe the frames are made out of Unobtainium or something.

Or, maybe, they were made from Upsidasium (from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show).

GGO: I enjoy your work stories, even if I'm not inclined to picture some of the things in this discussion!

Originally posted by GrumpyGhostOwl You wouldn't want to be a Nambu or an Anderson in any area.* Those guys are one lab accident away from turning themselves into flies. * Except possibly the art of balancing your glasses on your nose.** That would be a really cool party trick. ** You can get spectacles without wings. They're called pince nez and they work by having a little clip that grips on to the bridge of your nose. You wouldn't want to get sinus congestion while wearing them. Said clip appears to be absent from Nambu's glasses, so I can only assume that (a) the artists didn't know how to draw them and/or (b) it's Sufficiently Advanced Technology. Maybe the frames are made out of Unobtainium or something.

Bwahhhh.... I pictured an image of Anderson with stoic expression in a tiny jar in a lab with G-Force looking on, wondering what the hell happened. Princess is trying to find a way to turn him back into a human. Zoltars plan finally paid off. Had a laugh anyway.

Oh dear... and I thought MY school years were difficult!