We went to a Biology talk first, and they kept calling the subject Bio, which I thought was cool because I do that, and then after talking about the course they started to talk about the research they've been doing in the university. It was really interesting. First, they talked about a new drug that could be used to cure a type of skin cancer. They did this by incubating loads of Tadpoles, and in separate samples, place each tadpole into a different chemical solution. They found that one type of chemical, leflunomide, which is in a drug for Rheumatoid Arthritis, could help cure melanoma skin cancer. Trials are being carried out now. There was also more research into a chemical called dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP). It's produced by sea creatures, like phytoplankton and other single celled organisms. I think it was a by-product of some reaction. Anyway, someone wanted to know what happened to it and how the sulphur in the DMSP was released back into the environment. They discovered that a certain gene in a bacterium broke down the DMSP into dimethyl sulfide (DMS). This means the sulphur is released which causes the 'seaside smell'. I thought this was pretty cool, I didn't ever think about what made the seaside smell like the seaside, I suppose I just assumed that was what a lot of salty water smelt like. DMS also helps animals find food, as it attracts them towards the creatures that produce it, it also makes clouds which means more sunlight is reflected thus cooling the Earth. DMS is also found in small quantities in Sweetcorn and in larger quantities in Cabbage, which is why cabbage doesn't smell too nice... And another research project was into getting electricity from bacteria! There are some bacteria that undergo anaerobic reactions and they need to get rid of the negative charge from this reaction so they have little 'wires' coming out from their body made from metal complexes. They then release the charge into the rock. Scientists are trying to find a way to harness this energy.
I wish I had some more diagrams or pictures to explain this, because reading is just boring and with pictures you could see what I meant :P. They had some good ones on the presentation but I can't find any on the website...
After the talk we went to the labs. There were nice and really big. They had just been refurbished so they had big screens above each work station. I had a go with a pipette. It was so cool, and the measurements were tiny. I had to put some dye in this little gap on a machine to separate DNA. Even though not all the dye went in the right place, i'd say I did pretty well for my first go ;).
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| It's so big for such tiny measurements! |
Then I ate lunch. We sat in 'The Square' and we watched a band setting up. It was pretty cool, one member had a green mohican and played the trumpet, and someone else played the Saxophone - he was really good! They still hadn't finished by the time we'd finished but we walked past later and they sounded good.
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| The Square. It looks so nice when it's so sunny. |
We wanted to see accommodation next and so we walked over to the buildings but everyone who was entering was in a tour group so we just joined onto a group as they entered. The guy looked at us weirdly though, I don't think he remembered us being there at the start but he didn't say anything... The accommodation was okay, it seemed a little cramped with not a lot of space to put your stuff, but that could have been because the wardrobes were built into the walls, rather than being free standing and looking very big. I liked the shared rooms, I didn't think i'd want to share but they were very spacious and had sort of separated sleeping places for each person so it wouldn't have been too bad. Plus it was much cheaper! The outside of the buildings weren't very attractive, they were just concrete and old looking but some were so close to the Biology labs I would only need ten minutes to wake up and get ready and make it to the labs!
We also went the library. We got lost. Who names floors 2, 1, 0, 01 and 02. We kept going back to the map and the shelves and couldn't find the Biology books! I think I preferred Bath library though, it was so big and friendly.
I still have two more Universities to visit: Kent and Queen Mary's. It's going to be so hard to choose which will be my first choice!
P.s. Last night I had a horrible dream. It was results day and I did so badly! I got an E in ICT which, to be honest, I wasn't that worried about, but I swear I revised for it. Then I got a D in Biology and I was so scared and worried and upset. I need an A :/. And I got a C in Psychology and Maths, which I need B's in. I was so upset, and everyone around me had done so well. I think I spent the rest of my dream crying, until I had to stop the alien invasion... I forgot the dream when I woke up but a few minutes later I suddenly remembered, and I had a wave of all the emotions I had in my dream, as well as relief that my dream hadn't actually happened in real life! Oh, I really don't want results day to come, but I kind of do because I don't want to keep worrying about what I got. I don't recommend dreaming about results!
P.p.s. My last post showed the London Eye with a missing capsule. I think that's capsule No. 13. That explains why it's missing...
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