This year’s champions fought off stiff competition from teams from other academic institutions and businesses from across Scotland.
Comedian Des Clarke hosted the annual event and was joined by TV scientist Professor Jim Al Khalili who entertained quiz hopefuls with anecdotes of the fun, the strange and fascinating world of science.
Between which two planets does the asteroid belt lie? Who wrote “Do androids dream of electric sheep”? And which scientist coined the word gas? 27 teams from across Scottish business and education communities put their science knowledge to the test during four rounds of live science demonstrations, complex conundrums and perplexing puzzles.
The highlight of the night was host Professor Jim Al Khalili who brought an infusion of science and entertainment to the event. Professor of Theoretical Physics at Surrey University, the Professor shared his experiences and the importance of bringing the world of science to the public.
Chief Executive Dr Stephen Breslin said: “Our mission is to present science is a fun and interactive way and our Question of Science event epitomises this. Scotland makes great contributions to science and technology and last night gave people from business, scientific and academic organisations the opportunity to come together and celebrate in an innovative and entertaining way.”
Exploding elephant’s toothpaste and atmospheric pressure crushing objects were amongst some of the spectacular demonstrations alongside the taxing quiz questions. Guests were on the edge of their seats, racking their brains to try to predict just what would happen next! As well as the quiz, guests dined on a delectable menu of chicken and wild mushroom terrine, Perthshire lamb and raspberry Cranachan.
Stephen continues: “As an educational charity, all profits from events like Question of Science are reinvested back into our charitable fund that we will use to further our mission and engage people across the country in science. We would to thank everyone who attended and supported the event last night, and you are helping us to educate the scientists of tomorrow.”
Dr Mark Haw of Strathclyde’s winning Chemical Engineering team said: “It’s great to be crowned winners—even if we’re not quite sure how we managed it! Maybe it was down to the multidisciplinary nature of chemical engineering, meaning we could handle the questions about anatomy as well as the ones about chemistry. In any case, the team had a great time, it was a real party atmosphere!”
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