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Asked by anon-382330 on 1 Feb 2024.
Question: What experiment do you want to finish?
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Martin McCoustra answered on 1 Feb 2024:
While I can’t suggest a specific experiment, I can say that I’d like to see the current project that I’m running looking at how metal atoms can accelerate the rates of chemical reactions in environments in space moving towards success. I won’t finish as we just open the door on this question and it will be up to younger scientist than me to close the door. Interestingly, experiments are never really finished, just brought to a temporary conclusion while people think of what the results mean and where to go.
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Bruno Silvester Lopes answered on 1 Feb 2024:
I don’t have any experiments as such which I want to finish but I do have some ideas for the future which I want to focus on. Some of the things I want to do is discover new drugs for infectious diseases, cancer and develop methods to identify clones of bacteria which can help us and other nations that have limited resources to stop the spread of infectious agents like bacteria and viruses.
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David Bremner answered on 2 Feb 2024:
I don’t work on experiments like you find in films or what people think scientists do. I work on nutritional studies which usually take between 12 to 18 months to complete so before i retire i am sure i will finish many more.
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Alexander De Bruin answered on 2 Feb 2024:
I don’t really do experiments any more, but my team is always looking to get better performance (more power & voltage per kg of hydrogen used) using less of the expensive precious metals. The difficulty with research ,as Martin says, is that this type of work is never “finished” and is merely “the best answer for now”.
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Erin Pallott answered on 2 Feb 2024:
I have been trying to perfect (optimise) a lab technique for about a year. I’d really like to be finished with that! By the end, I hope I will be able to identify different types of mucus-producing cells.
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Margaret Laurie answered on 2 Feb 2024:
I have a long list of experiments that I want to do! One is where I set up LEGO clubs of children who have similar personalities and thinking styles (e.g. all have a diagnosis of autism) and other clubs where children have a mix of different personalities and thinking styles (e.g. only some with a different learning style). I want to see whether Brick Clubs operate differently depending on how the groups are set out – to try and understand the role of group dynamic a bit better.
What do you think would happen here?
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Rachel Edwards answered on 2 Feb 2024:
Lots…
The main one is using ultrasound to allow robots to find each other when they’re crawling over a metal storage tank, looking for problems like corrosion. Sometimes they can’t see each other, so we’re part way through working out how to use ultrasound (very high pitch sound!) sent through the storage tank walls so they can work out how far away each other are. -
Anitta Chacko answered on 3 Feb 2024:
I currently make a model of the brain on a dish in the lab, if I had more time, I would love to make an organoid model of the brain. So essentially, move from 2D to a 3D model of the brain.
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Viviene Dela Cruz answered on 4 Feb 2024:
I am researching lasers in space but an experiment I can’t wait to finish is taking photos of our blood to check oxygen levels and the like 🙂
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Sharron Kenny answered on 5 Feb 2024:
i dont have experiments that i finish as such but its always nice to see the data i have generated being used in scientific papers. as an analytical chemist its like the best form of a thank you. and makes you feel proud of the work you do
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Michael Schubert answered on 7 Feb 2024:
I started some research that I would one day like to see finished – it’s about how DNA folds up inside our cells and how that affects which of our genes are active and which are not. But on a completely different track, I’m also doing some research right now on how scientists communicate (especially with the public on social media) that I’m excited about. Maybe it will help more scientists explain their work better and keep more people informed about what goes on in their fields!
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Hannah Fawcett answered on 8 Feb 2024:
I think that most researchers will be keen to finish whatever project they are currently working on! We carry out loads of research (often a couple of projects at the same time) so there is always a new question to answer. My current project is looking at the wellbeing of people who do jury duty. We are looking into whether jury duty is upsetting (yes!), who is most upset (people who have experienced anxiety and trauma in the past), and how we can support them to cope with the distressing aspects of jury duty. I’m excited to get some results published soon!
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Kirsty Ross answered on 15 Feb 2024:
I am looking forward to working with Masters students this summer to find out where Scotland’s research ends up on Wikipedia, and whether or not those citations are open acccess.
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David McGonigle answered on 21 Feb 2024:
It’s always the current one that i’m doing…but I do have 3 or 4 experiments that I wasn’t able to get enough participants (humans that we pay to do the experiment). I’d love to wrap up and publish those…if I had more time!
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