• Question: Have you ever been asked a science question that you did not know and couldnt figure out ?x

    Asked by sheannaoconnor to Aggelos, Andrew, Eileen, Naomi, Shane on 9 Nov 2012.
    • Photo: Shane Bergin

      Shane Bergin answered on 9 Nov 2012:

      Yes. this happens on an daily basis…. 🙂 Scientists are not encyclopaedia – they are good at sitting down and figuring things out though!

    • Photo: Andrew Jackson

      Andrew Jackson answered on 11 Nov 2012:

      hi

      I agree with Shane… this happens pretty much everyday! My students and colleagues always make me realise how little i know. The important thing for me is that with the internet, we can usually find out the answer eventually. Not knowing an answer to a question is like an annoying itch for me… I have to keep researching until i find it out or find someone who can tell me!

      – andrew

    • Photo: Naomi Elster

      Naomi Elster answered on 12 Nov 2012:

      Absolutely – no one knows everything, not even scientists!! And there is so much to science – from space exploration to predicting earthquakes to designing computer games and curing diseases, that somebody could win the nobel prize for their knowledge of space science and not know the answer to a really simple question about plants.

      One of the things I love the most about science is when I am asked something that I don’t know, and have to sit down and work it out. Research science is amazingly exciting because your job is to try and find or figure out answers to questions that no one knows yet.

    • Photo: Eileen Diskin

      Eileen Diskin answered on 12 Nov 2012:

      Yes – and some of the trickiest ones came when I was working at a wildlife park, and giving educational programs to 4 and 5 year olds. The way they view the world is totally different, and so they gave me some very challenging questions about animals!

      I can’t imagine what people did before the internet and Google – that makes it a lot easier to look up answers to questions. Can you imagine what it would be like if you had to go to a library and look through loads of books before finding out the answer to something? That would take way too long!

    • Photo: Aggelos Zacharopoulos

      Aggelos Zacharopoulos answered on 12 Nov 2012:

      @sheannaoconnor, how do you know?

      Yes, there have been many science questions that I was not able to answer so far in my career. But it’s all part of being a scientist. You just have to think hard, study and in most cases you get to the answer eventually.

      I wish I knew the answers to all science questions! But no chance!

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