My most viewed post of the year!

Happy New Years Eve! As it's the last day of the year, I thought its only right to take a look back at my most viewed most of the year - Enjoy the new years celebration!









Most pets liked being stroked, I do know a cat who hates it and runs a million miles every time I come near him but most cats like it!

Stroking a cat or dog releases a hormone called oxytocin. This hormone is actually released in both the owner and the animal, lowering blood pressure and reducing anxiety. Scientists assume that because these feelings are obviously pleasurable to both the owner and pet over time we've 'learnt' to continue. But why have we learnt? Scientists say that it's kind of like natural selection. This is because it's pretty much a huge survival advantage for many animals to be domesticated because not only we benefit from them but our pets get a free home, food and so on. It's this scientists believe is the reason why animals love us stroking them - a feeling which is gotten stronger over time mirroring a much smaller scale of evolution. Now, we've reached a stage where they (well most of them :) ) enjoy our company and vice versa. 

Tim Peake's Christmas Card | #SciSparksAdvent

Happy Christmas Eve! As we're only one sleep away from the big day - I thought I'd share Tim Peake's Christmas card this year!

As Tim said on Twitter, this is a Christmas card he never thought he'd send!  Having said that I reckon he needs to improve his space somersault skills! :)

Christmas Day Full Moon! | #SciSparksAdvent

There's going to be a full moon on Christmas day - one of the brightest full moons. The last time this happened on Christmas day was 1977. 

Stargazers will be given a rare treat this Christmas day as the final full moon of the year peaks on 25 December.

The last time a full moon dawned in the skies on Christmas was in 1977, and the event won't happen again until 2034. 

December's full moon is called the Full Cold Moon because it occurs during the beginning of winter and it will peak at 06.11 EST (23.11 GMT Christmas Eve). 

See more http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3371709/Rare-Cold-Moon-brighten-sky-Christmas-day-Lunar-event-38-years-won-t-happen-2034.html

Reindeers | #SciSparksAdvent

For obvious reasons - reindeers are mostly known for their link to Santa Claus and make the ideal sleigh pullers. Aside from Christmas, they're more usually seen during their mammoth Arctic migration -  during this, North American herds may travel for more than 5,000km.
Reindeers are also the only kind of deer where both males and females sport antlers, although they still can reach epic proportions in male reindeers.


Throughout the year, Reindeer mostly eat grass but they also take a fancy to virtually any other plant. In the winter - they often eat 'Reindeer lichen', moss and fungi. They are also very sociable creatures, living in groups of 10-100 groups.


As far as breeding is concerned, they mate in October and have a pregnancy of 230 days and give birth in May or June. When they do so, they only give birth to one baby who becomes fully mature at 2 years old. In the wild, they live to between 12 and 15 years old, although some live until they're 20.

Like many animals, they're hunted and have been hunted since the stone age. In northern regions in particular, they eat the meat and use the fur, skin, antlers and bones for various products. The reindeer was first domesticated around 3,000 years ago in Siberia and Scandinavia. Since then, they've been used for transport and pulling sleds. Because they can live in very cold climates - this makes them the ideal animals for the job.  

How much does Santa's Sleigh weigh? | #SciSparksAdvent

7 days to go!

If we're trying to work out how much his sleigh actually weighs, you need to make a lot of assumptions. Lets say that every child on Earth receives Buzz Lightyears - these have a boxed weight of 1.2kg - in total that's 840,000 tonnes of toys. These require a staggering 5.6 million reindeer to pull. Each reindeer weighs around 600lb - so the whole procession has a mass of 2,363,310.33 tonnes - Santa needs a few more than 7 reindeer!

Throwback Thursday - 2014 Christmas Lectures | #SciSparksAdvent

As the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures are coming up, I thought you might like to be reminded of the Christmas Lectures last year, so here's the first episode from last year's lectures.

What will Tim Peake's expedition do for UK science? | #SciSparksAdvent

Personally for Tim, he'll be able to carry out experiments which could lead to revolutionary developments. He's also acting as a guinea pig - allowing people back on Earth to monitor how his body is adapting or changing as a result of the zero gravity. During his 6 month voyage, his bones will get weaker  - he has to do 2 hours of exercise a day to combat this. When he returns it will take around a year for his body to completely get over the effects of being in zero gravity. He'll also be able to pass on his experiences - even just the view. Understandably many astronauts who have previously flown in space say that's the one thing which truly changes you - seeing it with your own eyes, and when you return you can truly appreciate it. This, apparently is known as the overview effect. It's also pioneering in the sense that no British person has done what Tim's doing. He's the first British astronaut to be spending a term on board the ISS. Other British astronauts have flown in space - Helen Sharman became the first British Citizen to travel in space when she visited the Soviet space station Mir in 1991. Others have flown either as private individuals or by taking up US citizenship.

School children across the UK can finally relate to someone on board the ISS - someone with a British accent - coming from a town near them. Follow him on Twitter @astro_timpeake where he'll hopefully be posting updates from the ISS. Whilst he's on board he's got lots of exciting plans - including opportunities for school children to link up with him on the ISS. This is the first time he's been on the ISS and no doubt he'll make the most of it.

Good luck Tim!

Tim Peake's Launch | #SciSparksAdvent

Day 15




Today, at exactly 11:03, the first Briton to work on board the ISS launched. He waved his friends and family off from the launch pad in Kazakhstan - as Dallas Campbell put it, what a way to get to the office! Once Tim and the other two crew members have completed the 6 hour journey to the ISS, Tim's main role will be to complete experiments but he also wants to make the most of his time up there - he really wants to inspire kids and adults alike and show them the wonder of space and science.


At exactly 17:33 GMT, the Soyuz docked with the ISS after they'd completed a manual docking -  a couple of hours later, pressurisation checks had been completed - the hatch was opened and him and the crew floated into their home for the next 6 months.
The flight was relatively problem free - launch was completed in probably the best conditions possible. When it came to docking however, there was a slight issue which meant they had to complete a manual docking. We're still not sure what the issue was - this caused a delay in opening the hatch as the crew sent back data before putting the Soyuz in 'sleep mode'. This is such an important step because the Soyuz is their 'lifeboat' if there's an issue on board the ISS the crew can transfer to the Soyuz and quickly return to Earth.





Tim has embarked on an amazing adventure for himself and Britain - good luck Tim!


18/12 update: Tim has recently revealed on Twitter that his first space meal was a hot bacon sandwich and he'd also just found his tea - some things never change, wherever you are! :)

Sea Otters | #BigBlueLive #SciSparksAdvent

For day 10 of my advent calendar, I thought we'd have a flashback to this summer's Big Blue Live. You may remember that the Sea Otters of Monterey Bay stole the show!They relax on the waters just of the coast of America and surprisingly are fairly closely related to the weasel. They are perfectly adapted to spend their days lolling back on the water, with their thick fur they can stay warm and toasty

I thought I'd leave you with some of my favorite sea otter pictures.... (prepare for a overload of cuteness!)