Merthyr Science Festival 2022

Drunk Worms? How animals can teach us how drugs work

Plenty of people drink alcohol and we have done so for thousands of years. The truth is, scientists don't really understand how alcohol makes us drunk! Swansea University is using an aquatic worm called the blackworm (or Lumbriculus variegatus, if you want to get technical!), to investigate how simple animals respond to alcohol for us to understand how we get drunk, and why some people become addicted to the booze! 

Tiny to Tots Lab 

Become a junior scientist and learn how we study develop child development

Building blocks of biofilms

Create a model biofilm with building blocks and then use different balls to try and destroy it. 

Seeing is believing

Extract DNA from your own cheek cells using really simple and readily available things. 

Meet the Microbes

Discover the various shapes, sizes and structures of different microorganisms. 

DNA bracelet 

Following a simple chart make a bracelet from different coloured beads to show different genetic traits.

The Science of Weed 

This talk will cover the science behind weed and why there is debate for its use within medicine. We will cover how our brains produce their own weed-like chemicals (called endocannabinoids) and how they regulate things like our appetites. Weed, or cannabis, contains hundreds of different chemicals which have the potential for use in treating cancer, epilepsy and many others. We will look at the science as to why these may be very useful drugs, when used correctly. 

Note: This is a talk and will run at 2pm

Biological Sciences at USW 

Your chance to vote for the most pressing issues facing us today! Will it be climate change? Antibiotic resistance? You decide!

The Geologists' Association 

Your chance to play table top geological games, and inspect fossil and mineral specimens. 

Cancer: myth or fact 

Can they separate the myths from the facts? Test your mettle and see if you can beat our quiz!

F1 Cars

Your chance to design the cover for a model racing car and then race it to see who’s is the fastest!

Where do medicines come from?

Have you ever wondered how things like pain killers, or your asthma pump came to live in your medicine cupboard? How do we know they even work?

The answer is research, and it’s changing lives every day.

Discover how treatments like chemotherapy, medicines like insulin and aspirin, or even the COVID-19 vaccines, came from research by taking part in our pompom quiz #ResearchSavesLives

Christchurch Cyfarthfa