I'm a Scientist

Actinium is a radioactive chemical element, discovered in France in 1899. Its name is derived from aktis, which means “beam” in ancient Greek. Actinium is a soft silvery-white colour, and is so radioactive that it glows in the dark with a pale blue light.

As the element is so rare and radioactive there aren’t many practical uses for it other than scientific research, although scientists have recently started using it for radiation therapy targeting cancer cells in the body.

This is a general science zone, where you will meet five scientists working in a range of areas.

There is one scientist who uses proteins to find out how exercise and food can cause cancer, one who uses robotic patients to teach health skills to young people and one who looks at how new developments are affecting the environment.

There is also a scientist trying to exploit the defences venomous snakes have in order to help treat snake bites in humans, and a scientist telling stories using data to explain phenomena.