• Question: What was the most interesting experiment you have done? :)

    Asked by saoirsemcnamara to Sive, Michael, Emma, Ciara, Cathal on 11 Nov 2013. This question was also asked by alanah.
    • Photo: Michael Nolan

      Michael Nolan answered on 11 Nov 2013:

      Hi Saoirse,

      For me, an experiment needs to be interesting to be done in the first place. However, there are those exciting experiments where you put everything on the line in testing your hypothesis…you get a shiver and a feeling of excitement as the experiment makes its way to completion…

      This year I did one to test an idea about how iron atoms line up in a material that is mixed iron and titanium, which is an important materials in the geology of the earth. However, the experiments were ambiguous, so we modelled on computer this material and 3 days later we had a result that explained the experiment. For a few hours I was the only person in the world who had this answer.

      We have had some recent work along these lines where we provided the first explanation of experimental results in some important materials. This is very satisfying.

      hope this answers your question
      M

    • Photo: Sive Finlay

      Sive Finlay answered on 11 Nov 2013:

      Hi Saoirse,

      I agree with Michael that every experiment is interesting but some definitely stand out!
      My favourite set of experiments so far was the research I did for my final-year project. I studied the immune response of bumble bee queens which were infected with a nematode (worm-like) parasite. The parasite infects the queens while they hibernate and prevents them from producing new colonies. I did a set of experiments to try to figure out how the parasite gets past the queen’s immune defenses. The results showed that, during hibernation the queens’ immune systems don’t work properly which leaves them vulnerable to attack from the parasite. There was also some evidence that the parasite might use sneaky tactics to disguise itself from the queen.
      I was really happy to find such interesting results. The project was part of a larger PhD research project so hopefully my experiments will contribute to our understanding of how this host/parasite system works with the ultimate aim of trying to control parasitic infections and stop the alarming declines in bumble bee populations.
      Sive

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