Why is outreach so important? │ Sending Worms to Space with Colleen Deane

Why is it so important that researchers reach out to the general public to explain their work? And can art complement science? Watch the next video in our series on Worms in Space to find out why specialist researchers want to get across the results of their work to the broadest possible audience.

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Capitalising on the novelty of the Molecular Muscle Experiment and to engage the next generation with science, engineering, technology and math, we have conducted and developed and delivered a variety of outreach and engagement activities. Our main method of engagement is a three-part interactive activity in which people compare healthy C. elegans to mutant C. elegans, and these mutant C. elegans have a genetic mutation that mimics what happens to worms in space. Using the equipment provided, people are able to compare the two worm types under a microscope and they can look at their size and their movement patterns and discuss with us why these differences exist.

We have worked closely with an Italian engineering company to design the houses, which are those specialised cassettes for the worms to travel to space, and these are so specific because they allow the worms to breathe and eat and move. Now, we bring all of these cassette components to the events so that people can have a go at actually building these cassettes and actually identify what component is for what.

During these interactive events, we also take existing flight hardware from previous space flight missions so that people can handle things that have actually been to space. We have conducted this interactivity at many, many events, and these include things like the Big Bang events, Physiological Society President's Lecture, we've been to schools, we've been to museums, and we've also been to science festivals. And if you're interested in attending any of these future events, please do keep an eye out on our Twitter page, which is @worms_space. Here, we list all of the upcoming events.

Based on this engagement activity, we have developed educational materials suitable for use by teachers, parents, carers, and educators in a classroom setting. These materials are publicly available online on our website, which is www.mme-spaceworms.com. If you're interested in doing yoga whilst learning about worms in space at the same time, you can go onto YouTube and look up ‘Gorilla Science’. Here, we helped create a video clip that lets you do exactly that. If you're not into yoga but you'd like to know more about the mission to Mars, check out the Physiological Society on YouTube for an animation that we provided scientific input and narration for.

The combination of science and art is a new frontier in scientific communication, and it can be used to capture the interest of scientists and non-scientists in a broad range of science, technology, engineering and maths subjects. We have actually used art to complement our research projects by having our mission logos, both from the Molecular Muscle Experiment and the Molecular Muscle Experiment 2, designed and brought to life by a science artist and molecular biologist.

Did you know that specific findings in worms are also in humans? Our next episode looks at the translational findings in worms to humans.

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