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20 Sporty Science Activity Ideas for Kids

June 17, 2021 By Emma Vanstone Leave a Comment

Olympic and sports day fever is about to start, so I’ve put together a collection of fun sport-themed science experiments and investigations. You can find out what happens to your heart rate and breathing as you exercise, make a model of a heart and lung, discover why balls bounce, test reaction time and lots more sporty science ideas for kids .

Sporty Science Ideas

Exercise and heart rate.

First up, is an easy activity to learn about the effect of exercise on heart rate . If using a stethoscope is too difficult, children can put their hands on their hearts to feel the beats.

This investigation is great for thinking about correct experimental design, including which conditions to change and which to keep constant.

Heart and Lung Model

Discover how the lungs work with a simple model of a lung . I also have an easy pumping heart model using a jar to demonstrate how heart valves work.

Find out what’s inside your blood with this fun demonstration from Creekside Learning.

Healthy and Strong Bones

Learn about the structure and function of the human skeleton by making models of the spine and paper bone models.

Discover how to keep your bones strong and healthy with an activity to learn about foods that are good for bone strength and what happens when a bone is broken.

How much sugar?

Discover how much sugar drinks contain with a simple matching task.

Why do balls bounce?

Investigate why and how balls bounce with a super simple bouncing balls investigation.

Which material would make the best hockey puck?

This easy activity is great for starting to think about properties of materials and why materials are chosen for a particular purpose. See this version by Creative Family Fun .

Test your Reaction Time

Test your reaction time with a very simple science demonstration using a ruler.

Put your design skills to the test with a brilliant shoebox football table from The Mad House.

More sport-themed science experiments

Use surface tension to power a model canoe or lolly stick surfboard.

Build and test a football goal.

Design a sailboat with a working sail.

Design an investigation to test whether people with longer legs jump further or run faster than people with shorter legs.

Build a javelin from rolled-up paper and find out how far you can throw it.

Construct a bow and arrow using lolly sticks and elastic bands.

Build a catapult to shoot a mini basketball into a hoop.

Find out if you can jump further if you run and jump or jump without the run-up.

Experiment to find out if it’s easier to bounce a ball on a baseball bat or tennis racquet.

Design a grip for a tug-of-war rope?

Last Updated on June 25, 2024 by Emma Vanstone

Safety Notice

Science Sparks ( Wild Sparks Enterprises Ltd ) are not liable for the actions of activity of any person who uses the information in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources. Science Sparks assume no liability with regard to injuries or damage to property that may occur as a result of using the information and carrying out the practical activities contained in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources.

These activities are designed to be carried out by children working with a parent, guardian or other appropriate adult. The adult involved is fully responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out safely.

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Top 8 Sports Science Experiments

Every jump, sprint, throw, and dive holds within it a story of science waiting to be uncovered.

Welcome to our compilation of the top 8 sports science experiments, specifically curated for students and teachers. Whether you’re a curious student eager to explore the intricacies of human potential or an enthusiastic teacher seeking innovative ways to inspire your students, this compilation is your gateway to unlocking the wonders of sports science.

Let’s embark on this thrilling journey of discovery, where the adrenaline of sports meets the intrigue of science, revealing the marvels that link them together.

1. Make Popsicle Stick Catapult

By constructing their own catapults using simple materials like popsicle sticks, rubber bands, and a spoon, students will not only learn about concepts like force, motion, and energy transfer, but they will also have a blast testing their catapults’ launching capabilities.

2. Ball Bounce

Prepare to bounce into the exciting world of sports science with the Ball Bounce experiment! This simple yet captivating experiment offers students a hands-on opportunity to explore the fascinating physics behind the bouncing of balls.

3. Hockey-Science

This exhilarating experiment combines the beloved sport of hockey with the principles of physics, giving students a unique opportunity to explore the scientific aspects of the game.

Learn more: Hockey Science Experiment

4. Shoebox Table Football

Engaging in Shoebox Table Football not only fosters a love for sports but also encourages scientific inquiry and practical application of scientific concepts.

Learn more: Shoebox Table Football

5. Floating Ball Experiment

The Floating Ball Experiment is a perfect blend of fun and education, allowing students to grasp complex scientific principles in a hands-on and visually captivating way.

Learn more: Floating Ball Experiment

6. Falling Footballs

This captivating sports science experiment allows students to explore the fascinating physics behind the trajectory of falling objects.

Learn more: Saturday Science, Falling Footballs

7. Discover the Energy Expenditure of Dribbling

This hands-on experiment offers students an exciting opportunity to explore the amount of energy expended during basketball dribbling.

Learn more: Science Buddies

8. Tracing the Path of Energy in a Bouncing Ball

Through this hands-on experiment, students will observe the complex interplay between kinetic and potential energy as they trace the path of energy from the moment the ball is dropped to the peak of its bounce.

Similar Posts:

• 68 Best Chemistry Experiments: Learn About Chemical Reactions
• Top 100 Fine Motor Skills Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers
• Top 58 Creative Art Activities for Kids and Preschoolers

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Science News Explores

Taking science to the track.

A teen turned her love of sports into a science project

Audrey Whitman (center, white jersey), loves to exercise. She decided to use her research project to learn more about fitness. 

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By Bethany Brookshire

May 11, 2016 at 12:29 pm

PHOENIX, Ariz. — Not every science project needs to take place in a fancy laboratory. When Audrey Whitman, 14, started her research, all she needed were the keys to her high school track.

This freshman at Champlin Park High School in Minnesota is a cross-country runner. When it came time for science fair projects, she says, “at first I wasn’t thinking too hard about it.” But when her science teacher encouraged her to study something she liked, she realized she could translate her love of sports into research.

Audrey had learned that someone’s heart rate at rest is associated with cardiovascular fitness — or how efficiently the heart pumps blood. A slower resting heart rate suggests that the heart is pumping blood more efficiently. She wondered if heart rates before and after exercise were associated with how much athletes trained.

“I have this group of friends of mine that run together,” she notes. “It’s kind of our thing.” While Audrey runs cross country, her friends also ski, play soccer, run and play volleyball. This means that they all had different training schedules. The volleyball player only trained six hours a week, while the cross-country skier averaged 11 hours.

Audrey got five of these friends to walk, and then run, once around a track. While they worked, she had them wear a fitness tracker and a heart monitor. She took their heart rate before and after running. Audrey also counted how fast her friends were breathing after walking and running.

Then, the teen took the heart rates and breathing rates, and checked to see if they correlated with how many hours people had trained. A correlation is an apparent link between two variables — or factors in an experiment. If there was a correlation between heart rate and training, for example, it would suggest that people who trained more tended to have lower heart rates. This might mean their hearts were more efficient than those who trained less.

Among her friends, Audrey did find that people who trained more had slower heart rate and breathing rate after running. Athletes who ran the most — including cross country runners and cross-country skiers, who run when there’s no snow — tended to have slower heart rates than those who ran less. The volleyball player had the highest heart rate. But this may not mean she’s out of shape, Audrey explains. It could just mean she doesn’t run as much. “Volleyball players have short spurts of energy,” she notes. “They are jumping up and down. They’re powerhouses.”

Audrey presented her results this week, at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. This year’s competition — created by Society for Science & the Public and sponsored by Intel — brought more than 1,600 students from more than 70 countries here to share their scientific projects. (The Society also publishes  Science News for Students and this blog.)

Of course, so far the teen only has five people in her study. She wants to study more girls in the future, she says. Audrey would prefer to study female athletes because, well, she is one. She also wants to explore whether the effect seen in runners also shows up in other sports, such as swimming. She even wants to look at different types of exercise. But for that, she needs more people. And that’s okay; she’s still got three more years to get her fellow athletes out to the track.

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Power Words

(for more about power words, click  here ).

cardiovascular    An adjective that refers to things that affect or are part of the heart and the system of vessels and arteries that move blood through the heart and tissues of the body.

correlation   A mutual relationship or connection between two variables. When there is a positive correlation, an increase in one variable is associated with an increase in the other. (For instance, scientists might correlate an increase in time spent watching TV with an increase in risk of obesity.) Where there is an inverse correlation, an increase in one value is associated with a decrease in the other. (Scientists might correlate an increase in TV watching with a decrease in time spent exercising each week.) A correlation between two variables does not necessarily mean one is causing the other. 

variable    (in mathematics) A letter used in a mathematical expression that may take on different values. (in experiments) A factor that can be changed, especially one allowed to change in a scientific experiment. For instance, when researchers measure how much insecticide it might take to kill a fly, they might change the dose or the age at which the insect is exposed. Both the dose and age would be variables in this experiment.

Sports Science Fair Project Ideas

Combine sports and science for a perfect science fair project

• Projects & Experiments
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• Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
• B.A., Physics and Mathematics, Hastings College

Stay away from the typical, overdone science fair cliches. Instead, create something that combines sports and science for your science fair project. 

Ideas to Get You Started

• How does the material from which a baseball bat is made affect performance? How does a wood bat compare with an aluminum bat?
• Does altitude affect the height of a ball bounce (for example, a golf ball)? If an effect is seen, can you attribute it to gravity or atmospheric pressure?
• Examine the effect of energy bars on performance. Pick a sport. Is there a difference in performance if you use a protein-boosting energy bar versus a carbohydrate-boosting energy bar?
• What is the effect of using a corked baseball bat compared to a normal one?
• Does drinking an energy drink (or sports drink) affect reaction time? memory?
• Are there really streaks in baseball? Or is it simply chance?
• Compare energy drinks based on cost, taste, short-term effect, and long-term effect.
• Which sports drink contains the most electrolytes?
• How is a ball's diameter related to the time it takes to fall?
• Does the length of a golf club affect the distance you can hit the ball?
• Does a swim cap really reduce a swimmer's drag and increase speed?
• How does exercise affect heart rate? This project is especially good if you can track data over a longer time frame.
• Does exercise affect reaction time?
• Does regular exercise affect memory?
• At what slope angle is the mechanical advantage of a bicycle lost, as compared to running?
• Compare different brands of balls for a sport (like baseball or golf) for cost versus performance.
• Do helmets really protect against a crash? (Perform this test with a stimulant like a watermelon.)
• What is the best air pressure for a soccer ball?
• How does temperature affect the accuracy of a paintball shot?
• Does altitude, temperature, or humidity have an effect on the number of home runs hit at a baseball diamond?
• Does the presence or absence of a net affect free throw accuracy?
• Measure the effect on peripheral vision from wearing different types of corrective eyewear (such as glasses). Does an athlete experience a noticeable improvement when peripheral vision is increased?
• Is there an effect if you fill an inflatable ball with a different gas than air (such as nitrogen or helium)? You can measure the height of a bounce, weight, and effect on passing, as well as how long it stays inflated.

Tips for Choosing a Project

• If you are an athlete or trainer, pick the sport you know best. Can you identify any problems to be examined? A good science fair project answers a question or solves a problem.
• When you have an idea, consider how to design an experiment around it. You need data. Numerical data (numbers and measurements) are better than qualitative data (greater/lesser, better/worse), so design an experiment that gives you data you can graph and analyze.

Do you need more science fair project ideas? Here's  a big collection  to browse.

• Science Fair Experiment Ideas: Food and Cooking Chemistry
• Chemistry Science Fair Project Ideas
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Atlas Obscura’s Guide to the Longest Running Scientific Experiments

“men love to wonder, and that is the seed of science.”  - ralph waldo emerson.

Sankt Burchardi Church Organ

Beverly Clock

The Pitch Drop Experiment

When, in 1596, cartographer  Abraham Ortelius  looked at a map he was working on, he noted something strange: The coasts of the continents looked as if they had once fit together. Ortelius noted in his journal that the “The vestiges of the rupture reveal themselves.” It would be over 300 years and a dogfight of science before Ortelius was proven right.

Despite the epic changes happening right in front of our eyes—mountains growing, species adapting, the expanding of our universe—these magnificent transformations often remain invisible to us, taking place on a timescale far outside of our ability to perceive them.

As a way of cheating this mortal coil, and peering into deep time , the scientists below have gone about establishing experiments that can outlive them; some are brilliant, some are ridiculous, and a few are just plain unethical. Here are fourteen science experiments that just won’t stop.

ST. LUCIA, AUSTRALIA

(Photo: University of Queensland )

Professor Thomas Parnell was on a mission to prove that pitch, a hard substance solid enough to be shattered by a hammer, was actually just a very, very, viscous liquid that flowed at room temperature. 

Begun in 1927, just getting ready to perform the experiment took years. The Professor heated a sample of pitch in a sealed funnel and for three years Parnell let the pitch cool and settle. In 1930 he cut the bottom off of the funnel, freeing the pitch to begin its mind-bogglingly slow escape.

Professor Parnell lived long enough to record only two drips fall, at an average rate of approximately once every 8.5 years. Parnell died in 1948 but the pitch experiment has kept on going without him. As of 2009, the pitch has dripped only eight times. Over 80 years after the experiment was begun, the ninth drop is beginning to form.

Curiously, because it only drips every 8 to 9 years, no one has ever actually been around to see a drop fall. A webcam was setup in 2000, but due to technical problems it missed the drip.

DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND

Invented by Arthur Beverly, this ingenious piece of timekeeping has yet to be wound since being put into “near perpetual motion” back in 1864.

Its sealed glass casing contains a box that flexes with atmospheric pressure. It flexes just enough to propel the clock’s weights, keeping it running, and creating one of the most sustainable, efficient timepieces the world has ever seen.

It takes only a six-degree Celsius temperature variation over a day to raise the one-pound weight an inch, powering the clock for yet another day. A commercial version of this type of clock is available under the name “Atmos Clock.” 

Oxford Electric Bell

Oxford, england.

(Photo: David Glover-Aoki/Public Domain )

In a scientist’s version of an alarm clock hell, the Oxford Electric Bell (or Clarendon Dry Pile) has been ringing quietly, but constantly, for over 170 years. 

Made of two dry pile batteries of unknown composition, a brass bell hangs beneath each battery. Started in 1840 the metal ‘clapper’ swinging between them has produced a ring that has occurred on the order of 10 billion times. It is unknown when the batteries will finally run down. 

A double-thick glass bell jar muffles the ringing sound, and keeping those around the bell from trying to hit snooze.

Dr. Beal’s Seed Viability Experiment

East lansing, michigan.

The 15th of 20 seed bottles that make up the world’s longest-running experiment “Some people say it looks like a whiskey flask,” says curator Dr. Frank Telewski. (Photo: Kurt Stepnitz/Michigan State University )

In the fall of 1879, Dr. William James Beal walked to a secret spot on Michigan State University’s campus and planted a strange crop: 20 narrow-necked glass bottles, each filled with a mixture of moist sand and seeds. Each vessel was “left uncorked and placed with the mouth slanting downward so that water could not accumulate about the seeds,” Beal wrote. 

When he buried those bottles 137 years ago, Dr. Beal didn’t aim to start the  As the World Turns  of garden experiments. Hoping to figure out exactly how many years local species could hang on in neutral conditions, Beal filled 20 bottles with 50 seeds each of 23 different plant types. The bottles are unearthed one at a time, and the seeds are planted.

The last bottle is set to be unearthed in the year 2100—but if the project’s past curators are any indication, it might stay buried even longer than that. According to Beal’s original vision, the bottles were supposed to be dug up every five years, the last excavation marking a neat century. But in 1920, a decade after Beal retired, his replacement noticed that “the experiment seemed to be stabilizing,” so the periods were extended to 20 years between excavations. 

The Morally Dubious: Of the Immortal and Infinite…  

Henrietta Lacks

Henrietta Lacks. (Photo: Oregon State University/CC BY-SA 2.0 )

Though Henrietta Lacks passed away from cervical cancer and was buried in 1950, traces of her can be found in nearly all biomedical research clinics throughout the world.

Prior to her death, cells from Lacks tumor were taken without her knowledge or permission, a common practice in the mid-Twentieth Century. She now has the dubious honor of originating the “HeLa immortal cell line,” after a doctor realized that, unlike other samples, her cells had the rare and remarkable ability to live even after having divided repeatedly. Essentially the cells were able to reproduce and grow infinitely, providing scientists with constant and reliable access to a human cell culture.

First used to test a polio vaccine, the cell line has since been used to study “cancer, AIDS, the effects of radiation and toxic substances, gene mapping, and many other scientific pursuits.” There are almost 11,000 patents involving HeLa cells and it is estimated that over the last 50 years scientists have grown some 20 tons of Henrietta Lacks cells.

However there is another sort of experiment taking places involving the HeLa’s immortal cell line, one of great concern to scientists.

Lenski’s “Long-term Evolution Experiment”

(Photo: Richard Lenski/Michigan State University )

The process of evolution happens at a varied pace, depending on circumstance, but seeing even a subtle change in a species within a single human lifetime can be very difficult. However, the incredibly fast lifespans and reproduction rates of bacteria can provide scientists with a window into a sort of “real-time evolution.”

Begun in 1988 researcher Richard Lenski has spent over two decades breeding and splicing E. coli in his “long-term evolution experiment.” His team culls 1% of the bacterial growth daily, transplanting them into a new flask to grow as a new branch of evolution. Lanksi is tracking the evolutionary changes in what began as 12 nearly identical cultures. In one branch of the evolutionary tree the E. Coli evolved to be able to grow in citric acid, something that none of the other E.Coli branches have managed to do. 

Though the bacteria have produced hundreds of millions of mutations over the years (achieving quite possibly every point mutation that is possible for the E.Coli bacteria) only 10 to 20 of those mutations have been beneficial enough to achieve fixation in the E. Coli strains. 

In February 2011, the experiment produced its 50,000th generation . Meanwhile Homo Sapiens are only on our  7,500 generation.

  Simulated Worlds: Birds Shouldn’t Be Kept in Cages…

Biosphere Two

Oracle, arizona.

(Photo: a rancid amoeba/CC BY-SA 2.0 )

For two years a team of scientists voluntarily confined themselves to the Biosphere Two domes, which were designed to simulate various environmental climates that could be recreated on Mars. This experiment was the longest of any of these confined biosphere types of experiments. 

Though the oxygen levels in the domes dropped, the experiment was deemed a failure not because of ecological factors, but rather those rooted in human psychology. Even omitting  Pauly Shore , at experiment’s end the biospherians became depressed, supremely annoyed with each other, and teetered on the edge of sanity. These psychological factors turn out to be a regular problem in these types of environments.

In a recent space station simulation, three-quarters of the way through an 8-month study, two “spacemen” in the simulation got into a fist fight, while a Canadian woman said that she was sexually harassed by a Russian colleague who had tried to kiss her. Out of these biosphere studies grew a new and unexpected field of psychological study, known as confined environment psychology .

Other places where these isolated environment issues are common are over-wintering in McMurdo Station on Antarctica , on Submarines , at the BIOS-3 and FMARS space simulations, and on MIR .

At the Intersection of Art and Science: Right Brain, Meet Left Brain…

Human Speechome Project  and  Boyhood

(Photo: IFC Productions )

Known as the  “Human Speechome Project” , the study is an ongoing attempt to fully map the process of language acquisition in children. In a kind of real-world Truman Show , MIT professor Deb Roy set up a series of video cameras and microphones throughout his home to record every minute detail of his son’s language acquisition during the first three years of his life.

The equipment required to parse such a massive amount of raw data necessitated a petabyte (one million gigabytes) storage device in the homes basement; the ultimate collection of home movies. 

Laboratory of Adult Development

Longitudinal studies are the epic Hindu poems of science experimentation.

Traditionally longitudinal researchers observe human behavior from a statistical distance, recording developments as they occur over a very long period of time, such as many decades. The most epic longitudinal study of  adult life ever conducted is run by the Harvard University’s Laboratory of Adult Development,  in which the lives of a group of graduates from ’39-’44 (the Grant Study) are compared with those of inner-city Boston men (the Glueck Study) to gain insight into the dynamic aging process.

Every two years, both sets of men complete a comprehensive questionnaire that probes elements affecting their larger mental, social, and physical health to shed light on the predictors of “healthy aging,” including stress, happiness, and genetic predisposition. Now in its 72nd year the researchers continue o ooh for clues to the secrets of attaining the ever-elusive “good life.”  Other long term Longitudinal studies include the  National Survey of Health and Development and the  Framingham Heart Study.

Director Michael Apted’s Up series  conducts its own longitudinal study within the structure of multiple documentary films.

The installments began in 1964 with fourteen children at age seven, each representing a unique socio-economic position within British society. Henceforth, every seven years Apted has persuaded as many of the original participants as possible to appear on film, catching him up on the developments in their lives, from which he produces subsequent cinematic installments. The works are of astonishing poignancy , topping Channel 4’s list of 50 greatest documentaries ever created.

Burchardi Church Organ  and “As Slow As Possible”

Halberstadt, germany.

John Cage church organ at St. Burchardi in Halberstadt. (Photo: Clemensfranz/CC BY-SA 4.0 )

Though an art piece at its heart John Cage’s “Organ²/ASLSP (As SLow aS Possible)”, a piece of music written for the organ at the Sankt Burchardi Church in Halberstadt, Germany can also be seen as a social experiment dedicated to measuring the number of generations a single piece of art can be sustained. 

Begun in 2001 and scheduled to have a duration of 639 years, the music pushes the boundaries of mechanical performance, human enjoyment, and tests whether sustained artistic vision can withstand the fickle nature of time and history. 

On Watching Grass Grow and Glaciers Move

Sometimes, the longest running science experiments bear equal import to those above, while eliciting roughly the excitement equal to watching grass grow… literally. 

And there are many more amazing long term earth and water experiments underway. The following research projects, which provide more than 300 years’ worth of information on the nuanced characteristics of Earth’s land and water.

• The   Rothamsted plots in Great Britain are the perfect example of a “constant” in scientific experimentation. The fields have been used to study the longterm effects of inorganic fertilizers on various crops without interruption since 1843, making them the longest-running agricultural experiment in the world. Coming in a close second are the Morrow plots at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, whose import remains great enough that the student body generally believes the college had three stories of the brand new library buried underground so as to not block the fields’ sunlight. 
• Conversely, the Juneau Icefield Research Project has existed for half a century to measure the dramatic changes that can occur due to climate change, as evidenced by history and current climate developments.  

Breeding and Domestication: Regarding the HMS Beagle and Actual Beagles

Domestication

Far surpassing all of the above experiments, however, is the sustained experiment humanity has been conducting known as domestication.

One scientifically motivated example of this is the domesticated silver fox experiment, begun in 1959 by Soviet scientist Dmitri Belyaev in an attempt to understand how wolves were breed into the domestic dogs. By selecting for temperament, this 51 year long study so successfully altered the nature of these wild foxes that they are now sold as house pets (sadly this is now what funds the study) and they behave much like domesticated dogs. 

But one need only to look at one’s own neighborhood cats and dogs, or the (cow, pig, corn, wheat, rice etc.) on their plate to see the longest running, and likely most important scientific experiment in human history. The conclusion of this particular experiment, of course, remains to be seen.

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A droplet of tar pitch hangs before falling from a funnel into a jar.

7 of the World's Longest-Running Experiments

These scientific research projects certainly didn't happen overnight.

When physicists at Trinity College, Dublin , started a viscosity experiment in 1944, Franklin D. Roosevelt was president of the United States, World War II was well underway, and Meet Me in St. Louis was tearing up the box office.

Seventy years later, one of the longest-running lab experiments in the world has finally paid off: A camera has captured one drop of tar pitch falling from a funnel into a jar—for the very first time.

The tar pitch had been placed in the funnel by physicists in 1944 to illustrate that pitch—a black, carbon-containing material that you might know as asphalt or bitumen—was actually not a solid, but a very, very slow-moving liquid at room temperature. (Related: " Fossil Amber Challenges Theories About Glass .")

Though drips and drops did form over time, they were never captured on camera—which would have definitively proved that pitch was a viscous liquid. A similar experiment conducted by physicists in Queensland, Australia, over the past 86 years also yielded sporadic drops—but the drops were never caught on video.

Enter Trinity College physicist Shane Bergin . Last April, he decided to set up a webcam to watch the pitch. He then waited. And waited. And waited some more. Finally, on July 11, he saw one of the drips actually dripping.

"My first thought was, 'Gosh, I hope the video camera was working,'" he said. "My second was, 'I hope the video was recording.' And it was. And then when I saw the video, I was actually amazed. I knew it was this phenomena that no one had ever seen."

Bergin says the long-running pitch experiment at Trinity gets to the heart of what good science really is.

"We had so many people coming through the department asking, 'When do you think it's going to go?" he said. "We were taking bets in a fun way as to when it would go, and it really got a lot of people thinking and talking about science."

Believe it or not, the long-running pitch experiments conducted in Ireland and Australia are actually some of the youngest of the oldest scientific experiments taking place around the world. Below, we detail a few more of the longest-running research projects (and scientific oddities) currently underway.

The Ringing Bell

Since 1840, an experimental electric bell has been ringing almost continuously in the foyer of the Clarendon Laboratory at the University of Oxford. Called the Clarendon Dry Pile, the device is made up of two voltaic "dry piles" connected with an insulating layer of sulphur; the piles are connected, in turn, to two bells. The Guinness Book of Records deems the bell the "world's most durable battery," though it will eventually stop ringing when either its clapper wears out or its electrochemical energy is exhausted.

The Beverly Clock

Physics departments seem to house lots of long-running experiments, and the Beverly Clock is no exception. Sitting in a foyer at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, the atmospheric clock has not been wound since 1864 but continues to keep on ticking. (Though it has stopped occasionally, including when the physics department changed locations.) (Related: " For a Second-Hand Clock, It's First in Reliability .")

Monitoring Vesuvius

How do you monitor a sleeping giant? Carefully—and with lots of data about seismic activity. That's what employees of the Vesuvius Observatory have been measuring since 1841, in order to predict any future eruptions. The monitoring facility used to be located on the side of the volcano itself but was moved to Naples in 1970. At that facility, scientists monitor several volcanoes, trying to size up when they might erupt again. (Read: " Vesuvius Countdown .")

The William James Beal Germination Experiment

In 1879, American botanist William James Beal loaded up 20 bottles with a mix of sand and seeds from a variety of plants. He then buried the bottles neck-down to prevent water from entering the mix.

The point of Beal's experiment ? To determine whether seeds would still sprout after remaining dormant for a very long time. Every five years at first (but now every 20 years), one of the bottles is dug up by researchers and the seeds are planted to see if anything grows. In 2000, two of the 21 plant species in the bottle sprouted.

The next bottle will be unearthed in 2020, with the experiment slated to be finished in 2100.

Old Rotation of Cotton

Since 1896, scientists at Auburn University in Alabama have conducted a soil fertility experiment on a one-acre plot of land just south of the campus. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the "Old Rotation" experiment, as it's called, was the first to show that a cotton and legume crop rotation could support a cotton crop indefinitely.

Framingham Heart Study

For more than 65 years, thousands of men and women between the ages of 30 and 62 from Framingham, Massachusetts, have been monitored by researchers at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and Boston University to check for markers and risk factors of heart disease. The ongoing monitoring of three generations of participants has helped researchers identify major risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Related Topics

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Science Literacy, Education, Communication

Improve Your Running with Physics

Are you a runner? You can use some basic laws of physics to improve your running. New research shows how to predict the forces between the ground and your feet.

By Emily Rhode

Running is one of the simplest forms of exercise we can do. It requires no protective gear or fancy equipment. At its core, it just requires force. Runners are constantly searching for clues for how to improve their speed and prevent injury. But until now, there was no easy way to fully assess the way a runner moves. In a study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology , researchers at Southern Methodist University describe a method that requires nothing more than a quality camera and basic laws of physics to predict how a runner and the ground will impact each other.

Newton’s second law of motion says that force is mass multiplied by acceleration. A runner’s mechanics, or movement, can be represented by a simple waveform—a visual representation of force over time. The moment the runner’s foot hits the ground is represented by the beginning of the wave. As the mass of the runner’s body accelerates toward the ground, the amount of force increases and the wave climbs. The wave then slopes down as the runner begins the motion of lifting the leg again.

Collecting the data to create this pattern of force between the runner’s body and the ground is normally a complicated process that requires knowing the masses and motion of as many as fourteen different variables. A team consisting of Dr. Kenneth P. Clark, Dr. Laurence J. Ryan, and Dr. Peter G. Weyand believed that they could simplify the process considerably by focusing on just two parts of the body: the lower leg and the foot.

RELATED: WALK WHILE YOU WORK: DO TREADMILL DESKS HELP?

The researchers studied the running mechanics of forty-two people ranging from recreational runners to Olympic medalists. They measured each person’s body mass and used high-speed cameras to capture the motion of running. At the same time, a specialized treadmill recorded the force of the runners’ footfalls as they moved through their strides. The team then compared the real data to an algorithm, or set of mathematical steps, that they developed to predict an individual’s waveform pattern.

They call their new algorithm the “two-mass model.” The overall force pattern of a runner comes from combining the force of the lower part of the leg as it hits the ground with the force from the rest of the body. “The foot and the lower leg stop abruptly upon impact, and the rest of the body above the knee moves in a characteristic way,” says Clark, assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “This new simplified approach makes it possible to predict the entire pattern of force on the ground—from impact to toe-off—with very basic motion data.”

RELATED: HIKERS: EASILY CALCULATE YOUR BEST BACKPACK WEIGHT

The researchers also discovered that their model works accurately for both heel and forefoot strikers, and at speeds that range from recreational jogging to Olympic-level sprinting. “The shape of the waveform often immediately reveals whether the runner struck the ground with the heel or forefoot first. The trace [shown below] is a characteristic heel-strike trace exhibiting what we call a ‘rising-edge force peak’ that occurs in large part because the heel stops so quickly when it strikes the ground,” says Weyand, director of the Locomotor Performance Laboratory at Southern Methodist University.

The researchers hope that the model can be widely used by running gear stores, running coaches, and even the medical community to help prevent injury. “The research provides a straightforward method for linking a runner’s gait to the forces present between the foot and the ground throughout each footfall,” says Weyand. “Many shoe stores currently have some kind of video or motion system present, but the new science provides a direct way to predict force patterns from a runner’s gait acquired through basic video or wearable sensors. This was not possible previously without a much more elaborate approach.”

RELATED: RUNNING ROBOTS MAY BE INSPIRED BY BIRDS

This information could be used to guide shoe choices as well as to help runners improve their speed and reduce injuries. By comparing running forces before and after an injury, an athlete might be able to see that he or she is not putting as much force on a limb as before. This could indicate that the limb has not fully healed.

The two-mass model could also improve understanding of the different patterns of force observed between running prostheses and feet. The researchers would like to eventually test their model on Paralympian sprinters. The practicality of the model gives it many potential uses.

“Simply understanding the scientific principles involved allows one to apply them, even with a naked eye. For example, coaches can evaluate whether speed athletes in football or track are getting enough knee lift for the impact at touchdown to hit high speeds,” says Weyand.

The researchers hope that the new capabilities of this model can push practical applications to not only guide shoe choices but also improve running speed in professional athletes and recreational runners alike.

Watch this video summary of the research:

Clark, K. P.; Ryan, L. J.; Weyand, P. G. “A general relationship links gait mechanics and running ground reaction forces.” Journal of Experimental Biology (2017) 220, 247–258 doi:10.1242/jeb.138057

About the Author

Emily Rhode is a freelance science writer and municipal water resources educator. Her goal is to make science accessible and interesting for everyone. She has worked as an outdoor environmental educator, science teacher, and professional communicator and trainer. You can follow her on Twitter @riseandsci .

• Pitch Drop experiment

We're home to the famous Pitch Drop experiment, which holds the Guinness World Record for the longest-running laboratory experiment .

The experiment demonstrates the fluidity and high viscosity of pitch, a derivative of tar that is the world's thickest known fluid and was once used for waterproofing boats.

Thomas Parnell, UQ's first Professor of Physics, created the experiment in 1927 to illustrate that everyday materials can exhibit quite surprising properties.

At room temperature pitch feels solid - even brittle - and can easily be shattered with a hammer. But, in fact, at room temperature the substance - which is 100 billion times more viscous than water - is actually fluid.

The experiment explained

In 1927 Professor Parnell heated a sample of pitch and poured it into a glass funnel with a sealed stem. He allowed the pitch to cool and settle for three years, and then in 1930 he cut the funnel's stem.

Since then, the pitch has slowly dripped out of the funnel - so slowly that it took eight years for the first drop to fall, and more than 40 years for another five to follow.

Now, 87 years after the funnel was cut, only nine drops have fallen - the last drop fell in April 2014 and we expect the next one to fall sometime in the 2020s.

The experiment was set up as a demonstration and is not kept under special environmental conditions - it's kept in a display cabinet - so the rate of flow of the pitch varies with seasonal changes in temperature.

The late Professor John Mainstone became the experiment's second custodian in 1961. He looked after the experiment for 52 years but, like his predecessor Professor Parnell, he passed away before seeing a drop fall.

In the 86 years that the pitch has been dripping, various glitches have prevented anyone from seeing a drop fall.

See for yourself

To see the experiment for yourself, view the physical set-up in its display case in the foyer of the Parnell Building (Building 7).

Alternatively, you can watch the experiment's live video stream . More than 35,000 people from some 160 countries are registered to view the stream.

Professor Andrew White is the Pitch Drop's third and current custodian.

Email your Pitch Drop enquiry to  [email protected] .

Related links

UQ News explainer: the Pitch Drop experiment

Pitch Drop experiment paper (PDF, 252kB)

UQ Physics Museum

• Junior Physics Odyssey
• Senior Mathematics Study Days
• Queensland Mathematics Summer School
• School seminars and colloquia

How to Balance Scientific Research with Practical Training

The lens of science has given us some incredibly useful information about running.

Scientific research has illuminated everything from injury prevention and rehabilitation to race-day preparation and best practices in training.

With the advent of well-designed scientific studies, we don’t have to rely only on folk wisdom to answer questions like “ is hip strength important for runners ” or “ should I take ibuprofen to treat all of my running injuries ” or “ will a cup of coffee help me run faster on race day? ” (the answers, by the way, are yes, no, and yes).

I am continually impressed by the things that I learn through reading scientific studies on running-related topics.  Nevertheless, once in a while the scientific literature will come to a conclusion that’s the complete opposite of what I’ve found in my time as a runner and a coach.

Today, I’d like to examine a few examples of this and try to figure out why the science says one thing while “runner wisdom” says another.

Hard-to-believe scientific research results

To get started, I want to highlight some scientific findings that we’ve uncovered that go against very common (and practical) running wisdom Then we’ll look at how you can balance or interpret these findings correctly and apply them to your training in the right way.

Should you run when you feel sick?

The first is the question of whether you should keep running when you start getting sick .  In my own running and coaching experience, trying to continue to train with a sore throat, fatigue, soreness, and all of the other symptoms of an upper respiratory infection is an unqualified mistake.

But scientific research claims otherwise: research done at Ball State University appears to show that moderate-intensity aerobic exercise doesn’t affect the length or severity of an upper respiratory infection.

The effects of pacing on running

Another case is the effects of your pacing on your normal mileage runs.

It’s fairly well-accepted in the running community that going too fast on your easy runs means you’re bound to get injured.  But several large studies of runners demonstrate otherwise: on the whole, runners who do their training runs fast don’t get injured any more than those who train slow.

Running with injuries

Finally, even something as basic as running when you’ve got an injury isn’t as simple as you might think.

While I’m always quick to warn athletes I coach not to run on a nagging injury, new research is showing that, at least in cases of chronic soft-tissue injuries like runner’s knee or Achilles tendonitis , running on mild or moderate pain doesn’t leave you any worse than not running at all, as long as the pain during running doesn’t exceed 5/10 on the pain scale, and as long as it has faded by the next morning.

Is science or our perception always right?

So what are we to make of this?

Taking both science and personal experience at face value can lead to some serious cognitive dissonance.  To resolve this, we’ll have to tease apart some of the subtleties of both scientific experiments and personal observations.

Flaws in scientific design – research participants

Despite rigorous experimental design, scientific studies are often still full of issues that could limit their applicability to a serious runner in training.

The research cited above on upper respiratory infections, for example, used moderately active undergraduate students, not distance runners training for a marathon.

So we might be able to argue that hard workouts, high mileage, and races put a much greater stress on an already-bogged down immune system in competitive runners, which could account for why I and many others have found that trying to run through illness is not a good idea.

Flaws in scientific design – sample selection

Problems in sample selection can bog down scientific studies too—perhaps there are many injury-prone runners who intentionally run slow because they are aware of their heightened injury risk, yet still become injured for other reasons.

This would mask any protective effect of running slower to avoid injury.

And in the case of “running through” injuries, the scope of the current studies might be too narrow.  Perhaps we can’t generalize the “5/10 on the pain scale” rule to all injuries, as different body tissues likely have their own rates of healing.

Flaws in our perceptions: The danger of cause-and-effect

However, we should also be aware of the flaws in our own perception.

Our brains are quick to assign cause-and-effect relationships when two things happen sequentially, even if they might be unrelated.

Perhaps you would have gotten sicker even if you didn’t decide to do a hard workout when you were coming down with a sore throat, and maybe factors like muscular strength and running mechanics really do play a bigger role in your injury risk than how fast you run.

Our minds are also very bad at stepping outside of the immediate situation and looking at the big picture.

After running on a stiff Achilles or a sore knee, you are obviously not going to feel like you are progressing in your recovery.  But what you might miss is a longer-term trend of that stiffness or soreness gradually improving over the course of several weeks.

How do we know when to apply scientific research to our training?

With respect to scientific studies, we should be careful not to over-interpret the results.

Usually, the first studies on a specific topic like illness or injury are small and fairly specialized.  By refining experimental design, researchers can gradually reinforce or refute the findings of previous studies, eventually leading to a more rigorous understanding of the topic in question.

For example, one very legitimate criticism of early studies on the benefits of strength training exercises for runners was that they only included modestly-trained recreational runners, not experienced competitors.  But as more studies were conducted, researchers found that the benefits of strength training (especially plyometric-style explosive strength) extend even to extremely fit national and international-caliber distance runners.

Managing our own perception biases can be more difficult.

Even if heaps of research comes out saying that it’s okay to run when you’re sick, I’ll still have a hard time bringing myself to do it because I’ve had so many bad experiences in the past.

But making a system for analyzing your own running history can go a long ways towards offsetting some of the problems described earlier.

You can get very technical if you’d like, using spreadsheets to analyze mileage and paces and so on, but for most runners, just keeping a daily log of your workouts and how you feel will open your eyes to some of the things that you’d otherwise miss.

When new scientific research is hard to believe, we should rightfully be skeptical and analyze the methods of the study to see whether or not it’s really applicable for all runners.

But we shouldn’t stop there—we should also be skeptical and analytical about our own experiences and beliefs about running, because these can have flaws too!

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We love running and want to spread our expertise and passion to inspire, motivate, and help you achieve your running goals.

1. Weidner, T.; Schurr, T., Effect of exercise on upper respiratory track infection in sedentary subjects. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2003, 37, 304-306. 2. Weidner, T.; Cranston, T.; Schurr, T.; Kaminsky, L., The effect of exercise training on the severity and duration of a viral upper respiratory illness. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 1998, 30 (11), 1578-1583. 3. Weidner, T.; Anderson, B.; Kaminsky, L.; Dick, E.; Schurr, T., Effect of a rhinovirus-caused upper respiratory illness on pulomonary function test and exercise responses. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 1997, 29 (5), 604-609. 4. Messier, S. P.; Pittala, K. A., Etiologic factors associated with selected running injuries. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 1988, 20 (5), 501-505. 5. Walter, S. D.; Hart, L. E.; McIntosh, J. M.; Sutton, J. R., The Ontario cohort study of running-related injuries. Archives of Internal Medicine 1989, 149 (11), 2561-2564. 6. Hreljac, A.; Marshall, R. N.; Hume, P., Evaluation of lower extremity overuse injury potential in runners. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 1999, 32 (32), 9. 7. Silbernagel, K. G.; Thomee, R.; Eriksson, B. I.; Karlsson, J., Continued Sports Activity, Using a Pain-Monitoring Model, During Rehabilitation in Patients With Achilles Tendinopathy: A Randomized Controlled Study. The American Journal of Sports Medicine 2007, 35 (6), 897-906. 8. Thomeé, R., A comprehensive treatment approach for patellofemoral pain syndrome in young women. Physical Therapy 1997, 77, 1690-1703. 9. Paavolainen, L.; Häkkinen, K.; Hämäläinen, I.; Nummela, A.; Rusko, H., Explosive-strength training improves 5-km running time by improving running economy and muscle power. Journal of Applied Physiology 1999, 86, 1527-1533. 10. Saunders, P. U.; Telford, R. D.; Pyne, D. B.; Peltola, E. M.; Cunningham, R. B.; Gore, C. J.; Hawley, J. A., Short-term Plyometric Training Improves Running Economy in Highly Trained Middle and Long Distance Runners. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 2006, 20 (4), 947-954.

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2 Responses

Good job. I particularly like the section about the limitations of scientific studies. Even though scientific research is very important and illuminating, a lot of folks lionize scientific research and are quick to dismiss “traditional wisdom” because they don’t totally understand those limitations. In fact, I’ll add that a lot of athletes and coaches go so far as to think that traditional wisdom isn’t valid unless it’s substantiated by scientific study. Not everything can be operationalized, though; not everything can be made into a study. At those times, I think that traditional wisdom, borne of experience, is valid.

You raise important points about [good] science versus anecdotal experience. In the latter case, frequently a sample size of 1, that is, based upon our own individual experience.

Properly done science is about making inferences about larger groups, using a properly designed and executed study on a smaller sample, while recognizing that there will be natural exceptions to the findings, given biological diversity and things that we did not or cannot properly measure, that may be relevant to explaining the findings.

A key limitation within that framework is the ability to generalize findings from the study sample to the larger group. That ability is predicated upon the notion that the sample in the study is randomly selected from the population of interest and that the inclusion/exclusion criteria for the study subjects are reasonable and not overly narrow. In addition, that the sample size used in the study is appropriate to detect the magnitude of the outcome (or difference in outcomes) of interest, while controlling for the likelihood of Type I (false positive) and Type II (false negative) errors. In the case of Type I errors, that is typically set at 5% (0.05). In the case of Type II errors, that is commonly set at 20% (0.2). We make the prospective decision that we are willing to accept a greater risk of not detecting the outcome of interest, than detecting it. This is the basis of formal null hypothesis testing in traditional statistics.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of bad science and a lot of it is approved by IRBs and is subsequently published, frequently with poorly implemented peer review by the relevant journals.

A key problem is that many of these studies lack formally stated hypotheses and no formal power/sample size calculation or simulation is performed by the investigators. The result is frequently underpowered studies, that is, studies that have too small of a sample size, resulting in Type I and Type II error rates that are markedly above commonly accepted values. This problem can also be confounded by the use of the wrong statistical techniques to analyze the data.

This results in studies that are frequently not reproducible, which in turn yields conflicting results when multiple studies on similar outcomes are published. How is the naive reader, who is not trained in these methods supposed to separate bad science from good, so that they can take that information and turn it into actionable knowledge? The reality is that frequently, they cannot. Thus, as you note here, they are left to make decisions based upon their own individual experience, or elect to utilize a study that fits their a priori bias.

Unfortunately, this underlying problem is not limited to running, but is common across virtually all scientific disciplines.

Science is certainly not perfect, but bad science subverts our ability to learn.

Thanks for raising these important points.

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Science project, speedy shoes.

Grade Level: 5th - 8th; Type: Physics

Determine whether different brands of athletic shoes really make you faster.

The purpose of this experiment is to evaluate different brands of running shoes in order to find out whether any of them affect a person’s ability to run.

Research Questions:

• Are there any shoes that currently claim to increase an athlete’s speed?
• Are there certain brands of shoes that most athletes choose to wear?
• How do athletes choose which brands to wear?
• What claims have shoe companies made about their products in the past?

Shoe companies spend a lot of time and energy trying to convince the potential buyers that their brand will help a person run faster and perform better at sports. Flashy commercials are one way that these companies attempt to convince people to buy their shoes. Advertisers have to be careful, though, in making claims that their products help athletes perform better than other brands. Making false claims can lead to lawsuits by competitors. If the performance of a certain design does, on the other hand, outshine that of its competitors, the company is free to make the claim that their shoes do, in fact, increase athletic performance. Extensive tests, such as this experiment, need to be conducted to make sure that a certain brand of shoes helps an athlete run faster than another brand.  

• Various brands or styles of running shoes
• A few friends

It is not necessary to go out and buy a bunch of different shoes. You can borrow shoes from friends who have the same size feet as you. It may also be possible to find some shoes at thrift stores or garage sales.

Experimental Procedure:

• Find a length of track to run on that is 50 meters long. This distance will allow a runner to sprint as fast as they can without getting too winded.
• Put the first pair of shoes on.
• Sprint the 50 meters and have a friend time you.
• Record the results on a chart such as the one below.
• Repeat steps 3 and 4 two more times.
• Average the results of the run by adding the three times together and dividing by three.
• Optional: Have your friend wear the same shoes and complete steps 3 through 6. Make sure that the shoes fit your friend as well, because ill-fitting shoes can lead to injury or can affect the results of the experiment.
• Take a twenty minute break to get your energy back up.
• Put on another pair of shoes.
• Repeat steps 3 through 8.
• Repeat steps 3 through 7.
• Finish the experiment for the day. Return the next day and complete the experiment with other brands of shoes. Do not perform more than three trials on a single day.
• Continue in this manner until you have tested all the shoes that you selected for the experiment.

Terms/Concepts: Speed; Athletic shoe design; Advertising; False advertising

References:

• https://www.runnersworld.com/gear/a26654722/running-shoe-anatomy-parts/
• http://www.finishline.com/  

Related learning resources

Add to collection, create new collection, new collection, new collection>, sign up to start collecting.

Bookmark this to easily find it later. Then send your curated collection to your children, or put together your own custom lesson plan.

15 of the Longest-Running Scientific Studies in History

Most experiments are designed to be done quickly. Get data, analyze data, publish data, move on. But the universe doesn’t work on nice brief timescales. For some things you need time. Lots of time.

1. THE BROADBALK EXPERIMENT // 173 YEARS

In 1842, John Bennet Lawes patented his method for making superphosphate (a common, synthetic plant nutrient) and opened up what is believed to be the first artificial fertilizer factory in the world. The following year, Lawes and chemist Joseph Henry Gilbert began a series of experiments comparing the effects of organic and inorganic fertilizers, which are now the oldest agricultural studies on Earth. For over 150 years parts of a field of winter wheat have received either manure, artificial fertilizer, or no fertilizer. The results are about what you’d expect: artificial and natural fertilized plots produce around six to seven tons of grain per hectare, while the unfertilized plot produces around one ton of grain per hectare. But there’s more . They can use these studies to test everything from herbicides to soil microbes and even figure out oxygen ratios for better reconstruction of paleoclimates.

2. THE PARK GRASS EXPERIMENT // 160 YEARS

Lawes and Gilbert started several more experiments at around the same time. In one of these experiments with hay, Lawes observed that each plot was so distinct that it looked like he was experimenting with different seed mixes as opposed to different fertilizers. The nitrogen fertilizers being applied benefited the grasses over any other plant species, but if phosphorus and potassium were the main components of the fertilizer, the peas took over the plot. Since then, this field has been one of the most important biodiversity experiments on Earth.

3. THE BROADBALK AND GEESCROFT WILDERNESSES // 134 YEARS

Yet another one of Lawes’ experiments: In 1882 he abandoned part of the Broadbalk experiment to see what would happen. What happened was that within a few years, the wheat plants were completely outcompeted by weeds—and then trees moved in [ PDF ]. In 1900, half of the area was allowed to continue as normal and the other half has had the trees removed every year in one of the longest studies of how plants recolonize farmland.

4. DR. BEAL’S SEED VIABILITY EXPERIMENT // 137 YEARS

In 1879, William Beal of Michigan State University buried 20 bottles of seeds on campus. The purpose of this experiment was to see how long the seeds would remain viable buried underground. Originally, one bottle was dug up every five years, but that soon changed to once every 10 years, and is now once every 20 years. In the last recovery in 2000, 26 plants were germinated, meaning slightly more than half survived over 100 years in the ground. The next will be dug up in 2020, and (assuming no more extensions) the experiment will end in 2100.

Even if it is extended for a while, there will probably still be viable seeds. In 2008, scientists were able to successfully germinate a circa-2000 year old date palm seed , and four years later, Russian scientists were able grow a plant from a 32,000 year old seed that had been buried by an ancient squirrel.

5. THE PITCH DROP EXPERIMENT // 86 YEARS

If you hit a mass of pitch (the leftovers from distilling crude oil) with a hammer, it shatters like a solid. In 1927, Thomas Parnell of the University of Queensland in Australia decided to demonstrate to his students that it was actually liquid. They just needed to watch it for a while. Some pitch was heated up and poured into a sealed stem glass funnel . Three years later, the stem of the funnel was cut and the pitch began to flow. Very slowly. Eight years later, the first drop fell. Soon the experiment was relegated to a cupboard to collect dust, until 1961 when John Mainstone learned of its existence and restored the test to its rightful glory. Sadly, he never saw a pitch drop. In 1979 it dropped on a weekend, in 1988 he was away getting a drink, in 2000 the webcam failed, and he died before the most recent drop in April 2014.

As it turns out, the Parnell-initiated pitch drop experiment isn’t even the oldest. After it gathered international headlines, reports of other pitch drop experiments became news. Aberystwyth University in Wales found a pitch drop experiment that was started 13 years before the Australian one, and has yet to produce a single drop (and indeed is not expected to for another 1300 years), while the Royal Scottish Museum in Edinburgh found a pitch drop experiment from 1902 . All of them prove one thing though: With enough time, a substance that can be shattered with a hammer still might be a liquid.

6. THE CLARENDON DRY PILE // 176-191 YEARS

Around 1840, Oxford physics professor Robert Walker bought a curious little contraption from a pair of London instrument makers that was made up of two dry piles (a type of battery) connected to bells with a metal sphere hanging in between them. When the ball hit one of the bells, it became negatively charged and shot towards the other positively charged bell where the process repeats itself. Because it uses only a minuscule amount of energy, the operation has occurred ten billion times and counting. It’s entirely possible that the ball or bells will wear out before the batteries fully discharge.

Although we don’t know the composition of the battery itself (and likely won’t until it winds down in a few hundred years), it has led to scientific advancements. During WWII , the British Admiralty developed an infrared telescope that needed a battery capable of producing high voltage, low current, and that could last forever. One of the scientists remembered seeing the Clarendon Dry Pile—also referred to as the Oxford Electric Bell—and was able to find out how to make his own dry pile for the telescope.

7. THE BEVERLY (ATMOSPHERIC) CLOCK // 152 YEARS

Sitting in the foyer of the University of Otago in New Zealand is the Beverly Clock. Developed in 1864 by Arthur Beverly, it is a phenomenal example of a self-winding clock. Beverly realized that, while most clocks used a weight falling to get the energy to run the clock mechanism, he could get the same energy with one cubic foot of air expanding and contracting over a six-degree Celsius temperature range. It hasn’t always worked; there have been times it needed cleanings, it stopped when the Physics department moved, and if the temperature is too stable it can stop. But it’s still going over 150 years later.

8. THE AUDUBON CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT // 116 YEARS

Since 1900, folks from across the continent have spent time counting birds. What began as an activity to keep people from hunting our feathered friends on Christmas Day, has turned into one of the world’s most massive and long-lasting citizen science projects. Although the 2015 results aren’t ready yet, we know that in 2014 , 72,653 observers counted 68,753,007 birds of 2106 species.

9. THE HARVARD STUDY OF ADULT DEVELOPMENT // 78 YEARS

One of the longest running development studies, in 1938 Harvard began studying a group of 268 sophomores (including one John F. Kennedy ), and soon an additional study added 456 inner-city Bostonians. They’ve been followed ever since, from World War II through the Cold War and into the present day, with surveys every two years and physical examinations every five. Because of the sheer wealth of data, they’ve been able to learn all kinds of interesting and unexpected things. One such example: The quality of vacations one has in their youth often indicates increased happiness later in life.

10. THE TERMAN LIFE CYCLE STUDY // 95 YEARS

In 1921, 1470 California children who scored over 135 on an IQ test began a relationship that would turn into one of the world’s most famous longitudinal studies—the Terman Life Cycle Study of Children with High Ability .  Over the years, in order to show that early promise didn’t lead to later disappointment, participants filled out questionnaires about everything from early development, interests, and health to relationships and personality.  One of the most interesting findings is that, even among these smart folk, character traits like perseverance made the most difference in career success.

11. THE NATIONAL FOOD SURVEY // 76 YEARS

Starting in 1940, the UK’s National Food Survey tracked household food consumption and expenditure, and was the longest lasting program of its kind in the world. In 2000 it was replaced with the Expenditure and Food Survey, and in 2008 the Living Costs and Food Survey. And it’s provided interesting results . For instance, earlier this year it was revealed that tea consumption has fallen from around 23 cups per person per week to only eight cups, and no one in the UK ate pizza in 1974, but now the average Brit eats 75 grams (2.5 ounces) a week.

12. THE FRAMINGHAM HEART STUDY // 68 YEARS

In 1948 , the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute teamed up with Boston University to get 5209 people from the town of Framingham to do a long-term study of how cardiovascular disease developed. Twenty-three years later they also recruited the adult children of the original experiment and in 2002 a third generation. Over the decades, the Framingham Heart Study researchers claim to have discovered that cigarette smoking increased risk, in addition to identifying potential risk factors for Alzheimer’s, and the dangers of high blood pressure.

13. THE E. COLI LONG TERM EVOLUTION EXPERIMENT // 26 YEARS

While this one might not seem that impressive in terms of length, it has to be the record for number of generations that have come and gone over the course of the study: well over 50,000 . Richard Lenski was curious whether flasks of identical bacteria would change in the same way over time, or if the groups would diverge from each other. Eventually, he got bored with the experiment, but his colleagues convinced him to keep going, and it’s a good thing they did. In 2003, Lenski noticed that one of flasks had gone cloudy, and some research led him to discover that the E. coli in one of the flasks had gained the ability to metabolize citrate. Because he had been freezing previous generations of his experiment, he was able to precisely track how this evolution occurred.

14. THE BSE EXPERIMENT // 11 YEARS

Sadly, sometimes things can go terribly wrong during long-term experiments. Between 1990 and 1992, British scientists collected thousands of sheep brains. Then, for over four years, those prepared sheep brains were injected into hundreds of mice to learn if the sheep brains were infected with BSE (mad-cow disease). Preliminary findings suggested that they were, and plans were drawn up to slaughter every sheep in England. Except those sheep brains? They were actually cow brains that had been mislabeled. And thus ended the longest running experiment on sheep and BSE.

15. THE JUNEAU ICEFIELD RESEARCH PROGRAM // 68 YEARS

Attention to glacier retreat and the effects of global warming on the world’s ice fields has rapidly increased over the course of the last few decades, but the Juneau Icefield Research Program has been monitoring the situation up north since 1948. In its nearly 70 years of existence, the project become the longest-running study of its kind, as well as an educational and exploratory experience . The monitoring of the many glaciers of the Juneau Icefield in Alaska and British Columbia has a rapidly approaching end date though—at least in geological terms. A recent study published in the Journal of Glaciology predicts that the field will be gone by 2200 .

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5 Easy Sports Science Experiments

Sports and exercise have come a long way, thanks to science. We train better and smarter because of the scientists who study to learn more about the human body and how to improve athletic performance.

However, not every sports science experiment needs to be done by specialists in a lab with fancy equipment. Give these experiments a try and learn by doing!

Eat donuts instead of your regular pre-workout meal

If you’ve ever wanted to be an amateur nutritionist, here is a super easy way to try a little sports science yourself: Instead of eating something you trust to give you energy, like fruit, scarf down a couple of donuts before practice or the gym.

All the fat and sugar will surely slow you down, increase your fatigue and make you weaker. You may find you need a nap after your workout that day. From personal experience, I can say that every time I tried to run or jump, it felt like I had cement in my shoes.

Do not conduct this experiment before an important game. After this experiment, you will surely have a much better appreciation for clean eating and how it relates to sports performance. It will be a lesson better learned from experience that by simply reading about it.

Work out barefoot

Next time you do Squats, Deadlifts, Lunges or other leg exercises, ditch your shoes. Your feet have over 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments in them, and a typical pair of workout shoes limits their use in a workout. You may also notice an increased range of motion, because your shoe likely has a built-in heel lift, restricting your ankle from moving freely. Working out without the support of the shoe forces your body to use more muscles and create a bigger challenge. Because most of the muscles are underdeveloped, pay attention to how your balance is affected when you perform single-leg exercises like Lunges. Do not expect to be as strong without shoes either, because the support of the shoe boosts strength.

Compare how your heart rate responds to different exercises

Everyone knows heart rate increases during physical activity, but have you ever thought about how different exercises affect your heart rate? Use a heart monitor or just count manually to get a resting heart rate as your baseline.

Perform the following exercises, check your heart rate and compare your results. Rest between tests so you always start from your original resting heart rate. See which test puts your heart under the most stress. Think about which exercise cause the biggest jump in your heart rate. Were you surprised at all by any of the results?

• One set of Squats with moderate to heavy weight.
• Run a series of 20- to 40-yard sprints, rest 10 to 15 seconds and repeat five to eight times.
• Run a mile.

Test your balance

The body has a system of proprioceptors to maintain balance. By manipulating each one, you can test your balance without each proprioceptor.

• Stand on one foot. This shifts your center of gravity, and your body must work to stay balanced.
• After you balance on one foot, tilt your head and look up. This changes the position of the sensors in your inner ear. When the sensors turn like that, the body reacts and adjusts to its new position to maintain balance.
• Raise your hands over your head. Touch one hand to your nose, then extend your hand out to your side and touch your nose with your other hand.
• Close your eyes. Everyone has trouble with this one, because we use our sight to remain steady and balanced. When you suddenly take away your sight, your body loses awareness and senses trouble, causing a natural reaction to fall or reach out for a stable surface.

Try each step in this progression together or one at a time. As a bonus challenge, try it barefoot.

Try different tempos during weight training

The speed at which you raise or lower a weight is often overlooked, but it can affect your training outcome. The eccentric phase of a lift, in which the muscle lengthens while contracting, is rarely done correctly. If you a person who gets to the top of a rep, then drops the weight back to the starting position, try some extra tempo training. Using a Bicep Curl for example. Curl the weight up to your shoulders, then slowly and with control lower it back down over a three-second count. By the end of the first set, you will feel a burn like no other.

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Long-term research: Slow science

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72 Easy Science Experiments Using Materials You Already Have On Hand

Because science doesn’t have to be complicated.

If there is one thing that is guaranteed to get your students excited, it’s a good science experiment! While some experiments require expensive lab equipment or dangerous chemicals, there are plenty of cool projects you can do with regular household items. We’ve rounded up a big collection of easy science experiments that anybody can try, and kids are going to love them!

Easy Chemistry Science Experiments

Easy physics science experiments, easy biology and environmental science experiments, easy engineering experiments and stem challenges.

1. Taste the Rainbow

Teach your students about diffusion while creating a beautiful and tasty rainbow! Tip: Have extra Skittles on hand so your class can eat a few!

Learn more: Skittles Diffusion

2. Crystallize sweet treats

Crystal science experiments teach kids about supersaturated solutions. This one is easy to do at home, and the results are absolutely delicious!

Learn more: Candy Crystals

3. Make a volcano erupt

This classic experiment demonstrates a chemical reaction between baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and vinegar (acetic acid), which produces carbon dioxide gas, water, and sodium acetate.

Learn more: Best Volcano Experiments

4. Make elephant toothpaste

This fun project uses yeast and a hydrogen peroxide solution to create overflowing “elephant toothpaste.” Tip: Add an extra fun layer by having kids create toothpaste wrappers for plastic bottles.

5. Blow the biggest bubbles you can

Add a few simple ingredients to dish soap solution to create the largest bubbles you’ve ever seen! Kids learn about surface tension as they engineer these bubble-blowing wands.

Learn more: Giant Soap Bubbles

6. Demonstrate the “magic” leakproof bag

All you need is a zip-top plastic bag, sharp pencils, and water to blow your kids’ minds. Once they’re suitably impressed, teach them how the “trick” works by explaining the chemistry of polymers.

Learn more: Leakproof Bag

7. Use apple slices to learn about oxidation

Have students make predictions about what will happen to apple slices when immersed in different liquids, then put those predictions to the test. Have them record their observations.

Learn more: Apple Oxidation

8. Float a marker man

Their eyes will pop out of their heads when you “levitate” a stick figure right off the table! This experiment works due to the insolubility of dry-erase marker ink in water, combined with the lighter density of the ink.

Learn more: Floating Marker Man

9. Discover density with hot and cold water

There are a lot of easy science experiments you can do with density. This one is extremely simple, involving only hot and cold water and food coloring, but the visuals make it appealing and fun.

Learn more: Layered Water

10. Layer more liquids

This density demo is a little more complicated, but the effects are spectacular. Slowly layer liquids like honey, dish soap, water, and rubbing alcohol in a glass. Kids will be amazed when the liquids float one on top of the other like magic (except it is really science).

Learn more: Layered Liquids

11. Grow a carbon sugar snake

Easy science experiments can still have impressive results! This eye-popping chemical reaction demonstration only requires simple supplies like sugar, baking soda, and sand.

Learn more: Carbon Sugar Snake

12. Mix up some slime

Tell kids you’re going to make slime at home, and watch their eyes light up! There are a variety of ways to make slime, so try a few different recipes to find the one you like best.

13. Make homemade bouncy balls

These homemade bouncy balls are easy to make since all you need is glue, food coloring, borax powder, cornstarch, and warm water. You’ll want to store them inside a container like a plastic egg because they will flatten out over time.

Learn more: Make Your Own Bouncy Balls

14. Create eggshell chalk

Eggshells contain calcium, the same material that makes chalk. Grind them up and mix them with flour, water, and food coloring to make your very own sidewalk chalk.

Learn more: Eggshell Chalk

15. Make naked eggs

This is so cool! Use vinegar to dissolve the calcium carbonate in an eggshell to discover the membrane underneath that holds the egg together. Then, use the “naked” egg for another easy science experiment that demonstrates osmosis .

Learn more: Naked Egg Experiment

16. Turn milk into plastic

This sounds a lot more complicated than it is, but don’t be afraid to give it a try. Use simple kitchen supplies to create plastic polymers from plain old milk. Sculpt them into cool shapes when you’re done!

17. Test pH using cabbage

Teach kids about acids and bases without needing pH test strips! Simply boil some red cabbage and use the resulting water to test various substances—acids turn red and bases turn green.

Learn more: Cabbage pH

18. Clean some old coins

Use common household items to make old oxidized coins clean and shiny again in this simple chemistry experiment. Ask kids to predict (hypothesize) which will work best, then expand the learning by doing some research to explain the results.

Learn more: Cleaning Coins

19. Pull an egg into a bottle

This classic easy science experiment never fails to delight. Use the power of air pressure to suck a hard-boiled egg into a jar, no hands required.

Learn more: Egg in a Bottle

20. Blow up a balloon (without blowing)

Chances are good you probably did easy science experiments like this when you were in school. The baking soda and vinegar balloon experiment demonstrates the reactions between acids and bases when you fill a bottle with vinegar and a balloon with baking soda.

21 Assemble a DIY lava lamp

This 1970s trend is back—as an easy science experiment! This activity combines acid-base reactions with density for a totally groovy result.

22. Explore how sugary drinks affect teeth

The calcium content of eggshells makes them a great stand-in for teeth. Use eggs to explore how soda and juice can stain teeth and wear down the enamel. Expand your learning by trying different toothpaste-and-toothbrush combinations to see how effective they are.

Learn more: Sugar and Teeth Experiment

23. Mummify a hot dog

If your kids are fascinated by the Egyptians, they’ll love learning to mummify a hot dog! No need for canopic jars , just grab some baking soda and get started.

24. Extinguish flames with carbon dioxide

This is a fiery twist on acid-base experiments. Light a candle and talk about what fire needs in order to survive. Then, create an acid-base reaction and “pour” the carbon dioxide to extinguish the flame. The CO2 gas acts like a liquid, suffocating the fire.

25. Send secret messages with invisible ink

Turn your kids into secret agents! Write messages with a paintbrush dipped in lemon juice, then hold the paper over a heat source and watch the invisible become visible as oxidation goes to work.

Learn more: Invisible Ink

26. Create dancing popcorn

This is a fun version of the classic baking soda and vinegar experiment, perfect for the younger crowd. The bubbly mixture causes popcorn to dance around in the water.

27. Shoot a soda geyser sky-high

You’ve always wondered if this really works, so it’s time to find out for yourself! Kids will marvel at the chemical reaction that sends diet soda shooting high in the air when Mentos are added.

Learn more: Soda Explosion

28. Send a teabag flying

Hot air rises, and this experiment can prove it! You’ll want to supervise kids with fire, of course. For more safety, try this one outside.

Learn more: Flying Tea Bags

29. Create magic milk

This fun and easy science experiment demonstrates principles related to surface tension, molecular interactions, and fluid dynamics.

Learn more: Magic Milk Experiment

30. Watch the water rise

Learn about Charles’s Law with this simple experiment. As the candle burns, using up oxygen and heating the air in the glass, the water rises as if by magic.

Learn more: Rising Water

31. Learn about capillary action

Kids will be amazed as they watch the colored water move from glass to glass, and you’ll love the easy and inexpensive setup. Gather some water, paper towels, and food coloring to teach the scientific magic of capillary action.

Learn more: Capillary Action

32. Give a balloon a beard

Equally educational and fun, this experiment will teach kids about static electricity using everyday materials. Kids will undoubtedly get a kick out of creating beards on their balloon person!

Learn more: Static Electricity

33. Find your way with a DIY compass

Here’s an old classic that never fails to impress. Magnetize a needle, float it on the water’s surface, and it will always point north.

Learn more: DIY Compass

34. Crush a can using air pressure

Sure, it’s easy to crush a soda can with your bare hands, but what if you could do it without touching it at all? That’s the power of air pressure!

35. Tell time using the sun

While people use clocks or even phones to tell time today, there was a time when a sundial was the best means to do that. Kids will certainly get a kick out of creating their own sundials using everyday materials like cardboard and pencils.

Learn more: Make Your Own Sundial

36. Launch a balloon rocket

Grab balloons, string, straws, and tape, and launch rockets to learn about the laws of motion.

37. Make sparks with steel wool

All you need is steel wool and a 9-volt battery to perform this science demo that’s bound to make their eyes light up! Kids learn about chain reactions, chemical changes, and more.

Learn more: Steel Wool Electricity

38. Levitate a Ping-Pong ball

Kids will get a kick out of this experiment, which is really all about Bernoulli’s principle. You only need plastic bottles, bendy straws, and Ping-Pong balls to make the science magic happen.

39. Whip up a tornado in a bottle

There are plenty of versions of this classic experiment out there, but we love this one because it sparkles! Kids learn about a vortex and what it takes to create one.

Learn more: Tornado in a Bottle

40. Monitor air pressure with a DIY barometer

This simple but effective DIY science project teaches kids about air pressure and meteorology. They’ll have fun tracking and predicting the weather with their very own barometer.

Learn more: DIY Barometer

41. Peer through an ice magnifying glass

Students will certainly get a thrill out of seeing how an everyday object like a piece of ice can be used as a magnifying glass. Be sure to use purified or distilled water since tap water will have impurities in it that will cause distortion.

Learn more: Ice Magnifying Glass

42. String up some sticky ice

Can you lift an ice cube using just a piece of string? This quick experiment teaches you how. Use a little salt to melt the ice and then refreeze the ice with the string attached.

Learn more: Sticky Ice

43. “Flip” a drawing with water

Light refraction causes some really cool effects, and there are multiple easy science experiments you can do with it. This one uses refraction to “flip” a drawing; you can also try the famous “disappearing penny” trick .

Learn more: Light Refraction With Water

44. Color some flowers

We love how simple this project is to re-create since all you’ll need are some white carnations, food coloring, glasses, and water. The end result is just so beautiful!

45. Use glitter to fight germs

Everyone knows that glitter is just like germs—it gets everywhere and is so hard to get rid of! Use that to your advantage and show kids how soap fights glitter and germs.

Learn more: Glitter Germs

46. Re-create the water cycle in a bag

You can do so many easy science experiments with a simple zip-top bag. Fill one partway with water and set it on a sunny windowsill to see how the water evaporates up and eventually “rains” down.

Learn more: Water Cycle

47. Learn about plant transpiration

Your backyard is a terrific place for easy science experiments. Grab a plastic bag and rubber band to learn how plants get rid of excess water they don’t need, a process known as transpiration.

Learn more: Plant Transpiration

48. Clean up an oil spill

Before conducting this experiment, teach your students about engineers who solve environmental problems like oil spills. Then, have your students use provided materials to clean the oil spill from their oceans.

Learn more: Oil Spill

49. Construct a pair of model lungs

Kids get a better understanding of the respiratory system when they build model lungs using a plastic water bottle and some balloons. You can modify the experiment to demonstrate the effects of smoking too.

Learn more: Model Lungs

50. Experiment with limestone rocks

Kids  love to collect rocks, and there are plenty of easy science experiments you can do with them. In this one, pour vinegar over a rock to see if it bubbles. If it does, you’ve found limestone!

Learn more: Limestone Experiments

51. Turn a bottle into a rain gauge

All you need is a plastic bottle, a ruler, and a permanent marker to make your own rain gauge. Monitor your measurements and see how they stack up against meteorology reports in your area.

Learn more: DIY Rain Gauge

52. Build up towel mountains

This clever demonstration helps kids understand how some landforms are created. Use layers of towels to represent rock layers and boxes for continents. Then pu-u-u-sh and see what happens!

Learn more: Towel Mountains

53. Take a play dough core sample

Learn about the layers of the earth by building them out of Play-Doh, then take a core sample with a straw. ( Love Play-Doh? Get more learning ideas here. )

Learn more: Play Dough Core Sampling

54. Project the stars on your ceiling

Use the video lesson in the link below to learn why stars are only visible at night. Then create a DIY star projector to explore the concept hands-on.

Learn more: DIY Star Projector

55. Make it rain

Use shaving cream and food coloring to simulate clouds and rain. This is an easy science experiment little ones will beg to do over and over.

Learn more: Shaving Cream Rain

56. Blow up your fingerprint

This is such a cool (and easy!) way to look at fingerprint patterns. Inflate a balloon a bit, use some ink to put a fingerprint on it, then blow it up big to see your fingerprint in detail.

57. Snack on a DNA model

Twizzlers, gumdrops, and a few toothpicks are all you need to make this super-fun (and yummy!) DNA model.

Learn more: Edible DNA Model

58. Dissect a flower

Take a nature walk and find a flower or two. Then bring them home and take them apart to discover all the different parts of flowers.

59. Craft smartphone speakers

No Bluetooth speaker? No problem! Put together your own from paper cups and toilet paper tubes.

Learn more: Smartphone Speakers

60. Race a balloon-powered car

Kids will be amazed when they learn they can put together this awesome racer using cardboard and bottle-cap wheels. The balloon-powered “engine” is so much fun too.

Learn more: Balloon-Powered Car

61. Build a Ferris wheel

You’ve probably ridden on a Ferris wheel, but can you build one? Stock up on wood craft sticks and find out! Play around with different designs to see which one works best.

Learn more: Craft Stick Ferris Wheel

62. Design a phone stand

There are lots of ways to craft a DIY phone stand, which makes this a perfect creative-thinking STEM challenge.

63. Conduct an egg drop

Put all their engineering skills to the test with an egg drop! Challenge kids to build a container from stuff they find around the house that will protect an egg from a long fall (this is especially fun to do from upper-story windows).

Learn more: Egg Drop Challenge Ideas

64. Engineer a drinking-straw roller coaster

STEM challenges are always a hit with kids. We love this one, which only requires basic supplies like drinking straws.

Learn more: Straw Roller Coaster

65. Build a solar oven

Explore the power of the sun when you build your own solar ovens and use them to cook some yummy treats. This experiment takes a little more time and effort, but the results are always impressive. The link below has complete instructions.

Learn more: Solar Oven

66. Build a Da Vinci bridge

There are plenty of bridge-building experiments out there, but this one is unique. It’s inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s 500-year-old self-supporting wooden bridge. Learn how to build it at the link, and expand your learning by exploring more about Da Vinci himself.

Learn more: Da Vinci Bridge

67. Step through an index card

This is one easy science experiment that never fails to astonish. With carefully placed scissor cuts on an index card, you can make a loop large enough to fit a (small) human body through! Kids will be wowed as they learn about surface area.

68. Stand on a pile of paper cups

Combine physics and engineering and challenge kids to create a paper cup structure that can support their weight. This is a cool project for aspiring architects.

Learn more: Paper Cup Stack

69. Test out parachutes

Gather a variety of materials (try tissues, handkerchiefs, plastic bags, etc.) and see which ones make the best parachutes. You can also find out how they’re affected by windy days or find out which ones work in the rain.

Learn more: Parachute Drop

70. Recycle newspapers into an engineering challenge

It’s amazing how a stack of newspapers can spark such creative engineering. Challenge kids to build a tower, support a book, or even build a chair using only newspaper and tape!

Learn more: Newspaper STEM Challenge

71. Use rubber bands to sound out acoustics

Explore the ways that sound waves are affected by what’s around them using a simple rubber band “guitar.” (Kids absolutely love playing with these!)

Learn more: Rubber Band Guitar

72. Assemble a better umbrella

Challenge students to engineer the best possible umbrella from various household supplies. Encourage them to plan, draw blueprints, and test their creations using the scientific method.

Learn more: Umbrella STEM Challenge

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16 Red-Hot Volcano Science Experiments and Kits For Classrooms or Science Fairs

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Grow A Rainbow Experiment

Looking for a colorful and easy way to introduce kids to the wonders of science? Our Rainbow Paper Towel Experiment is a fantastic way to explore capillary action . Grow a rainbow before their eyes with a STEAM activity perfect for preschoolers and early elementary students.

This experiment not only demonstrates capillary action but also encourages kids to make predictions, observe changes, and ask questions about what they see. Plus, the bonus of seeing a rainbow appear right before their eyes is sure to captivate their imaginations!

Recommended Age Range: 3-8 years old (Preschool through early elementary grades)

Supplies Needed:

• 1 paper towel (either 1 select-a-size or a full paper towel cut in half)
• 2 clear 6 oz cups
• 1 cup of water
• Washable markers (red, orange, yellow, green, and blue)

💡 For older kiddos, try this marker chromatography experiment !

Watch the Quick Video:

How to set up your experiment.

STEP 1: Gather all the supplies you’ll need for the experiment. Fold the paper towel in half and cut off ⅓ of one end.

STEP 2: Use the washable markers to color a rainbow on both ends of the paper towel. Make the stripes about 1-2 inches long.

STEP 3: Fill both clear cups ¾ full with water.

STEP 4: Place half of the paper towel rainbow into each cup of water.

Now, watch the rainbow grow before your eyes!

How Does It Work?

So, what’s happening here? This experiment shows how water travels through the paper towel, carrying the colors with it.

This process is called capillary action , which is how water moves through plants, bringing nutrients up from the roots to the leaves. Capillary action is the ability of water to move through tiny spaces, even against gravity.

💡 Here are more simple ways to explore capillary action with kids.

Extend The Learning

Color Mixing Experiment: After completing the grow a rainbow experiment, try using primary colors (red, blue, yellow) and see what happens when the colors mix as they “walk” into each other. Discuss with your child how primary colors combine to make secondary colors.

💡 Here are more ways to explore color mixing with preschoolers.

Celery Experiment: Extend the concept of capillary action by placing a white carnation or celery stalk in colored water. Observe how the color travels up the plant, similar to how it moved through the paper towel.

Compare Different Materials: Experiment with different types of paper (coffee filters, tissue paper, etc.) to see how capillary action varies with different materials. Which material makes the colors travel faster or slower?

Make a Walking Rainbow Chain: Use multiple cups and paper towels to create a longer chain of rainbow colors walking from cup to cup. How far can the colors travel? This activity can lead to discussions on how distance affects the process.

Printable Science Projects For Kids

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Science in School

Simple gravimetric chemical analysis – weighing molecules the microscale way teach article.

Author(s): Bob Worley and Adrian Allan

Learn how to do quantitative chemistry using microscale techniques with bottle tops and inexpensive spirit burners that are relatively easy and quick to set up.

Quantitative chemistry using gravimetric analysis gives students the opportunity to experience chemical reactions, observe chemical changes, and use measurements of masses to determine the formula of a compound. This can be done using a combustion reaction, which results in a gain of mass (such as the reaction of magnesium with oxygen), or removing the water from a hydrated salt by heating, which results in a loss of mass. [ 1 ] These microscale practical activities are relatively simple and quick to do and can help students focus on the chemistry and reduce the load on working memory. Despite the small masses involved, the data generated from microscale experiments shows equivalent or better results than those obtained with traditional equipment, although a comparison of techniques is a useful exercise in error analysis. The advent of inexpensive, robust digital balances, measuring accurately to 0.01 g, has also allowed these methods to be more accessible and affordable than before.

Activity 1: Determining the formula of magnesium oxide

The determination of the formula of magnesium oxide by combustion of magnesium can yield variable results. Porcelain crucibles can be costly and can break during the experiment, and magnesium can escape when the lid is lifted. This product loss can reduce the accuracy of the result.

The microscale method uses an inexpensive alternative to expensive crucibles. The natural design of bottle tops allows a good flow of air with minimal loss of product.

This activity will take about 30 minutes and suitable for students aged 14–18.

• Magnesium ribbon, about 10–15 cm long (danger: flammable)
• Bunsen burner
• Two crown bottle tops (make sure the plastic coating has been removed from the bottle tops; this is easily done with a Bunsen burner and pair of tongs in a working fume cupboard)
• Mass balance
• Eye protection
• Nichrome wire, about 15 cm
• Small pipe-clay triangle
• Heating mat
• Activity 1 worksheet
• Find the total mass of two bottle tops and 15 cm of nichrome wire (M1) on a balance. Record the mass on the student worksheet.

• Roll a 10–15 cm length of magnesium ribbon around a pencil and place the ribbon on one of the bottle tops.
• Find the mass of the two bottle tops, nichrome wire, and magnesium ribbon (M2) and record on the worksheet.

• Set up a Bunsen burner and tripod on a heatproof mat. On the tripod, place a pipe-clay triangle small enough to support the bottle top ‘parcel’.
• Sandwich the magnesium between the two bottle tops (serrated edges together). Wrap the wire round the bottle tops to keep them together.
• Place the bottle tops securely on the pipe clay.

• Heat the bottle tops with a strong blue flame for 10 minutes.

• Switch off the Bunsen burner and allow the bottle tops to cool (for about 5 minutes).
• Find the mass of the bottle tops plus nichrome wire and magnesium oxide. Record this mass as M3.
• Use the masses of magnesium and magnesium oxide to calculate the number of moles of each substance. The molar ratio can be used to determine the formula of the compound.

Results and discussion

This activity can also be used with younger students who have not yet been taught mole calculations as way of introducing conservation of mass. Ask them to predict whether the mass of magnesium will get lighter, stay the same, or get heavier when heated, and test their prediction. Some will think the magnesium will get lighter, as they assume it will be ‘burnt away’ like carbon when it reacts with oxygen to form carbon dioxide. They are often surprised that oxygen atoms have mass, which can be measured on a balance after a combustion reaction with a metal.

A full explanation of the calculations can be found in the supporting material.

Sample result and calculation:

M1 = mass of bottle tops plus nichrome wire

M2 = mass of magnesium plus nichrome wire and magnesium

M3 = mass of the bottle top plus nichrome wire and magnesium oxide 

Mass of magnesium ribbon used (M2 − M1 = 4.11 − 3.87)  

Moles of magnesium = mass of Mg/gram formula mass of Mg = 0.24 ⁄ 24.5

Mass of oxygen used = M3 − M2 = 4.26 − 4.11

Moles of oxygen = mass of O/gram formula mass of O = 0.15 ⁄ 16

Ratio of magnesium to oxygen = moles Mg/moles O = 0.0098 ⁄ 0.0094  

The value should be close to one, giving a molar ratio of approximately one magnesium to one oxygen, which suggests the formula of magnesium oxide is indeed MgO.

Activity 2: Gravimetric determination of the formula of hydrated copper(II) sulfate

Gravimetric analysis to determine the moles of water present in a hydrated complex usually requires preweighing of a sample and heating to constant mass over a Bunsen burner using a crucible and a desiccator to prevent water from being reabsorbed from the air.

This method is quicker and uses a bottle top instead of a crucible, as described in Activity 1, along with spirit burners.

Spirit burners

Spirit burners burn cooler than Bunsen flames, which is advantageous for some experiments. A cheaper alternative to buying them from laboratory suppliers is to construct a homemade version made from small-scale jam jars.

A full guide on how to make a spirit burner is available in the supporting material. The assembly process can be observed in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndlycDnCM8c

The spirit burners can be used for other microscale practical applications, such as flame tests and determining the melting points of covalent molecular and ionic substances, [ 2 ] as well as for the cracking of hydrocarbons. [ 3 ]

In this experiment, the use of a spirit burner limits the extent to which copper sulfate will decompose to release toxic sulfur dioxide:

CuSO 4 ·5H 2 O(s) (pale-blue solid) ⇌ CuSO 4 (s) (white solid) + 5H 2 O(s)

Copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate (CuSO 4 ·5H 2 O) loses four of its water molecules at about 100 °C. The final water molecule is lost at 150 °C. With a Bunsen flame, a temperature of over 650 °C is reached, which causes the hydrated copper sulfate to decompose; the solid darkens and toxic sulfur dioxide and trioxide gases are released. As well as being hazardous, the decomposition affects the accuracy of the results. Using a cooler flame produced by a spirit burner prevents this decomposition.

Safety note

Wear eye protection.

• Bottle tops with plastic removed, as described in Activity 1
• Spirit burner (details of how to make one are given in the supporting material)
• Copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate (CuSO 4 ·5H 2 O)
• Spirit burner
• Optional: a muselet (this is a wire cage from a bottle of champagne or other sparkling wine) to act as a microscale tripod
• Activity 2 worksheet
• Put the bottle-top crucible on the balance and set it to 0.0 g using the tare button.
• Add about 1.2 g of hydrated copper sulfate to the crucible. Record the mass on the student worksheet.
• Optional: place the muselet on the spirit burner. This will act as a microscale tripod for the bottle top.
• Place the bottle-top crucible on the muselet tripod and heat with an ignited spirit burner until the blue colour has been lost and white/colourless solid remains. Alternatively, hold the bottle top with tongs and heat as above.

• Remove the crucible from the spirit burner (and extinguish the flame).
• Allow the crucible to cool.
• Find the mass of the crucible plus anhydrous salt and record this.
• Use the masses of hydrated and anhydrous copper sulfate to calculate the number of moles of copper sulfate and water present in the hydrated complex. The molar ratio can be used to determine the formula of hydrated copper(II) sulfate.

Mass of hydrated copper(II) sulfate used =

Mass of anhydrous copper(II) sulfate after heating =

Mass of water removed by heating = 1.20 − 0.78 =

Number of moles of copper sulfate (CuSO 4 ) left after water was removed  = 0.78 ⁄ 159.6 =

Number of moles of water removed by heating = 0.42 ⁄ 18 =

Ratio of moles of water to copper sulfate = 0.023 ⁄ 0.0049 = 4.9, which is 5 when rounded to nearest whole number.

The students can be shown the label of a bottle of hydrated copper sulfate and compare their result with the label to verify their result. The value should be close to five, giving a molar ratio of approximately five moles of water to one mole of copper(II) sulfate, which suggests the formula of the hydrated copper(II) sulfate is CuSO 4 ·5H 2 O.

Adrian and Bob have now reached the end of this series of articles on microscale chemistry. What started out as an antidote to the safety concerns of dealing with chemicals in schools, (storage, use, disposal) by education managers and the UK Health and Safety executive, in around 1993, has now attracted more enthusiasts because of the educational and economic benefits the techniques bring. Now we can add the promotion of sustainability, as directed by the United Nations, using the principles of green chemistry, [ 4 ] as formulated in 1998 by Paul Anastas and John C. Warner. At least 6 of the 12 principles of green chemistry can apply to school-taught chemistry. [ 5 ]

• Prevention of waste : droplets of solutions added to a plastic surface using transfer pipettes are just wiped away with a paper towel.
• Less-hazardous chemical syntheses : preparing copper sulfate crystals while avoiding scalds, burns, and the evolution of toxic gases; microelectrolysis of copper chloride solution.
• Safer solvents and auxiliaries : using water as the main solvent, as well as adopting salting-out procedures.
• Design for energy efficiency : spirit burners and hot water from a kettle can be used to avoid the use of fossil fuels (e.g., the Bunsen burner); using more energy efficient LEDs.
• Catalysis : using yeast to produce oxygen from hydrogen peroxide.
• Inherently safer chemistry for accident prevention :reducing concentrations, finding an alternative procedure to carry out the electrolysis of a molten lead bromide, and conducting small-scale catalytic cracking to avoid suck back.

This last principle is what CLEAPSS and SSERC in the UK have been doing since 1963.

We are often accused of removing the ‘wow’ moments that school chemistry brings. With the microchemistry approach, there are still explosions (dynamite soap bubbles), and there are more wow moments, such as the beauty of an array of colours in droplet art. [ 6 ] There are completely new demonstrations. Bob recently carried out a demonstration showing the electrical conductivity of molten sodium chloride , an observation that is quoted in many school texts as evidence of ionic bonding, but never easily demonstrated until now, by using microscale techniques [ 7 ] and the bottle-top crucible described in this article.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank and acknowledge Howard Tolliday at Dornoch Academy, UK, for his advice and assistance in developing the equipment and his help in collecting the images and video accompanying this article.

[1] Worley B, Paterson D (2021) Understanding Chemistry through Microscale Practical Work pp 38-41. Association for Science Education. ISBN: 978-0863574788

[2] The Science on Stage webinar on microscale chemistry: https://youtu.be/LM97yXJlotQ?si=e_IGnqLuTiJdPV84

[3] The Royal Society of Chemistry resource to teach the cracking of long-chain hydrocarbons: https://edu.rsc.org/exhibition-chemistry/cracking/4010515.article

[4] The 12 principles of green chemistry: https://www.compoundchem.com/2015/09/24/green-chemistry/

[5] Green chemistry principles applicable in school chemistry: https://microchemuk.weebly.com/green-chemistry.html

[6] An article on chemical droplet art: https://uwaterloo.ca/chem13-news-magazine/september-2019/feature/indicator-droplet-art

[7] A video on the electrolysis of molten sodium chloride: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKgDJYY6Vkk&t=60s

• Watch a webinar on microscale-chemistry techniques.
• Read about the 12 principles of green chemistry .
• Read an introduction to microscale chemistry in the classroom: Worley B (2021) Little wonder: microscale chemistry in the classroom . Science in School 53 .
• Discover simple adaptations of experiments to make chemistry accessible to students with vision impairment: Chataway-Green R, Schnepp Z (2023) Making chemistry accessible for students with vision impairment . Science in School 64 .
• Enhance your students’ understanding of electrolysis using microscale chemistry techniques: Worley B, Allan A (2022) Elegant electrolysis – the microscale way . Science in School 60 .
• Use microscale techniques to do quantitative chemistry experiments: Worley B, Allan A (2023) Quick quantitative chemistry – the microscale way . Science in School 63 .
• Teach the chemistry of precipitation using microscale-chemistry methods: Worley B, Allan A (2022) Pleasing precipitation performances – the microscale way . Science in School 57 .
• Make chemistry practice fun with chemical card games: Johnson P (2024) Stealth learning – how chemical card games can improve student participation . Science in School 68 .
• Use geometry to estimate the CO 2 absorbed by a tree in the schoolyard: Schwarz A et al. (2024) How much carbon is locked in that tree? Science in School 67 .
• Try some experiments with gases to illustrate stoichiometric reactions and combustion: Paternotte I, Wilock P (2022) Playing with fire: stoichiometric reactions and gas combustion . Science in School 59 .
• Promote critical thinking by adding some variables to the classic candle-mystery experiment: Ka Kit Yu S (2024) A twist on the candle mystery . Science in School 66 .
• Explore laboratory safety with creative horror stories about lab disasters: Havaste P, Hlaj J (2024) Lab disasters: creative learning through storytelling . Science in School 68 .
• Try a classroom activity to extract essential oils from fragrant plants: Allan A, Worley B, Owen M (2018) Perfumes with a pop: aroma chemistry with essential oils . Science in School 44 : 40–46.
• Read about the environmental costs of fireworks: Le Guillou I (2021) The dark side of fireworks . Science in School 55 .

Dr Adrian Allan is a teacher of chemistry at Dornoch Academy, UK. He was selected to represent the UK at the Science on Stage conferences in 2017 and 2019. He has presented Science on Stage webinars and workshops around Europe on microscale chemistry and using magic to teach science.

Bob Worley, FRSC, is the (semiretired) chemistry advisor for CLEAPSS in the UK. He taught chemistry for 20 years, and in 1991, he joined CLEAPSS, which provides safety and advisory support for classroom experiments. In carrying out these duties, he gained an interest in miniaturizing experiments to improve safety and convenience. He was awarded the 2021 Excellence in Secondary and Further Education Prize for significant and sustained contributions to the development and promotion of safe practical resources for teachers worldwide.

Microscale chemistry (and science in general!) is an incredibly important field.  The work done by Bob and Adrian is second to none, and will allow teacher (and learners) from all areas to get “stuck in” with micro.  From a budget and safety stand point, it makes all the sense in the world to approach thing on a microscale, especially in the current financial climate.

John Cochrane, Chemistry Teacher. Greenfaulds High School, Scotland.

Supporting materials

Activity 1 Student worksheet

Activity 1 Calculation details

How to make a spirit burner

Activity 2 Student worksheet

Activity 2 Calculation details

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Scientists testing deadly heat limits on humans show thresholds may be much lower than first thought

Topic: Heatwaves

A world-first study challenges our understanding of how humans cope with extreme heat.

Owen Dillon's heart is pounding. Sweat is dripping down his neck, and he's feeling tired and weak.

Inside the climate chamber where he's sitting, it's unbearably hot.

It's been set to 54 degrees Celsius, with 26 per cent humidity — a combination believed to be lethal after six hours.

After just a short period of time, he understands why.

Owen has been put into the climate chamber by Jem Cheng, a research fellow at the Heat and Health Research Centre at the University of Sydney.

It's part of a world-first study all about finding out at what point heat becomes deadly.

Fifteen years ago, scientists proposed an environmental threshold at which no person would be able to survive for six hours.

But these conditions have never been tested on humans.

"This study is all about human survivability," Dr Cheng says.

"So we are the first to actually put people in these environments to actually see, physiologically, what is happening to their core temperature or to their heart rate.

"What is happening to a real human when we put them in these environments?"

In a warming world, researchers say this question is more important than ever.

Rising CO2 emissions from fossil fuels are driving increases in deadly heat around the world. This summer alone, in the northern hemisphere, thousands have died during extreme heat events.

According to Ollie Jay, a professor of heat and health and the director of the university's Heat and Health Research Centre, there's mounting evidence to show the limit may be lower than first thought.

"We don't want to be sleepwalking into a scenario where we think that these future conditions are going to be survivable when in fact they're not going to be," Professor Jay says.

Owen Dillon is one of the first participants to go through the experiment, having volunteered to be a part of it.

"The simple fact is, more and more people are going to be facing, maybe not quite these conditions, but getting close," he says.

"And it's important that we understand what the limits are and what sort of conditions we should expect people to actually be able to work."

As far as his ability to handle heat, researchers say the 31-year-old should be about as good as it gets.

He's young, healthy and fit — currently running 100 kilometres a week as he trains for the Bondi to Manly ultramarathon.

He's allowed to drink as much water as he likes throughout the experiment.

His body is also prepared to handle the heat, having been put through a week of acclimation sessions before the experiment.

"It's essentially in a best-case scenario," Dr Cheng says.

"When your body is fully acclimatised or acclimated to the environment, how do you perform?"

The conditions Owen is being exposed to over the course of the study are varied.

Some — like today — are very hot and drier, while others have lower temperatures but much higher humidity.

But, except one, they're all equivalent to a wet-bulb temperature of 35C — the critical threshold at which no human can survive for more than six hours, according to the original theory.

So, what is a wet-bulb temperature, and what does it have to do with how humans cope with heat?

It's a measure that combines the two factors that, together, make heat dangerous to people.

Temperature — how hot the air is — and humidity.

The name comes from the temperature a thermometer would read if its bulb was wrapped in a wet cloth — cooling the thermometer the same way sweat cools a person.

A wet-bulb temperature of 35C means the air temperature is 35C outside and the humidity is 100 per cent.

But a thermometer wrapped in a wet cloth will show 35C under many different combinations of temperature and humidity.

That is because lower humidity means more evaporation, bringing the thermometer temperature down.

That's why on days where the air temperature is hotter than 35C outside, you still might be OK, provided the humidity is low enough.

This is what Owen is experiencing.

Back in the chair, Owen's body is working overtime to cool down.

But the researchers monitoring his vitals can already see it's not enough to stop his core temperature from rising.

Dr Cheng says there are two factors that can hinder the body's ability to cool down.

One is the environment.

On a very humid day, the air is so full of moisture that the sweat struggles to evaporate.

"You're sweating as much as you can, but the sweat essentially just sits on your body, and that's why you can't cool down," Dr Cheng says.

"That sweat actually needs to be able to evaporate from your body. It's that evaporation that is actually what cools you down."

The other is the limits of the human body itself.

On a very hot, relatively dry day — such as the conditions Owen is currently in — the problem is how much you can sweat in the first place.

"It's sort of the opposite," Dr Cheng says.

"You're producing as much sweat as you can, it's all evaporating, but for you to cool down to the degree that you need to, you need to produce sweat at a rate that is just not possible, even for a heat-acclimated person.

"You max out. Your body physiologically can't produce enough sweat."

Halfway into the three-hour experiment, Owen's core temperature is starting to climb — currently at 38.4C, up from his starting temperature of 37.13C.

From a core temperature of 39C, mild heat exhaustion, such as headaches and faintness, can begin to occur.

At 40C the risk of severe heat exhaustion, including vomiting and disorientation, becomes increasingly likely.

At more than 40.5C, your risk of heat stroke escalates rapidly.

By the time someone's core rises to 43C, a person is all but guaranteed to die.

Wet-bulb temperatures of 35C are rare, even for hot, humid climates, which tend to see higher wet-bulb temperatures.

A 2020 study, published in Science Advances , found there have been a handful of instances, all in the past decade, where places have briefly reached that threshold — in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

None have reached those thresholds for sustained periods of time, and climate scientists say it's very unlikely they will during this century.

But history shows it doesn't have to be that hot for deaths to occur.

In Australia, since 1900, extreme heat has caused more deaths than all other natural disasters combined. 

During 2023, the hottest year on record, more than 47,000 people in Europe are estimated to have died from heat, according to a study published in Nature.

These deaths occurred in conditions that were lower than the 35C wet-bulb threshold.

Professor Jay says that's why it's important to test the conditions on real people. Working with Arizona State University, his team modified the original model to factor in the way the human body works.

The 2023 study, published in Nature Communications , found the thresholds for when heat turns deadly could be much lower in certain climates than first thought.

Let's bring back that wet-bulb temperature limit. Remember, anything above 35C is not survivable, according to the original study.

The new study shows that for healthy, young people, it could be as low as 25.8C.

And for older people, it could be as low as 21.9C.

The biggest difference is when the air temperature is extremely high and the humidity is low.

"The 35C wet-bulb temperature model is very compelling and in many cases, it's accurate," Professor Jay says.

"What this new model shows is, when you take into account the limitations of human physiology, these upper wet-bulb temperature limits look as though they are much lower under certain types of conditions."

Those "more true" limits are far more likely to occur in a future climate, according to Australian National University professor of climate science Sarah Perkins Kirkpatrick.

"I would certainly say by the end of the century, we'd be seeing these conditions somewhat regularly during summer seasons," she says.

She says places at risk include cities like London, Beijing, Johannesburg, Los Angeles and New York, located in the mid-latitude belt, as well as Australia.

"So when we're thinking about New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and especially those desert regions, those thresholds will ultimately be reached," she says.

"But it'll be the temperature and not the humidity that's driving them.

"It ultimately depends by how much the globe warms. The more global warming we see, the higher likelihood of these deadly events occurring and sooner, as well."

Owen reaches his limit

Owen is meant to stay in the chamber for three hours.

But two hours into the experiment, the researchers can see that won't be the case.

His muscles are cramping. His breathing is laboured.

And his core temperature is nearing the experiment's safety cut-off point of 39C.

At two and a half hours, he's pulled out of the chamber.

It's the first time he's not been able to complete the experiment to the full three hours — providing valuable insight to the researchers.

His core temperature rose faster than during the high humidity sessions, despite the wet-bulb temperature being the same.

"Humid conditions have their own sort of more perceptual limitations, that difficulty breathing, because it feels so claustrophobic," Dr Cheng says.

"But in the dry environment, so far, the rate at which [their core temperature] is rising can be one-and-a-half to two times what we're seeing with the more humid conditions."

Planning for a future climate

The researchers recognise there are limitations to their study. After all, the participants are sitting in one spot for several hours, far from the realities of everyday life.

Professor Jay says in some cases, real life could be easier, and in others, it could be harder.

Air conditioning, for instance, goes a big way to providing an escape from hot conditions when they occur.

But outside, in our cities, factors like physical activity, direct exposure to sun, or heavily built-up environments can all make it worse.

Dr Cheng says understanding these risks is particularly important for vulnerable populations in Australia and elsewhere around the world.

"It's really for a lot of those nations, that don't have a choice but to actually live in these conditions 24/7 … or for people in circumstances where air conditioning is not an option, or areas of the world where manual labour in the field is just sort of their way of life," Dr Cheng says.

"A lot of those parts of the world that are most affected by it, are also the ones that have the least resources, I think, to deal with it."

Professor Jay says allowing temperatures to continue to rise will have global consequences.

"First of all, we might be purely dependent on infrastructure to keep us cool and safe, so we would need a lot of air conditioning," he says.

"The only other way is that people are going to start moving, [either] within-country migration or even, in extreme cases, international migration.

"The downstream impacts of those types of consequences, of mass migration, on resources, employments, all these different types of considerations, could have real profound impacts and serve as a bit of a catalyst for future conflict as well."

The researchers will keep testing the conditions on people until the end of the year.

But in the meantime, it's given both the researchers, and Owen, an important glimpse into where the heat threshold of the human body lies.

"It's harder than I thought it was going to be," Owen says.

"I would say the first time running 80km felt pretty similar to doing 90 minutes in that hot room.

"It's definitely made me a lot more aware of the balance between temperature and humidity, and also a lot more aware of how that's going to impact your ability to perform.

"Now I can look at a weather forecast and say for sure that I will not go running that day."

Reporter: Tyne Logan

Video/Photography: Kit Mochan , Jack Fisher, Adam Wyatt

Design: Alex Lim

Production: Fran Rimrod

Editor: Tim Leslie

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