It’s Valentine’s Day, in case you hadn’t noticed, and red roses are the order of the day. To celebrate, we thought we’d run a competition to help you declare your love for science.
The prizes are suitably science-y (not to mention romantic). We’ve got a pendant to give away, with an anatomically-correct heart – four chambers, mammalian, complete with major blood vessels. And for those more into genetics, there’s a pair of his-and-hers chromosome towels monogrammed XY and XX respectively. Plus a DNA pendant – simple but elegant.
What do you have to do to get your hands on these prizes? Just declare your love of science through a poem. You might choose to woo us through a sonnet, ballad, haiku or even a limerick – whatever warms your heart. Here are some examples to get you inspired:
Roses are red, violets are blue,
We study petal gene expression in situ
The features we can barely see,
Are vital in taxonomy,
And horse fly species, though we swat ‘em,
Are featured with a popstar’s bottom.
Roses are red, Violets are blue,
And you have 10 times more bacteria in your gut
than cells in your body – true.
You have until the end of tomorrow, Friday 15 Feb, to post your poem in the comments field below. Winners will be announced on Monday, once the red roses have wilted.
If you need more inspiration, read about some of the research we’re doing that has real heart.
Update Friday 15 February 5pm AEDT: Alas, our poetry competition is now closed. Thanks for all the fantastic entries, it’s clear you truly do love science. Keep an eye out for our post on Monday, where we’ll be announcing our winners.
Everyone wants to get their hands on these prizes. Be quick and get your poems in!
14th February 2013 at 10:26 am
Of Lost Robots:
Swimming mechanically
I was swept away
To where I could not say
Everyone scoured the ocean blue
When I saw myself on Facebook
I knew I had to return to you
14th February 2013 at 10:26 am
PolyPolyPolymers
It is said that the greatest things
Simply start from the humblest parts
And the strongest chains are built link by link
All it takes is the littlest… smarts
When it’s just you and me it’s all a little give and take
Electron poor, electron rich, can’t you feel the Debye twitch
It’s quaking here all over my shells, oh how it rouses and bumps and stirs
A bond between you and me, look it’s the way it’s meant to be
Bond! Come on let’s bond!
I’ve got lone pairs that you can’t help but gaze upon
Bond! Come on let’s bond!
I’ve got the charges that urges, drives you to respond!
Bond! Come on let’s bond!
I’ve got the radicals, you’ve got the ‘trons,
Now take me in your orbit and see what might spawn!
14th February 2013 at 10:09 am
science is cold and dark
bleak
I cry for her
wishing she would come out
out, into the light
the bright, warm light
and glow
14th February 2013 at 9:38 am
My Science (as adapted from Dorothea Mackellar’s My Country)
I love my field of science,
Of animals and brains.
Of ordered chemicals and camping
Is running in my veins,
Strong love of furry creatures,
Birds high up in the skies,
I know, and I will share it
My goal’s the Nobel Prize.
I love the life of Zoo-ol,
A world of living things,
Of behavioural ecology,
Of cuts and bites and stings.
I love the outdoor field trips,
I love the animals of the sea,
The fluffy and the slimy –
The School of Zoology for me!
18th February 2013 at 2:42 pm
Congrats Amy! You’ve won an anatomically-correct heart pendant – four chambers, mammalian, complete with major blood vessels. We’ll email you shortly to let you know how to claim your prize.
14th February 2013 at 9:37 am
There once was this thing called science
On which we were very reliant
And still to this day, I’m happy to say
We still love this wonderful science