The Shortys, self-proclaimed as “the Oscars of Twitter” featured 140-character acceptance speeches.

The Science Gallery tied for first place with tynesidecinema in the UK.

Among the institutions that they beat to the award were 2010 winner Reduced Shakespeare, Liverpool Football Club, the BBC Archive and the National Museum of American History.

The Annual Shorty Awards theme is “Honoring the Best Producers of Short Real-Time Content”. They honour the best people and organisations on Twitter and social media, as determined by a combination of popular vote and by the members of the Real-Time Academy of Short Form Arts & Sciences, whose members include MC Hammer, Craig Newmark of Craigslist and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.

The Science Gallery accepted the award with the following speech: “140 chars? A googolplexian characters couldn’t convey our gratitude. Thanks 4 making @ScienceGallery the place where art & science collide.”

Comedian Dara Ó Briain, one of the people who nominated the Science Gallery, said “I nominate @ScienceGallery for a Shorty Award in #culturalinstitution because it’s the smartest Science museum I know.”

Learn more

Read the Twitter nominations for the Science Gallery

Visit the Science Gallery’s website and find out about its latest shows

These  bloggers range from scientists and science teachers to members of the public who have an interest in science.

To give you a flavour of what’s out there, have a look at these ones we’ve come across…

Antimatter, by physics lecturer and Science Ambassador Cormac O’Raifeartaigh
http://coraifeartaigh.wordpress.com

Chris Horn, leading Irish electronics engineer, entrepreneur and STEM policy expert
http://chrisjhorn.wordpress.com

Communicate Science, by our Science Ambassador Eoin Lettice
http://www.communicatescience.eu

The Frog Blog – St Columba’s College Science blog
http://blog.sccscience.com

Irish Science – this is by a group of contributors
http://irishscience.wordpress.com

James McInerney, evolutionary biologist
http://jamesmcinerney.ie

Karlin Lillington, technology journalist
http://www.techno-culture.com/

Mary Mulvihill, science journalist
http://marymulvihill.net

Michael Seery, lecturer in physical chemistry (his blog is called “Is This Going To Be On The Exam?”)
http://www.michaelseery.com/home

Science Communication Review by Diarmaid Mac Mathúna
http://www.sciencecommunicationreview.com

The Science Gallery blog
http://sciencegallery.com/blog

Science Line by science journalist Cormac Sheridan
http://science-line.blogspot.com

Science Spinning, by Seán Duke
http://seanduke.wordpress.com

The Strange Quark by Marie Boran
http://www.thestrangequark.com

TeachNet Learning Blog
http://blog.teachnet.ie

Think For Yourself by physics teacher Noel Cunningham
http://thinkforyourself.ie

Using ICT in Further Education by Patricia Donaghy, ICT teacher
http://pdonaghy.edublogs.org

Last but not least, don’t forget to check out our own blog at MyScience.ie
http://www.myscience.ie

Here’s a video of 2009 winners “DanWantsTech” (of DanWantsTech.com)  in an interview on RTE 2′s Two Tube:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The awards aim to:

• Acknowledge innovation among web creators in schools.
• Provide an exciting programme that will encourage teachers/students to further develop their technology skills in web design.
• Encourage the use of the internet to teach subjects on our curriculum.
• Act as a catalyst for those students who wish to pursue a career in this sector by providing access to influential business executives

There is no cost to enter. You can take part either as an individual, a group (up to three people), a class or the whole school.

Don’t forget that all entries will need to have your teacher/principal contact name and number, otherwise it won’t qualify.

Key dates

• 5 November: closing date for entries
• 30 November: announcement of the primary school winners and the shortlist of secondary school finalists
• 17 December: the finals at the Helix in Dublin City University

Check out the Junior Spiders website for how to take part, and links to helpful resources for your web project.

3D Sun, one of the free apps from NASA

A growing number of apps – mobile phone applications – are a great way of exploring science, from the solar system to sub-atomic particles.

Science teacher Humphrey Jones from St Columba’s College in Dublin, who runs the excellent Frogblog.ie website, gave a good round-up of these apps in a recent Irish Times article.

Many of the apps are free or cost just a nominal sum, and here is his “top ten”:

1. Pocket Heart (iPhone, iPad, Android) – explore the workings of the human heart using 3D animation
2. The Chemical Touch (iPhone, iPad) – an interactive periodic table
3. Mitosis (iPhone) – learn about cell division
4. Planets (iPhone, iPad) – explore the night sky
5. Science Glossary (iPhone) – dictionary of science terms with short biographies of famous scientists
6. Celeste (Android) – more for astronomy fans
7. Sciencepal (Android) – a set of science apps including another interactive periodic table and the Solar System
8. Touch Physics (iPhone) – solve puzzles using your knowledge of the laws of physics
9. Hubble (iPhone) – photos and more from the Hubble space telescope
10. Speed Anatomy (iPhone) – a quick test of your knowledge of the human body

Apps from NASA

Many science organisations are also doing their own apps nowadays. For example, NASA has several free iPhone apps, including 3D Sun. This lets you follow solar activity via data from the space agency’s “STEREO” satellites.

Its Space Images app also has stunning images (from its Jet Propulsion Laboratory) of other stars and planets – including Earth.

Learn more

Read Humphrey Jones’s article in the Irish Times about science apps

Find out more about NASA’s apps

See how there are already plenty of science-related apps for the new Apple iPad

Star Walk, an astronomy app for the iPad

There’s much talk about the iPad at the moment, and while Apple’s new device only went on sale in Irish shops a week ago, it already has some excellent science-related iPad apps.

Ones we’ve come across include:

• Star Walk – an interactive star chart that uses an iPad’s GPS chip to find out where you are and then displays the stars above you
• Newton’s Cradle – a simple but addictive little app which simulates the device Newton built to show how momentum and the transfer of energy works
• Supernova – navigate your way around an exploding star
• Science in 3D – it displays the elements in the periodic table (for example) in rotating 3D

Expect plenty more science apps for the new device in the months ahead.

So they did some detective work and the owner turned out to be a Finn called Esa Alanen (Esa is a common male name in Finland).

Mr Alanen agreed to give the agency his Twitter name, and in gratitude the space agency gave him and his family the VIP treatment at European Astronaut Centre in Cologne last Friday.

Social media

Mr Alanen took the Twitter account some years ago. He follows new social media channels as part of his work at Finnish telecom giant Nokia.

“I was surprised to find that no other Esa had taken the account,” he recalls. “Only later I realised that ESA existed and didn’t have that address.”

As part of the European Space Agency’s thank-you present for relinquishing the name, the whole family – Esa, his wife Katja, son Johannes and daughter Matleena – were welcomed and given a guided tour of the training facilities by former astronaut Michel Tognini, head of the space centre.

“The full-size model of the ATV cargo vehicle was impressive,” said Esa. “Visiting the Columbus module and being in the real space station module was really interesting.”

Learn more

Read the full story on the ESA’s website

Follow the ESA on Twitter

Ruth Deeney, a fourth-year student from Loreto Community School in Milford, has won the contest to have her drawing displayed on the search engine’s homepage this Wednesday.

Ruth Deeney's prizewinning Google Doodle

Ruth also receives a €10,000 technology grant for her school and a laptop for herself and her teacher. Her  futuristic drawing won the contest to design a logo on the theme of “My Future”.

“This is our second year running of the Doodle 4 Google competition in Ireland, and the standard of doodles from all entrants was again very high,” says Alice Mansergh of Google Ireland.

The three winners in the other age categories were:

• Ellen Hayden, Scoil Bhride, Ballyboy, Co Offaly
• Savannah Bergin, Scoil Rois, Galway
• Ciara Hayley, Loreto Community School, Milford, Co Donegal

All of the finalists’ doodles will also be on display in Dublin’s Science Gallery until next Thursday.

In the online competition, you can play at home or at school against other students around the world in live games of mental arithmetic.

Each game lasts 60 seconds and you can play up to 500 games, earning points for each correct answer. Students who answer the most questions appear in the Hall of Fame.

This year for the first time there will be multi-levels for all age groups. While World Maths Day has been created especially for students aged 5-18 years, this year teachers, parents and media are invited to participate for the first time.

Last year almost two million students from 204 countries correctly answered 452,681,681 questions.

The organisers say that past results show students make significant improvements in their mental arithmetic skills – and have fun along the way.

Tutpup

Another free online maths competition is Tutpup. It aims to provide simple, fun, competitive games that help children learn and gain confidence with Maths, English and other key skills and knowledge.

Its fun games include “Maths 101″ (add, subtract, multiply or divide numbers in a race against the clock), “Maths Mix”, “Algebra”, “Spelling” and “Times Tables”.

Learn more

Take part today on the World Maths Day website

Visit the Tutpup website

In recent years there has also been a parallel programme for primary and secondary school students: the eircom Junior Spider Awards.

The idea for the schools awards came from Business & Finance magazine, working with eircom, the main sponsors of the Golden Spiders.

Prizes and trophies

The awards celebrate innovation among Internet users in schools, with cash prizes, trophies and certificates for winning projects. They also promote best practice and internet safety awareness among students.

Categories include:

• Best concept (website/application )
• Best online content (including websites, blog, podcasts, Social Networks )
• Best website design and functionality
• Best educational website
• An suíomh no spás ar an idirlíon is fearr as Gaeilge

There is also a “Best teacher contribution” category, in which students can nominate a teacher in their school for support given to students in using the Internet in school.

Last year’s winners

Check out the following video, which displays all 13 winners from the 2009 Junior Spider Awards. Perhaps it will inspire your school to take part in the 2010 awards later this year, and give you ideas of how your class can make better use of the Web.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Learn more

Read the FAQs about the Junior Spiders Awards

View other videos from the Junior Spiders channel on YouTube

Eimear O’Carroll and Rhona Togher now run Restored Hearing Ltd with Anthony Carolan, their former physics teacher at Ursuline College in Sligo.

RestoredHearing.ie's website

For the Young Scientist competition the team devised a simple therapy which eases temporary tinnitus for anyone with internet access and a set of outer ear headphones.

Tinnitus is a ringing in the ears, and temporary tinnitus can be caused by factors such as loud music at a concert or disco, overuse of an MP3 player, or workplace noise.

“It’s usually a ringing or a shrill high-pitched sound, caused by a bending of the tiny hairs which carry sound receptors in the inner ear,” Eimear explains.

Customers logging onto their website at RestoredHearing.ie can choose from a range of low frequency tones which are played back.

They say that the soothing tones helped to stop the high-pitched ringing for more than 95% of people tested with the technology.

“We’re looking at the possibility of a more mobile device, or maybe developing a mobile phone application,” Eimear says.

Business award

Last month their company won the “Emerging Technology Award” at the Connacht provincial final of the Ulster Bank Business Achievers Awards, and they will go on to the national finals later this year.

Rhona, Eimear and school collegue Niamh Chapman took the group runners up award at the 2009 BT Young Scientist show. They received €1,200 and a BT Perpetual trophy for their project, entitled “The Sound of Silence – An Investigation into Low Frequency Therapy for Tinnitus Sufferers”.

Rhona has gone on to university in Dublin, while Eimear is now studying physics at the University of Edinburgh. With the three company founders running their online business from three different places, they say they still manage to meet often enough to discuss ongoing developments.

Learn more

Read what other BT Young Scientist winners did next