South East Cornwall MP Sheryll Murray met the first scientist ever to be allowed to carry out explosive chemistry experiments in the House of Commons at an event held by the Royal Society of Chemistry in Parliament recently.
She met with representatives from the society to talk about the importance of scientific research to the UK and South East Cornwall economy and take part in some loud and colourful chemistry experiments performed by Dr Hal Sosabowski from the University of Brighton.
Sheryll Murray witnessed the whizzes and bangs of chemistry first-hand as Dr Sosabowski showed off the science behind glow sticks, a liquid nitrogen shower and a flaming methane mamba of soap bubbles. But behind the colourful chemicals and exciting explosions the event was an opportunity to discuss the need for a long-term strategy for UK science funding to drive economic growth and create jobs.
Afterwards Sheryll said, “I was also pleased to meet Dr Hal Sosabowski from the University of Brighton who performed some colourful and explosive experiments to show you how exciting chemistry can be. The teaching of Science is extremely important in our schools and it was good to see how these experiments can make it a really interesting subject to study.”
The Royal Society of Chemistry’s President, Professor Lesley Yellowlees, said: “Britain is a world leader in science. The chemical sector alone sustains 500,000 jobs across the country. But over the last decades public investment in scientific research has fallen behind our international competitors. We want to see a commitment from all sides of the debate to increase total government investment in research in the long-term to set Britain back on the path to science-fuelled growth.”
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Contact: Sheryll Murray MP 01579 344428
Pictured: Sheryll Murray MP conducts experiments with Dr Hal