Penguins and Vader - Photos

Some snaps from our Hello Internet event at Bristol Zoo on Saturday, May 9.

The event was held at Bristol Zoo to raise money for penguin conservation. The weather was glorious and started with a special talk about penguins by one of the keepers.

As a special surprise, it was revealed a recently-born penguin chick has been named CGP Grey in thanks for Hello Internet's fundraising efforts. More about that in a separate blog post.

After watching the penguin feeding, we then retreated to a special room for the film screening!

Cue John Williams!

Guest of honour David Prowse answers questions after the film.

Hello Internet listeners helped raise over £3,000 for the zoo's penguin conservation project.

Darth Vader may be a one dimensional character (!) but not David.

Thanks to everyone at Bristol Zoo who helped arrange the event, but especially Abi.

 Then a chance to meet viewers, and even sign a few technology products (Kindles, iPads and iPhones)... Yes those a penguin feet!

Signing an iPad is high-stakes.

Quite a few iPhones were signed

Selfie with a disposable camera - old school

Signing Knut's poster for the event.

A few more photos

And home, where Grey finally meets Audrey!!!

CGP Grey the Penguin

Bristol Zoo has named one of its penguins CGP Grey.

CGP Grey on the left (dad on the right)

CGP Grey on the left (dad on the right)

It was a token of thanks for Hello Internet's penguin conservation fundraising.

The chick was born on March 22, 2015.

Its official zoo ID number is 131471 and it wears the wing tag number A20583.

Watch the video.

It is very unusual for the zoo to give animals under these circumstances and a special honour for our podcast.

In an additional twist, the zoo has also made me (Brady) an official adopter of CGP Grey the Penguin.

We were both presented with certificates at the Star Wars/penguin event we hosted at the zoo on May 9.

It's official!

It's official!

Make a donation to Bristol Zoo.

PS: The gender of CGP Grey remains unknown. This will be determined by tests to coincide with the bird's six-month health check-up. Watch this space.

(UPDATE: Grey is a girl)

(ANOTHER UPDATE: This penguin sadly died during a transfer to Tbilisi Zoo in 2017)

Award for Chemists

Congratulations to two chemists at the University of Nottingham for picking up top awards.

The Royal Society of Chemistry prizes have been won by Stephen Liddle and Andrei Kholbystov.

Steve will be well-known to viewers of Periodic Videos, especially for his films about radioactive elements such as Uranium and Plutonium.

Andrei also made a brief cameo in the videos.

The pair both won the RSC's Corday-Morgan Prizes this year - apparently it's a pretty big deal in chemistry circles.

- University press release

Nepal Earthquake

News and images from the Nepal Earthquake have been especially sad because I love many of the affected places.

In 2012 (with my wife) and 2013 (with my brother-in-law) I visited both Kathmandu and Everest Base Camp.