A DORCHESTER teacher is preparing to battle sub-zero temperatures – and test smelly socks – in the Antarctic all in the name of science.

Thomas Hardye School science teacher Lyndsay Hilton is heading on a six-week expedition to the polar region to study the impacts of global warming.

But her brief includes testing out new technology which claims to stop socks smelling.

Miss Hilton, 30, was chosen to take part in an expedition in November 2010 run by a charity called the Fuchs Foundation, which runs trips for teachers so they can inspire young science students.

The focus of her expedition will be a research project into nanoparticles, which are tiny particles that can only be seen with a very highly powered microscope and are believed to hold clues about the impacts of global warming. Miss Hilton said: “It’s a really progressive area of science and at the moment very little is really known about it in schools.

“The main science project concerning global warming is brand new research and it’s really exciting.”

A totally different strand of the project will see Miss Hilton testing out new lines of clothing that claim to benefit from nanoparticles.

She said: “There are a number of clothing lines that claim they contain nanoparticles and that gives them additional features like socks that never smell no matter how long you wear them because they have silver nanoparticles that are supposed to kill bacteria.

“I hope to take some of this kit out there and wear some of it and carry out a number of controlled experiments.”

She added: “I am looking forward to testing those claims out although I am not sure some of my colleagues may appreciate my company after two weeks in the same socks.”

Miss Hilton will go on two training trips to Norway next year.

She said: “It could get down to minus 40 degrees Celsius.”

The total cost of the trip is around £35,000 and Miss Hilton still needs to raise around £14,000 so she will be embarking on a number of fundraising activities over the coming months.

She has set up a website for people to find out more about her trip and her build up at www.lhilton1.edublogs.org