Matt King, Director of the ARC Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science, University of Tasmania and Christopher Watson, Senior Lecturer, School of Geography, Planning, and Spatial Sciences, University of Tasmania – 5 August 2022 Atomic clocks, combined with precise astronomical measurements, have revealed that the length of a day is suddenly getting longer, […]
James Webb Space Telescope: An astronomer explains the stunning images
Silas Laycock, Professor of Astronomy, UMass Lowell – 12 July 2022 The James Webb Space Telescope team has released the first science-quality images from the new telescope. In them are the oldest galaxies ever seen by human eyes, evidence of water on a planet 1,000 light-years away and incredible details showing the birth and death […]
Five of the world’s tiniest robots
The range of technologies and uses for tiny robots is broad, from drones to pills, and from surveillance and rescue to biomedicine. Joao Filipe Ferreira, Senior lecturer in Computer Science, Nottingham Trent University 14 June 2022 Allow me to take you on a trip down my memory lane. As a young lad, a film I […]
Cancers, HIV, autoimmune disorders and genetic diseases could soon be treated with mRNA and DNA vaccines
The two most successful coronavirus vaccines developed in the U.S. – the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines – are both mRNA vaccines. The idea of using genetic material to produce an immune response has opened up a world of research and potential medical uses far out of reach of traditional vaccines. Deborah Fuller is a microbiologist […]
Five of the most exciting telescope pictures of the universe
The Webb telescope is about 100 times more sensitive than Hubble and is expected to transform our understanding of the universe. Carole Haswell, Professor of Astrophysics, The Open University – 27 December 2021 The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope offers unprecedented new opportunities for astronomers. It’s also a timely opportunity to reflect on […]
Breakthrough malaria vaccine offers to reinvigorate the fight against the disease
Eunice Anyango Owino, Medical Entomologist at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Nairobi – 8 October 2021 The World Health Organization has announced a historic move: it has recommended the widespread use of the first ever malaria vaccine. The recommendation is based on the results of an ongoing pilot programme in Malawi, Ghana and […]
Your immune system is as unique as your fingerprint – new study
Albert J.R. Heck, Professor of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University 22 September 2021 Every person appears to have a unique immune system. My colleagues and I discovered this immune diversity after charting antibodies in the blood from healthy and sick people. The discovery could help explain why, for example, COVID vaccines appear to be […]
3D-printed rocket engines: the technology driving the private sector space race
Oliver Hitchens, PhD Candidate, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Surrey – 17 September 2021 The volatile nature of space rocket engines means that many early prototypes end up embedded in dirt banks or decorating the tops of any trees that are unfortunate enough to neighbour testing sites. Unintended explosions are in […]
The most sobering report card yet on climate change and Earth’s future
9 August 2021 Earth has warmed 1.09℃ since pre-industrial times and many changes such as sea-level rise and glacier melt are now virtually irreversible, according to the most sobering report yet by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report also found escape from human-caused climate change is no longer possible. Climate change is […]
Scientists’ most powerful technologies have been borrowed from nature
Three cutting-edge techniques – the gene-editing tool CRISPR, fluorescent proteins and optogenetics – were all inspired by nature. Marc Zimmer, Professor of Chemistry, Connecticut College – 5 August 2021 Watson and Crick, Schrödinger and Einstein all made theoretical breakthroughs that have changed the world’s understanding of science. Today big, game-changing ideas are less common. New […]