The Oxford Scientist

The Oxford Scientist is the University of Oxford’s independent, student-produced science magazine.

Charles Richard Drew: the Father of Blood Banking

by Dionne Jeevarajah, Year 13, Norwich High School for Girls, Norfolk Every two seconds someone in America needs a blood transfusion. Blood is such a vital aspect of our bodies and always has been throughout the course of history. It is an essential part of Haematology; used in surgeries, traumatic injuries and cancer treatments to…

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Edward W. Morley: the Michelson-Morley Experiment and its Successful Legacy of Failure

by Kitty Joyce, Year 12, Oxford High School, Oxfordshire It is an insignificant day in 1869, and Edward Morley, aged 31, arrives at Western Reserve College to begin teaching. His mission is simple: to instruct the students in experimental technique. However, upon arriving, this seems impossible. The laboratory contains only a lamp, a slide rule,…

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Mileva Maric: Eclipsed by her Husband

by Krishna Gowda, Year 11, Merchant Taylors Boys School Crosby, Merseyside Whether interested in science or not, the vast majority of people have heard of Albert Einstein, esteemed physicist, renowned for his four ground-breaking papers. However, in recent years, evidence has emerged that calls into question the belief that Einstein worked alone, after a series…

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Alfred Russel Wallace: The Natural Selection for the Unsung Hero of Science

by Mirela Smolenska, Year 11, Benenden School, Kent When people think of the Theory of Evolution, Charles Darwin is widely accredited as the sole creator of it, especially as the theory is often known as Darwinism. However, little is attention is payed to the co-discoverer: Alfred Russel Wallace. Wallace is also seen as the ‘Father…

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Finding the ‘Nemo effect’: no evidence that animal movies drive demand for pets, say researchers

Following the release of ‘Finding Nemo’, numerous global news providers, including the BBC and CNN, reported that the movie’s popularity was driving an increase in demand for clownfish as pets and threatening wild populations. This effect, dubbed the ‘Nemo effect’ by media outlets, was so widely reported that it became conventional wisdom amongst amateur animal…

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When experiments fail, can analogies help?

Gaining insight into interiors of black holes, subtleties of the quantum realm, the Big Bang pushes us beyond the reach of experimentation. To get their hands to work, physicists turned to easily manipulable “analogue” systems governed by similar equations. In 2016, a physicist created a sonic black hole by making a fluid to trap sound…

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