The Oxford Scientist

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

COVID-19 vaccination causes robust immune response, according to new report

Tom Leslie A joint university study backs up the idea of giving single vaccine doses to those who are most at risk. The University of Oxford, in partnership with the universities of Liverpool, Sheffield, Cambridge, Newcastle, and Birmingham, has conducted a study, referred to as PITCH (Protective Immunity from T-cells in Healthcare Workers), on a…

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A Levitating Frog and Scotch Tape

OVERALL WINNER of the Hilary Term 2021 Schools Science Writing Competition Rohit Antonygnaneswaran, Year 12, Chatham and Clarendon Grammar School A levitating frog and Scotch tape. Would you be surprised to know that they were both part of a scientist’sresearch projects that led to breakthroughs in different fields of physics? Or that both of these…

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The Unappreciated Creativity Within Science

Lucy Kelly, Year 12, Barton Peveril College Perhaps for many young people today, science is seen as a rigid and formula-abiding subject, for which there is little room for creative liberty. In reality, creativity lies within the heart of science, just as it is of music, art and literature. The development of fresh scientific ideas…

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Creativity: Essential to Science and the Human Race

Tilly Arscott, Year 11, The Woodroffe School Creativity is an inherently human attribute that we have evolved to have in order to overcome problems and devise solutions through original thinking. It seems to be the fruit of a desire to survive, a relentless determination to adapt and innovate and overcome. In this way, science was born from…

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Creativity: A Scientific Necessity

Sophie Beck, Year 12, James Allen’s Girls’ School Creativity lies at the core of science and yet it may not be the first word that comes to mind when science is mentioned. Science is precise and logically progressive, involving meticulous observations, often tested with diligent repetitions, but it starts with an original idea and a…

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The Science Behind Creativity

Carmen Dupac, Year 12, Twynham School Science is not often regarded as a creative subject; most wouldn’t consider it to be creative at all. After all, science relies on scientific methods and credibility, statistics and data, tests and hypotheses – all things that seem to eliminate creativity. But what about the areas where creativity is…

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The Art of Turning Nothing Into Something

Nyneisha Bansal, Year 11, Aylesbury High School Let me ask you a question, what does creativity mean to you?  To many, it may just seem like an ordinary 5 syllable word, a quality often overlooked and undermined, yet few of us realise it is so much more. Creativity is the beautiful phenomenon of turning unheard ideas into…

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How is Creativity Important in Science?

Theo Hawkins, Year 11, King’s College School Wimbledon Psychologists, historians, sociologists, and philosophers have attributed scientific creativity to genius, logical method, and the influence of society. Patenting organisations have measured it in terms of originality and usefulness. Scientists themselves have considered the topic, such as when, in 1801, Humphrey Davy (1778–1829) lectured on the original…

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René Laënnec: Discovery of the Stethoscope

Rania Ocho, Year 12, St Philomena’s Catholic High School for Girls When I say doctor, what do you envision? Draping white coats and blue scrubs accompanied nicely with a stethoscope, I imagine. Scopes that wrap around their necks, almost like rings to a marriage – but for a doctor, it signifies their endearing commitment to helping others….

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Creativity: The Wings to Science

Preesha Jain, Year 12, Chelmsford County High School for Girls Creativity, as defined by the Oxford Language, is “the use of imagination or original ideas to create something; inventiveness.”  In science, the name given to an individual who discovers or develops something new is a “scientist” or “inventor.” Somebody who thinks outside of the box,…

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