Features
Can we leave plastic in the past?
Isabelle Goddard discusses the harmful effects of microplastics in our oceans and even in below the surface of the Earth, as well as what needs to be done to limit their future damage to the environment.
How to fight climate despair
While institutions across the world are accepting the need for climate action, for individuals who have read a constant stream of “climate doomism” for years it’s becoming too much. Nell Miles tells us how to fight this climate despair.
Why diversity matters: an interview with Dr Alex Ramadan
Georgia Shave speaks with Dr Alex Ramadan, a postdoctoral research scientist at the University of Oxford Physics department about the impact of including marginalised people in Physics.
For Queen and Colony: How ants stop disease outbreaks
Sophie Berdugo discusses how, much like the self-isolation we have become accustomed to during the COVID-19 pandemic, ants also adopt self-isolation techniques to stop the spread of fungal infections.
Fishing Through Geological Time
By Matthew Sutton This article was originally published in The Oxford Scientist Michaelmas Term 2021 edition, Change. Earth’s oceans are an immense and foreboding place. They occupy 71% of the surface area of the planet and have a total volume exceeding 1.3 billion cubic kilometres. Occupying every corner of every part of this gargantuan biome…
Women are more prone to long COVID, new review finds
A new review finds that women are more likely to experience long COVID than men. Helen Collins explores why and how we can further study the condition.
A new age of structural biology?
By Rhian Gruar This article was originally published in The Oxford Scientist Michaelmas Term 2021 edition, Change. On the 26 June 2000, President Bill Clinton announced the completion of the first draft of the Human Genome Project (HGP) to the world, ushering in a new age of scientific understanding. The HGP was a decade-long endeavour…
AI in conservation: A modern-day solution to the biodiversity crisis?
Does the technology behind predictive texts, facial recognition, and our social media feeds offer the solution to struggling global wildlife conservation efforts? Katie Jones investigates.
Using Artificial Intelligence to create the Shazam of Ocean Sounds
In recent years, the use of underwater microphones called hydrophones has allowed scientists to listen in on the underwater world in a non-invasive way. Passive acoustic monitoring has already been used in various biological studies, such as documenting the distribution and migration of whales and characterising the responses of fish to environmental changes.
Progress, revived: can evolution change things for the better?
By Giovanni Mussini This article was originally published in The Oxford Scientist Michaelmas Term 2021 edition, Change. In one of the last and most accomplished of his works, Giacomo Leopardi, the 19th century giant of Italian poetry, turns to the natural world to ridicule le magnifiche sorti e progressive–the magnificent and progressive fates–of humanity: as…