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…

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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.

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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…

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