The Social Machines
Despite our ever more connected world, loneliness is increasing. Jake Burton discusses how robots may be able to tackle this problem.
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Will 2022 bring a ‘Male Pill’ and why haven’t we got one already?
Trials of a male contraceptive pill have been successful at preventing pregnancy in mouse models. Isabella Kwiecinski discusses how this form of non-hormonal contraceptive works and the safety concerns that need to be addressed before its clinical use.
Should we keep looking for a cure to aging?
Megan Lee explores the approaches being taken to stop aging in its tracks and the ethical issues these studies produce.
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.
How close are we to fusion power?
By Molly Hammond This article was originally published in The Oxford Scientist Michaelmas Term 2021 edition, Change. Nuclear fusion is supposedly ‘always 30 years away’. It was however first theorised about a hundred years ago. What has changed in a century of research—and are we now, really, only 30 years away? In 1920, Arthur Eddington…
Vaccine drink entering trials in Oxford
By Karen Heathcote We’ve seen and heard plenty about vaccines over the last couple of years, with news outlets all over the world proudly showing images of people receiving their COVID-19 vaccination jabs. However, a new vaccine that is about to enter its next phase of trials in Oxford won’t be administered as an injection…
Is Ageing Reversible? Middle-aged mice have their biological clocks reversed
Gene therapy has been used to safely reverse the biological clock in middle-aged mice. Ines Momodu-Herrero investigates this new finding and its implications for aging control in people.
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.
The same but different—why I’m not my twin sister
Grace Kirman explores how her choices and the environment alter her epigenetics to make her different from her twin sister.
The T. rex may have been three species, but geologists are not happy
A new study headed by palaeontological artist Gregory Paul proposes that the legendary Tyrannosaurus rex (T. rex) may not be just one species—rather, it may be three different ones altogether. Isabelle Goddard investigates the finding and describes its impact on her field.