Dr Manu Prakash: The Lifesaving Paper Centrifuge

Ruby Keith-Smith, Year 12, Bristol Grammar School Out of the 100 million people who have ever lived on Earth, an estimated half of them may have died from malaria. Malaria is still responsible for over 3000 African children’s deaths per day, being particularly prevalent in low-income communities who lack basic necessities such as proper sanitation,…

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Professor Kevin Harrington’s Immunotherapy Goes Viral

WINNER of the Michaelmas Term 2020 Schools Science Writing Competition Lucy Addis, Year 12, Royal School Armagh, Armagh Revolutionary. It’s a word that’s seldom used to describe cancer treatments, but that’s about to change. Immunotherapy is a “game-changing” new treatment that uses viruses to directly kill cancerous cells and make it much easier for the…

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The Invention Giving Women Control

Polly Painter, Year 12, Millfield School, Somerset The pill has ignited a revolution towards female empowerment. Invented by Gregory Goodwin Pincus and Carl Djerassi and approved in 1960, the invention of the pill was a monumental challenge but also an astounding breakthrough. In conjunction with introducing birth control into a country where thirty states had…

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Radio Waves – Obsolete or as Relevant as Ever?

Samuel Hughes, Year 12, Cardiff High School, Cardiff One of the most important scientific discoveries that still affects the world today was predicted by Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell, realised by German physicist Heinrich Hertz and pioneered by Italian physicist Guglielmo Marconi. Since its discovery, it has made communication possible over vast distances, enabled billions…

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How the discovery of penicillin has influenced modern medicine

Christen Rayner, Year 12, St Anthony’s & St Aidan’s Sixth Form, Tyne and Wear Prior to penicillin and medical research, death was an everyday occurrence. It was intimate.– Katherine Dunn The discovery of penicillin was undoubtedly one of the most important scientific discoveries in recent history. However, despite penicillin being highly influential to modern medicine;…

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To Pull or Not To Pull: The Question of Forceps

India Thomas, Year 12, Monk’s Walk School, Hertfordshire Many frequently used obstetrical inventions, like the epidural, were developed during the 20th century. But some of the most widespread and effective technologies evolved during the dark ages of medicine and somehow have survived all way into the 21st century. One such invention is the forceps. In…

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