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…
Mukhtar Quraishi, Year 12, Clitheroe Royal Grammar School, Lancashire The Haber Process seems like a simple discovery. The process takes nitrogen and hydrogen to form ammonia and is seemingly unimportant. It feels like a backyard experiment gone wrong. After all, ammonia is a toxin to sea life and is even a common by-product of reactions…
Luke Hayward, Year 12, King Edward VI School Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire Invention, discovery and scientific advancement are arguably the things that set humans apart from all other beings on our planet. Our capacity for abstract thought, coupled with a deep desire to apply our findings to real world problems has expanded the capabilities of Homo sapiens…
Runner-up of the Hilary Term Schools’ Writing Competition 2020 Rosalie Ko, Year 11, Buckinghamshire “We cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis. And if solutions within the system are so impossible to find, then maybe we should change the system itself.” – Greta Thunberg, Swedish climate activist and TIME Person of the…
Runner-up of the Hilary Term 2020 Schools’ Writing Competition Sri Kousthubha Allampalli, Year 13, Surrey 16th July 1969. The date of the launch of the Apollo 11 mission, during which mankind finally made its mark on the moon. A memorable moment for all, and a source of inspiration for many of the aspiring astronauts out…
Runner-up of the Hilary Term 2020 Schools’ Writing Competition Rulan Zhang, Year 12, Berkshire Stephen Hawking, arguably the greatest physicist of our time once said: ‘I don’t think the human race will survive the next thousand years, unless we spread into space. There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet….
Runner-up of the Hilary Term 2020 Schools’ Writing Competition Ayeza Akhtar, Year 12, Greater Manchester “Climate change will be irreversible by 2030” – UN. That gives us a mere 10 years to fix the mess we have been gradually creating over the 200,000 years us humans have been around. As bleak as that may sound,…
Runner-up of the Hilary Term 2020 Schools’ Writing Competition Elizabeth Dewes, Year 11, West Midlands Since the rise of Greta Thunberg, everyone has had at least some insight into the sinister threat of climate change. We are beginning to see the catastrophic effects of our average global temperature rising, with 10 million hectares of land…
Runner-up of the Hilary Term 2020 Schools’ Writing Competition Lucy Fan, Year 10, Surrey ‘Our house is on fire. I am here to say, our house is on fire.’ This is the most famous line uttered by Greta Thunberg- the 16 year old climate change activist who’s acted as the catalyst for so many school…
Runner-up of the Hilary Term 2020 Schools’ Writing Competition Emily Allen, Year 12, Oxfordshire Something as tiny as 40μm surely doesn’t have the power to fix the planet? What if I told you it does. It’s hard to believe but cyanobacteria are mighty, despite being minute. They have photosynthetic abilities unlike other organisms. Residing freely…
