I am very aware that we all can’t move for news stories about the coronavirus at the moment. But in a time where things seem a bit bleak, I’d like to take a moment to appreciate all science has done and is doing to fight this pandemic. So here’s my 2p. First, a quick recap….
The dark side of DNA testing One hundred and fifty years ago, in a laboratory in Germany, a young scientist named Friedrich Miescher identified an unusual new chemical while studying white blood cells. At first scientists assumed it was unimportant, but then they began to uncover its remarkable structure: a double helix held together like…
Over the last few decades, our treatment of cancer has been revolutionised. The field has been transformed by a focus on ‘personalised medicine’ which involves treating patients’ individual cases rather than grouping them together. It is universally recognised that there is no single cure for cancer, and increasing evidence suggests that there is not a…
It was 1st week, Michaelmas Term, 2019. Laid out before me was a collection of art from Balliol JCR’s picture fund, I was about to pick one to hang in my room for the following year. I pondered over them briefly before selecting an abstract piece with swirls of red, purple and pink representing nothing…
How accelerators sweeten up the Standard Model of Particle Physics “There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more precise measurement”. This famous quote by Lord Kelvin in 1900 spoke of a perspective shattered almost immediately by a stream of significant discoveries, such as the discovery of the electron…
Anyone studying a science at university will have sat in many lectures where the slides of historical background contain seemingly endless photographs of affluent white men. The efforts of women in science are often overlooked due to unequal opportunities in the workplace, and lack of recognition of their achievements by the scientific community. Despite this,…
Today is International Women’s Day 2020. The Oxford Scientist is written, edited and read by women scientists across Oxford University and beyond. How better to celebrate than by reminding ourselves of those who came before, what still needs to be done, and how we can mobilise change to keep improving the experiences and opportunities for…
10 million people in the UK suffer from some sort of phobia. At the heart of these anxiety-related disorders are aversive memories, which are formed when the brain makes a link between an object, animal, place, or situation and a traumatic event experienced at the same time. Currently, treatment for these phobias involves gradually exposing…
Narrated by S. Harp Our land is flat, they say, the conspiracy theorists. Ridiculous, I used to proclaim. Even schoolchildren can tell you, the surface of a lens is obviously curved. Just imagine – the light would all fire straight through the lens and continue in the same direction. No bouncing around and colliding at…
Bang! A gun shot. Or the burst of a firework. Explosions, big and small, can cause delight or pain, but always manage to grab your attention. Over the centuries they have been used to win wars, break through defences, and mine deep into the earth for precious materials. But the power they have to generate…
