by Mirela Smolenska, Year 11, Benenden School, Kent When people think of the Theory of Evolution, Charles Darwin is widely accredited as the sole creator of it, especially as the theory is often known as Darwinism. However, little is attention is payed to the co-discoverer: Alfred Russel Wallace. Wallace is also seen as the ‘Father…
Arianna Schuler Scott “What is privacy to you?” The large black letters on the board set the tone immediately for Arianna Schuler Scott’s talk which asked us all to think carefully about the privacy of our data, how secure it is and how bothered we should be. In her five minute talk, Schuler Scott (a…
We all know how the story goes for quantum computing: A qubit (short for a quantum bit), unlike classical bits, can be at the state of 0 and 1 simultaneously. The superposition of states offers quantum computers the superior computational power over traditional supercomputers. Its unprecedented efficiency for tasks like factoring, database-searching, simulation, or code-breaking…
We will be announcing our next school science writing competition very shortly. Check back here for more information soon! We are thrilled to announce the winners of the MT2019 Oxford Scientist national school science writing competition! Through our science writing competitions, we hope to encourage school students to think about science outside of the classroom,…
by Aaliah Dhorat, Year 10, Batley Grammar School, West Yorkshire. “Making one person smile changes the world… maybe not the entire world, but their world.” Smiling is infectious, you can catch it like the flu; someone smiled at me today, and I started smiling too. Smiling is like a virus; it’s contagious like other viruses,…
We are pleased to announce the winners of the Trinity Term 2019 Oxford Scientist national school science writing competition! Through our science writing competitions, we hope to encourage school students to think about science outside of the classroom, and give them the opportunity to explore their own scientific interests in a creative way. This term,…
by Arushika Aggarwal, Year 12, The Tiffin Girls’ School, Surrey. Being born and brought up in an Indian household, chillies have always been an essential ingredient in our daily meals. It just so happens that the chilli pepper has a fascinating evolution behind it, and the way it reacts with our bodies to allow us…
by Tamilore Awosile, Year 13, The Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School, Hertfordshire. I was born with sickle cell anaemia, a genetically inherited blood disorder which affects approximately 4.4 million people worldwide. In the UK, it is particularly prevalent in people of African or Caribbean heritage. Sickle cell is caused by a mutation in the DNA of…
Atreyi Chakrabarty (St. Cross College, DPhil in Interdisciplinary Bioscience) in conversation with Professor Dorothy Bishop (Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford) More and more scientists are starting to doubt the nature of their own playing field. Their colleagues’ studies published in acclaimed journals, but the key findings mysteriously never seem to materialise when others try to…
Ten years ago, the completion of the Human Genome Project was a milestone in the history of science. The race to be the first team to decode an entire human genome ultimately ended with the two largest groups collaborating and announcing the success of the project in 2001. This was not only a scientific achievement,…
