We are delighted to announce the winners and runners up for this term’s Oxford Scientist School Writing Competition. We received 535 entries for this competition, the most entries we have ever received. Thank you all so much for writing essays about scientific advances, inventions, and discoveries which still affect the world today. The entries were…
We are pleased to announce the results of our Hilary Term 2020 Schools’ Science Writing Competition. We received 182 entries from school students across the UK in years 10-13, written to an incredibly high standard. The topic of the competition was ‘Should we focus on fixing our planet or move to a new one?’ The…
When they first become widespread in the 1950s, plastics were heralded as a miracle material which can be used for almost everything. From life-saving medical devices to the clothes you’re wearing now, plastic has become integrated into every aspect of our daily lives. It’s hard to imagine a world without it. Images of so-called wildlife…
What can USSR genetic experiments tell us about the self-domestication of urban foxes? My first encounter with a city fox involved hushed tones, tip-toed movements, and wide-eyed awe. Twenty years on, I spot foxes slinking around street corners, hopping over fences, and engaging in ‘who will blink first’ contests. Whilst city foxes possess a wild…
From that pre-social-distancing era, one might recall surveys that ask about occupation, gender, and perhaps “Are you religious?”. So you quickly jot down your responses, but hesitate on the last question. Perhaps you enjoy religious celebrations a few times a year, so you tick “Yes”, and get back to emptying your wallet on Steam. But…
Pandemics have shaken civilizations throughout history. Although these bouts of infections have had devastating effects on society, our survival has also allowed humanity to evolve and reshape its socio-economic and technological focuses. Medical research has most often managed to overcome the pandemics through significant progress. It might seem incredible but substantial medical achievements have been…
The Covid-19 pandemic has been one of the most quantified health crises in history. The wealth of available information is a powerful tool for the response, but this is deeply dependent on making sense of mountains of data, and quickly. Artificial intelligence (AI) is potentially invaluable for this: it can sift through and interpret vast…
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…
Sleep is a phenomenon that ties us irrefutably to our relatives in the rest of the animal kingdom. The requirement to sleep is not only present in the most complex of organisms, such as Homo sapiens, but also in more primitive species, such as the jellyfish Cassiopoiea and the nematode C. Elegans. Even in light…
Animal experimentation is one of the greatest ethical dilemmas facing modern science. While animal research leads to life-saving treatments, to anti-vivisectionists (people who oppose the use of animals in scientific research) the practice is cruel and barbaric, regardless of its potential benefit to human health. But what are the issues with animal research, and what…
