Tag Archives: Science

Evidence of brand new physics at Cern? Why we’re cautiously optimistic about our new findings

Harry Cliff is a particle physicist at the University of Cambridge, working on the LHCb experiment, a huge particle detector buried 100 metres underground at CERN near Geneva. “I’m a member of an international team of around 1400 physicists, engineers and computer scientists who are using LHCb to study the basic building blocks of our universe.” His first popular science book, ‘How To Make An Apple Pie From Scratch’, which will be published in August 2021.

Konstantinos Alexandros Petridis is a Senior lecturer in Particle Physics, University of Bristol. His research focuses on the study of rare processes involving the decays of bottom quarks.

Paula Alvarez Cartelle is a Lecturer of Particle Physics, University of Cambridge, working on the LHCb experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. “I study very rare decays of particles containing b-quarks, with the aim to find the missing pieces that would help us understand some of the open questions in fundamental physics.”

How children can learn to balance science and religion

Liam Guilfoyle is a Postdoctoral Research Officer, University of Oxford, working on the Oxford Argumentation in Religion and Science (OARS) project, funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation. He is particularly motivated by exploring the challenges and possibilities for teachers drawing on educational research for classroom practice and to this end, he is a member of the Teaching Council’s Research Engagement Group (REG) in Ireland, which works to promote teachers’ engagement with and in research. Liam also serves as a reviewer for the International Journal of Science Education and NARST: A Worldwide Organization for Improving Science Teaching and Learning through Research.

Birds use massive magnetic maps to migrate – and some could cover the whole world

Richard Holland is Professor in Animal Behaviour, School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University. His research group focuses on the cognitive processes and sensory mechanisms by which animals navigate and migrate. “While my principle focus is at the level of the whole organism I also incorporate aspects of neurobiology, molecular biology, and physics to identify the environmental cues, sensory pathways and mechanisms used by animals to decide how, when and where to move.”

Dmitry Kishkinev is a Lecturer in Animal Behaviour and Behavioural Neuroscience, Keele University. His project ‘Sensory systems for short and long-distance navigation in birds ‘ addressed the questions of how migratory songbirds can use magnetic and olfactory senses for finding their geographic position relative to destinations, whether the use of these senses depends on geographic scale (short vs long distances) and where magnetosensensory cells (aka magnetoreceptors) could be located in the animal’s body.

Revealing Affinities between Art and Science

Philip F. Palmedo studied art history and physics as an undergraduate at Williams College, and received his PhD in nuclear engineering from MIT. He carried out nuclear reactor physics research at the French nuclear laboratory at Saclay and at Brookhaven National Laboratory. He then initiated and headed the International Resources Group and the Long Island Research Institute. He has written extensively in many areas, including several books on modern sculpture. His most recent book is ‘Deep Affinities: Art and Science’, on which this article is based.

Five ways artificial intelligence can help space exploration

Deep Bandivadekar is a PhD student at the Aerospace Centre of Excellence, University of Strathclyde and does research work as part of the Intelligent Computational Engineering Laboratory (ICE-Lab). His research interests are Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Thermodynamics, Hypersonics, Artificial Intelligence, Design Optimisation, Global and Multi-objective Optimisation.

Audrey Berquand is a PhD candidate in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Strathclyde. Her research question asks – “Can all the data and lessons learned harvested online, collected from previous current and future studies, be reused and enhanced with computational intelligence methods to advance current concurrent engineering design processes and decision making at the early phases of space missions design?”

We’re teaching robots to evolve autonomously – so they can adapt to life alone on distant planets

Professor Emma Hart is Chair in Natural Computation, Edinburgh Napier University. She is active world-wide in the field of Evolutionary Computation, an Editor-in-Chief of Evolutionary Computation (MIT Press) from January 2016 and an elected member of the ACM SIGEVO Executive Board. She is also a member of the UK Operations Research Society Research Panel.

Why AI can’t ever reach its full potential without a physical body

Mark Lee is Emeritus Professor in Computer Science, Aberystwyth University. “I have degrees in Electrical Engineering and Psychology and have worked in AI, robotics and CS for 40 years. I am a fellow of the IET and of the Learned Society of Wales. My research explores how robots might learn about the world in the same way that infants build up their understanding in the first few years. This approach (known as Developmental Robotics) contrasts with the Big Data and Deep Learning methods of modern Artificial Intelligence. My recent book, “HOW TO GROW A ROBOT: DEVELOPING HUMAN-FRIENDLY, SOCIAL AI” (MIT Press, 2020) explains these ideas, and their consequences, in detail.”

NeuroArt

Danial Arabali is an Iranian-German artist and Engineer. In one series of his ‘NeuroArt’ paintings, he takes a look at the neuronal networks from a more artistic point of view rather than realistic representations of existing structures, while in another series he attempts to apply the modern color theory concepts of expressionist German artists to visualize the beauty of neuronal connections in a more abstract manner.

The Beautiful Brain

Katharine Dowson’s inspiration comes from nature, medicine and the scientific world as she often collaborates with scientists as part of her artistic practice. These include researchers investigating genetics, dyslexia and Parkinson’s disease, producing intricate casts of her own heart and brain from MRI scans. Her sculptures are made in various media but especially transparent materials and glass, which she uses as a metaphor for a membrane, a fragile yet robust skin that allows light to pass through and reveal the hidden interior within.

The Pacemaker

Lidija Kononenko is a student from the Royal Academy of Arts in London, whose practice investigates methodologies of scientific research into the human condition. Her artwork ‘31-3594’ won the Art of Neuroscience 2020 in which she explores the nervous system in an interactive way. ‘The Pacemaker’ is an animation film exploring endurance training and emotional complexities in romantic relationships.