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Category: Science, maths, computing and technology

OU apprentice, Phoebe Chapman

‘There weren’t many women in the industry – I wanted to make a change’

After leaving school, Phoebe, 21, chose to fast-track her IT career by starting a digital apprenticeship with The Open University while working at technology company RDT. Phoebe’s journey began with an interest in video gaming. Having completed A-Levels in maths, economics and history, she knew that a role in IT was the route she wanted […]

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Latest Webb telescope results uncover dark, icy beginnings of life’s building blocks

Latest Webb telescope results uncover dark, icy beginnings of life’s building blocks

The discovery of diverse ices in the darkest, coldest regions of a molecular cloud ever measured has been announced by an international team of astronomers – including from the OU – using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. This result, published today in Nature allows astronomers to examine the simple icy molecules and open a […]

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OU research student Lois in the lab at Milton Keynes

OU researcher wins prestigious award for her work to empower rural schools in Ghana

Lois Damptey, a PhD student in the School of Engineering and Innovation at the Open University (OU) has won a ‘Youth Excellence award in Science and Engineering’ in Ghana. Lois’ PhD is funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). Under the supervision of Professor Satheesh Krishnamurthy, Prof N.S. Braithwaite and Prof Vasant Kumar (from […]

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OU space researcher wins prestigious Japanese Fellowship to investigate the Mars atmosphere

OU space researcher wins prestigious Japanese Fellowship to investigate the Mars atmosphere

Juan Alday, a scientist in the ExoMars research group at The Open University (OU), has been awarded a research fellowship by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) to study the atmosphere of Mars. Juan will be conducting research at the University of Tokyo for nine months to better understand the isotope composition […]

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Tens of thousands of previously unseen galaxies made available for the public to classify

Tens of thousands of previously unseen galaxies made available for the public to classify

Twenty thousand high quality images have been released to the public on the most popular citizen science project: Galaxy Zoo. Anyone in the world can help astronomers classify images taken with one of the most advanced instruments installed on one of world leading telescopes. The international collaboration between Galaxy Zoo, The Open University, University of […]

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How to better understand space, time, infinity… and beyond

How to better understand space, time, infinity… and beyond

A new free OpenLearn course is to take people on a journey of discovery to explore a range of scientific fields and gain a deeper understanding of topics such as space, time and infinity. It’s based on the book “What We Cannot Know” by celebrated mathematics Professor Marcus du Sautoy, who has helped design the […]

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Top tips for a greener Christmas

Top tips for a greener Christmas

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, but perhaps not the most environmentally conscious time of the year. While it may sound Scrooge-like, Christmas can be a very wasteful period – but there are things you can do to make your festivities greener. We spoke to Dr Catherine Rolph, Lecturer in Environmental Engineering at […]

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How “killer” asteroids saved planet Earth

How “killer” asteroids saved planet Earth

A new international study shows how Earth got its water These days, asteroids get a very bad press. As depicted in blockbuster movies, such as Don’t Look Up, we see asteroids as a potential source of grave danger to humanity. It doesn’t help that, 66 million years ago, a giant asteroid wiped out about 75% […]

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Virtual reality setting showing three scans of the human body

OU secures £5.8m to build extended reality studio

The Open University (OU) has secured funding of £5.8m from the Office for Students to develop extended reality studios to expand its teaching and learning with augmented and virtual reality. Open XR Studios will feature state-of-the-art equipment to capture, reproduce and render 4D imagery. It will deliver immersive and reality-embedded learning to students in their […]

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Fossil fuels vs green energy

Our US$10 trillion global energy bill dwarfs what’s needed to limit global heating

Stephen Peake is a Professor of Climate Change and Energy. Here he talks about the world’s addiction to energy, our wasteful use of it and how we can do something about it. The world’s energy bill for 2022 is set to be the highest ever, topping US$10 trillion (£8.3 trillion). This is the total price […]

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