The Open University

NASA’s JWST reveals an exoplanet atmosphere as never seen before

22 November 2022

Nasa’s JWST just scored another first: a molecular and chemical profile of a distant world’s skies secured by research from experts including Dr Joanna Barstow and Agnibha Banerjee from The Open University. While JWST and other space telescopes previously have revealed isolated ingredients of the planet WASP-39b’s atmosphere, the new readings provide a full menu […]

Ancient rivers increase chances of finding life at next Mars rover’s landing site

22 November 2022

Rivers as wide as 600 metres once lay across the surface of Mars – according to new research from Birkbeck, University of London; The Open University; The Natural History Museum; Imperial College London; and the University of Bern. The research team say this discovery is important because these are some of the oldest rivers in […]

Chokepoint Capitalism: why we’ll all lose unless we stop Amazon, Spotify and other platforms squeezing cash from creators

18 November 2022

Cory Doctorow, Visiting Professor of Computer Science, The Open University and Rebecca Giblin, ARC Future Fellow; Associate Professor; Director, Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia, write for The Conversation about Amazon’s chokehold on creatives. In 2020, the independent authors and small publishers whose audiobooks reach their readers via Audible’s ACX platform smelled a rat. Audiobooks […]

Winchcombe meteorite holds information about the origin of Earth’s oceans

16 November 2022

The Winchcombe meteorite, a rare carbonaceous meteorite which crashed onto a driveway in Gloucestershire, has been found to contain extra-terrestrial water and organic compounds that reveal insights into the origin of Earth’s oceans. A new study by experts from The Open University (OU), Natural History Museum and the University of Glasgow reports the orbital history […]

Explore the weird and wonderful world of invention in OU/BBC series, The Secret Genius of Modern Life

9 November 2022

We uncover the secrets behind the miraculous technologies of the modern world in a new programme, The Secret Genius of Modern Life, beginning this Thursday (10 November) at 8.00pm on BBC Two and iPlayer. The 6-part series, co-produced by The Open University (OU) and BBC, is hosted by Hannah Fry, Professor of Mathematics, author and […]

Building a net zero carbon construction industry

7 November 2022

A team of experts developing UK’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard (NZCBS) has launched a call for evidence to help inform the development of the Standard which aims to transform the construction industry. Once created, the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard will provide a single agreed definition for the industry to determine what constitutes […]

What can we expect from Elon Musk’s Twitterverse?

4 November 2022

It would be hard to avoid the news of Twitter’s acquisition by billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk as the sale has certainly not been drama-free. The acquisition was officially completed on 27 October, and Musk immediately fired top Twitter executives including CEO Parag Agrawal, whom he replaced with himself. One of his first announced policy […]

OU academic urges community involvement as the Japanese Government prepares to release ‘treated water’ from nuclear plant, Fukushima

28 October 2022

While over a decade has passed since the accident at the Fukushima Dai’ichi nuclear power plant in Japan, the most contentious aspect of bringing the site under control is only just beginning. The Japanese Government has now approved plant operator TEPCO’s plan to release treated water into the Pacific Ocean from 2023, provoking concern across […]

Four ways to spot hints of alien life using the James Webb Space Telescope

24 October 2022

Joanna Barstow, The Open University: The study of exoplanets, worlds which orbit stars other than our sun, is currently being transformed by the new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). We will shortly gain our first insight into conditions on rocky, potentially Earth-like worlds beyond our solar system. One of these distant worlds might host life. […]

From Army veteran to space scientist

3 October 2022

When Open University graduate Ian Muirhead isn’t searching for moons and exoplanets, he’s inspiring the next generation of space scientists to reach for the stars. It’s a career he never dreamed possible when he left school at 15 without any qualifications. Over 20 years’ on and Ian tells us he couldn’t be happier making the […]

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Category: Science, maths, computing and technology