News from The Open University
The OU is to receive £750k to develop the Wolfson Analytical Centre, a world-class research facility with an initial focus on planetary, environmental and space sciences. The first project ‘The Environmental Boundaries of Life’, will bring together academic expertise to ask one of our most fundamental questions: are life and habitable environments unique to Earth? […]
Read more about OU receives grant to develop pioneering analytical centre
David Rothery, The Open University Nasa has recently announced US$600,000 (£495,000) in funding for a study into the feasibility of sending swarms of miniature swimming robots (known as independent micro-swimmers) to explore oceans beneath the icy shells of our Solar System’s many “ocean worlds”. But don’t imagine metal humanoids swimming frog-like underwater. They will probably […]
A new study of ancient ocean temperatures, published today in Science, shows that the abyssal Atlantic Ocean was once a truly balmy 20 °C – warmer even than the surface of the modern Mediterranean Sea. Scientists, including Dr Philip Sexton of the OU, say the new data, spanning the last 60 million years, show the […]
A select group of researchers from across the world – including a STEM academic at the OU –will investigate the scientific potential of Mars rock and sediment samples gathered by space explorations. The Mars Sample Return Campaign Science Group has been established by NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) to bring together 16 researchers who […]
It’s no secret that the engineering sector has traditionally seen more men than women climbing the ladder. Despite this, science, technology, mathematics and engineering (STEM) industries have come a long way in encouraging and supporting women into historically ‘male’ education and career paths. To celebrate this and mark this year’s International Women in Engineering Day […]
Brands have several tricks up their sleeves to convince ad viewers their products are sustainable. Here three academics from The Open University: Morteza Abolhasani, lecturer in marketing, Gordon Liu, Professor of Marketing Strategy and Zahra Golrokhi, Lecturer in Engineering, give their views. Ads are ubiquitous in many people’s lives, whether on billboards across our cities or […]
The OU’s Dr Tracie Farrell has been announced among 84 promising future leaders as part of a sweep of research and innovation awarded fellowships given funding totalling £98 million. These 84 most promising science and research leaders will benefit from £97.8m to tackle major global issues and to commercialise their innovations in the UK, Science […]
Adam McMaster, PhD Candidate, Astronomy and Andrew Norton, Professor of Astrophysics Education, both from The Open University have written a piece for The Conversation about the new data from the Gaia mission. The European Space Agency’s (Esa) Gaia mission has just released new data. The Gaia satellite was launched in 2013, with the aim of […]
Read more about Gaia mission: five insights astronomers could glean from its latest data
An international team led by researchers from The Open University and the University of Bern have directly imaged a remarkable four new brown dwarfs thanks to a new innovative search method. Brown dwarfs are mysterious astronomical objects straddling the line between stars and planets and are essential to our understanding of both stellar and planetary […]
Read more about Ground-breaking number of brown dwarf stars discovered
Robert Spicer from The Open University; Alex Farnsworth from University of Bristol and Paul Valdes from University of Bristol write for The Conversation about the new TV series, Prehistoric Planet. When conjuring up images of when dinosaurs ruled the planet we often think of hot and humid landscapes in a world very different from our own. However, the new […]
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