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Category: Science, maths, computing and technology

Remembering inspirational physicist and author Stephen Hawking

Remembering inspirational physicist and author Stephen Hawking

We are extremely saddened to hear that world-renowned physicist Professor Stephen Hawking passed away today. Famous for his work with black holes and relativity, Professor Hawking inspired many people to look beyond our planet and understand space and the universe better. Despite living for many years with motor neurone disease, his achievements are remarkable. His […]

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Search for methane on Mars starts as ExoMars Mission reaches final orbit

Search for methane on Mars starts as ExoMars Mission reaches final orbit

After a year of extremely dangerous aerobraking, the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) will reach its final orbit and start collecting data from the atmosphere of Mars. Onboard the Orbiter is an instrument developed by academics from The Open University. Nadir and Occultation for MArs Discovery (NOMAD) will ‘sniff’ the atmosphere for methane – a […]

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Steph Lee

‘Discrimination needs to stop.’ Being a woman in construction and engineering.

Although a high achiever academically, Steph Lee, 27, from Newcastle, realised that instead of traditional university, she wanted to start a career and get earning. But she felt she faced discrimination along the way to her dream role in engineering. Despite this, she’s forged ahead in this sector, and has almost completed her Bachelor of Engineering […]

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Amy King holding a model of a molecule

Science isn’t for girls? How Amy proved her doubters wrong

From a young age, 26-year-old Amy King was fascinated by science. But she was told by her school that “science isn’t for girls” and by a traditional university at interview that she was “too glamorous to be a scientist”. She proved them both wrong, and is on track to achieve her dream of a degree […]

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Engineer women

How gender equality can help fix the construction industry

The government-commissioned Farmer Review warned in 2016 that the UK construction industry was “facing challenges that have not been seen before”. In no uncertain terms, it called for major industry-wide change. The “overwhelming risks” foreseen in the review sadly seem to have come to pass. Major contractor Carillion’s collapse comes shortly after an autumn in […]

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Computing graduate, Nathanial Lawrence

Open University helped Nathanial get his dream job in IT

‘’When I started my degree I was asked by a colleague what my dream job was, well my dream job is actually the job I’m doing now and there’s no way I would have got it without my OU degree.’’   Working full time, 34-year-old Nathanial Lawrence had set his sights on a networking and […]

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Asteroid fire

A huge asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs, but what danger do smaller ones pose?

A small asteroid passed relatively close to Earth this month, having been discovered just six days earlier. This might sound scary, but it’s unusual that such an object would actually collide with the Earth. Each year about 50,000 tonnes of extraterrestrial material (rocks and dust) hits our planet. This comes as tiny pieces – even […]

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Sleeping teenager

The biological reason why it’s so hard for teenagers to wake up early for school

In societies the world over, teenagers are blamed for staying up late, then struggling to wake up in the morning. While it’s true that plenty of teenagers (like many adults) do have bad bedtime habits, researchers have long since proven that this global problem has a biological cause. In 2004, researchers at the University of […]

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Dr Queenie Chan

Tiny blue salt crystals from space reveal a big surprise

In 1998 two meteorites fell to earth, and on them were minuscule sapphire-coloured salt crystals. Now, 20 years on, science lab equipment is finally powerful enough to analyse these crystals – and the results have been startling. Organic compounds and liquid water have been found together for the first time on these 4.5 billion year […]

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Predicting volcanic eruptions – new technique developed by scientists

Predicting volcanic eruptions – new technique developed by scientists

Scientists have developed a new method for forecasting the probability of an active volcano erupting. Scientists from The Open University (OU) have developed a new technique to help predict when a volcano is most likely to erupt based on measurements of how much nearby ground swells. The ‘inflation’, or gradual swelling, of the ground that […]

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