The Open University

Infection disease expert discusses the coronavirus

14 February 2020

Cases of the coronavirus (Covid-19) are growing with more than 47,000 laboratory confirmed cases worldwide, nine of them in the UK to date. But what do we know about the virus and can the UK deal with an outbreak of this kind? Dr Helen Wimalarathna, an infectious disease epidemiologist, discusses the virus, the spread of […]

Asteroid was “sole driver” of dinosaur demise

17 January 2020

Science experts from around the globe say they have solved the longstanding debate of what really killed the dinosaurs. According to a study, published in Science, conducted by researchers from The Open University, UCL, Yale and the University of Southampton, an asteroid impact caused the mass extinction event that killed the dinosaurs 66 million years […]

Climate crisis: six steps to making fossil fuels history

3 December 2019

Dr Stephen Peake, Senior Lecturer in Environment at The Open University writes for The Conversation about the climate crisis. In shouting “system change not climate change”, young people understand that the 3-4℃ warmer world we’re headed for would be far more painful, costly and disruptive than any short-term costs or inconvenience we face from taking […]

OU team gives go ahead to bring Mars’ moon pieces to Earth

2 December 2019

A UK team led by the Open University has given the green light for Mars’ moon material to be transported to Earth as part of a forthcoming mission. The team, led by the OU’s Dr Manish Patel, a renowned expert on Mars exploration, gave the thumbs up for a new Japanese mission to bring pieces […]

OU technician honoured as ‘truly inspiring’ at THE Awards 2019

29 November 2019

Dr Barbara Kunz, an Analytical Laboratory Technician at The Open University has won the Outstanding Technician of the Year category at this year’s Times Higher Education Awards. Presented last night (Thursday 28 November) at a ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, Dr Kunz beat off competition from seven other shortlisted universities to be […]

How one NHS anaesthetist is fighting international medical research fraud

8 October 2019

Professor Kevin McConway, Emeritus Professor of Applied Statistics at The Open University writes for The Conversation about fraud in medical research. John Carlisle is a consultant anaesthetist at Torbay Hospital on England’s south coast. Unless you’ve been one of his patients, you’ve probably never heard of him. But he’s a researcher too, and he’s developed statistical […]

OU probes new star mapping technology

4 October 2019

OU researchers have received £570,000 from the European Science Agency for the next phase of scientific devices for mapping stars and galaxies. Dr Nathan Bush and Dr Ben Dryer from the OU’s Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, will use this funding to develop a new type of scientific device for space imaging applications, such […]

IPCC report paints catastrophic picture of melting ice and rising sea levels – and reality may be even worse

26 September 2019

Mark Brandon, Professor of Polar Oceanography at The Open University writes for The Conversation about the recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the growing risk to the future of our oceans and cryosphere. The IPPC – the UN body responsible for communicating the science of climate breakdown – has released its […]

Katharine Boulton at her graduation ceremony

“I realised not all was lost”

11 September 2019

“Even when things go wrong, there are always options,” says 27-year-old OU graduate Katharine Boulton. Despite not getting the university grades she hoped she would, she didn’t let this stop her and combined her industry experience with an OU Masters in Medicinal Chemistry. “I initially went to university to study forensic science,” Katharine explains. “I […]

Research reveals depths of plumbing system of ocean volcanoes

12 August 2019

An Open University scientist is among those to have revealed the true extent of the internal “plumbing system” that drives volcanic activity around the world. Dr Frances Jenner is co-author on a new study published in Nature, which has challenged existing knowledge of the structure of ocean volcanoes. The study involved an examination of pockets […]

OU News

Category: Science