The Open University

I’ve been talking to conspiracy theorists for 20 years – here are my six rules of engagement

22 July 2020

Jovan Byford, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at The Open University discusses the rules he uses for talking about conspiracy theories. With prospects of a COVID-19 vaccine looking up, attention is also turning to the problem of anti-vax ideas. According to a recent survey, one in six Britons would refuse a COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes […]

Euclid space telescope’s camera a step closer to imaging galaxies

9 July 2020

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Euclid mission to study more than a billion galaxies is a step closer to launch as its two instruments are now built and fully tested, including a massive optical digital camera delivered by an international consortium. Once Euclid is launched from French Guiana in 2022, the VIS instrument will be […]

International scientists discover a pair of dancing planets

2 July 2020

An international team of scientists, including Professor Carole Haswell and Dr Ulrich Kolb of The Open University (OU), have discovered two, giant planets interacting near each other, in a gravitational dance. The planets, detected by the Wide Area Search for Planets (WASP) project, feel each other’s gravity and, as a result, speed up and slow […]

Super-Earth planets detected orbiting nearby star

26 June 2020

A system of super-Earth planets – possibly rocky worlds, but larger than Earth – has been detected orbiting the nearby star Gliese 887. An international team of astronomers, including Professor Carole Haswell and Dr John Barnes of The Open University, made the discovery as part of Red Dots, a project to detect terrestrial planets close […]

Nkurunziza’s life and Burundian politics: beyond the mourning and controversies

24 June 2020

Astrid Jamar, Lecturer in Development at The Open University and Rene Claude Niyonkuru, Researcher at the Universite catholique de Louvain discuss President Pierre Nkurunziza – and his legacy – following his sudden death earlier this month at the age of 55. They explore how his personal and political trajectory was entangled with a long legacy […]

‘The OU helped me to become a published author!’

24 June 2020

“I always dreamed of becoming an author,” says OU graduate Shereen. “But it wasn’t something I realised again until I had taken time off from my banking career.” Shereen had been working in London’s Canary Wharf when she met her husband and took some time off to raise her family. After her break from banking, […]

Life inside Pluto? Hot birth may have created internal ocean on dwarf planet

23 June 2020

David Rothery, Professor of Planetary Geosciences at The Open University, discusses what it means to discover internal oceans on Pluto and other planets in the solar system. Pluto, along with many other dwarf planets in the outer solar system, is often thought of as dark, icy and barren – with a surface temperature of just […]

Newly detected green light similar to the Aurora Borealis observed around Mars

15 June 2020

Open University (OU) scientists, as part of an international team, have identified a never-before-seen, green glow surrounding Mars with the same characteristics as the Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights. Using the NOMAD-UVIS instrument onboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), a joint space mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Roscosmos, […]

Studying tips for a healthy and happy mind

22 May 2020

The current global pandemic has seen a rise in mental health related illness. With this week marking Mental Health Awareness Week (18-24 May), it’s important now more than ever to take time to be kind to ourselves. Open University (OU) student Liz Fox is in her second year studying towards a BSc in Psychology. In addition […]

New study reveals mud volcanoes on Mars may flow like lava

18 May 2020

European researchers, including Dr Manish Patel, Dr Matt Balme and Dr Matthew Sylvest from The Open University(OU), have found that mud volcanoes on Mars may look similar to lava flows found on Earth. According to a study, published in Nature Geoscience, mud flows exposed to the low atmospheric pressures found on Mars will behave similar […]

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