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Diet and Lifestyle
Is vaping better than smoking?
E-cigarettes are the new kid on the block. They’re getting lots of attention from many scientists across the world curious to see if this is the trick that’s needed to separate 1 billion people from cigarettes! Yes, 1 billion people smoke!
When we first saw an e-cigarette, it felt like we had been transported in time - gone were the days...
Lockdown Walks - Who's that American in the woods?
Plant scientist Dr Hayley Tumas is out for a walk in the English countryside...but she's not the only American in the woods! The Douglas fir has been found in the UK for around 200 years - but how did this huge tree, native to the Pacific Northwest of America, make the jump across the pond? Find out in this episode of 'Lockdown Walks'!
Heidi de Wet
I received my first degree in botany and biochemistry at the University of the North-West in South Africa and moved to the University of Cape Town for my doctoral studies in Chemical Pathology. Currently, I am a University Lecturer and a tenured Associate Professor of Physiology. Ironically, I have never officially studied physiology, but...
Changing plant chloroplasts to improve crop performance
Chloroplasts are tiny protein-filled units within plant cells. As well as being responsible for photosynthesis, they are critical to a plant's ability to respond to its environment (for example, to the intensity of light or the threat of disease). They do this by importing the proteins they need - and getting rid of those they don't need....
In Good Taste: Curious Food and Drink Questions
Tantalise your taste buds on a gastronomic journey through the fascinating chemistry of food.
Chemist, teacher and author Andy Brunning explains the mysteries of how our bodies respond to the chemicals in food, from the fragrant results of eating asparagus to the power of chillies and how miracle berries will make your life sweeter,...
Can we diagnose heart attacks faster?
With one person admitted to hospital every 5 minutes in the UK because of a heart attack, the ability to diagnose and treat them quickly is vital. In this episode of the ‘Big Questions’ podcast, find out how Dr Tingting Zhu is using a machine learning algorithm, trained on 15,000 ECGs, to diagnose heart attacks faster, potentially eliminating...
Are video games good for my mental health?
Most of us have probably heard of video games being described as "addictive", but is there evidence of this? Are they damaging to our mental health, or could they actually have a positive impact on our metal wellbeing? In this episode of the Big Questions podcast we're booting up our consoles, and asking Prof Andrew Przybylski, Director of...
Anjuli R. K. Shere
My doctoral research centres on emerging threats to journalists from new internet-connected technologies, which seems natural given that I’ve always been fascinated by both investigations and sci-fi scenarios. My on-going DPhil in Cyber Security here, at Oxford, follows an MA in Science and International Security from King’s College London, a...
Tingting Zhu
Dr. Tingting Zhu is a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow and Member of Faculty within the Department of Engineering Science, Oxford. She is an Associate Research Fellow of St. Hilda's College and a Stipendiary Lecturer at Mansfield College.
How is technology being used to track Black Lives Matter protestors?
We've probably all heard the phrase 'Big Brother is watching you' (a reference to the fictional character in George Orwell's dystopian novel '1984') - but are we really under constant surveillance? Is it actually possible to be a fully functioning member of modern society without being tracked by some sort of surveillance system? And how is...
