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Materials
Run For Your Light
You may have heard the word “quantum” bandied around a lot. But what does it mean? In this animation we take a look at how the photon – the quantum particle of light – is being harnessed to help create new technologies like quantum computers.
Materials for nuclear fusion: how do you confine a sun to a box?
Nuclear fusion – energy of the future?
We face an energy crisis, so the idea of a clean, potentially limitless supply of energy is deeply appealing. Nuclear fusion, the same source of energy that makes the sun shine, could provide the answer, but there are some big obstacles to overcome.
Mark S Thompson
I studied Engineering Science at the University of Oxford, where my inspirational tutor at Magdalen College, Brian Bellhouse, encouraged me to seek engineering applications in medicine. I completed a PhD in hip replacement biomechanics at the University of London, co-supervised and given extensive theatre experience by a surgeon, and won an EC...
Using your science to explore the climate history of Mars
Mars today is colder than Antarctica and drier than the Sahara — but scratch just beneath its dusty red coating and tales of a different planet emerge. The young Mars of three billion years ago was an Earth-like place of rain, rivers, and perhaps even oceans. Though long-gone, the rocks remember. In the lab, and through a simple understanding...
Matters of Scale 3 - Nanomedicine
Dr Sonia Trigueros explains how she is using nanotechnologies to create targeted drug delivery systems. Chemotherapy is a particularly harmful treatment, with patients losing their hair and suffering from infections due to damage to their immune systems. By using the unique properties of cancer cells, they can be used to deliver targeted...
Lockdown Walks - The Mysteries of Ice
"On Earth when it snows, it snows crystallised water lava." Um, what? Intrigued? Join us on this chilly lockdown walk, as geologist Dr Brooke Johnson reveals some of the mysteries of ice, and tells us about the planets where snow falls as diamonds!
Where is my hoverboard?
According to the much-loved 'Back to the Future' franchise, we should all be zipping around on hoverboards by now. As we come to terms with our disappointment that they STILL haven't hit the shelves, Dr Clara Barker from Oxford University's Materials Science department discusses the technology that would be required to build one, and we learn...
Lockdown Walks - What's that solar panel doing?
Have you ever walked down the street and seen a rooftop covered in black shiny panels? Ever wondered exactly what they are and what they're doing? In this episode of 'Lockdown Walks' we're talking SOLAR PANELS. Sit back, relax, and let Sebastian Bonilla tell you all about them...Then why not see if you can spot some on your next walk?
Image gallery for Oxford Materials Nanoanalysis Group
The Nanoanalysis Group in Oxford's Department of Materials works on understanding mechanisms such as those controlling the initiation and propagation of Stress Corrosion Cracks in steels from nuclear reactors, amongst many others.
They've made...
Merel Lefferts
I’ve always been interested in combining physics and chemistry, and in the area of small scale phenomena where physics and chemistry meet. I did my undergraduate at University College Utrecht (Utrecht University, the Netherlands), where I focussed on physics and chemistry. I then did a masters in the physics of nanomaterials at Utrecht...
