Physics
Luke Jew
I have always been a bit of a geek, growing up watching Star Trek! My dream job as a child was to be a scientist – and now I am one!
My research focuses on making better images of the Cosmic Microwave Background, which is kind of like the faint afterglow of the Big Bang. With these better images we can more accurately figure out how the...

Soluble Semiconductors- A revolution in Printing for the 21st Century?
The digital age is built upon semiconductors. The crystalline semiconductors, such as silicon or germanium, lie behind modern electronics and computing. They are such essential materials because their conducting properties may be altered in useful ways by the deliberate, controlled introduction of impurities ("doping") into their crystal...
Electric Vehicles and the Future
What does the future hold for electric vehicles? We know that they represent a cleaner, greener way of getting from A to B, but what else could they be used for? Could they actually be used to give power TO the energy grid? And what about charging them - one day, will we all have access to convenient charging points? Dr...

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...

How are we using energy in lockdown?
Things have changed a lot over the past few months – including, for many of us, our daily routine. But how has this impacted our energy usage? In this week’s episode of the Big Questions podcast, we chat to Dr Philipp Grünewald from Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute about his ‘JoyMeter’ survey, which has given a fascinating insight into...

What's in the Indian Ocean?
Much less is known about the Indian Ocean than either the Atlantic or Pacific. It's also less protected. What secrets lie beneath the waves? What new species wait to be discovered…? Dr Paris Stefanoudis tells us all about the Nekton project, its past and planned missions, and the role it’s playing in helping us to find out “What’s in the Indian...

How do you bake a cake in a microwave?
Bakers spend years perfecting their skill to make amazing cakes! But can you do it in minutes within a microwave? To find out we look into the science of baking and met up with Luke Jew, astronomer from the department of Oxford Physics, University of Oxford to find out.

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.

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...
