Diamond - a Light for Science

"it seems that the Diamond Light Source may be one area in which the UK is managing to punch above its weight in the scientific world stage." Tom Feilden BBC - more

Diamond produces x-ray, infrared and ultra-violet beams of exceptional brightness. These highly focused beams of light enable scientists and engineers to probe deep into the basic structure of matter and materials, answering fundamental questions about everything from the building blocks of life to the origin of our planet.

Synchrotron light is an indispensable tool in many research areas including physics, chemistry, materials science and crystallography. In addition, synchrotron light is increasingly being exploited by new communities such as medicine, geological and environmental studies, structural genomics and archaeology.

Diamond is a third generation 3 GeV (Giga electron Volt) synchrotron light source. Third generation light sources use arrays of magnets, called insertion devices, to generate extremely intense, narrow beams of light, about 10,000 times brighter than the UK facility based at the Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire.

Diamond is currently the brightest medium-energy source in the world and is optimised to produce X-rays with energies between 100 electron volts (soft X-rays) and 20,000 electron volts (hard X-rays). In addition, Diamond also provide a good source of X-rays up to 100,000 electron volts.

Many researchers in the UK already use synchrotrons. Extensive consultation with this user community resulted in a portfolio of experimental stations, called beamlines. Diamond's beamlines will be built in several phases. Phase I is now complete, with seven beamlines now in operation. In Phase II, a further fifteen beamlines will be added at a rate of four to five per annum. Phase III is yet to be determined, and will depend on emerging technologies and the requirements of users as the facility develops.

State-of-the-art instrumentation complement the light source, ensuring that researchers from the UK and abroad have access to cutting-edge analytical techniques and services for at least the next thirty years.

For more information visit the official site

The Big Bang 4th – 6th March 2009

Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Westminster, London, SE1P 3EE
http://www.thebigbangfair.co.uk

What's on at the Big Bang: The Big Bang will span all seven floors of the QE2 centre featuring compelling and engaging theatre shows and hands on investigations covering the entire science and engineering spectrum. There will also be displays and demonstrations of leading-edge UK technology from sponsor companies, and exhibition stands to showcase further inspirational projects. School groups attending the Big Bang will arrive for half day sessions. They will also have time to walk around the exhibitions floor and careers zone to see many sessions come alive.

33 different Theatre Shows, including: (Ground Floor, Fourth Floor, Sixth Floor)
BAE Systems World of Robotics - BAE Systems will amaze with a demonstration of autonomy and robotics

Bending it like Beckham - This demonstration takes over where the film ends, with volunteer interaction and computer modelling to show that science and technology really do have a place in football

Bloodhound SSC - This presentation will explore the work of the Bloodhound SSC team, which will see Richard Noble OBE (Bloodhound SSC project director) and Andy Green OBE (the world’s fastest mathematician - 763mph) attempt to break the land speed record

Darwins Worms - This play looks at Darwin’s fascination with worms, for example how he would lay them on his billiard table, ask his children to play the bassoon and piano to them, and then study their reactions

ICE: Young Brunel Lecture - Arup Director and ICE Fellow Peter Head OBE will set out a vision of life in a sustainable community of the future, drawing on experience with projects such as the Dongtan eco-city in China

Identifying Faces - This is where the psychology and science of face identification and perception is brought to life – easy for humans maybe, but still a challenge for science

Making art from science - Media company ActionDog will showcase Wellcome Trust-funded projects on Making art from science, including a fashion show and sculptures inspired by images of the brain’s nerve cells

NOISE: Science Cabaret - The acclaimed NOISE Science Cabaret brings lively demonstrations, audience participation and entertaining explanations covering a whole range of science topics with their own unique style

Punk Science - The Science Museum’s Punk Science team takes a sideways look at the science behind climate change featuring comedy, live audience demonstrations, experiments, voting and music

SEE: The Olympic Games - Commissioned by the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Sport, Ethics and Engineering of the Olympic Games lecture offers an exciting insight into the world of engineering and sport

Science that Changed the World - The Royal Institution’s celebrated show will highlight the significant contributions made by British scientists at the Royal Institution, and their implications for the world around us

Shell: The Energy Challenge - This presentation will put to the audience some hard truths about the environment in 2050, and ask what we can do to help

Visualise - Science Made Simple – the company specialising in sharing its enthusiasm for science - will perform their highly acclaimed Visualise show, a mix of physical theatre, live science demonstrations, projected images and music

Your Magical Mind - Teacher and professional magician Andrew Jeffrey will show how the human mind can be trained to perform extraordinary mental feats such as lightning calculation and mind-reading

53 different hands-on Investigations including: (Second Floor, Fourth Floor)
ARM: Rapid Prototyping - Students and teachers will explore leading-edge electronics technology by building and adapting example projects, or even inventing new projects of their own.

CSI: Murder on Mill Hill - The MRC: National Institute for Medical Research will give students the opportunity to solve a murder mystery, by making DNA fingerprints using DNA models and analysis equipment.

Impact Earth: the death of the dinosaurs - This workshop will allow students to handle dinosaur fossils and meteorites (including samples from the Moon and Mars), study impact craters using the Internet, and even create their own ‘virtual impact craters’ using specially designed software.

Science Museum: It takes Guts - The Science Museum brings along its acclaimed outreach team to show It takes Guts. Take a journey through the human body’s digestive system and get to know your gut.

Me, Myself and I: How plants propagate - The Royal Horticultural Society will showcase its Growing Lab Workshop, showing how plants produce clones in the wild, and how students can produce their own at home

BAA: The Invisible World of IR - This workshop will take students on a journey that links the basic physics of infra-red technology through to its exciting real-world applications
The Future of Medicine - This series of workshops will look at a wide range of topics, from psychiatric genetics, through to how medicines are made in the 21st century

IOP: Physics in the Field - The Physics in the Field team will be performing physics tricks – hand-held demos using things you can find at home – and making sure everyone else gets a go too

Lloyd’s Register: All at Sea - This will explore a number of perennial maritime issues such as: pollution, stability, the changing nature of vessels and will also look at some of the emerging technologies that will help the industry

Exhibitions floor: Taking a thematic approach to STEM, this is a cross-disciplinary area encompassing a wide range exhibits that will enthuse and inspire students.

Your Health: This will include exhibits from the Royal Veterinary College with a ’dog bandaging’ demonstration. The Institute of Physics will give the ‘inside story’ showing the role of physics in medicine. There will be an ultrasound machine and x-ray simulator (with objects that can be ‘x-rayed’). ‘Cold wars’ will also show the effect of germs and the need for anti-bacterial wash

Your Planet: This zone will look at both space, including a telescope looking out of the window and lots of model rockets including the Virgin Galactic spaceship, and science closer to home. The British Geological Survey will be on hand and the zone will include a seismic simulator to demonstrate the effect of an earthquake

Your Environment: The Met Office will give young people the chance to experience what it is like to be a weather forecaster. The Royal Meteorological Society will showcase talking heads on TVs from experts talking about climate change. This zone will also include a ‘radioactive’ treasure hunt, where a gamma-ray detector will be used to find a (not real) ‘radioactive’ substance

Engineering and Technology Zone: Featuring organisations from across engineering and technology this zone will include a helipad and Batak Board to test hand-eye co-ordination

Contemporary Research: This area will feature researchers conducting hands on experiments. Three experiments will running during The Big Bang

International Year of Astronomy: From mapping to stars to the British space program, this stand celebrates the International Year of Astronomy

Journey to South Pole: Ben Fogle and James Cracknell will demonstrate the equipment and techniques they used on their Antarctic expedition in 2008. Students will also be able to measure their lung capacity on a computerised treadmill to see if they could make it to the South Pole

Touch your Future: A major provider of content for this will be BAE systems and it will highlight the potential roles open to engineers, and will feature touch screen displays

TV Centre: Live from the Big Bang: At a live television studio organised by NESTA, students will be able to record ten minute packages which will be broadcast throughout the QEII Centre

Darwin Today: This area will explain the relevance of Charles Darwin to today’s young people and is linked to Darwin 200. Students will be able to map their genealogy with touch screen terminals, and see a giant model of the giant tortoises which mesmerised Darwin in the Galapagos Island

Mechanical Engineering: This area will look at mechanical engineering and feature a Formula Student car. Take a tour down to the lobby and then try out our F1 simulator provided by SOE
Institute of Lighting Engineers: This zone will feature a light sculpture

Careers Zone: (Fourth Floor: Westminster Suite) Organisers of the Big Bang are focused on attracting students from diverse backgrounds, particularly those without an existing interest in STEM subjects. The Careers Zone will help to show young people exactly where STEM can take them. Key parts of the careers zone:

Careers Speed Dating: In half hour slots, 8-10 young people at a time will take part in careers speed dating with a corresponding number of working scientists and engineers. Every three minutes a whistle will blow and young people will move on to learn about a different area of STEM

Meet role models and STEM professionals: Face-to-face interaction with range of role models from science, engineering, technology and maths about their jobs and experiences of education and get some on the spot advice from careers professionals

Graffiti Wall: Students can write their thoughts on a range of STEM topics on a graffiti wall in the Careers Zone

Interactive careers resources: Banks of computers and TV screens will answer questions young people may have about careers in STEM. Literature will also be available throughout the zone

Teachers Zone: For teachers only this room will have literature of interest to teachers and provide a space to network

Industry Area: (Third Floor: Benjamin Britten Lounge) The Big Bang’s many sponsors will provide opportunities for visitors to see some of the amazing real world applications of science and technology. The Industry area will also be home for three days to Titan the Robot, the eight feet tall robot.

The National Science Competition: (Exhibitors: Third Floor: Fleming and Whittle Room / Awards ceremony: Ground Floor: Churchill Auditorium) The Big Bang also features the newly established National Science Competition http://www.nationalsciencecompetition.org an initiative of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. Featuring 183 project stands showcasing highly innovative science and engineering projects, this is open to all 13-19 year olds who will compete alongside regional finalists from the CREST Awards, managed by the British Science Association, and Young Engineer for Britain Competition. A number of prizes will be awarded during The Big Bang, including UK Young Scientist of the Year and UK Young Technologist of the Year. Each winner will receive a personal cash prize of £5000, a trophy, a once-in-a-lifetime international science or technology trip, and opportunities to represent youth science at events across the UK and beyond over the following year. The awards ceremony for the National Science Competition will take place on Thursday 5th March 2009 from 17.30 – 19.00 in the Churchill Auditorium.

Two ceremonies: More awards will be presented during the second awards ceremony on the Friday of The Big Bang. This will be less formal and will see The Punk Scientists act as roving award presenters for the remaining prizes to be handed out at The Big Bang.

The IET Faraday Engineering Challenge Final: (Fourth Floor: Rutherford Room) Three winning teams from 30 regional challenges compete for the title of ‘Faraday engineering team of the year’. The teams comprise of Year 8 students, two selected from science, two from design and technology and two from maths. The final contest will give the teams a further opportunity to research, design, plan and produce their solutions to the engineering challenge. It will be packed with learning across the key STEM subjects and mapped to the new KS3 PoS sitting comfortably in the ‘New Opportunities’ section and covering many aspects of the new PLTS. These regional teams are coming to London to win the title, a trophy, places on Smallpeice Trust Courses and £1000 towards science, design and technology and maths equipment.

Timing of key events at The Big Bang:

Wednesday 4th March
1200 – 1630: Afternoon session for visiting schools groups to The Big Bang
1200 – 1630: Judging of competition entrants takes place (Closed to visiting school groups but open to media)
1500 – 1505: The Big Bang opening ceremony by HRH The Duke of York, KG, KCVO, ADC

Thursday 5th March
0900 – 1315: Morning session for visiting school groups to The Big Bang
1315 – 1715: Afternoon session for visiting schools groups to The Big Bang
1730 – 1900: National Science Competition awards ceremony, presented by Kate Humble

Friday 6th March
0900 – 1330: Morning session for visiting school groups to The Big Bang
12.00 – National Science Competition Highly Commended winners
12.15 – CREST Medals winners
12.40 – Young Engineer YEB awards
13.00 – QinetiQ Award presented by Ben Fogle (project to design a jacket for the cold environment of Antarctica)
13.10 – YEng Club awards
13.30 – Maths Inspiration award
13.35 – CREST runners-up
13.45 – Punk Scientists officially close The Big Bang

Winner of the 2009 FAD Competition

UK fashion students in ‘galactic’ showcase at London Fashion Week

Nottingham Trent fashion student, Ana Belen Meroño, beat hopefuls from universities and colleges across the UK to become this year’s winner of the prestigious FAD Competition, which took place atVauxhall Fashion Scout on Tuesday 24th February.

The young designer, originally from Madrid, impressed the jury with her sophisticated and highlypolished designs. Her first garment was a structured jacket featuring a digital Op-Art print, while the second outfit paired a cosmic cloud print dress with ‘armour’ inspired layering. Ana’s designreceived a unanimous vote from this year’s jury panel, winning her £2,000 and a work placement with designer and FAD Frontline member, Paul Costelloe, who was there on the evening to present the winning prize.

Felicity Baggett, also of Nottingham Trent was announced as one of the two runners up. Her wearable menswear collection was inspired by space suits, featuring subtle planetary patterns and vacuum moulded spheres. Camilla Kennedy, Birmingham City University, was awarded the second runner up prize. Both students received £1,000 and an industry placement with designers Margaret Howell and Religion respectively.

Fourteen finalists from ten UK universities/colleges took part in the show, presenting a collection inspired by this year’s brief: ‘Urban Holographic’. For 2009 FAD asked students to explore the concept of Retrofuturism and space tourism; looking back at 1960’s curved design and films such as ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ to create fashionable ‘uniforms’ for galactic hosts/hostesses. In the final each student presented two outfits, drawing inspiration from the planets and solar system for colour, print and embellishment.

The event is heavily supported by the industry, and this year’s jury encompassed both fashion experts and space specialists including: Dolly Jones, Editor Vogue.com; Esther Lutman, Curator of The Space Age exhibition at the V&A; Jeremy Curtis of the British National Space Centre; Martyn Roberts, Director of Vauxhall Fashion Scout and one of 2009’s hottest new designers, William Tempest.

2009 FAD Competition & Awards

Fashion Students prepare for galactic debut at London Fashion Week Fourteen fashion students have beaten hopefuls from 24 universities/colleges nationwide to win a coveted place in the 2009 FAD Competition final, set to take place at Vauxhall Fashion Scout on 24 th February 2009.

The fourteen finalists from universities such as Nottingham Trent, Central Saint Martins and De Montfort, will present a collection inspired by this years challenging brief: ‘Urban Holographic’.

For 2009 FAD asked students to explore the concept of Retrofuturism and space tourism; looking back at 1960’s curved design and films such as ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ to create fashionable ‘uniforms’ for galactic hosts/hostesses. In the final each young designer will present two outfits, drawing inspiration from the planets and solar system for colour, print and embellishment.

This year’s jury encompasses a dynamic panel of fashion experts and space specialists including Dolly Jones, Editor Vogue.com, Esther Lutman, Curator of The Space Age exhibition at the V&A, Jeremy Curtis of the British National Space Centre, Martyn Roberts, Director of Vauxhall Fashion Scout and one of 2009’s hottest new designers, William Tempest. The winners of the FAD Competition will be announced on the evening of the event with the first prize winner receiving £2,000 and a top industry placement.

The two runners up will receive £1,000 each, as well as a work placement.

FAD (Fashion Awareness Direct) is a creative charity supporting young people to bridge the gap between industry and education. Now in its 8th year, the FAD Competition is dedicated to highlighting and supporting undergraduate talent. Past FAD finalists now work for companies such as Coast, All Saints and Harrods, as well as high profile designers Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier.

Web users to write "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxies"

How many arms does a spiral galaxy have? Can you spot a galaxy with a "peanut" bulge? Or how about a galactic merger? Answers to these and other strange questions will be provided by ordinary web users who, by working together, have proven to be just as good at galaxy-spotting as professional astronomers.


The new initiative is a follow-up to the highly successful Galaxy Zoo
project that enabled members of the public to take part in astronomy
research online. But whereas the original site only asked members of the
public to say whether a galaxy was spiral or elliptical, and which way
it was rotating, Galaxy Zoo 2 asks them to delve deeper into 250,000 of
the brightest and best galaxies to search for the strange and unusual.

The Galaxy Zoo 2 website is launched on 17 February at www.galaxyzoo.org

"The first Galaxy Zoo provided us with a Rough Guide to the sky and now
we want our users to fill in all the details and create a real
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxies," said Dr Chris Lintott of Oxford
University, one of the founders of Galaxy Zoo.

Astronomers came up with the idea of getting online volunteers involved
because the human brain is still better at doing pattern recognition
tasks than a computer. What they had not expected was the huge
enthusiasm for the project; in the last 18 months 80 million
classifications of galaxies were submitted on one million objects at
http://www.galaxyzoo.org/ by more than 150,000 armchair astronomers from all
over the world.

Dr Kevin Schawinski of Yale University, another of Galaxy Zoo's founders
said: "The response from the public was absolutely overwhelming and,
with their help, we've been able to learn a lot about how galaxies
evolve and how they relate to their environment.
With the detail from Zoo 2, we'll be able to discover even more about
how galaxies work."

"Galaxy Zoo has given everyone with a computer an opportunity to
contribute to real scientific research. We want people to feel truly
involved in the project and keep them up to date with what we're doing
and with the results they're generating," said Dr Steven Bamford of the
University of Nottingham.

As with the original site people are free to look at and describe as
many galaxies as they like - even five minutes' work will provide a
valuable contribution. Galaxy Zoo 2 is intended to be even more fun as
galaxies are pitted against each other in "Galaxy Wars" (which one is
more spirally?) and users can compete against their friends to describe
more objects as well as record their best finds.

Proof that unusual discoveries can be made is the catalogue of merging
galaxies provided by users - more than 3000 of these rare cosmic
pile-ups have been caught in the act by Galaxy Zoo volunteers. The team
have already used the IRAM radio telescope in Spain's Sierra Nevada to
follow up the most exciting mergers, and are asking for more examples to
study.

"In this International Year of Astronomy, it's great to have so many
people looking at these beautiful image of galaxies from the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey," said Professor Bob Nichol of the University of
Portsmouth, a member of the original Galaxy Zoo team. "No single
professional astronomer has ever looked at all these images and
sometimes astronomers miss the wonder of what they are. I think the
public get this better than us."

For more information visit http://www.galaxyzoo.org/ or the Galaxy Zoo blog http://www.galaxyzooblog.org/

Getting away from it all

The recession must be biting hard. The British Antarctic Survey's website buckled today under the weight of interest in its new recruitment campaign for chefs, electricians and plumbers on the planet's coldest continent - Antarctica.

Wait for me! The British Antarctic Survey employs more than just scientists - chefs, plumbers and electricians support the research community.

Amid the doom and gloom of financial crises and redundancies, the news has attracted much media interest.

An electrician already working at the survey's Rothera base on the Antarctic Peninsula, Tony McLaughlan, told the Cambridge News, 'It is really amazing being here. I never imagined that an ordinary bloke like me could end up working in Antarctica.'

'The people are great, the work is exciting. If anyone is wondering about applying for this kind of job I would say just do it,' he told GMTV.

He explained to John Humphrys on the BBC's Today programme what drove him to apply, 'The challenge. This has to be one of the extreme and toughest environments in the world.'

'It's not that cold at the moment - it's zero degrees. Last season it got down to -22,' he added.

But it is not as lonely as some people imagine. 'There are 60 to 70 people on base right now. At its peak it can be up to 100.'

Head of communications, Linda Capper, MBE, said, 'The thing that is most striking is the stunning scenery. You feel very small. You find yourself in this gigantic landscape where the horizon is a long way off and you can see icebergs the size of cathedrals. There are penguins and seals - it is just sensational.'

Contracts run from four to 18 months and salaries start at £23,000 a year. Accommodation, travel, clothing and food are provided.

Source: Planet Earth (NERC)

Sir David Attenborough talks to SSW at Number 10