Live Scientists

Urban Rock Hunting with Dr Brooke Johnson

The story of the Earth is written in the rocks, and as a geologist, I read those rocks to tell that story. This often leads me to remote and exotic places. Like the heart of desolate Australian deserts or to the tops of mountains in the Canadian Rockies. But that story is all around us, too, in the towns and cities we live in. Humans have been using natural rock as building stone for thousands of years, the Great Pyramids of Giza, for example, are made from 50-million-year-old limestone littered with shells from the ancient seas.   Despite the advent of modern building materials like… Read More »Urban Rock Hunting with Dr Brooke Johnson

LIVE talk | How To Create A Planet | 18:30 (UK time), 30 November 2020.

LIVE streaming at YouTube 18:30 (UK time), 30 November 2020. Summary My research focuses on using meteorites to unravel the early evolution of the solar system. Specifically, I am studying how the chaotic disk of dust and gas that existed in our solar system immediately following the ignition of the Sun transformed into an organised collection of orbiting planetary bodies, and the early thermal and chemical evolution of these bodies. I do this by studying the magnetism and chemistry of a variety of extraterrestrial samples.  The Speaker My name is James Bryson, and I am a planetary scientist working in the Department… Read More »LIVE talk | How To Create A Planet | 18:30 (UK time), 30 November 2020.

A University of Manchester Study on Primary Care Services: Participants Needed

A University of Manchester study on continuity of care is looking for members for its Patient and Public Involvement group. We are a team of researchers in The University of Manchester Division of Pharmacy and Optometry and the Institute of Health Policy and Organisation. Changes to how primary care services are delivered are happening that aim to improve patients’ access to a greater range of services. However, we don’t know what impact these changes will have on continuity of care for patients e.g. whether they will affect their ability to see the same clinician if you want or need to.… Read More »A University of Manchester Study on Primary Care Services: Participants Needed

LIVE talk | Moon, Meteorites and More… | 18:30 (UK time), 17 November 2020.

LIVE streaming at YouTube 18:30 (UK time), 17 November 2020. Summary It’s a little over 50 years since Neil Armstrong made “One small step for man” in becoming the first human being to walk on the Moon. The Apollo astronauts did more than just walk on the Moon, they brought 382 kg of Moon rocks back to Earth for scientific study, which proved to be fundamental to our understanding of the Moon.   Apollo samples aren’t the only extra-terrestrial samples we have here on Earth. Join Dr Sarah Crowther to hear about the different types of extra-terrestrial materials we have on… Read More »LIVE talk | Moon, Meteorites and More… | 18:30 (UK time), 17 November 2020.

LIVE talk | The Lost Meteorites of Antarctica | 18:30 (UK time), 9 November 2020.

LIVE streaming at YouTube 18:30 (UK time), 9 November 2020. Summary ‘Meteorites are the only natural source of material from beyond the Earth, providing invaluable evidence of how the Solar System formed and evolved. Over 66% of the total classified meteorites to date have been found in Antarctica. However, iron meteorites are under-sampled (0.7%) in the Antarctic collection compared with worldwide meteorite falls (5.5%).  The team from the University of Manchester spent two austral summers in Antarctica exploring new blue icefield areas for meteorites using several methods. These included developing technology to identify sub-surface iron meteorites, to test the hypothesis that iron-rich meteorites are likely… Read More »LIVE talk | The Lost Meteorites of Antarctica | 18:30 (UK time), 9 November 2020.

Introducing: The Isotope Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry Group at The University of Manchester

How did Earth form? What was the composition of the starting material that made Earth, and how does its composition today differ from that starting material? How is Earth similar to or different from other planets in our Solar System, and how do we explain those similarities or differences?  Earth, our home planet, is a great starting to point to answer questions like these. But Earth is an active planet, we have earthquakes, volcanoes, weather, etc., and the geological record from when it first formed 4.5 billion years ago has been overwritten. To properly answer these questions, and fully understand our Earth and its role in our Solar System, we… Read More »Introducing: The Isotope Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry Group at The University of Manchester

LIVE talk | Early Intervention for Autistic Children | 18:30 (UK time), 20 October 2020.

LIVE streaming at YouTube 18:30 (UK time), 20 October 2020. Summary ‘In this lecture I will introduce you to an approach to the early intervention for children with autism. Because this is a condition arising early in development and enduring usually through the lifespan, this approach focuses on an early intervention focused on the family, to help parents provide the best conditions for the child to develop optimal social communication and adjustment. It works on the basis of our knowledge about how all children develop early social communication and social skills, and applies this to the challenges for families often… Read More »LIVE talk | Early Intervention for Autistic Children | 18:30 (UK time), 20 October 2020.

LIVE talk | Psychedelic Medicine | 18:30 (UK time), 12 October 2020.

LIVE streaming at YouTube 18:30 (UK time), 12 October 2020. Summary Professor Jo Neill will discuss how and why she came to be so committed to psychedelic medicine, and her new projects with Drug Science, Heroic Hearts UK, and the Conservative Drug Policy Reform Group. The Speaker Jo Neill is Professor of Psychopharmacology at the University of Manchester (Division of Pharmacy & Optometry). She is Chair of the Medical Psychedelics Working Group for Drug Science and a committee member, a scientific advisor for Heroic Hearts UK and the Conservative Drug Policy Reform Group. She is co-founder of b-neuro, a University… Read More »LIVE talk | Psychedelic Medicine | 18:30 (UK time), 12 October 2020.

Vascular Dementia: Where the Cardiovascular System Meets the Brain

 Historically, infectious diseases have been at the forefront of public health concern but the rise of advances in health care has meant non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and dementia, are fast becoming the leading health problem of the modern era. By 2050 an estimated 106 million people will be living with dementia (Figure 1).  (Key words in this article are in Bold – find the descriptions in the Terms Explained section at the end of this article).   So What is Dementia?   Dementia is an umbrella term which describes diseases and conditions characterized by decline in cognitive function. There are several misconceptions about dementia, the most common being that it is… Read More »Vascular Dementia: Where the Cardiovascular System Meets the Brain

Activity: DNA Detective

Dr Glenda Beaman has put together this fun DNA Detective activity, suitable for a wide range of ages. In the video of the activity below, one of our own, Katie Sadler, narrates and guides you through it. There are also subtitles available for the video if needed. In this activity, you will learn about a patient’s story, many commonly used genetic terms, and will workout how it all ties together to be able to help the patient…like a DNA detective! Thanks to Oxford University Hospitals, they have made a 2 page activity worksheet that you will need to help you… Read More »Activity: DNA Detective