Further information
Four groups of Imperial researchers are exhibiting their work at The Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition. This free annual event, open to the public, gives visitors the chance to marvel at the smart thinking that’s shaping the world and to meet and fire questions at the scientists behind the research.
There are 20 interactive exhibits at the event. The four involving researchers from Imperial are:
How do shapes fill space?
Researchers from five institutions, including Professor Jeroen Lamb from Imperial’s Department of Mathematics, are studying how space can be filled with shapes and what this can tell about the natural world and medieval art. Their exhibit focuses on the history and art of tiling and how this feeds into the modern mathematics. Starting from ancient Greek geometry and passing through Islamic tiling art it arrives at hyperbolic geometry and the modern theory of aperiodic tilings.
An important aspect of the exhibit is to get people engaged in doing mathematics. To this end there will be a collection of geometry toys, from the commercially available zometool and polydron to laser cut Penrose tiles and polygons.
For more information see: http://www.summerscience.org.uk/09/exhibit/how-do-shapes-fill-space.
Can what happens in the womb last a lifetime?
Researchers at Imperial College London, led by Professor Vivette Glover, are studying the effects of a pregnant woman’s emotional state on her developing fetus. Visitors to this exhibit can see how their stress levels could affect the heart rate of their unborn baby and find out why pregnant women should reduce their anxiety.
Interactive elements of the exhibit include a game that shows how a mother’s stress can increase the heart rate of her unborn baby. Visitors to the exhibit will also be able to touch a real placenta, encased safely in plastic. The placenta is crucial for fetal development and it usually protects the unborn baby from the stress hormone cortisol. However, when the mother is stressed, the placenta becomes less protective and the mother’s cortisol may have an effect on the fetus.
For more information: http://www.summerscience.org.uk/09/exhibit/can-what-happens-in-the-womb-last-a-lifetime.
Quantum of Sol – the next generation of solar cells
Researchers from Imperial College London are developing the next generation of solar panels to harness the sun to provide clean and affordable electricity. This exhibit, led by Dr Ned Ekins-Daukes from the Department of Physics and the Grantham Institute for Climate Change, focuses on a new generation of ‘nano-structured’ millimetre-sized solar cells that could convert the sun’s energy to electricity more than twice as efficiently as current technology.
Visitors to the exhibit will be able to play at being solar power engineers, and use prisms to see how much electrical power can be generated by the different colours within the spectrum of light.
For more information: http://www.summerscience.org.uk/09/exhibit/quantum-of-sol-the-next-generation-of-solar-cells.
From the oldest light to the youngest stars: the Herschel and Planck Missions
Researchers at seven UK institutions, including Imperial, are working with the European Space Agency and other international partners on the Herschel and Planck missions, which are set to revolutionise our knowledge of the Universe.
This exhibit, which Dr Dave Clements (Physics) has helped design, will focus on the two missions to look at light usually blocked by the Earth’s atmosphere. Planck will look at the cosmic microwave background, the relic of the big bang, and how the evolution of the universe has left an imprint on it. Herschel will look at the birth of galaxies and stars, and the building blocks of the planetary systems forming today.
For more information: http://www.summerscience.org.uk/09/exhibit/from-the-oldest-light-to-the-youngest-stars-the-herschel-and-planck-missions.