Science Nation Army goes viral

A video produced last July by a group of MSc in Science Communication students featuring researchers from the Department of Bioengineering's BLAST lab has recently gone viral.

Using real footage and sounds from the BLAST laboratory, a team of MSc in Science Communication students working on a project called ‘Inside Knowledge’ have reconstructed the White Stripes song Seven Nation Army from scratch and called it Science Nation Army.

The BLAST lab considers the behaviour of the human skeleton under high impulse loading (such that is seen in a blast environment). Their interest in such behaviour stems from the ever increased casualties due to blast from recent conflicts. Since World War I, explosions have accounted for over 70% of all injuries in conflict. With the development of improved personnel protection of the torso, improved medical care and faster aeromedical evacuation, casualties are surviving with more severe injuries to the extremities. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) has become the leading cause of death of UK and Coalition troops. Developing improved protective measures has become a core research focus in reducing the injury burden of the combat soldier.

The video is a unique piece of science communication which makes music from investigations into soldier casualty reduction and surgical reconstruction improvement. It was posted on YouTube in July but went viral this week and at the time of writing has received over 380,000 hits.