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Asked by to Daren, Lynne, Phillip, Simon on 13 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
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Daren Fearon answered on 13 Jun 2014:
Antibiotic resistance is becoming a big problem for all of mankind. Without effective ways of treating bacterial infections people could die from very simple things that we could previously cure. My work involves trying to find new ways to kill bacteria so that we can continue to treat infections.
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Phillip Manning answered on 13 Jun 2014:
Many great discoveries in science are simply discovered by accident. There is no preordained route to enlightenment in science. With this in mind, ALL science is core, as you never know where that next great discovery might be made or by what discipline of science.
The great scientist and author Isaac Asimov put it best, “The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not “Eureka!” (I found it!) but ‘That’s funny…”
I love that quote and it is often so true of major discoveries!
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anon answered on 14 Jun 2014:
We all know that carbon dioxide causes global warming and that global warming is bad for the earth. By inventing better MOFs we’ll be able to stop carbon dioxide being released into the air from places like power stations and cars so will slow down global warming, helping to stop disasters like flooding, famine and drought. Pretty good for mankind!
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Lynne Thomas answered on 15 Jun 2014:
The aim of my work is to make new materials which could be used in new electronics for your phone or your computer, or to make things that change colour as and when you want them to which you could use for colour changing paint on your car! We’re also trying to find new ways to improve how well medicines are absorbed into your body when you take a tablet. Or materials which open and close when we shine light on them or apply an electric current through them. That could mean that we could trap gases inside them or things like drug molecules and we can just let them in and out when we want to.
So hopefully one day, some of the materials that we’ve made will be in your pockets!
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Simon Redfern answered on 16 Jun 2014:
Some of my work is helping to explain why we can measure Earth’s climate, stretching back millions of years, from records locked into the shells of plankton, corals and shellfish. These measurements help us understand how climate changes in the past have affected the planet, and help make predictions for future climate change more accurate.
At a completely different level, I am also looking at the properties of minerals deep in the interior of planets, at very high temperatures and pressures. One of these projects is actually part-funded by Rolls Royce, because the properties of metals in the core of the Earth are similar in some ways to the properties of the turbine blades of jet engines, which have to perform at extremely high temperatures, approaching their melting point!
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