Articles

EUSci magazine is released three times a year, with a wide range of themes covering diverse subjects from across science. Suitable articles that don't make it into the print magazine will usually still be edited and displayed online. Have a look at what other people have written, and submit a piece yourself!

Dippy Eggs and soldiers

Submitted by admin on Sat, 2011-04-09 01:31
Jessica Davies looks at the science behind cooking an old favourite

In the past decade, cooking has been hailed as an art form, with a focus on taste and presentation. However, to produce palatable food there is arguably a scientific aspect to cooking as well. Is a kitchen not just a lab where, instead of clinical white coats, the scientists wear aprons? And do recipes not draw many parallels to protocols? This got me thinking, as a biochemist, about the science involved in turning popular ingredients, flour, yeast and eggs, into the ultimate breakfast treat: dippy eggs and soldiers.

For the soldiers

Flour is the key component in bread; its composition is dependent on the type of grain and the milling processes. Bread is one of the world’s oldest recorded baked foods, dating back from the Stone Age. To make leaven bread, yeast must be included to make the dough rise. Without yeast, bread would resemble hard, flat little cakes. Read more »

A Summer of Science

Submitted by admin on Sat, 2011-04-09 01:31
Radek Oborny describes his placement at the John Innes Centre

Summer internships in a laboratory are very important to undergraduate science students as they provide practical experience that is highly sought after by employers. They are also a great way to spend eight to ten weeks of your holidays. In the summer of 2010, I was fortunate to attend a two-month work placement at the John Innes Centre (JIC) in East Anglia, alongside other undergraduates from the UK and abroad.

The JIC was established in 1910 in London as a fruit breeding research station. Now it is located in Norwich, where it forms a large complex of labs and greenhouses. The JIC hosts many experts in the areas of plant genetics, microbiology and biochemistry and carries out high-quality research. Read more »

Standing up for Science Media Workshop

Submitted by admin on Sat, 2011-04-09 01:31
Andrew Cross explores science’s portrayal in the media

The idea of interacting with media outlets, and using them as a platform to communicate research to the wider public is often a daunting prospect for early career researchers. They lack exposure to the machinations of the media, and examples of poorly reported science, as well as limited media and PR training combined with often irrational fears leave them insufficiently prepared to deal with media. Consequently, young researchers often neglect the media as a very effective stage for communicating their science. Read more »

Should We Try to Defeat Nature, and Win?

Submitted by admin on Sat, 2011-04-09 01:31
Edward Duca goes back in history to Chairman Mao’s China: a case study on humanity’s relentless drive to defeat nature

Many human ideologies presume that we can manipulate nature without cataclysmic consequences. Yet history begs that we try to live in harmony with nature, and within our means, but who wants to live with this hippie nonsense? Zero growth? Sustainability? Do these ideologies drive nations? Let us cast back to the late 1950s– early 1960s China, to the period in history when Mao Zedong’s war against nature and the scientific establishment killed 36 million people. Read more »

Putting Our Heads Together

Submitted by admin on Sat, 2011-04-09 01:31
Catie Lichten explores how games are fuelling a computational revolution

A surprising resource is revolutionizing how we solve problems and get information. It is available in great abundance and can be harvested for almost nothing. This resource is the simple power of human thought.

We all know that computers can beat us at chess, find enormous prime numbers and remember our friends’ birthdays. If a task involves only calculations and large quantities of information, then a computer is perfect for the job. On the other hand, ask your computer to find the photos of a lovely peacock that you took on your last holiday, and it’s likely to throw in a picture of an elderly relative. Of course, any of your friends could do a much better job, but only if you can persuade them to bother. The emerging field of human computation is doing just that by using computer games to harness human brainpower. Read more »

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