News and Events
I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to say goodbye to the people I have met here at the forum. I have to be honest, I came here slightly skeptical and worried I would feel like an outsider. I am so happy to be proven wrong. The friends I made at the forum are … Read more
We started the day off with specialist lectures. I had the pleasure of listening to Dr. Gemma Bale, a Research Associate in the Biomedical Optics Research Laboratory at University College London speak about the research she is conducting. She is working on the development of a new type of medical imaging that uses near-infrared waves to … Read more
Hi everyone, Today had fun moments, but had a melancholy undertone. We started the day with the “Participant’s Forum”, where a few representative students argued for and against three hot topics in science. Topics included “Should individuals or institutions get credit for research?”, “Should we fund research with no specific goal in mind?”, and “Is … Read more
This morning we woke up and attended a lecture from Professor Mark McCaughrean who told us about the European Space Agency (ESA) and the work they have been doing over the past few years. I found the lecture really interesting, especially enjoying some of the films that he showed us. One in particular showed us … Read more
Hi Everyone, I can’t believe that LIYSF is about to end. Well, I can…my body is very tired, but the weeks have flown by. I’ll definitely miss the new friends I’ve made, and hope to see them again someday. Today started with our final set of specialist lectures. I learned about emotional recognition in computers … Read more
Hi Everyone, Today, I visited Cambridge. As is LIYSF tradition, we waited around for a while once we arrived. Impatient, we asked the staff what we were waiting for, and learned that we were waiting for tour guides. We complained, as we’d hoped to spend as much time exploring the city as possible. However, our … Read more
Hi Everyone, Today started with hearing from Mark McCaughrean of the European Space Agency (ESA). He described several missions from both the past and the future of the ESA. I found his summary of the Rosetta mission particularly intriguing. As you may have heard, the probe, Rosetta, flew near a comet, then dropped a second … Read more
I had a comment about my lack-luster titles, so hopefully this one meets higher standards. *cough cough* The critic knows who they are. Started today off with a lecture on hydrogen fuel cells. I am a huge supporter of clean energy and new ways to improve the global climate and found the talk inspiring. From … Read more
Hi everyone, The days are starting to blur together now. Lack of sleep and constant activity is definitely reducing my ability to do…anything, really. Such as post blog posts on time. Or remember what happened on which day (I wrote a paragraph about the Culham Fusion Centre before realizing I’d already written about it) But … Read more
Hi everyone, Today, I visited the Culham Fusion Centre. Unlike many Nuclear Fusion research centres, they accepted the joke that “Nuclear Fusion has been 30 years away for the last 60 years”. However, they provided an explanation: Material science is bottlenecking progress, not the underlying physics, so all we need is more engineers working on … Read more