Science on the Doorstep
Posted by Science Oxford on July 28, 2011 | comments
Earlier this year, Science Oxford Live teamed up with Rutherford Appleton Laboratory to run ‘The Frontiers Season’ – a jam-packed programme of events and activities highlighting the cutting edge science taking place just outside Oxford.
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) is located on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, near Didcot in Oxfordshire. It’s easy to spot the giant silver ring of the Diamond Light Source, which shares the Harwell campus with RAL, from the A34. RAL is operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), a government body that carries out research in science and engineering. RAL is one of the foremost laboratories of its kind, and not just within the UK – it has a global reputation for excellence. It houses one of the world’s leading laser facilities, runs the ISIS ‘super-microscope’ which enables scientists to study atoms and molecules, operates the largest space department in Europe, and much more.
Every year around 10,000 scientists and engineers use RAL’s facilities. They work on many of the key challenges facing society today – such as energy, the environment, healthcare, security and food security. And in spring 2011, scientists from across a wide range of research at RAL came to Science Oxford Live to tell us about their work.
We heard how scientists at RAL are working on ways of using lasers to generate energy as a possible alternative to running nuclear power stations, and what techniques we could put in place to counteract climate change. We had a whistle-stop tour of the Universe, a back-to-basics introduction to the atom, and discovered how ISIS is being used to look at ways of improving medicine. We were even able to feed our own ideas into ways of tackling global challenges, like terrorism or pollution.
Engineers from RAL also ran a ‘Rickety Rockets’ workshop for families during the Easter holidays. Children put their engineering skills to the test by constructing rockets from spaghetti and marshmallows. Their rockets were then subjected to intense wobbling on a specially made vibration table, which represented the kind of vibration a real space craft needs to withstand when it gets fired into space.
As well as hosting lots of events at Science Oxford, the Frontiers Season was also a great opportunity to highlight the ‘Talking Science’ lectures, RAL’s monthly lectures for public audiences that take place on site.
Working with RAL was a great success, and the scientists who took part did a fantastic job at opening our eyes to the cutting edge research, and crucially important science which is taking place on our doorstep.
If you missed any of these events, you can still watch webcasts of ‘The Age of the Laser’ and ‘Exploring the Universe’ from our webcast archive.
To find out more about RAL and their ‘Talking Science’ series, visit http://www.stfc.ac.uk/Public+and+Schools/4796.aspx.
What do you think?