• Question: What are you worknig at right now

    Asked by thaw499neb on 2 Feb 2024.
    • Photo: Alexander De Bruin

      Alexander De Bruin answered on 2 Feb 2024:


      I’m making a plan for our next generation of Hydrogen Fuel Cell catalyst layers – the thin layer of fancy chemicals that mean you can get electricity from hydrogen and oxygen gases

    • Photo: Rachel Edwards

      Rachel Edwards answered on 2 Feb 2024:


      Right now? I’m revising the thing I’m teaching in 5 minutes, so I can teach it properly!
      The science I’ll be doing later is about how we can absorb sound energy and turn it to heat energy, and then look at that using special cameras, or some new sensors we’re building which use a type of material called a liquid crystal.

    • Photo: Sarah-Jane Potts

      Sarah-Jane Potts answered on 2 Feb 2024:


      I’m working on improving the performance and size of low cost, printable solar panels. It’s a long but very fun project which could helo lead to more affordable energy, with panels that can be fully made in the UK

    • Photo: Martin McCoustra

      Martin McCoustra answered on 2 Feb 2024:


      My group are currently working on two things. The first is looking at how metals like iron and nickel commonly found in space can accelerate the chemical evolution of space towards the chemical inventory we need for the evolution of life. The second is we are developing a new methods of recycling waste plastic using plasma.

    • Photo: Srujani Kolli

      Srujani Kolli answered on 2 Feb 2024:


      I am working on advising the correct dose of medication for patients who take blood thinners. Some people are high risk to have blood clots and they need to take a medication to prevent them from having clots. I tell patients what dose of medication they need after looking at their blood results.

    • Photo: Anitta Chacko

      Anitta Chacko answered on 3 Feb 2024:


      I am working in a lab to find out more about a rare group of diseases called mitochondrial diseases that are caused when the cells that make energy inside us are faulty.

    • Photo: Viviene Dela Cruz

      Viviene Dela Cruz answered on 4 Feb 2024:


      I’m studying how people and machines can communicate in space more securely (think WiFi in space!) 🙂

    • Photo: Harriet Gamble

      Harriet Gamble answered on 5 Feb 2024:


      I am working on designing and building a satellite which will help with climate change research. It has a huge antenna which is 3.6m x 11m; this is roughly the size of 10 ping-pong tables! You can find out more about it here: https://sentiwiki.copernicus.eu/web/rose-l

    • Photo: David Bremner

      David Bremner answered on 5 Feb 2024:


      I’m preparing to spend 2 days in a primary school doing activities relating to Farm to Fork and Net to Plate which looks at the processes involved in getting food from being produced to when it gets into our tummies and the potential impacts on the environment and climate change.

    • Photo: Festus Ejikemeuwa

      Festus Ejikemeuwa answered on 5 Feb 2024:


      I am currently working on a project to improve cyber security in our Operational Technology systems.
      Also working on install a new production plant.

    • Photo: Buddila Wijeyesekera

      Buddila Wijeyesekera answered on 5 Feb 2024:


      I am currently working on a large project focusing on reducing energy consumption and keeping the indoor environment clean at our homes.

    • Photo: Erin Pallott

      Erin Pallott answered on 5 Feb 2024:


      Right now I’m working on staining slides of intestines to look for different types of mucus. I’m also working on a blog post for my science blog, about why it’s important for scientists to talk about their research to the public. This website is a good example of that!

    • Photo: Erica Oliveira

      Erica Oliveira answered on 5 Feb 2024:


      I’m working with same biopsies collected from patients with colorectal tumour. I’m taking the tiny pieces of tumour and trying to grow them in the lab to use to test new treatments.

    • Photo: Jessica McCreery

      Jessica McCreery answered on 5 Feb 2024:


      I am looking at how well children are able to follow and match the movements shown to them on an exercise video. I want to know how well they match the movements and if practising over 8-weeks makes them better.

    • Photo: Bruno Silvester Lopes

      Bruno Silvester Lopes answered on 5 Feb 2024:


      drug resistant bacteria and discovering novel antibiotics!

    • Photo: Kirsty Lindsay

      Kirsty Lindsay answered on 6 Feb 2024:


      I have a few studies at the moment:
      one study is looking at exercise for people who have had babies and need help recovering their pelvic floor muscles ( which help you stop weeing).

      Another study is looking at if we can help astronauts keep their balance on the moon using biofeedback (in this case a special sticky tape called kinesiology tape)

      And another one is looking at our AlterG treadmill ( which uses air-pressure to make you light when you are walking or running) to see how good it is at measuring how people walk compared to another movement based sensors called Xsens.

    • Photo: Hannah Fawcett

      Hannah Fawcett answered on 6 Feb 2024:


      We are working on trying to improve wellbeing support for people that take part in jury duty – hearing a murder case can understandably be quite distressing so we are trying to understand what type of support people need to cope with this.
      We are also looking at the effect that viewing 3D printed replicas of murder victim’s bones can have on jurors – do they help understanding and decision making, or are they too upsetting?

    • Photo: Graeme Barker

      Graeme Barker answered on 6 Feb 2024:


      I’m a chemistry researcher, and my group has two areas of work: firstly, we work alongside colleagues in biology to develop new medical drugs for the treatment of heart and lung inflammation – these are very serious conditions which eventually lead on to things like heart attacks and stroke. We also work to develop new chemical reactions which will enable to faster, cheaper and more environmentally friendly manufacture of drugs.

    • Photo: Sophie Spinks

      Sophie Spinks answered on 6 Feb 2024:


      I am working on a replenishment project to speed up the time it takes to receive an order. We’re hoping to move the items closer to where people need them and use technology to automatically order more when we run low! This will free up more time, make the process easier and make customers happy. It will also reduce the time it takes us to make medicines!

    • Photo: Lydia Eeles

      Lydia Eeles answered on 6 Feb 2024:


      Personally, I am trying to improve my knowledge on permaculture and ecological and botanical functions of different plants. I am hoping to be a part of team that helps to create an eco-lodge in a foreign, tropical country. This is something that is very different to what I have done previously, which is why I am trying to work on increasing my knowlege in this area in my spare time.

    • Photo: Michael Schubert

      Michael Schubert answered on 7 Feb 2024:


      Lots of things! I usually have several projects going on at once. Right now, I am:
      – doing some research about how scientists communicate
      – writing some articles about infectious diseases so that experts can learn more about them
      – teaching some university classes and marking papers to help train new experts
      – and answering questions here on I’m a Scientist!

    • Photo: David McGonigle

      David McGonigle answered on 11 Feb 2024:


      It’s a bit boring but…trying to work out why some software that used by other people in my field has really janky values for some of the things that I study. Long story short: the conductivities of your brain, scalp, etc, which is crucial when you want to, well, inject electricity into someone’s brain…(!)

    • Photo: Liv Gaskill

      Liv Gaskill answered on 12 Feb 2024:


      Right now I’m working on launching a newsletter about science, and I’m also editing an episode of the pop-science podcast I co-host!

    • Photo: Kirsty Ross

      Kirsty Ross answered on 19 Feb 2024:


      Currently adding lots of chats for British Science Week to my diary. In terms of work, I’m thinking about projects that I’d like to start, but making sure I don’t take on too much and burn out as a result. Downside of too much enthusiasm!

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