Mercury #11

CLyde space

Martian Drilling

Spaceport Battle

Scotland’s space start up with big ambitions on the horizon.

University of Glasgow gains new funding to explore the Martian surface.

Could Scotland be the UK’s gateway to the universe?

infinite

wonder

2 ISSUE 11 : SPACE

SCOTLAND in

Dr Stephen Breslin Chief Executive Glasgow Science Centre

Our mission to new frontiers is now a key Scottish industry

space

?

Scotland in space? The thought of a tartan interstellar mission will certainly seem farfetched to some.

But they shouldn’t scoff too soon. In fact, space research and technology is fast becoming a key industry, and a highlyskilled one at that.

Research centres at University of Glasgow, University of Strathclyde and at Dundee have attracted some strong “frontier” research funding, and close participation with the private sector, thanks to a strong and growing track record.

And from amongst the ranks of long-established electronics company who are now operating within the space market, headline-grabbing entrepreneurs have started their own space-centred businesses.

The most obvious example is Clyde Space, a Glasgow-based company that design and operate “cube satellites” for a range of private and academic clients.

In this edition of Mercury we take a look at Clyde Space as it attracts international interest in its range of “CubeSats”, fresh from the launch of the UK Space Agency’s first mission in July this year.

3 It is truly fascinating technology, each small cube loaded with sensors and other electronics that can carry out a range of experiments in space for a range of research clients.

There are many applications, for example in communications technology or in areas where the behaviour of materials in gravity-free environments can be monitored.

That capability attracts clients who could not even consider space research by conventional means, because of its much higher costs. The CubeSat promises to revolutionise the market.

Recent research into the Scottish “space sector” is reputed to have come as a surprise to the people who commissioned it. First of all, there turned out to be many more people – physicists, engineers, academics and so on – engaged with space, even where their core activity might be in completely separate markets.

Secondly, many of those academics and private sector researchers had little or no idea about who their peers may be in Scotland.

Scotland now has a “space aggregator”, Callum Norrie, whose first task since appointment has been to identify who is engaged in space research and how they might work together better in future.

Why is this important? Well space research tends to be highly-skilled and will soak up skilled engineers and physicists, for example. Space contracts tend to be crosssubsidised by large national and multinational groups, such as the European Space Agency (ESA). This means budgets tend to be well funded, and attractive on an international basis.

Apart from CubeSat technology, where is our expertise in Scotland? Well examples include Dundee – where the standard communications “language” for space transport and labs was written and developed – and Strathclyde, which regularly sends groups of students to study at NASA. This Mercury looks at what Scottish researchers and companies are doing “in space”, and why the sky is no longer the limit. ||

For more information visit: www.glasgowsciencecentre.org/blog

Recent research into the Scottish “space sector” is reputed to have come as a surprise to the people who commissioned it.

4 ISSUE 11 : SPACE

Clyde Space RACE

THE

The Scottish space industry took a major step forward this year with the launch of Ukube-1, the first satellite to be fully assembled in Scotland.

Alasdair Gow Clyde Space

In Scotland? A satellite built in Scotland? It surely was, and the company behind the scheme is Glasgow based Clyde Space.

Clyde Space’s increasingly high-profile work has established Scottish research in the public mind as we wonder at the new generation of space related science activity.

Frontier technology – packed into a cube

The industry is still reckoned to be relatively small, valued at around £20m for the private sector. Most companies are start-ups by engineers such as Craig Clark at Clyde Space, or spin-outs from Scottish universities.

But the sector itself is growing in Europe. And the UK Space Agency has made several spending commitments that have been welcomed by both the UK and Scottish governments.

Clyde Space is making its name by being small, or rather by its satellite hardware being miniaturised much more than has ever been achieved, delivering the ability to conduct space-based experiments at a fraction of the normal cost.

So what exactly is Ukube-1? Basically it is among a new raft of satellites known as “CubeSats”, tiny structures using miniaturised technology. They allow scientists to conduct tests for commercial clients and academics much more cost-effectively by sharing spacecraft and rockets.

Examples include imaging and data communications technologies.

The launch of Ukube-1 in Kazakhstan – piggy-backing on a Russian Soyuz-2 rocket – was a major step forward for Clyde Space. The company employs 35 people currently and is expanding its base in Glasgow. It predicts sales of £3m this year, and is currently has over fifty ongoing projects including two complete missions, one of which is part-funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) “We are one of the market leaders in nano satellite hardware,” comments Alasdair Gow, spacecraft sales engineer.

“It is a truly disruptive technology. Our CubeSat can operate at just one per cent of the cost of a conventional satellite,” he adds.

“We are the only company in our field working to the quality standard ISO 9001. From the point of view of a huge player like NASA, we can produce more cheaply than they can themselves.”

5 A typical CubeSat is measured in 10cm x 10cm x 10cm Cubes, this being called a 1U CubeSat. Alasdair says most CubeSats are 3U and measure 10 x 10 x 30cm. Each carries a payload of experiments, paid for by space agencies and private companies engaged in a range of technologies covering defence, energy, maritime and communications industries.

“Where a conventional experiment in space might cost £10 million, £50m or even £100m, we can deliver the same service at a cost of between £50,000 - £300,000. That is revolutionary,” says Alasdair.

Clyde Space designs and manufactures its CubeSats in Glasgow, retaining the process from beginning to end. Founded by engineer Craig Clark nearly a decade ago, it has been in the CubeSat business since its beginning, its breakthrough came in 2010 when the UK Space Agency selected it to work on the Ukube-1 project.

Alasdair, a physicist by background, says that the Clyde Space team includes a range of engineers and scientists with specialisms in electronics, mechanics and systems engineering. “Our team are drawn from all over.

The majority went to Scottish universities and we have people from Italy and the United States,” he explains.

“We have a surprising degree of space engineering research in Scotland now, helped by the recent Satellite Applications Catapult investment at Strathclyde.”

CubeSat developers expect there to be ongoing development of the nanosatellite concept, resulting in constellations of satellites housing dozens of experiments. “People could soon be launching around 50 CubeSats, so the constellation concept is a real one. Eventually they will operate at higher orbits, and therefore last longer in space, so that longer term experiments of up to five years’ duration could happen,” believes Alasdair.

Clyde Space is currently researching improvements in tackling the growing problem of space ‘debris’, looking at how satellite craft can be taken through a safe “de-orbit” process. This type of work is tipped to be a major source of commercial activity in space in the near future.

The company takes its name from the river which became world famous for its ships. A century ago Clyde shipbuilders produced half of all the ships on the high seas. Its skilled craftsmen were envied worldwide as they raced to produce ever-newer designs and launch bigger and faster ships.

Now Clyde Space engineers are working on a new generation of vessels for a very different purpose, building miniature satellites that enable leading edge research thousands of miles away in space. ||

We have a surprising degree of space engineering research in Scotland now.

6 ISSUE 11 : SPACE

Why is important to

Researchers race for the stars

Scottish universities and businesses are involved in leading-edge research and development of ideas across the spectrum.

So, 45 years after the first Moon landing, and nearly 55 after Uri Gagarin’s first manned space flight, why should space work be of importance today? Didn’t it go out of fashion with the Apollo programme and the Challenger disaster?

The reasons are simple. While the headline-grabbing space adventures are firmly in the past, there is a far greater level of research, development and manufacturing activity going on.

Worldwide, space technology not only covers the high-profile activities of Mars exploration and deep space research. It is very big business, and it thrives on new technology.

Space research covers satellites, propulsion, astronomy, and much more. Scottish universities and companies are at the leading edge of technologies that include miniaturisation of electronics, orbit technology and space communications.

The sector is quickly becoming an important source of income for high-tech specialist companies as well as universities.

And it promises to provide great career opportunities for school children engaged in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects.

A great deal more space research has been going on, in addition to all that high-profile activity. In 2010, the UK Space Agency was created, taking over responsibility for all Government policy and funding activity from the former British National Space Centre.

7

The European Space Agency – a major customer for Scottish space researchers – has a significant presence and a £4 billion budget, engaged in numerous space projects. The UK is the fourth largest contributor, behind France, Germany and the Netherlands.

Although space is largely operated on partnerships among the major players (Europe, US, Russia), each has their own specialist interest. Europe has various major projects involving propulsion, orbital research and new generation rockets for example.

Space and near-space offer all sorts of opportunities. We tend to read and hear about the high-profile ones, like deep space and asteroids. But from a Scottish perspective some low-orbit technology could bring great advances, for example in geophysical research, the identification of oil and gas reserves, fisheries and coastal protection.

The potential of space research is significant for Scotland.

Currently, an assessment is underway into the likely location of a UK spaceport. Six of the eight potential sites are located in Scotland. One day millionaire space tourists may be queuing up to be launched into space from somewhere around the Scottish coast….. ||

For more information visit: www.glasgowsciencecentre.org/blog

...great career opportunities for school children engaged in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects.

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Real

space

enterprise

Callum Norrie Scottish Space Network

Scotland’s Space Man has his feet on the ground

Callum Norrie has a dream job in the Scottish space industry.

His role is to bring together the engineers and scientists involved in the burgeoning sector across Scotland, and to strengthen its links with the space-world as a whole.

The hope is that his endeavours will help cement that industry as something bigger than the sum of its parts, with companies and researchers working together on specific projects and ideas.

Callum, who has worked in the space and related industries for 20 years both in Scotland and continental Europe, is not exactly starting from scratch.

A recent analysis for Scottish Enterprise revealed a growing presence in the space sector, according to the man who was appointed “integrator” by the Scottish Space Network in early 2014.

The network, funded by the Scottish Government through Scottish Enterprise, has been created in response to a growing realisation that the space market is huge, and growing.

Universities including Glasgow, Strathclyde, Heriot-Watt and Dundee have long-standing specialisms in space research. But until recently it was less well known that several companies either based in Scotland or with a significant presence here, also have customers in the sector.

“The experience of the space industry in Scotland is similar to that of a number of countries,” explains Callum.

“It is typically common for space related activity to take up between 10-20% of a larger company’s overall activities. So for example, MESL Microwave and other significant companies in Scotland will be about there.”

However, he adds: “It is also the case in a lot of countries that these space businesses don’t have a very high profile.”

That may have been true for many years. Space technology seemed like something that was done by someone else, far away. The US and Russian space agencies were engaged in decades of one-upmanship: the first orbit, the first Moon landing, the International Space Station and so on.

9 So where stands Scotland ? Callum describes one Scottish Enterprise meeting he attended back in 2010 as a “wake up call”. Previously working at the European Space Research and Technology Centre, he heard around 20 three-minute pitches from academics and engineers making presentations about their work.

“Not many of us knew each other, or anything about each other’s work,” explains Callum. “Most were Scottish players yet they were unaware of their sphere in Scotland – they didn’t know about each other’s presence or their work.”

He was encouraged by the quality of knowledge, and the research going on within Scottish universities. However, today he believes that the space sector is still not as big as it should be in Scotland, given her expert capabilities.

“There is certainly a lot of potential. One of the things that makes us think it could really take off is that there are high calibre companies operating here, as well as university researchers,” reasons Callum.

“Those companies here are very lean and efficient. They have had to go out and fight for every penny they earned – as have the academics. That balance of entrepreneurs and academics would suggest there is room for growth.”

He cites as an example Clyde Space, that has grabbed the headlines and started to grow significantly since taking a leading role in developing ‘CubeSat’ technology (see separate article).

“Clyde Space is a fantastic business. There is good reason to think that there will be a number of orbital cube space offerings and they are really well-positioned within that sector. Their activity will make Scotland the prime place for ‘CubeSat’ activity,” says Callum.

Callum is a qualified physicist who worked two long stints with ESTEC in the Netherlands, as well as doing a PhD in laser technology and working at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh. He was appointed to his new role in May 2014 to assess the capability of the group of people and companies in Scotland, and to help them to build on that potential by working together.

“I’ve been very encouraged by what I have seen. If you want to get into the space game, the one phrase that is important is “new technology”. Scotland with its core skills in engineering and science is a remarkable source of this. New electronic components, new instrument concepts, new sensors and so on.

These are the foundations for growing market share.”

“I have to help them to develop strategies with the existing Scottish Space Network, essentially bringing together the players, pulling the space sector together with each other, and also with the UK and European space agencies, and world science.

“Research and development (R&D) in space is global, in terms of customer and partner. We really have an exciting future in Scotland.” ||

For more information visit: www.glasgowsciencecentre.org/blog

If you want to get into the space game, the one phrase that is important is “new technology”.

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Space

Institute Professor Richard Brown Strathclyde Space Institute

New Space “hub” brings Scottish expertise together

LaunCh A new centre which aims to enable industry to tap into the burgeoning space sector has been launched at the University of Strathclyde.

The Scottish Centre of Excellence in Satellite Applications is one of three “hubs” to be developed by the Satellite Applications Catapult, a UK network of technology and innovation companies.

The Centre will work with experts from the universities of Edinburgh and Dundee, as well as the private sector. It started work in early 2014 alongside the university’s Strathclyde Space Institute.

The Institute was created in order to bring Strathclyde’s various expertise together. It includes: • The Advanced Space Concepts Laboratory, an award-winning research group undertaking frontier research on visionary space systems • The Centre for Future Air-Space Transportation Technology, which investigates the technology required for future highspeed air travel and access-to-space systems • The Space Mechatronic Systems Technology Laboratory, which advances research in space-related robotics technology • The Centre for Space Science and Applications, which works on space physics problems • The Scottish Space School, which aims to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers by highlighting the career opportunities available to young people.

11 Professor Richard Brown explains that the aim of pulling the various disciplines together has been to give Strathclyde’s overall space activity greater focus, and also to ensure that researchers share their expertise to greatest effect.

“Researchers are looking at real issues in space where a scientific breakthrough could have great impact,” he says.

“For example, the Advanced Space Concepts Lab looks at different uses of space. Could we build a satellite that could hover over the poles, in order to identify real trends in polar weather change?”

“Can we find ways to track space debris, which is becoming a significant problem after nearly 60 years of putting machines into space? How can we deal with asteroids and natural debris – could we learn to deflect or destroy them?”

“Bringing together people from engineering, physics and so on can foster new ideas and new approaches. That has been our aim at Strathclyde.”

Prof. Brown believes that Scottish researchers are gaining respect in the space field, as Europe commits more resources to a range of work in space. Apart from achieving new technological innovation via the work of the European Space Agency and numerous academic institutions, there are a growing number of commercial applications.

“Scotland at the moment is punching well above its weight. We have a critical mass of research capability that is unrivalled in many other countries.”

He believes that the new “catapult” investment will extend Scotland’s reach in research. “It helps us develop real downstream capabilities and to use that technology in everyday life.”

“For example, GPS advances can help us to use renewable energy technologies more effectively. We can improve wind measurement in areas like the North Sea, and that offers significant improvements to the energy sector.”

The next generation of potential space scientists are catered for by Strathclyde Space School. Since its launch in 2002 more than 1,600 S5 high school pupils have taken part in the summer school, and the university believes around half of them are now employed in science and technology.

This autumn the latest 10 students will visit NASA’s facility at Houston as part of an annual learning journey. ||

For more information visit: www.glasgowsciencecentre.org/blog

We have a critical mass of research capability that is unrivalled in many other countries.”

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Mars

rocks

Glasgow-based Mars research wins £4m

Space researchers at the University of Glasgow have won nearly £4m in research funding for two leading-edge projects.

The Space Glasgow group, which pulls together specialists in science, engineering, physics and astronomy, is leading two projects which have been selected for funding by the European Commission.

The projects cover solar flares and the exploration of Mars – two areas of science at the forefront of space research.

Dr. Lyndsay Fletcher and Dr Nicolas Labrosse of the School of Physics and Astronomy will investigate the physics of solar flares, and the School of Engineering’s Dr. Patrick Harkness and Prof.

Margaret Lucas will build a new type of drill tool to extract and contain samples from the surface of Mars.

The solar flares team will collect, synthesise and analyse data from satellite and earthbound observations of solar flares.

Solar flares are energetic outbursts of solar radiation. Mid-sized flares can release energy equivalent to 100 million megatons of TNT in just a few minutes, most of which ultimately turns into electromagnetic radiation.

“This project will allow us to combine ultra-high detail observation of solar flare events with advanced modelling to shed light on the way a flare’s energy is stored, released, and converted into other forms,” explains Dr Fletcher.

The research will feed into preparations for major planned projects such as the Inouye Solar Telescope and the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter Mission, which is expected to start beaming back solar images and spectra from the inner solar system around 2019.

For the Mars mission, a research consortium will build a drilling tool that can take and store samples from the surface of Mars.

“The Martian surface has features that look like dried up riverbeds, suggesting that the planet may have been much wetter in the past,” says Dr Harkness.

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The Martian surface has features that look like dried up river-beds, suggesting that the planet may have been much wetter in the past.

“Samples of the surface rocks would be extremely useful to develop our understanding of how similar Mars might have been to the Earth and how the planets have diverged.”

“We will build a tool that can core-drill a sample and then seal it inside the coring bit itself, so that the bit can serve as a sample return capsule. Planetary drilling is difficult because the low gravity makes it difficult to apply the large forces that are normally used to shatter rock on Earth, while the need to preserve the samples means that the rock temperature must be kept close to ambient.”

“Once we have the samples, they cannot be returned directly to Earth because of the risk – however remote – that they could contain pathogens dangerous to our planet. They must be sealed inside a container that will only be opened in a secure lab.”

The device will use high frequency vibrations to shatter the rock and allow the coring bit to progress. It will be field tested at one of the most Mars-like places on Earth, the permafrost of Devon Island in Canada’s Baffin Bay, in summer 2016. ||

For more information visit: www.glasgowsciencecentre.org/blog

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THE

spaceport

Battle Scotland leads the race in the battle for the UK’s first spaceport

LLANBEDR AIRPORT

Scotland is leading the race for selection as the home for the UK’s planned “spaceport”, with six of the eight short-listed sites.

A spaceport – similar to an airport but designed to accommodate high powered craft – is seen as a potential north European centre for space tourism as well as low-orbit scientific flights.

The UK Space Agency announced the short-list in July, and has begun a detailed assessment, with an announcement due by 2016.

The £50m spaceport is intended to emulate a similar centre in New Mexico, USA, anticipating a real market in “space tourism” by 2030.

Scotland’s six sites are: • Glasgow Prestwick International Airport • Campbeltown Airport at Machrihanish, Argyll • Stornoway Airport, Isle of Lewis • RAF Leuchars • RAF Lossiemouth • Kinloss military barracks They will compete with two other UK sites at Llanbedr in Wales and Newquay Cornwall Airport.

NEWQUAY CORNWALL AIRPORT

15 STORNOWAY AIRPORT

RAF LOSSIEMOUTH

KINLOSS BARRACKS

RAF LEUCHARS CAMPBELTOWN AIRPORT

PRESTWICK AIRPORT

So what is a spaceport? Similar to an airport, it provides a base for spacecraft and the related maintenance services.

“There are arguments favouring just about all of the Scottish sites,” commented one observer with experience of the space research industry.

“For example, Prestwick would be the obvious place if proximity to the avionics industry was important, and also arguably the best for a tourist-based investment.”

“Alternatively, both Campbeltown and some of the military sites have very long runways, an important factor for spacecraft.”

“Again, if the preference was to be away from major population centres, Campbeltown, Stornoway and others would qualify. It really depends on the balance of criteria, and the overall view to e taken by the space agency during the assessment period.”

If the spaceport is selected and started operations in 2016, the agency believes that the first sub-orbital flight could occur within two years, and that the first sub-orbital space plane satellite launch would take place in 2020. Rocket engine testing for the orbital space plane would occur in 2026, with the plane being operational within four years. ||

For more information visit: www.glasgowsciencecentre.org/blog

16 ISSUE 11 : SPACE

NEW FRontier Steve Parkes Scottish Space Network

The SpaceWire developer discusses future projects

Pioneer Steve Parkes is something of a pioneer in Scottishbased space research.

As an academic researcher at the University of Dundee, Dr Parkes is a leading example of cross-disciplinary partnership and collaboration involving higher education, business and international agencies.

An engineer, Dr Parkes led a team that developed SpaceWire: officially that is a “spacecraft on-board data-handling network”. In reality it is better known as the “Internet in space”.

SpaceWire was authored by Steve Parkes more than a decade ago. It is the means by which data is communicated around and between spacecraft, and is now used in more than 100 craft. The director of his university’s Space Technology Centre, he led a spin-out company, STAR-Dundee, back in 2002.

Today he is involved directly in leading edge programmes involving chip design for projects that are studying the chemical content of the upper atmosphere – developing, testing and delivering state of the art components to improve our understanding of space.

He appreciates the irony of being involved in the “low profile” end of space research. Just as the work of pioneering researchers at STAR-Dundee and elsewhere climbs to new levels of sophistication and achievement, so space has become of less interest to the general media.

“If we send scientific spacecraft up there, the media is generally less interested because there are no people going up with it,” he observes. “So there was always more interest in the Moon landings, or the International Space Station and so on.”

“And, typically, we are more obsessed with failure rather than success. For example, Beagle 2 (an experimental UK Mars lander) is seen as a failure because that part of a much bigger programme didn’t work. Yet the rest of the Mars Express programme, of which Beagle 2 represented less than 10 per cent, was an absolute success!”

17

Parkes retains his massive enthusiasm for space research. He says that the only limit to STAR-Dundee and other similar bodies is the number of qualified graduates available to them.

“Research of this kind is incredibly exciting. Our main limit is engineers – graduates, post graduates and PhDs.” “The whole of engineering is a major growth area across the UK. Being in engineering or science is incredibly creative.

With science you are looking at what might happen, and with engineering you try and make it happen.”

He points to significant project such as the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission, where a robotic space probe was launched in 2004 in an effort to study a massive comet, and met it in space more than 10 years later. Rosetta, which has sent back massive amounts of data from Mars and other areas of space during its lifetime, has now transmitted previouslyunknown data about the make-up of the comet.

“This has been a really fantastic project, which has drawn on all types of skills and expertise,” says Parkes. “The calculations supporting orbits and swing-bys of the craft throughout its journey are immense, and the engineering effort has been just amazing.”

Today he has been involved in developing the next generation of spacecraft technology, SpaceFibre, which delivers high speed networking and is still compatible with STAR-Dundee’s original SpaceWire technology. His team is also installing SpaceWirebased communications technology on to system chips.

To speak to Steve Parkes is to speak to a genuine space enthusiast. His experience should inspire students tempted to enter science or engineering subjects.

Discussion of his current projects involves references to gravity waves, sounding rockets and atmospheric science. One current project involves quantum diode lasers and could result in vast improvements in weather forecasting capability and the study of climate change.

The pioneer stays busy. From Dundee there are projects reach across the UK (including London and Leeds) and further afield. ||

For more information visit: www.star-dundee.com

“Research of this kind is incredibly exciting. Our main limit is engineers – graduates, post graduates and PhDs”

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THE

Interview Top UK science communicator and broadcaster Jim Al-Khalili visits Glasgow Science Centre this autumn to lead our annual “Question of Science” event.

Jim is Professor of Theoretical Physics and Chair in the Public Engagement in Science at the University of Surrey. He has hosted several BBC documentaries, and is a frequent commentator about science.

Jim-Al-Kahlili Theorectical Physicist and Broadcaster

Mercury asked Jim a series of questions about science and its importance to every day life, and why we need more students.

Mercury: Why is science important to Scotland and the UK ?

Jim: The funding of broad science education, scientific research and technology is absolutely vital in today’s world. Any knowledge-based, high tech economy, which is basically the whole of the developed world, that doesn’t invest in science, engineering and technology will quickly be left behind economically.

M: Why is it important to encourage students in the science, technology, engineering and math subjects at school age?

J: Having a broad education in the arts, humanities and sciences is just as important as ever for everyone. But in the 21st century, with its rapid scientific progress and our world becoming increasingly dependent on technology, as well as so many global problems facing humanity that require solutions only science and engineering can offer, we cannot afford for the younger generation not to be scientifically literate.

M: Where are the opportunities for young people considering a science career?

Professor Al-Khalili will be guest of honour at Glasgow Science Centre’s Question of Science Dinner and Quiz, on Thursday October 23rd. He follows in the footsteps of previous hosts Brian Cox, Sir Robert Winston and Dara O’Briain. Jim will fill the evening with anecdotes and accounts of the fun, strange and fascinating world of bringing science to the masses.

J: Absolutely limitless. We see these days so many bright young university graduates in the arts and humanities with good degrees from top universities who cannot find work.

On the other hand, the UK still has a shortfall of about 1 million scientists and engineers.

So whether you go to university to study a STEM subject, or you follow a more vocational pathway and choose an apprenticeship, or anything in between, the options are huge.

I always say that with a physics degree you can follow pretty much any career because your problem-solving skills and logical thinking can be applied everywhere. My students have gone on to teaching, research, consultancy, finance, law, medicine...anything.

M: Can you tell us something of your own career that might inspire a young person to enter the science field?

J: I feel very lucky. I do something I love and get paid for it. I fell in love with science as a teenager and haven’t looked back. In fact, I sometimes wonder why everyone isn’t fascinated by the Universe and our place in it. The big questions we are faced, whether about how our existence, our health and happiness or the problems that face our species, will not be answered by religions, but by a rational and scientific understanding of the nature of reality.

M: Name your top three areas of scientific research, in terms of their potential in your opinion?

J: I would say: • climate change research • synthetic biology and its applications in medicine

To book contact Caitlin McCusker

0141 420 5005 caitlin.mccusker@glasgowsciencecentre.org

• quantum technologies There are many others of course, such as stem cell research, neuroscience, GM, graphene, genomics. The list is long. ||

19 October 4th – 12th

World Space Week focuses this year on the role of GPS in our lives.

October Holidays October 11th-19th

October School holidays with a range of practical science activities taking place at GSC to further our mission of science engagement.

Question of Science 2014 with Jim Al Khalili 23rd October 2014

Join theoretical Physicist, Professor Jim Al Khalili, and the Science Centre team at Question of Science Dinner in October.

Dine on a sumptuous meal, hear an inspiring talk from Professor Jim and battle it out with other teams to be crowned Question of Science Quiz winners.

October 2014

Google launches Science Fair 2015 call for entries

PCR Workshops 5th November

In conjunction with MRC virologists, secondary biology students use cutting edge equipment to diagnose virus infections.

Who Needs Science?

12th November

Careers event with the emphasis on secondary students and outlining the range and scope of careers in STEM subjects

Teacher Open Day January 15th

Open afternoon for teachers to meet our Education team and sample the GSC education programme.

UNESCO World Radio Day 13th Feb 2015

As radio continues to evolve in the digital age, it remains the medium that reaches the widest audience worldwide

FOR YOUR

Google Science Fair 2015

DATESDIARY

World Space Week

ABOUT mercury Mercury is a print and online publication produced by Glasgow Science Centre to promote science issues in Scotland, to examine the factors facing scientists and engineers, and to profile leading thinkers in industry, government and academia.

thanks Glasgow Science Centre would like to thank everyone who contributed to this edition, and especially our guests Alasdair Gow, Dr. Lyndsay Fletcher, Callum Norrie, Steven Parkes, Professor Richard Brown and Jim Al-Khalili. Thanks, also, to those who helped with photography and illustrations, facts and figures to make Mercury as current and accurate as possible.

If you would like to contribute to future editions of Mercury, please contact us at

mercury@glasgowsciencecentre.org

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www.glasgowsciencecentre.org/blog

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