February 2012
HIGHGATE SCHOOL’S SCIENCE MAGAZINE
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From the editors . . . Co-editors Joe Connor and Lucas Shelemy welcome you to the first edition of Sciencegate this year, which features a large range of articles written by both pupils and staff. We hope that you find this issue enjoyable and accessible, and remember, if, having read these articles, want to get involved then don’t hesitate to contact either Joe Connor (joscon97@highgateschool.org.uk) or Lucas Shelemy (lucshe97@highgateschool.org.uk)
CONTENTS IN BRIEF A concise overview of the news from the scientific world over the last few weeks THE PARTICLE THAT CHANGED THE WORLD Jamie French discusses the impact the recent neutrino experiments may have on science GETTING OUT AND ABOUT London offers a wealth of scientific opportunities this winter STEPHEN HAWKING AT 70 A celebration of one of physics‟ most colourful characters, and the trials he has faced HYPERTROPHIC CARDIOMAYOPATHY Aroop Bhattacharya explains the diagnosis and treatment of this deadly heart complication CELEBRATING INNOVATIVE IDEAS Celebrating the best weird and wonderful gadgets from 2011 THE FRONTLINE OF THE BATTLE AGAINST MALARIA Joe Connor reports from the fascinating world of malaria research AN INCREDIBLE JOURNEY A whirlwind tour of the Space Shuttle‟s eventful history by Cheryl Liu NEW FOREST ADVENTURES Dr. Szydlo recounts his latest fungi fuelled adventure in New Forest THE QUADROTOR PROJECT The team behind the fantastic Quadrotor project recount their successes and trials BRAIN TEASERS AND YOUR TEACHERS’ HEROES Figure out this challenging quiz whilst discovering who inspired the people that inspire you
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IN BRIEF
Mole rats provide potential arthritis cure If you drop acid on a mole rat it won‟t even flinch. It is thought that this lack of sensitivity to acid could provide a future cure for arthritis. In mammals, some sensory neurones, called nociceptors, contain acid activated channels. These channels, if activated, send a pain signal. However, nocireceptors contain another channel, Nav1.7, which becomes blocked if exposed to too much acid - so that the pain signal is dampened. Ewan Smith and his colleagues
at the Max Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine in Berlin submerged nocireceptors from naked mole rats in acid. He found, when compared to mice, the pain signal being transferred through the Nav1.7 channel decreased significantly more. In humans, arthritis is caused by a build-up of acid in the joints. Pain is caused in the same way as other mammals, with a sodium channel equivalent to Nav1.7, and it is thought that the mechanism that blocks this channel in mole rats could be used to block human pain signals from acid build-up.
Antibiotics get an upgrade
order to find a way around this, DARPA believes adaptable nanoparticles can be synthesised which carry siRNA to fight bacIn almost all scientific fields, teria. siRNA (small interfering there exists a significant clamRNA) is a piece of genetic code our about nanoparticles. that finds their complementary Nanoparticles are, as their name suggests, tiny compounds code in the DNA of an organunder 100nm. They already play ism and suppresses it. If the siRNA was made to be complea major part in fields such as mentary to a section of a bactecomputing, but DARPA, the research group associated with ria‟s DNA, then it could potenthe US military, feels they could tially stop protein synthesis and lead to the death of the soon play a part in combating bacterial infections. A significant bacteria. problem with today‟s antibiotics is that, no matter how effective they are, the bacteria can develop a resistance to them. In
Naked mole rats could well provide a future treatment or even cure for arthritis.
2011’s extreme weather a sign of things to come
disasters such as these. With both the number and intensity of storms, not only in the U.S.A but also all over the world, increasing as the For every nation used to Earth‟s oceans get warmer natural disasters, 2011 can and the differences in air be seen as a particularly bad pressure, that are responsiyear. In the United States ble for many of the larger particularly, the damage re- storms, become greater the port for major natural disas- chief of NOAA. America‟s ters gave a tally of 12, possi- National Oceanic and Atbly rising to 14, weather mospheric Administration, events that cost the Ameri- said people should prepare can government over $1 for similar numbers of billion. This figure is worsweather disasters as 2012 ened by the fact that the rolls in - warning that 2011 government had set aside was “A harbinger of things just $4.9 billion to deal with to come”
Kepler-22b - The Goldilocks planet
Earths. If it is towards the more massive end of the scale, it could be gassy, like a smaller Neptune, but if it is on the lessIn 2009, NASA launched the Kepler telescope. It‟s mission - massive side it could have a to search for Earth-like planets rocky composition, much like Earth, with the potential to harin the habitable zone around bour life. What excites astronotheir star in our region of the Milky Way. Having found thou- mers about Kepler-22b is firstly its distance from its star - it sands since then that don‟t fit the criteria - including some 1.5 orbits it every 290 days, meaning it is a similar distance from times the size of Jupiter - the its star to Earth, and hence exKepler has found the closest match to Earth yet. We cannot ists in the middle of the habityet say whether it is very much able zone. Second, it is a similar size to Earth, just 2.4 times as Earth-like, as its mass is not known. From Kepler‟s findings, wide. New findings will surely be made about Kepler-22b that NASA scientists can only coneither justifies or removes the firm it is less massive than 36 clamour about it.
Kepler-22b is one of the most Earth-like exoplanets found and has the potential to harbour life
Joe Connor
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IN BRIEF Unfortunately, these results did not reach the „5 sigma‟ required The scientific rumour mill exlevel of statistical reliability. ploded into life recently, with However, the two signals tomany claiming that the update gether produced 2.5 sigma and from CERN at the end of last 3.5 sigma. These two results year would include the revelagive a strong hint of something tion, although not evidence of concrete, as 3 sigma represents the existence of, of a fleeting a 1-in-370 chance of the finding glance the illusive Higgs boson - being an anomaly. Indeed, the the elementary particle that, it mass of 125 GeV would match is thought, is the origin of mass up with the estimation at the in all matter. It was reported LHC and its predecessor, Ferthat experiments in Geneva had milab‟s Tevatron, of the mass of pointed to a particle with a the Higgs Boson as between mass of 125 billion electrons 115 and 140 GeV. Whether the volts, or 125 GeV (this measfindings are conclusive or not, it urement is approximately the is fascinating times at CERN. mass of 125 hydrogen atoms).
A fleeting glance
Diamonds reduce the possibility for life
The problem this creates is that the plate tectonics that are so vital for life are not present. Plate tectonics are considered vital for life because firstly the Many exoplanets that have been constant flowing of land and discovered, whether Earth-like rising of the mantle recycles or not, may not be able to har- nutrients and carbon itself to bour life because they are too the surface, allowing rock fordiamond-rich according to mations to grow and making the Wendy Panero of Ohio State surface habitable. Second, a University in Columbus. flowing mantle is required in Whereas our solar system is many circumstances to create a relatively carbon-poor, the armagnetic field, which is imporeas of the galaxy that are cartant in deflecting radiation that, bon-rich will have a mantle hurtling through space, can pose made up of hard diamond, that a significant risk to life. is incapable of flowing - unlike our mantle of molten iron.
Could CERN, after all its original issues, have finally made the discovery we‟ve all been waiting for?
Back from the dead?
cess of the cloning experiment from the animal‟s skin, the animal lived for only 10 minutes, due to the fact that Scientists from Japan and Russia have started a hugely it was a hybrid, as the ibex‟s ambitious project to clone a nucleus was injected into the egg of an Alpine Ibex. The woolly mammoth. The experiment involves using mar- result of the hybrid was breathing difficulties and row cells in an amazingly preserved thighbone, found heart problems. It is believed that there will be in August in the Siberian permafrost. A nucleus from similar problems with the „mammoth‟ that is produced, the bone marrow cells will if the experiment is successbe inserted into the egg of ful, along with various issues an African elephant. This experiment follows the suc- with the size of the possible cessful cloning of the extinct foetus compared to a normal elephant. Pyrenean ibex in 2009. However, despite the suc-
A post-mortem... after 5300 years
„stomach‟ was in fact his colon, and his real stomach had been pushed up into his ribs. InvestigaIn 1991, the body of Ötzi, a man tions of the newly found stomach discovered partially digested ibex who lived over 5300 years ago, was found naturally preserved in meat. This firstly indicates that he only died 30 to 60 minutes the Swiss Alps. He was found after eating his last meal, as the with an arrow tip embedded in his back - leading researchers to stomach would have emptied if it were earlier. It also explains why believe he had been hunted down after a long trek across the he was also found to have three Alps. This belief came about be- gallstones and arteries lined with cause Ötzi‟s stomach was found fat - as ibex is a particularly fatty to be empty - suggesting he had animal. The team, lead by Albert Zink, also investigated Ötzi‟s spent his final months on an skeleton. They found that his empty stomach. However, reknees had worn away significent studies by the Institute for Mummies and Icemen in Bolzano, cantly - supporting theories that he spent much of his life trekking Italy have found that Ötzi‟s through the Alps.
5300 years after his death, we are only now understanding the life and death of Ötzi
Joe Connor
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COVER STORY - THE PARTICLE THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
Where to start... Einstein? String theory? „Ghost‟ particles (whatever that means)? I suppose I had better start with what a neutrino actually is, for anyone reading this who isn‟t quite sure, or needs reminding. Neutrinos, the so called „ghost‟ particles by the media, are a type of fundamental particle. A very weird, very elusive type, mind you. They have no charge, only interact by the weak nuclear force and have an extremely small mass. They whizz around the universe, mostly minding their own business and keeping to themselvesliterally; they very rarely interact with other particles, since they have no charge and almost no mass. As a result, they can pass straight through solid objects (hence the nickname „ghost‟ particles), since they are so much smaller than electrons they happily fit in the space between the nucleus and the electrons of atoms.
This result, which is the reason the whole physics world has had a headache since late September, was that the neutrinos were arriving at the Gran Sasso lab in Italy too early. In fact, they were making the 732km journey from CERN, near Geneva, Switzerland, 60 nanoseconds (0.00000006 seconds) faster than possible according to modern physics; if they had been travelling at the speed of light (which would also be impossible since they have mass), they should have still arrived 60 nanoseconds later.
The media jumped on this result, with headlines about Einstein being wrong and physics being broken springing up, worryingly reminiscent of the days of black holes produced by the Large Hadron Collider sucking up the planet. For once, however, they may have had a genuine reason to get so excited. As it turns out, these Vast numbers of these tiny particles are all over results were found 3 years ago, and the team at OPERA the universe, left over from the big bang and continually have spent the last 3 years tracking down every possible produced by nuclear reactions in stars or on Earth. In source of error they could find. Attempts to find fault some places there are as many as 10⁸ per cubic metre, with the experiments seemed easier said than done, and there are billions passing through your body right since the OPERA scientists had accounted for details as now, mostly coming from the Sun. It turns out neutrinos small as the curvature of the Earth and even the general come in 3 different types and they spontaneously switch relativistic effects of using two clocks at different heights (or oscillate) between these types. This is important to (gravity slows down time, so clocks nearer to the Earth‟s physicists, since it implies neutrinos have some mass, surface run slightly slower). Until the experiment is realbeit very little, which does not fit the current model. peated independently, however, and the results verified, As such, neutrino oscillations are still of interest to the physicists have no choice but to wait. physics community, and this is exactly what the scientists in the OPERA collaboration were testing when they noSo, it seems promising that neutrinos will be ticed a very strange result. causing serious problems for physicists in the near future, but this isn‟t anything new.
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COVER STORY - THE PARTICLE THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
Neutrinos have always been trouble. It took over 20 years from first theorising their existence to actually detecting them in 1956, and we couldn‟t even confirm if they had mass until 2001, which is still disputed. The issue with their newest trick is that it contradicts the law of special relativity, an incredibly successful theory proposed by Einstein in 1905 that states the speed of light in a vacuum (about 300,000,000 metres per second) is the cosmological and universal speed limit; nothing can exceed this. This theory also leads to the infamous equation E=mc². If the results prove to be correct, this could all be seriously undermined.
are completely oblivious to. Previously, it was thought that the brane was flat, like a sheet of paper. However, quantum fluctuations could potentially make the brane ripple and roll, somewhat like the surface of the ocean, and if the neutrinos could then detach from the brane they could jump from one point to another through the bulk. Think flying fish jumping between waves.
The reason neutrinos could take this extra-
dimensional shortcut is because one type of theoretical neutrino, known as a sterile neutrino, is thought to be one of the only particles made up of a closed loop of string, rather than a strip with one end attached to the brane. In theory, if this closed loop of string had enough So, was Einstein wrong? Is physics broken? energy, it could escape the brane. One possibility proWell, in short, no. Or at least, not necessarily. Assumposed therefore is that the neutrinos produced at ing the results hold true, there is still a way Einstein CERN switched into sterile neutrinos, jumped through could be right. If the neutrinos are arriving sooner than the bulk, and then switched back into one of the 3 obthey would at light speed, they must be travelling faster served types of neutrino and re-attached to the brane, than light speed, right? Wrong. Let‟s say Einstein is right before being detected at Gran Sasso. and the neutrinos cannot be travelling faster than light. As strange as this all sounds, this is currently one of the The only alternative is that the neutrinos have travelled best explanations for how the results at CERN could at very close to the speed of light, but less distance. have arisen, considering how successful special relativity They took a shortcut. This is the only way to preserve is. If this is all true, or even partially true, it would be special relativity, but begs the question; how could the the first experimental evidence of string theory, and neutrinos travel 732km in less than 732 km? And the could represent a huge leap forward in our understandanswer to that question lies in one of quantum physics‟ ing of the universe, but only time will tell most mind bending and baffling theories - string theory. Fair warning, the following explanation is one of the If proven true, the results could have potenmost confusing, interesting and downright crazy things tially appealing ramifications, though it does involve a the wonderfully weird world of quantum physics has to healthy dose of imagination and a fair bit of theory. offer! Space ships. Yes, you read that correctly. Oddly enough, astrophysicists have theorised possible methods of space travel in the past, assuming the passengers particles (such as quarks and electrons) are actually didn‟t want to die of old age several hundreds of years made up of 1-dimensional strings which vibrate, giving before reaching their destination (since even at the the particle its observable features like charge, mass and speed of light, everything in our galaxy alone is fairly far spin. But the maths involved in string theory is pretty away). To do this, space ships would need to travel solid, and an interesting aspect of this theory is that it much faster than the speed of light. One such theory of describes extra dimensions. If the neutrinos were travhow we could exceed our universal speed limit involves elling through one of these extra dimensions of space, pretty much copying these neutrinos; if we could get a they could possibly be reducing the distance they have ship to take a shortcut through extra-dimensional to travel. As such, they could arrive at their destination space, in a similar way to these neutrinos, then we faster than light, without travelling faster than light. could „hop‟ around the universe at a reasonable speed. The explanation of how this could work according to Of course, right now this is still fairly impossible, but if string theory is even crazier. In essence, the strings these speedy neutrinos prove the existence of extra that make up all the particles and forces we know about dimensions, we‟ll be one step closer to actually being are anchored at one end to a 4-dimensional surface able to explore the final frontier, Star Trek style. (our three dimensions of space and one of time) called a membrane, or „brane‟ for short. This brane floats in- Jamie French side a high-dimensional space called the bulk, which we
According to string theory, all fundamental
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OUT AND ABOUT This winter, London offers a wealth of opportunities to get out and about and follow up your scientific interests The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (www.kew.org) What? The world‟s largest collection of living plants, featuring excellent exhibitions on plant biology and evolution Nearest Tube? Kew Gardens Which bus? Routes 65 or 391 stop at the entrance How much? Adults £13.90, Concessions £11.90, Children Free The Natural History Museum (www.nhm.ac.uk) What? Home to 70 million life and earth science specimens, with exhibitions on evolution, paleontology, geology, botany and anything else you can imagine. Many of Darwin‟s original specimins are housed here. Nearest Tube? South Kensington Which bus? Routes 14, 49, 70, 74, 345, 360, 414 and C1 stop nearby How much? Free, although temporary exhibitions will charge Don’t Miss! Scott‟s Last Expedition: 20th January - 2nd September 2012 Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer Competition The Royal Society (royalsociety.org/Events-and-Exhibitions) What? The Royal Society offers a variety of free events for public audiences on topics including science, technology, engineering, medicine and much more. Nearest Tube? Piccadilly, Green Park, Leicester Square Which bus? Routes 9, 12, 14 and 38 stop nearby How much? Most lectures are free, but you may need to book. The Hunterian Museum (www.rcseng.ac.uk/museums) What? The Hunterian museum at the Royal College of Surgeons houses a vast collection of surgical instruments, anatomical specimens and exhibitions on the history of medicine. Nearest Tube? Holborn Which bus? Routes 1, 4, 8, 11, 25, 38, 55, 172 and 243 stop nearby How much? Free. The Wellcome Collection (www.wellcomecollection.org) What? The most eclectic and unpredictable collection of medical history in the world. Nearest Tube? Euston Which bus? Routes 10, 18, 73 and 91 stop nearby How much? Free.
Joe Connor
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STEPHEN HAWKING AT 70
On 8th January this year, Stephen Hawking, one of physics‟ most revered researchers, turned 70. What makes this significant is the fact that Hawking suffers from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) - a form of degenerative motor neurone disease. Hawking‟s case is the most protracted by over 30 years - showing that, without doubt, his is a special example. In his extraordinary life, Hawking has overcome this severe disease and risen to the pinnacle of achievement in modern physics.
It cannot be underestimated how serious the disease Hawking suffers is. ALS causes degradation of upper neurones, those in the brain, and lower neurones, those in the spine, throughout the body. Since the muscles are unable to function, they weaken and atrophy (waste away). As a result, the initial symptom is twitching (fasciculation) in the extremities of the limbs - as only a few week signals are travelling through the central nervous system. ALS is an extremely unique motor neurone disease, in that it only really affects neurones present in the posterior of the brain. This means that many cerebral processes, such as sight, taste, smell, touch and, most importantly to Hawking, intelligence, are unchanged - as these processes are controlled towards the frontal lobe of the brain. Despite this relatively merciful trait, this disease remains just as deadly as other motor neurone diseases. This is due to the muscle wastage that occurs, specifically in the respiratory system. Often patients die due to these complications, or from diseases which bring about respiratory difficulty, such as pneumonia.
Stephen Hawking has overcome the serious motor neurone disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to rise to a position of reverence within the physics community
However, as Hawking‟s 70th birthday came and went, people were left celebrating not his overcoming of his disease but rather the significant steps he has made to further modern physics. Hawking has been involved in a wide range of research, each at the forefront of its field. However, none is more famous than his work regarding black holes. For many years, Hawking had been arguing that black holes destroy everything that falls into them. However, in 2004, at a conference in Dublin, Hawking made an about-turn. He claimed that his previous research, presented in 1976, was wrong. He had calculated that once a black hole forms from the implosion of a super massive star, it begins to lose mass by the emission of -radiation. This radiation contains no information about the black hole and once the black hole disappears, he calculated, this information is lost.
The MRI scan of a patient with ALS. It shows severe degradation in the posterior regions.
However, this would go outside the laws of quantum physics, which state that information cannot be completely destroyed. Hawking‟s explanation for this was that the gravity in black holes was so high that it somehow unravelled these laws. At this conference in 2004, though, Hawking claimed that, having gone over his calculations, he found that particles entering a black hole could disrupt the radiation field of the black hole. The disruption of the field, he said, was the cause of the leakage of ‟Hawking Radiation‟. Therefore, it was said that Hawking had solved the Black Hole information paradox.
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Hawking has described himself as a „die-hard relativist‟, meaning that he believes fully in the validity of Einstein‟s theory of relativity, which, despite it reputation, was beginning to be challenged in the 1970s. One of the theories that Einstein‟s theory of relativity helps to validate is that of the „Big Bang‟. In 1917 Einstein calculated that the universe was either expanding or shrinking. Indeed, his research would lead to the discovery that the universe was expanding - due to the red shift effect. For the universe to be expanding, it must have started from a single point and „exploded‟ outwards. This theory was, in 1971, as it remains so now, challenged by some in the field. However, what Hawking set out to achieve was the mathematical proof for the universe starting out from an impossibly small singularity. He indeed did this, and by the late 1970s and early 1980s Hawking had established himself as one of the world‟s leading experts in both black holes and mathematically proving the theory of relatively.
Today, when thinking about Stephen Hawking, immediately brought to mind is his voice synthesiser. From 1974, Hawking‟s ASL had made his speech so slurred that only those who knew him well could understand him. Unfortunately, in 1985 Hawking caught pneumonia - a common issue with ASL, due to the weakening of the immune system. He required a tracheotomy, an incision into the windpipe to remove a blockage which was disrupting his breathing. The procedure, however, left him unable to speak at all - creating the need for his infamous synthesiser.
When discussing Stephen Hawking‟s achievements, which have earned him countless prizes and medals, it is impossible not to appreciate the challenges Hawking has had to overcome and the courage he has shown to persevere in his research. He is, without doubt, an inspiration for showing such passion for his subject and truly one the all-time greats of the scientific world.
Hawking at his wedding to Jane Wilde in 1965. It was around this time that he began to show the more severe effects of ALS
Hawking unveils the Corpus Christi clock, a new installation at the college at Cambridge of the same name. He was awarded an honorary degree there in 1985
Walt Woltosz, a computer expert from California, heard of Hawking‟s plight, and came to him with a program he had written called Equalizer. It allowed Hawking to select a word from lists, separated into sensible genres. The choosing of a word from a list is controlled by switches operated by movements of Hawking‟s eyes and cheeks. The synthesiser can either play the selected word immediately, or build-up selected words into fully formed sentences, which are saved and played later. Hawking has claimed he can average 15 words per minute, which can be seen with the long hesitations that occur when he is engaging in live conversations. Surprisingly, his only complaint about needing to use the synthesiser is that it leaves him with an American accent. Joe Connor
Hawking goes one step towards his dream of going into space, as he experiences weightlessness in 2007
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HYPERTROPHIC CARDIOMYOPATHY
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy was first recognised more than a century ago but was only established as an accepted diagnosis in the late 1950s. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a disease of the heart muscle, in which a portion of the heart muscle is thickened without any apparent cause. The muscle that encompasses the left ventricle is mainly affected along with the muscle that lies over the septum; HCM can cause obstruction to blood flow out of the aorta from the left ventricle or disrupt the functioning of the heart valves. Overall, this can overwork the heart and therefore lead to the risk of sudden cardiac death.
HCM is an autosomal dominant trait (only one gene required from one parent in order to inherit the disease) and most commonly caused by a genetic mutation in one of the nine sarcomeric genes (genes that encode the formation of muscle cells). As a consequence, there is mutated protein production causing the replication of muscle heart cells with increasing size, causing the thickening of the heart muscle. The normal alignments of these cells are also disrupted under the process of myocardial disarray.
There are three main approaches for the treatment of those with HCM: Surgical myectomy: This is an open heart operation that is carried out to alleviate pain for those patients that still are enduring severe symptoms even after medical treatment. The obstructive thickened muscle is removed from the outflow tract that leads from the left ventricle into the aorta and subsequently allows blood to flow more easily. Alcohol septal ablation: As after a myectomy, this leads to a high left ventricular outflow tract gradient but is a much more non invasive method for treatment because there is no need to use general anaesthesia or open the pericardium (chest wall). A catheter is inserted, via the groin, through the left anterior descending artery towards the septum. A small amount of alcohol solution is injected into a branch of the coronary artery, destroying the thickened heart muscle causing the obstruction. The muscle is thinned and blood flows more easily.
While the prevalence of the disease ranges
Cardiac transplantation: One of the more rare treatfrom 0.2% to 0.5% of the population, the danger of this ments is to use a working heart from a donor to replace the heart of the patient. This method is only introduced disease is that it can be completely asymptomatic and if the symptoms are unmanageable and is mainly carried therefore cannot always be spotted until death. Mild symptoms include dyspnea (shortness of breath), angina, out on younger patients where progression of heart failure seems to be considerably faster. palpitations, tiredness and fainting. A doctor may suspect that you have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy because of your symptoms or most probably because Since HCM is widely present in all racial someone else in your family has been diagnosed with the groups, there is no particular trend as to who is most condition. The method under which such a condition can likely to be affected. If there are any vague symptoms, it be confirmed is via the use of an ECG is best to visit the doctor who would then be able to (electrocardiogram). Another approach for diagnosis is investigate further. On the whole, the most lethal vervia the use of cardiac catheterisation; a catheter is placed sion of HCM is when it is undetectable. This leaves one through the aorta into the left ventricle to detect a presto think that genetic testing for HCM should be carried sure gradient which would be caused by HCM. The out as a compulsory measure during the birth of a new Brockenbrough–Braunwald–Morrow sign differentiates child just so it can be detected and managed in its early any confusion between the detection of HCM or a pastages rather than letting the condition propagate and tient suffering from aortic stenosis (the aortic valve is cause severe problems or even death in later life. faulty so there is reduced blood flow from the heart). Aroop Bhattacharya
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TRULY INNOVATIVE IDEAS Lytro Light-Field Camera What is it? A conventional camera captures a single plane of light. However, this camera is designed to capture colour and intensity of the entire light field. The camera‟s software allows you therefore to focus and refocus specific parts of an image, even after the original digital image has been captured. In keeping with the times, the camera is tiny - just 4.1cm in height and width and 11.2cm long
Kopin Golden-i Headset Computer What is it? A headset computer that runs a version of Windows and can communicate with any operating system that supports Bluetooth and wi-fi. The Golden-i is voice activated and can access desktops, laptops and other computers via the web or by software such as GoToMyPC. The headset has an onboard 1cm display screen that, due to its proximity and resolution, appears to the wearer to be a 38cm display.
Nest’s Learning Home Thermostat What is it? This thermostat programs itself by remembering what you have inputted the first few times you use it. It also is able to monitor weather conditions using its wi-fi connection - so it not only saves you time, but also saves energy. Nest founder and CEO Tony Fadell helped design the iPhone and iPad - so this thing is clearly pretty nifty.
The Smart Pill What is it? This tiny pill is the same size as a nurofen tablet, but the catch is, it isn‟t a pill. It is in-fact a tiny camera that gives stunning images of the inside of the organism. It incorporates an HD Camera, a light source, radio transmitter and battery and copes with the 30fps information by compressing the video to 3% of its original size. The image on the left is the test in a pig - the only difference being it was placed outside the intestines rather than being swallowed. There‟s no telling how important this Smart Pill could be for medicine in the future.
ZPrinter 650 What is it? In the past few years, 3D printing has really taken off having gone from completely science fiction to almost common place in many engineering projects - indeed, it makes an appearance in this journal. However, this is one of the first 3D photocopiers, allowing you to create a duplicate of any item you want, so long as it‟s under 6 x 8 x 8 inches - amazing stuff. Joe Connor
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REPORTS FROM THE FRONTLINE OF MALARIA RESEARCH
Malaria is one of the most prevalent and deadly diseases on the planet today. Indeed, according to the World Health Organisation, in 2009 it was responsible for 781,000 deaths worldwide, with a further 225 million cases. As a result, interest in the malaria parasites that infect humans, Plasmodiums falciparum, vivax, malariae and ovale, has grown significantly over the last 10 years – with significant resources being pumped into research that, it is hoped, will eventually eradicate this disease.
It is, however, an extraordinarily difficult task, due to certain aspects of the malaria parasite. First of all, the malaria parasite, this article will be using Plasmodium falciparum as an example throughout, has many different stages in its life cycle. When a female Anopheles mosquito injects the falciparum parasite, which has been maturing in its salivary glands, into the bloodstream it is said to be a merozoite. At this point, the parasite is at its smallest and contains only the proteins required to invade the red blood cell [RBC], where it will mature. The relatively short-lived ring stage follows, during which the parasite elongates into a thin biconcave disc and synthesises proteins that prepare the parasite for further development and modification of the RBC. This stage it is preparing for is the trophozoite, during which the parasite feeds, grows and modifies the RBC at its greatest rate. For example, proteins such as PfEMP1 are synthesised, which sticks the infected RBC to the endothelium of the blood vessels, removing it from the bloodstream and from the body‟s defences. It is in life stages like this that the parasite becomes extremely difficult to eradicate, as it hides from the body and from most drugs. It is during the trophozoite stage that the most damage is dealt to the RBC. The parasite feeds on the haemoglobin contained in the RBC and the products of the digestion crystallise into particles of haemozoin, which appear as a dark pigment under a microscope. What follows is both the most fascinating and least understood of the stages – the schizont. Inside the parasite a series of nuclear divisions occurs, forming 16 new nuclei, and proteins required for invasion are synthesised – as each of these nuclei will form a new merozoite, which will invade a new RBC. It is during this stage that the greatest number of proteins are synthesised as there are many processes
Fig 1.1 A diagram of the life cycle of the Plasmodium falciparum once it has infected a RBC. It shows invasion by merozoites at A, ring stage at B, trophozoite at C, schizont at D and schizont break-up at E
in this life stage such as the synthesis of proteins and, eventually, the explosion of the schizont and the showering of merozoites into the bloodstream.
A second reason that the falciparum parasite is so difficult to research is its unique genomic complexity. It is able to constantly change its genomic expression to generate forms that exploit a variety of environments – each of the forms in, for example, the human liver, RBC and mosquito salivary gland would be different. So, although the disease is both treatable once contracted and preventable in the environments in which it is prevalent, it is extraordinarily difficult to research, due to its genetic complexity and overwhelming number of complex operations occurring at its various life stages.
Despite these difficulties, however, I embarked on the challenge of researching the falciparum schizont stage over the summer with a team of post-docs. Our research was based on the gene PF02_0040, which codes for the protein PFB0194w. Very little was known about this protein – only that it was present in its highest amounts towards the end of the schizont stage. Upon my arrival, it was decided we would follow two avenues of research. First, we would work out the expression profile of this protein compared to others from
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surrounding genes at different points and second, we would attempt to work out the mRNA half-life, and hence the frequency of transcription. In order to work out the expression profile (pictured overleaf, fig 1.2) a western blot was performed of the schizonts of the falciparum sample, which had been removed by a percoll separation.
contain any proteins are undetectable. Therefore, the fourth stage, blocking, is performed. The membrane is placed in small amount of detergent, which binds to nitrocellulose and not to the proteins we are interested in. Therefore, in the final stage the only detectable regions are the areas that proteins have been transferred to. With blocking having been completed, the final and most important stage, detection, can take place. The memThe falciparum sample is placed in a centrifuge brane is exposed to commercially available antibodies, tube containing percoll. Separation occurs rather rapidly, specific to the protein in question, binding to the exposed antigen on the protein. This primary antibody is, with the RBCs sinking to the bottom and the allimportant schizonts forming a band in the middle of the however, not the only antibody to be used in this comtube, which can be easily separated. This schizont group plex. A secondary antibody, produced in animal that has been injected with the primary antibody, which has had a was then analysed by the Western Blot process. chemiluminescent group added to it, is added to bind to Western blotting is one of the most common the original primary antibody. When this secondary antibody is mixed with the enzyme horseradish peroxidase processes in this field of research. It contains five main the luminescence produced by the sidegroup is amplified stages: tissue separation, gel electrophoresis, transfer, and can be photographed under specific conditions in the blocking and detection. Western blotting is a process dark room. where specific proteins are searched for in a sample, by their molecular weight. With tissue separation having The result can be seen overleaf (fig 1.3), and occurred, the samples have to undergo gel electrophoresis. The samples are „loaded‟ into wells in a gel cassette. although the results are not as clear as we‟d hoped, the The well furthest to the left is loaded with a sample lad- bottom cassette shows the presence of this protein in the ninth well at 33.415 kDa (kilo-daltons), which is the der, which contains various compounds, to which you sample of a schizont 40 hours into the falciparum life cycompare your sample. The gel cassette has a negative cle. The team then went on to work out the expression „end‟ and a positive end‟. Once loaded, the samples are profile of the protein, over the entirety of the falciparum covered in SDS-PAGE, which gives them a negative lifecycle. The results showed that at 40 hours, the point charge. When exposed to an electric current, around at which the schizont explodes and showers new mero100 volts, for around 2 hours, the negatively charged samples move towards the positive end (which is down- zoites into the bloodstream, the protein is at its highest expression – indicating that it has some kind of function wards, now that the cassette has been turned on its side) separating into its constituent proteins, by size and in weakening the schizont structure or in some other weight. This is because the smaller proteins travel faster way aiding the breaking up process. We also found that the half life for the mRNA (fig 1.4) produced from gene through the gel, so smaller proteins end up at the bottom and larger proteins at the top. Having separated the PF02_0040 is significantly longer, 110 minutes, during proteins contained in the schizont, the third stage, trans- late schizogony than at any other point in the malaria lifecycle. This increased mRNA half-life indicates that fer, is performed. Transfer involves the proteins to be moved from the gel onto a membrane made of nitrocel- transcription is actually occurring, as a smaller half-life lulose. In order for this to occur, the gel must be placed indicated that the mRNA is not actually being used in any significant process. These two pieces of evidence seemed next to the membrane, with this group surrounded by to suggest that this protein is expressed in significant filter paper on each side. This sandwich is then very tightly squeezed together in the same cassette used for numbers during the latest point of the schizont stage and electrophoresis, and a smaller current, this time around therefore that this protein is involved in aiding the process of schizont disassembly, during which the membrane 35 volts, is passed through it. After 30 minutes to an hour the protein ladders are transferred onto the nitro- of the heavily modified RBC breaks down and merozoites are sent into the bloodstream to infect new RBCs. cellulose membrane. It is important for the final stage, The project is in its early stages, but it is hoped that a detection, that all areas of the membrane that do not suppression of the expression of this gene would
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REPORTS FROM THE FRONTLINE OF MALARIA RESEARCH perhaps by the key to halting the progression of the virus once the body has been infected. Whether this hypothesis turns out to be correct or not, it is an intriguing project during a fascinating time for malaria research. Joe Connor
Fig 1.2 The expression profile of protein PFB0194w (in blue). There can be seen the peak at 40 hours postinfection, in the late schizont stage.
Fig 1.4 The mRNA half-life gives a similar result, showing the longest mRNA half life from gene PF002_0040 at late schizont, indicating that it is during this stage that transcription of the protein occurs
Fig 1.3 The results of the Western Blot. The circled result in the ninth well matches the molecular weight circled in the comparison ladder that corresponds to PFB0194w. It can be easily identified by its relatively thick band
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THE SPACE SHUTTLE’S INCREDIBLE JOURNEY shuttle, completed 27 missions before it was destroyed space shuttle missions. Every space mission conducted on mission STS-107 (pictured by NASA has an official mission patch with an insignia right) on February 1st, 2003, killdesign that goes with it. This patch is worn by astronauts ing all seven crew members. It was (if mission is manned) and all other affiliated with that determined that a piece of foam, mission. which had broken off during launch, had damaged thermal protection systems, allowing heat to build on re-entry. It created a major outcry from the public to scrap the shuttle program - citing it was too dangerous to risk the lives of seven more astronauts
The mission insignia from the first and last
However, what saved the space shuttle was the NASA‟s space shuttle program began on April 12th 1982 with mission STS-1 (above left) ended on July 21st 2011 11.26 a.m EDT with mission STS-135 (above right), after over 30 years of manned missions. As the first reusable spacecraft, the space shuttle pushed the limits of human technology allowing us to learn more about the universe we live in.
Five space shuttles; Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour have carried people into orbit, launched and, crucially, repaired satellites as well as building the largest ever structure put in space, the ISS. Out of the 135 missions the space shuttle took to outer space, only two suffered a fatal failure. Space Shuttle Challenger, STS-51-L pictured left, exploded on January 28th 1986 just 73 seconds into its tenth mission. The cold weather played a major factor to the O-ring failure which resulted in the explosion of the spacecraft, killing all seven crew members including civilian, Christa McAuliffe, the first member of the Teacher in Space project. The Teacher in Space project was NASA‟s efforts to locate and place an educator in space, to teach lessons to young children whilst in orbit.
Space Shuttle Columbia, the first ever space
wonders it had helped achieve for modern science. Without the space shuttle, neither the Hubble telescope, which was saved from disaster by shuttle aided repairs, and has made discoveries about the cosmos we couldn't even have dreamed of, nor the International Space Station (ISS), which marked its tenth anniversary last year, could have been possible. This ISS is a floating science lab that allows us to collect an ongoing flow of data to understand what our universe is made up of. At present, NASA is using Russian Soyuz rockets to ferry astronauts back and forth the ISS. There is a constant crew of at least six astronauts to conduct and overlook scientific experiments such as the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, used to detect cosmic rays, as well as a constant link with the telescopes in orbit around the Earth.
With the end of the Constellation program, NASA‟s human spaceflight program, it makes us wonder what‟s in store for the USA over the next few years. The only option to put NASA astronauts in space at present is by buying a seat on a Russian Soyuz rocket for U.S. $51 to $63 million per head. NASA‟s aim now is to cooperate with private aerospace companies to send astronauts into space and to transport cargo to and from the ISS, describing their role now as “the purchaser of service as opposed to the owner and operator” [Charlie Bolden, NASA Administrator]. It is said that NASA‟s next aspirations are to a near-Earth asteroid. Some say that this will be a bridge to a mission to Mars. Cheryl Liu
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NEW FOREST ADVENTURES
Trips to the forest (Epping 1953-1958, Virginia Water 1959-1967, Rowfant 1973-1982, New Forest 1983-2011) have formed an integral part of my life. Since both of my parents grew up in forested regions of Poland, they brought their love of wildlife and nature to post-war England, and have passed it on to me. There is something special about being in a forest: the beauty of unspoilt surroundings, the smell of clean air scented delicately with vegetation, the tranquility and harmony of the natural world. Our family visits during all these years have always additionally had a practical aim: getting something for nothing. That something was food, in the form of fungi. Collecting wild fungi is an ancient tradition which is practised in most European countries, except Britain. For this reason, our pickings (usually plentiful) were sometimes subject to embarassing moments: I vividly remember the expressions of horror on my parents‟ faces when a paper carrier bag full of fine specimens split open on Uxbridge Road in Shepherds Bush on an autumn afternoon in 1958. Passers-by gaped in amazement and horror at these strange foreigners (i.e. us), who seemed destined to poison themselves with toadstools. And yet, after eating them for almost 60 years, we are all still alive and well today.
Times have now changed, and with a great influx of Europeans into Britain coupled with a broad minded education, wild fungi picking has become a popular pastime with many, including our own pupils from Highgate School. Last year‟s trip to the New Forest was particularly successful, with many pupils finding interesting species of fungi.
This year, I have found a large number of interesting creatures, including a lizard, frog, and a caterpillar.
On October 1
st
however, with unusually warm
temperatures in Southern England, I encountered a most interesting phenomenon - lying under a tree in an area of the forest with no paths I noticed a peculiar red lily. I looked up at the tree, to see whether or not the lily had grown there – no chance silly Szydlo – lilies don‟t grow on trees! It then occurred to me that maybe someone had walked through the forest carrying a bunch of lilies, one of which had fallen out – most unlikely, I thought! Oh well, I thought to myself, it must be one of those mysteries of Nature which will never be solved. So I dismissed the matter and walked on. A few yards further however, I noticed another lily, and then another. Perhaps, I thought, this was some rare kind of lily plant whose flower grew straight out of the ground?
As I bent over to inspect it more closely I detected the pungent and disgusting smell which is reminiscent of a fungus called the stinkhorn (or phallus impudicus as it is known in Latin, on account of its shape). I then observed that the lily was in fact growing out of the ground, and that it grew from a sac which is exactly like that of a stinkhorn. Furthermore it was responsible for the putrid smell, and there were flies sitting on it, exactly as they do on stinkhorns – that is how stinkhorns reproduce – flies spread their spores.
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tive documentation of all fungi and that the ultimate and most up to date authority on this matter would be the Internet. For it is here that fungus freaks list their unusual finds, together with photographic documentation etc. Nevertleless, my particular find was sufficiently unusual to merit continued mild excitement on my part.
On arriving home shortly afetr 11pm that day, I
Looking carefully around I then spotted about 5 more of these fungi – I had never seen anything like this before. It then occurred to me that perhaps I had made a new discovery? Perhaps I had discovered a fungus which no-one had ever seen? Perhaps this was going to be my claim to fame – a new fungus called the Szydlo Stinkhorn! Wow – that would be fun! I called over my 10 year old son Oskar and explained to him the reason for my great excitement. I took several photographs. My pulse raced as I had visions of newspaper headlines: “Highgate schoolteacher discovers exotic fungus in New Forest.” Unfortunaley Oskar did not share my enthusiasm: “Can we go back to the car, I‟m hungry”, was all he could say as I almost suffocated while taking closeup photographs of the strange organism. As we walked back to the car park in Bank (about 1 mile away), I imagined TV crews arriving to film the fungus and botanists from Kew Gardens arriving on Monday morning with cameras and specimen bottles. Most exciting, I thought.
Back at the car park, I reported the event to my wife, who agreed that the discovery was interesting and returned with me to take some more photographs. As it happened, my brother (who knows much more about fungi than I do) was in anothet part of the forest at the same time. I rang him and excitedly reported my discovery. We both had our Phillips Mushroom Guides (Roger Phillips, an Englishman (!) is one of the world‟s great authorities on fungi, and his celebrated Atlas, published in 1981 is the standard reference field guide on this topic) and a quick exchange between us revealed that nothing similar to what I had found, had been described in his book. He also agreed to come to Bank and photograph the specimens. Both he and I knew, of course, that the Phillips Guide is by no means an exhaus-
rushed to the computer and Googled “stinkhorn”, hoping to find pictures of conventional stinkhorns with which I was familiar, but not the specimen which I had found. To my slight disappointment however, among the several dozen images of conventional stinkhorns which appeared, there were indeed 2 or 3 which were just like mine. Three names were used to describe them – devil‟s finger, dead man‟s finger and octopus stinkhorn. All amazingly apt! However, this particular fungus is native to Tasmania, Australia and Hawaii. Apparently one specimen has been recorded in France in 1940, and 2 sightings have occurred in England – one in Sussex 10 years ago and one in the New Forest 2 years ago. Maybe not a major news story, but by all accounts, this was a very good find! It‟s Latin (systematic) name is Clathrus archeri and I am delighted to be able to share my images (though mercifully not the smell) with you. I have no idea what the Latin name means, but it is worth noting that the classification of living organisms, using Latin names, underpins the science of biology. This formidable task was first undertaken by the Swede Karl Linnaeus (1707-1778) – in his celebrated book A History of Scientific Ideas (1959), Charles Singer wrote : “Linnaeus was an extremely stimulating teacher. He had a great number of enthusiastic pupils, many of whom went on expeditions to distant lands and discovered and described multitudes of species… Much of the immense appeal of Linneaus was due to his appreciation of wildlife.”
My experience in the new Forest has prompted some further thoughts: why do crackpots like me get excited about finding a foul smelling evil-looking plant? The fact is that weird and wonderful living objects such as our octopus stinkhorn will always be a source of great interest for naturalists. It is through their study that we hope one day to answer one of the most perplexing questions of science: how did life begin on Earth? Dr. Szydlo
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THE QUADROTOR PROJECT
The Quadrotor project Is an extra-curricular project to create a Quadrotor, a flying device the derives its lift from four rotor blades connected to a central hub. We created it to experiment with some engineering tools and concepts, such as accelerometers that control the acceleration in three dimensions of a craft, or outrunner motors that can spin the blades up to 30,000 RPM (revolutions per minute.) The blades themselves are 6 inches long, meaning that at full speed the tips of the blades are travelling at 240 meters per second. The noise they make is outstanding if not scary, and the thrust produced from four of them is more than enough to lift our approximately 1kg Quadrotor.
We started the project by giving a talk on the basics Physics behind such an aircraft (such as an introduction to how something actually flies) and the problems we would have to overcome. We have faced many engineering related problems so far. Firstly, the spinning blades produced a natural rotation. In order to solve this we realised that two of the blades had to spin the other way. Second, with the blades moving so quickly, it was a challenge to keep them in place. Therefore, they had to be secured with 1cm thick steel bolts, a difficult process. In addition to these stumbling blocks there were also challenging DIY manufacturing processes to overcome. For example, the casing to connect the whole device together is being built by a 3D printer, an advanced printer that creates objects in 3 dimensions by building up layers. The printer itself was created by Charlie Bruce for his own external project.
So far we have got the machine running and working, however flying it and keeping it stable in the air presents a significant obstacle. We have to connect all four of the motors to the accelerometer, gyroscope which is used to provide stability or a fixed orientation (used to control the rotation of the quadrotor), batteries and central chip. In order for the craft to hover, the four blades need to work in harmony with each other via the accelerometer. The main selling point of the Quadrotor is that when it starts accelerating in an unwanted direction, the detects it and relays the information to the central processing chip, which in turn applies an appropriate thrust to the necessary rotor(s) to counter this change in acceleration, all faster than you can blink. This means that even in a gust of wind the device would correct itself and stay hovering in the air – this is what separates itself from the average hovering toy.
Programming such an affair is no mean feat, and it requires much fine tuning and testing to get it right. Even then we need to connect the device to a RC controller and programme values of thrust for when we want to change the direction of the Quadrotor, which is done by giving and taking thrust from specific rotors depending on what command we wish to give.
All in all a rather complicated process. However the satisfaction, as with most engineering problems, lies in solving it after much hard work and deliberation. We plan to have finished the project by the end of next term and will be giving a talk on the whole process in Engineering society. Project Team: George Charnley, Cheryl Liu, Charlie Bruce and Ed Phillips
Could this be what the Quadrotor project ends up looking like? This impressive project could well be lining the shelves in stores near you
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WHAT ARE THESE EVERYDAY OBJECTS?
These everyday objects have been magnified with an electron microscope...can you guess what they are?
YOUR TEACHERS’ HEROES Dr. Vicky Stubbs
Dr. Kwasi Agyei-Owusu
Favourite Scientist? Konrad Lorenz Why? A behavioural biologist who set the bar for getting into one‟s work. He shared the Nobel Prize in 1973 for his work. He used to put on a gorilla suit and perch on the roof of his buildings to observe the behaviour of bird species like jackdaws, believing that the suit wouldn‟t spook the birds as much as a human would. He also used to investigate imprinting behaviour in ducklings, so neighbours would see him waddling around making odd noises, trailed by a line of fuzzy ducklings.
Favourite Scientist? Robert Burns Woodward Why? He was a very colourful organic chemist who opened up the world of synthesising complex organic compounds, such as chlorophyll and cholesterol. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work in 1965. As was his character, he was kicked out of MIT, having gained entry aged just 16, for not paying attention to his studies - as he was too busy working on his own projects that his lecturers couldn‟t even comprehend.
Steve Conduit Favourite Fact? It has to be that we are all made up of recycled stars - literally, we‟re all STARDUST, as Joni Mitchell would say Favourite Scientist? Richard Feynman, known for his work in the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of super-cooled liquid helium. Plus, he was an excellent bongo player.
Joe Connor
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DO YOU WANT TO HELP DEVELOP SCIENCEGATE? It is our aim at Sciencegate to launch an issue each term, each of which we would like to be bulging with an even wider range of subjects from an ever growing variety of writers from pupil and staff. You can get involved by e-mailing Joe Connor (joscon97@highgateschool.org.uk) or Lucas Shelemy (lucshe97@highgateschool.org.uk) with the article you wish to compile - there is an enourmous scope in the type of article that can be included e.g. A summary of an interesting scientific topic, a review of a book or exhibition or even possibly publishing any experimental research you have undertaken. There are also opportunities in publicity and website development.
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