Edition 06
It’s my pleasure to provide an introduction to Edition 06 of In Abstract. For your reading pleasure, our expert panel have selected highlights of some of the most spectacular world-leading research advances recently made by researchers in the Faculty of Science and Engineering at The University of Manchester.
As has been remarked upon in previous editions, these advances are as diverse as they are exciting, from the development of 4D techniques to study geological processes in hot magma, to novel catalysts for the efficient synthesis of important drug molecules, to new insights into assessing the reproducibility of important algorithms, and beyond!
Nitrogen dioxide is a major pollutant from exhausts that causes significant environmental and health issues, and chemists at Manchester have shown for the first time that this gas can be selectively and fully reversibly stored in a class of porous materials. Manchester chemists have also used rapid genome evolution of yeast cells to fast-track the development of biological engineering.
The School of Materials showcases diversity in contemporary materials science, by investigating the response of major players in the fashion and textile industry to modern slavery legislation, the development of wear-resistant materials for application in nuclear reactors, and a collaboration with the School of Physics and Astronomy to investigate gas flow dynamics in 2D materials. Also within Physics, forget what you have previously learned about electricity and water not mixing – a new measurement has proved that whilst this is true for bulk water, its surface remarkably shows no interaction with an electric field.
Researchers in Computer Science have modelled the connectivity of neurones and synapses to simulate processes in a small portion of the human brain, whilst in Electrical and Electronic Engineering a team has helped develop novel self-powered wireless sensors; these devices have a plethora of potential applications in security and health monitoring.
Finally, an additional highlight for those who don’t suffer from arachnophobia is provided by a massive leap in our understanding of jumping spiders, which has given new inspiration for the design of agile micro-robots.
Simply click on the individual abstract titles below to find out more about all these remarkable research studies and many others. The next edition of In Abstract will be published in a few months, so please do visit this site again in the near future to catch up on the next wave of Manchester-led science and engineering advances.