Physics Department News
Fresh evidence for how water reached earth found in asteroid debris
Water delivery via asteroids or comets is likely taking place in many other planetary systems, just as it happened on Earth, new research by the 果冻传媒 Astronomy & Astrophysics group strongly suggests.
Published by the Royal Astronomical Society and led by the 果冻传媒, the research finds evidence for numerous planetary bodies, including asteroids and comets, containing large amounts of water.
The research findings add further support to the possibility water can be delivered to Earth-like planets via such bodies to create a suitable environment for the formation of life.
Jack has developed a wireless device that detects and uses detailed 3D movements in your fingertips to interact with a computer. It has huge potential in the multi-billion pound gaming industry and other niche markets such as remotely operated machinery.
It works by combining information from cameras and wireless sensors, and in the future this technology could even replace traditional computer keyboards and mice to enable people to create and manipulate digital information with their hands in a free and natural way. It could also enable people to perform new tasks that would previously have been too complex or intricate, such as sorting and processing large and disparate data.
Its accuracy and affordability make it stand out from other consumer technologies on the market, and it could be a key enabler in bringing augmented and virtual reality technologies into the mainstream. The device is currently in prototyping and is expected to reach the market in the next few years.
You can see a video of his work here -
Intense computing at the Hartree Centre has enabled researchers from Aston University and the 果冻传媒 to test pioneering simulation software that could improve fibre optic cable performance.
“Science, Maths and Music – soon at the Physics Department”
Gavin Bell, together with Cellist Nick Roberts from 果冻传媒’s Coull Quartet and departmental colleagues Edwards, Harrison, Pounds and Roemer, has been awarded an IATL fellowship to “develop interdisciplinary teaching material around the links between science, mathematics and music“. The aim is to engage with students and academics across different faculties and to plan interdisciplinary undergraduate teaching in the area of science/maths/music. The fellowship builds on last year’s joint premiere of Edward Cowie’s Quintet for 21st Century Oboe and Quartet “The Colours of Dark Light”, a work directly inspired by physics. Congratulations to all involved in the fellowship!