Franklin 10, Autumn 2023

THE FRANKLIN The Science Magazine of Notting Hill & Ealing High School ◆ Autumn 2023

Giant Tortoises ‘hunting’ birds: the return of a lost interaction. Rewilding projects and conservation efforts.

By Emily A, Sixth Form Interactions between organisms in the environment are the basis of how an ecosystem thrives. The re-establishment or possible discovery of the relationship between giant tortoises and birds provides a new platform in which disturbance can occur within the food chain. The Fregate Island in the Seychelles is a privately owned island1 which is currently being managed in order to conserve species and research on the existing ecosystem. On the 30th July 20202, ecologists discovered an adult female giant tortoise approaching a tern chick on a log. Minutes later, the tortoise devoured the chick, despite being thought of as a herbivore. This strange interaction instantly posed an array of questions for the researchers, as theories and suggestions began to appear surrounding what exact implications this could result in.

tortoises consumption of birds. This change undoubtedly has a knock on effect down the trophic levels, as producers, such as the plants that the birds eat, will be directly impacted. There are two types of trophic cascade which can occur: top-down and bottom-up.3 This example between the birds and tortoise displays a top-down cascade, which happens when the consumer at the top of the food chain causes the primary disturbance to the rest of the trophic levels. When looking at the giant tortoises, their change in consumption patterns could lead to a decline in bird population within the island, as when they consume greater numbers of birds, it results in a fall in their numbers. This could then cause a decrease in some plant populations, as there are fewer birds consuming seeds and

One implication of the new-found relationship is the impact it has on the trophic levels within the Fregate island ecosystem. The concept of trophic cascades is relevant to this discovery, as the resurgence of predation of the birds will affect the abundance and populations of different species in the food chain. A trophic cascade occurs when there is a change to the levels of consumption of particular species within a habitat, such as the giant 1 2

Conservation Giant tortoise approaching a tern

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Trophic cascade

dispersing them throughout the island, allowing for less germination and reproduction of plants.

45% of plant species which exist in the Seychelles are endemic to the area.8 With greater numbers of species of plants and flora, greater biodiversity can be achieved through the help of ornithochory on the island. As the main goal of conservation efforts are to help maintain biodiversity, focusing on the maintenance of endemic species, with fewer numbers of birds due to consumption by the giant tortoises, even more human intervention would be needed in order to achieve the same dispersal of seeds that the birds would do. Thus, giant tortoise consumption could provide negative impacts for the conservation projects which are currently in place on the island, as it causes a decline in the number of birds.

Yet it could also cause an increase in other plant populations, as there are fewer birds consuming the flora, leaving more plants undisturbed. However, the giant tortoise in the video4 is shown eating a ‘tern chick’. Terns are a species of bird which appear in high abundance in the Seychelles, with the sooty tern being the most abundant bird species in all the islands.5 With this in mind, the tortoise predation may not actually have a significant impact, if any, on the number of bird populations. As the Peterhouse Giant Tortoise Research states, in regards to the number of tortoises eating birds, “At present we do not know how many tortoises do it or how often.”6 This information suggests that the problem exerted by this change in diet of the tortoises may actually cause no implications on conservation and rewilding projects, as it is not significant enough to make a change to existing interspecific relationships.

Whilst the newfound interaction between the giant tortoise and tern birds may cause a direct impact to both those species, if this new interaction has been discovered, it is possible there are other unknown relationships on the island too. Coexistence of species within a habitat comes with predation of prey in order for the ecosystem to thrive and for each species to gain their energy requirements.

Typically, Seychelles giant tortoises consume grasses, leaves and fruits in order to fulfil their needs. Therefore, the sudden choice to eat animals may come as a surprise to many, as surely they are satisfied with their herbivorous diet? As there is only one incident where this predation of bird behaviour has been caught on video, this action of the tortoise could very much just be a sign of incompetence and lack of diligence. Dr Gibbs, a herpetologist from the State University of New York, suggests that giant tortoises and birds have always had a ‘curious’ relationship, and often tortoises enjoy inspecting bird behaviour closely.9

Ornithochory displays how birds have a significant role in transporting seeds around the environment, through the excretion of faeces, which ultimately provides a method of conservation in the Seychelles7. As seeds pass through a bird's digestive tract, they can remain undigested due to their protective coat which provides a barrier between the embryo and digestive enzymes and acids. Due to this, seeds are then contained within the droppings of the bird, and laid down wherever the bird decides to excrete. After this, the seeds are thus able to germinate, providing they are deposited in the correct conditions. Through doing so, different species can colonise new habitats, promoting genetic diversity and driving the maintenance of species richness throughout the habitat.

This observation could provide evidence as to why the tortoises have suddenly began consuming the birds, as they have had a long term fascination over their existence. Usually, when tortoises eat plants, they extend their tongues out and take the food into their mouths. However, in the video of the giant tortoise and the tern chick, when the tortoise went to consume the bird, its tongue retracted and it had

This process helps to maintain conservation as the dispersal of native and endemic plant’s seeds can aid in the natural regeneration of ecosystems. Over 4

A giant tortoise eating a tern A sooty-tern 6 A hunting tortoise 7 Britannica - ornithochory 5

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Biodiversity Facts A tortoise eats a bird video

its eyes closed, which can be a sign that the tortoise is wary of danger with this food source. This shows that tortoises are aware that it is unusual for them to be consuming birds, and could be a display of risk taking behaviour. Furthermore, if this behaviour originated by one tortoise, it could have been picked up by the others, as a result of herd behaviour.

With an increase in tourist numbers of 81% from 2021 to 2022*14, some of these tourists could have been influenced partially by the story, as it provides promotion of the Seychelles as a destination for a holiday. This increase in tourism leads to an increase of money into the circular flow of the Seychelles economy, providing more funding towards conservation projects. The possibility of the introduction of more tourists into the island due to the story of the giant tortoise and bird, shows that not only do changes in interactions between species impact the organisms themselves, but also the rest of the world too.

Whilst herd behaviour is often not common in tortoises as they usually live in solitude, the idea that tortoises could be imitating each other should not be ruled out. 10It would explain why this behaviour is not an isolated incident, as it could merely be a result of copying each other. The impact of this shift in behaviour is the change in information that ecologists and researchers can gather from studies on the island. If tortoises suddenly change their consumption patterns, it is not completely unlikely that other species would not do the same. If consumption patterns changed all over the island, then it would be more difficult to control feeding relationships and predict predation, meaning existing conservation efforts could start to become less effective.

To conclude, the recently discovered relationship between giant tortoise and birds has provided several positive and negative impacts to conservation and rewilding projects for species in the Seychelles. Yet, overall implications caused by the interactions are minimal due to the unknown significance of the discovery by the lack of information surrounding how often this has occurred for and if the event is new or a resurfaced relationship. In the future, the extent to which this discovery will affect the ecosystem in the Seychelles will become more obvious, as further research is conducted and more information becomes available. *This increase in numbers is also likely due to lowered restrictions after the Covid 19 pandemic

A positive externality caused by this interaction could be the spread of awareness to the general public surrounding the importance of conservation of species in the Seychelles. Whilst there are many direct impacts of the behaviour of the giant tortoise to the island ecosystem itself, the story has caught the attention of the media and increased information surrounding management of the island.

Through sources such as BBC news11, The New York Times12 and The Seattle Times,13 the story has reached many parts of the world, due to its unusual and fascinating nature. Whilst the story is not the only factor influencing tourism, there has recently been a significant increase in the number of visitors to the island.

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Herd behaviour is often not common in tortoises.

BBC science-environment 12 New York Times 13 The Seattle Times 11

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All Africa

How did the work of other scientists help Crick and Watson to develop the theory of the structure of DNA?

By Megan H, Sixth Form Crick and Watson were seen as the fathers of the

This research was proven important when they won

structure of DNA, specifically the double helix.

Before they conducted their research, several other scientists had researched the chemical and physical properties of DNA. Using this information and x-ray diffraction data, in 1953 they built a model that portrays all known features of DNA in a double helix structure. In doing so they considered all possible geometric models and managed to show how bases were linked together via hydrogen bonds.

the Nobel Prize for ‘physiology or medicine’ in 1962.

These discoveries are thought to be true, appearing in the Oxford Dictionary of Scientists which have been renowned for their credibility.

However, it is widely believed that many scientists did not get credited for their large contributions to this model. Perhaps larger than Crick and Watson themselves.15 One of the main scientists credited for his contribution to the Crick and Watson model was Maurice Wilkins. Sharing the Nobel prize with Crick and Watson, Wilkins trained in x-ray crystallography and used this to study nucleic acids and proteins as part of his research towards DNA. He managed to successfully isolate the single fibres of DNA16. He

This model, which is still used today, managed to express how our genetic information is able to be expressed via chemical codes. Also, this research managed to show that genes can be replicated through synthesis which paved the way for Crick’s future work on RNA and protein synthesis. As well as this, the model explains how chemical changes to the structure of the DNA can cause mutations within the genes themselves.

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(1999). Oxford Dictionary of Scientists, Oxford University Press.

16 Essentials of Genetics, Nature.com

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found these fibres while investigating participating in his nucleic acids research.

and

credit she deserves for her contribution to the discovery of the structure of DNA1. It is also likely that due to the level of her research, if she had collaborated with Wilkins, they could have potentially created the double helix before Crick and Watson2.

He was handling highly purified DNA and found he could draw out tiny fibres on the sample using a probe tip. Although he did not entirely realise the relevance of this discovery, Crick and Watson used these studies of purified DNA when creating their model as the fibres helped them realise that the DNA was formed of two strands, forming a double helix. For this reason, Maurice Wilkins was one of the first scientists to decide that DNA was important to learn about.17

Another notable scientist who contributed to the development of the theory of the structure of DNA was Phoebus Levene. He was a Russian born chemist who studied medicine, however went on to create important research. His most notable work was on nucleic acids. In 1909 he managed to isolate the pentose sugar D-Ribose from which ribonucleic acid (RNA) is created. This isolation was important to Crick and Watson as Crick went on to work on protein synthesis. IN 1929, Levene then discovered and managed to isolate 2-deoxyribose (part of the DNA structure). He found this from removing an oxygen atom from his isolated D-Ribose sugar.

Rosalind Franklin, although her contributions were controversial, also made significant contributions to the double helix model. She was recruited to work on DNA with Maurice Wilkins however there was tension between the two, resulting in a lack of collaboration. This is largely due to the sexist views at the time as well as male hostility.

However, due to the societal views on women at the time it is likely that she has not been given the

There is evidence that this information is correct as it is written on many sites including Britannica, a reliable encyclopaedia made up of carefully edited articles. All Levene’s research together helped Levene determine that nucleotides are formed from nucleic acids and nucleotides form in chains.

Although Levene’s theory of how these nucleotides are arranged was disapproved by Chargaff, his research was incredibly important for Crick and Watson as they used this evidence for nuclear chains to form the double helix model. From Levene's research, scientists looked into hydrogen bonds forming between the bases which led to the discovery of the double helix. 18 Erwin Chargaff was also a notable figure in contributing to the discovery of the structure of DNA. He was an Austrian biochemist based in America who dedicated his life to creating 2 rules (otherwise called Chargaff’s rules). The first of these discoveries was that the number of Guanine units is equal to the number of cytosine units. As well as that Adenine units are equal to thymine units. For example in humans, DNA has 30.9% adenine bases and 29.4% Thymine bases. This research heavily hinted towards the base pair makeup of DNA.

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Despite this, Franklin created results that became of great use to Crick and Watson. Rosalin Franklin was the first to take an X-ray photograph of hydrated DNA, this photo being the most revealing photo they had until then in the 20th century.

To show these images to the world, Franklin held a seminar in 1952 to which Watson attended. From seeing these images, Watson recognised a helical shape (which he then used in his later work on the double helix structure). In 1953, Franklin continued her work on DNA and created a draft paper that proposed a double chain helical structure of DNA. Although this was extremely close to the design of the Crick and Watson model, she did not include nor yet understand the base pairing or that the chains should run in opposite directions. Arguably, Rosalind Franklin was the scientist to come the closest to the model and contributed more than any other.

Tucker, A. (2004, October 7). Maurice Wilkins obituary.

The Guardian.

Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2023, September 2). Britannica.

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Although just Crick, Watson and Wilkins were given the nobel prize, it is likely that other scientists were not given the credit they deserve. For example, it was from Rosalind Franklin’s images of hydrated DNA, that Watson first saw the helical structure. As well as this, If it weren’t for Erwin Chargaff, the base pair makeup of DNA may not have been included in the double helix structure theory. Many other scientists also made crucial discoveries and research that was used by Crick and Watson to determine their model.

Although Chargaff did not make this connection, his research significantly contributed to Crick and Watson’s research. This is due to the fact that the knowledge of matching base pairs was used in the double helix model to connect both strands of nucleotides. Chargaff was credited with disproving Levene’s theory that DNA was composed of repeats of the GACT bases and through this he was extremely useful to Crick and Watson. This is creditable as in 1952, Chargaff met with crick and watson in Cambridge in 1952 to present his research.

I checked multiple sites and they all back up the fact that Chargaff was the first to discover this. His second discovery was just as useful. He discovered that the composition of DNA varies from one species to another. He found this by discovering that different species have a relative amount of bases for their specific species. This was evidence for molecular diversity and the importance of DNA in our genetic makeup/coding for our 19 characteristics.

In conclusion, many scientists contributed to creating the theory of the structure of DNA. 19

Erwin Chargaff, Bionity encyclopaedia

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How is antibiotic resistance caused, and how are hospitals preventing these infections?

By Adriana H, Sixth Form Clostridium difficile (C.Diff) and Methicillin-Resistant

from growing or reproducing further. Bactericidal

Staphylococcus Aureus are two of the most dominant bacteria related to hospital/community illnesses, together, infecting around 5.2 million people in the US and EU alone¹. They are a part of the ever-increasing antibiotic-resistant epidemic.

With case rates increasing and no solutions yet in place, it is more important than ever to have preventative measures. This essay aims to explore what antibiotics are, the history of MRSA and C. diff, what hospitals are doing currently and ongoing solution theories.

antibiotics are slightly different in that they directly target and kill the bacteria. This is typically through breaking down the bacterial cell wall, irreversibly destroying its cell structure. Penicillin is a prime example.

There are various mechanisms through which bacteria use to infect a host: endotoxins, exotoxins and invasive measures. Exotoxins are soluble proteins produced during reproduction or as a direct part of their metabolism. Endotoxins make up part of the outer cell membrane, only present within gram-negative bacteria. They are lipoglycans that trigger inflammatory immune responses. Being a mycobacterium allows the bacteria to invade macrophages. They lie dormant, protecting themselves with a thick waxy cell wall.

Resistance The fear with prescribing antibiotics is that it leads to exposure, causing selection pressure within that species of bacteria. Natural selection occurs

Antibiotics: Definition & Resistance First discovered by Alexander Fleming and his pursuit of penicillin in 1928, antibiotics are defined as medicines that fight bacterial infections. They work by either killing or making it hard for bacteria to grow or reproduce. There are two main types: bacteriostatic and bactericidal². Bacteriostatic antibiotics work by disrupting protein production, metabolism or DNA replication, preventing bacteria

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between those who have or haven’t developed resistance through mutations. This leads to the resistant bacteria having an increased likelihood of successfully reproducing and passing on the resistive adaptation. This gives bacteria the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them, rendering them ineffective.20

joints, bones, lungs or heart. This is what ultimately leads to major infections including osteomyelitis, septic arthritis, endocarditis and pneumonia⁵.

Antibiotic Treatment & Resistance Methicillin is most commonly prescribed for MRSA and is a semi-synthetic derivative of penicillin. However, in addition to now being taken resistant to, there was a growing risk of it inhibiting platelet aggregation responses if taken at too high a dosage, inducing bleeding diathesis⁴. Vancomycin is now prescribed globally to treat infections caused by MRSA. It is not the most effective but the most accessible, unlike its competitors teicoplanin, daptomycin and linezolid.

Due to their expense, they are only given to those with a low sensitivity to Vancomycin.

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus A History & Overview In 1960, the more commonly known superbug, MRSA was discovered, just less than a year after the second generation of beta-lactam antibiotics came into clinical practises³. It is a gram-positive coccoid bacterium, arranged in an irregular spherical shape.

It is unknown to most that MRSA is found as a part of one’s normal microbiota flora, with around 35% of adults being asymptomatic carriers. However, it is their extreme range of infection and ability to remain undetected by the body’s immune system that makes this type of bacteria so dangerous.

Vancomycin works by inhibiting cell wall production, binding to the terminals of the cell wall precursors.

This prevents cross-linking by transpeptidation, meaning no amino acids can be transferred from one cell/bacteria to another, therefore no genetic information. It led to the production of Vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (VISA) and Vancomycin S. aureus (VRSA), eliminating another antibiotic that could be effective against all MRSA⁶.

Being classified as a Multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDRB), MRSA is particularly hard to treat being resistant to penicillins, cephalosporins, carbapenems, and beginning to reject quinolones, aminoglycosides and macrolides. This is due to its widespread use and dependency originating from the UK and Denmark in 1961. It acquired the Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec (SCCmec) gene from previous Methicillin-sensitive S.aureus (MSSA) strains. This contains the mecA gene, coding for Penicillin-binding protein (PBP2a), responsible for resistance in all beta-lactam antibiotics.

Clostridium Difficile: A History & Overview C. diff is a gram-positive, spore-forming, obligate anaerobe bacillus and the current leading cause of healthcare-associated infection. It was first discovered and isolated in 1935 by Hall and O’Toole but was not subsequently investigated until 1975 by John Barlett.

Its spores are resistant to various disinfectants and environmentally persistent, surviving for up to four weeks on surfaces. In the human body, C. diff cannot live outside the colon despite thriving externally through faeces, surfaces, unwashed hands, soil, water and food. While there are non-toxigenic strains that exist naturally, only those that are toxigenic are associated with the disease.

C. diff is transmitted through the mouth, and reproduces within the small intestine until reaching the colon where it will release two exotoxins: TcdA and TcdB. Both toxins disrupt the cytoskeletal

There are two strains of MRSA: Healthcare Associated MRSA (HA-MRSA), and Community Associated (CA-MRSA), found in people who have had contact with someone recently hospitalised with active MRSA⁶. It transmits via physical contact, surviving on surfaces for up to three weeks. MRSA can manifest externally as a mild skin/staph infection or intrinsically, entering one’s bloodstream, 20

Turner, N.A. and Anderson, D.J. (2020) Hospital infection control: clostridioides difficile, Clinics in colon and rectal surgery. (Accessed: 04 November 2023).

Antibiotics

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structure of target cells within the intestinal epithelium⁷.

Symptoms include severe diarrhoea, ultimately leading to a toxic megacolon and possible death.

The most common trigger for a disrupted microbiota flora is persistent antibiotic exposure. Having a healthy flora is vital as it inhibits toxic production.

Not having a high enough pH provided by gastric suppression also cultivates an ideal environment for C. diff but a fatal one for the host¹.

the environmental contamination and contraction of both MRSA and C. diff.

Hygiene While simple, hand washing is vital in minimising the transmission of both these diseases. 60% of transmission is through touching one’s hand, with the other 40% off of environmental surfaces. It is important to note that soap and water will not kill the bacteria but simply rid of the spores and/or bacteria off of the surface. However, it has proven more effective than traditional alcohol-based sanitisers with MRSA now resistant to ethanol. The ‘Clean your hands’ campaign established in September 2004 across England and Wales has seen a direct correlation with reduced MRSA and C. diff contraction rates. It is suggested that this sporicidal effect could be enhanced through the warming of ethanol-based sanitisers and acidification to reduce the overall pH.

Antibiotic Treatment & Resistance It too is currently most commonly treated with metronidazole, vancomycin, and fidaxomicin, however, the origin of its resistance is not so straightforward. Being multifactorial, there is a mix of both genetic and external factors that have led to alterations of antibiotic target sites, causing variation in metabolic pathways, and a change in biofilm production. Moreover, the substance produced by C. diff bacteria exacerbates the infection which makes it so dangerous. The way these bacteria assemble themselves makes them unable to be removed by gentle rinsing¹.

Contact precautions Regulations state one must be gloved and gowned before entering any room where a patient, suspected or confirmed, may have MRSA or C. diff.

It is the aim that they should be isolated in private rooms for a minimum of 48 hours after symptoms recover, however, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) recognises that this may not be possible in less economically developed countries (LEDCs) as to why group cohorts are acceptable.

Multiple body sites and environmental surfaces can be expected to be infected. From a recent study of the Oxford health system, it is suggested that only 45% of all cases were identified to have originated outside of the hospital setting, suggesting these measures have taken the desired effect.

Transfer Plasmids Within bacteria, genetic information is transferred through horizontal gene transfer of which there are two types: transformational and conjugative.

Transformational transfer details how bacteria take up DNA in the environment, however, conjugation is the most common and is the way resistance is seen to transfer within MRSA and C. diff. It is cell-to-cell contact in which the bacteria make direct contact with each other⁸.

Infection controls in hospitals Both community and healthcare-associated MRSA and C. diff rates have increased startlingly since the start of the 21st century. Hospital-onset C. diff currently occurs at a rate of, on average, 6.1 cases per 10,000 patients a day. Postoperative rates are also increasing by around 1%. There is a strong correlation between these rates and increased patient mortality rate, as a result currently sitting at 30% complicated by some form of sepsis. Various measures are currently being put in place to control

Antimicrobial Stewardship This has been proven to be the most effective method in reducing the rate of C. diff spreading by up to 60%. The aim is to optimize the timings, type, administration technique and duration of antibiotics, being careful to do this only when necessary and avoiding the overuse of prophylaxis in particular, with nothing of similar effect to replace it. Acquiring an allergy is similarly important as over 10% of patients are later realised to have a beta-lactam 3

allergy, increasing the overuse of alternate prophylaxis agents such as clindamycin. These increase the rates of C. diff contraction.

down the inevitable rate of contraction. More research is needed into bacterial resistance to combat this issue and quickly ensure a safer future.21

Decontamination It is vital to decontaminate every room an infected patient has been in to rid of the surface-surviving bacterial spores. It must be taken into consideration that the strain-causing disease is often different from the strain isolated from the patient’s immediate surroundings, making decontamination that much more difficult. A range of techniques are required from UV light to hydrogen peroxide aerosols, in addition to using appropriate sporicidal cleaning agents and maintaining quality control of the cleaning. This can be done by improving training for environmental service workers along with using specifically trained terminal decontamination teams.

Sporicidal cleaning agents must be used as detergents and quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) are not strong enough to kill the spores themselves, but in fact, support their survival and reproduction⁹. It is suggested in the future to make more of these procedures with no-touch adjustment measures, allowing the rooms to be sealed during all treatments to boost efficiency.

Bibliography 1. Turner, N.A. and Anderson, D.J. (2020) Hospital infection control: clostridioides difficile, Clinics in colon and rectal surgery. (Accessed: 04 November 2023).

2. medlineplus.gov/antibiotics.html 3. my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/11633-met hicillin-resistant-staphylococcus-aureus-mrsa 4. ashpublications.org/blood/article/109/12/5087/23 017/The-growing-complexity-of-platelet-aggregat ion 5. .mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/staph-infecti ons/symptoms-causes/syc-20356221 6. Okwu, M.U. et al. (2019) Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and anti-MRSA activities of extracts of some medicinal plants: A brief review, AIMS microbiology. (Accessed: 04 November 2023).

7. Di Bella, S. et al. (2016) Clostridium difficile toxins A and b: Insights into pathogenic properties and extraintestinal effects, Toxins. (Accessed: 04 November 2023).

8. asm.org/articles/2023/january/plasmids-and-thespread-of-antibiotic-resistance-g 9. npic.orst.edu/ingred/whatarequats.html 10. Salge, T.O. et al. (2017) Fighting MRSA infections in hospital care: How organizational factors matter, Health services research. Available at: .ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5441483/ (Accessed: 04 November 2023).

Precautions Asymptomatic carriers of these diseases pose the biggest threat to hospital containment. There are three preventative measures put in place as per IDSA guidelines: Proton Pump Inhibitor ban and CDI prevention bundles. The proton pump inhibitor relieves symptoms of acid reflux and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which in itself is not a problem. It is the overuse and vulnerability it provides¹⁰.

Conclusion C. diff and MRSA are just two examples of the growing concern surrounding antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains and the detrimental effects they can have on healthcare systems. While there are preventative measures in place that are having a significant impact on disease containment, they are not able to eradicate the issue, but rather slow

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npic.orst.edu - whatarequats

How will AI shape the future of medicine?

By Anoushka D, Year 9

Artificial Intelligence or AI - we hear about it all the time in our modern world, with social media, facial recognition, smart shopping and Chatbots like ChatGPT, how it will evolve in the future and shape the world we know?. AI is rapidly transforming various industries, and one of the fields where its impact is most promising is medicine. The intersection of AI and healthcare holds the potential to revolutionise diagnostics, treatment plans, drug discovery, and patient care. As we delve into the future, the integration of AI in medicine is poised to bring about unprecedented advancements, ushering in an era of personalised and efficient healthcare.

few seconds. And if you think that’s impressive, it’s only scratching the surface of what AI can do.

As reported by CNN recently: without cracking a single textbook, without spending a day in medical school, the co-author of a preprint study correctly answered enough practice questions that it would have passed the real US Medical Licensing Examination. But the test-taker wasn’t a member of Mensa or a medical savant; it was the artificial intelligence ChatGTP. The tool, which was created to answer user questions in a conversational manner, has generated so much buzz that doctors and scientists are trying to determine what its limitations are – and what it could do for health and medicine.

To give an example of the potential of AI and its superiority over us mere mortals, the outline of this article was generated by a chatbot in the matter of a 5

Diagnostics and Early Detection AI is proving to be a game-changer in medical diagnostics. Machine learning algorithms, when trained on vast datasets, can analyse medical images, such as X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans, with remarkable accuracy. This capability enables early detection of diseases like cancer, often before symptoms manifest. The ability of AI to identify subtle patterns and anomalies in medical images not only enhances diagnostic accuracy but also

expedites the process, crucial for timely intervention and improved patient outcomes.

Personalised Medicine The future of medicine lies in personalisation, and AI plays a pivotal role in tailoring treatments to individual patients. By analysing vast amounts of genomic, clinical, and lifestyle data, AI algorithms can identify specific biomarkers and genetic predispositions, allowing healthcare providers to create targeted treatment plans. This shift from a

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one-size-fits-all approach to personalised medicine promises more effective therapies with fewer side effects, optimising patient care and improving overall treatment success rates.

game-changing potential in life sciences and healthcare, the implementation of AI algorithms promises to enhance efficiency in medical processes, from quicker and more accurate diagnoses to personalised treatment plans tailored to individual patient needs. Furthermore, the government is investing in AI-driven predictive analytics to identify potential health risks and prevent diseases before they manifest. With a focus on collaboration between healthcare professionals and AI systems, the UK government envisions a future where technology augments human expertise, resulting in a more resilient and responsive healthcare system.

Drug Discovery and Development AI is accelerating the drug discovery process, traditionally a time-consuming and expensive endeavour. Machine learning algorithms can analyse complex biological data, predict potential drug candidates, and simulate their effects on the human body. This not only expedites the identification of promising compounds but also reduces the likelihood of late-stage failures in drug development. The synergy between AI and traditional research methods is creating a more efficient and cost-effective approach to bringing new drugs to market.

Challenges and Ethical Considerations While the future of AI in medicine holds great promise, it also raises important challenges and ethical considerations. Issues such as data privacy, the interpretability of AI decisions, and potential biases in algorithms require careful attention.

Striking a balance between innovation and ethical standards are crucial to ensuring the responsible deployment of AI technologies in healthcare. Even more seriously, it has also sparked some sobering warnings. Addressing the UN Security Council in July, Secretary General António Guterres spoke of the “horrific levels of death and destruction” that malicious AI use could cause.

Virtual Health Assistants and Remote Monitoring The integration of AI in medicine extends beyond the clinic and hospital walls. Virtual health assistants, powered by natural language processing and machine learning are becoming integral in-patient care. These AI-driven tools can provide real-time information, answer medical queries, and even monitor patients' health remotely. With the rise of wearable devices and sensors, AI enables continuous monitoring of vital signs, allowing healthcare providers to intervene promptly and prevent complications, especially in chronic disease Management.

Conclusion The future of AI in medicine is a landscape of immense possibilities. From enhancing diagnostic accuracy to enabling personalised treatments and expediting drug discovery, AI is reshaping the healthcare landscape. As we navigate this transformative journey, it is imperative that we address challenges and ethical considerations to ensure that the benefits of AI are equitably distributed, shaping a future where advanced technologies contribute to a healthier and more resilient society.

The UK government integrating AI into the NHS The UK government is poised to usher in a transformative era in healthcare by integrating AI into medical practices over the next few years.

Recognizing the potential of AI to revolutionise diagnostics, treatment, and patient care, policymakers are actively working to incorporate cutting-edge technologies into the fabric of the NHS. A new £100 million fund to capitalise on AI’s Bibliography

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1. Chat GPT 2. Artificial-intelligence-medicine

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The Lancet UK GOV news website

The Progress of the Nucleus: a journey through Physics Lydia M, Sixth Form It is believed that it was the Ancient Greeks who initially theorised that the world as we know it is actually composed of much smaller particles (atoms) which is derived from the adjective ‘atomos’ who’s definition is “uncuttable”. Although we now know that atoms are actually ‘cuttable’ into even smaller particles, with such basic technology, this was a relatively apt description of the atomic world.

Thousands of years later, even with comparatively advanced technology, knowing what a nucleus is composed of has proven difficult because it is so small it cannot even be seen with a microscope – it is much more difficult to break it apart and examine what it is made of. Furthermore, physical discoveries have consequently forced the model to develop simultaneously as our understanding of particles and forces have changed.

Figure 1: Solid Sphere Atom Model (Source: Sutori) The discovery of a new subatomic particle altered the model of the atom required to be able to explain its existence. In 1987, JJ Thomson announced the discovery of the electron.

The Atomic Model: The nucleus has not always existed as an idea. The first model of the atom in modern science, proposed

by John Dalton in 1803, who drew from the Ancient Greek idea, was the Solid Sphere Model. This suggested exactly what it might seem: an atom was a solid sphere which was indivisible and each element had a different kind of solid sphere which interacted to make compounds.

He unveiled their existence in the atom by experimenting with a cathode ray tube which are vacuum tubes (meaning there is no matter and extremely little pressure) with one or more electron guns that emit electron beams which can be manipulated to produce images on a phosphorescent (glows in the dark without emitting heat) screen.

Dalton successfully identified that each element has unique atoms but this model is not correct in the sense that atoms are not indivisible – they can be broken down into much smaller particles therefore neglecting to represent the nucleus.

These images have a great manner of representations: electrical waveforms, pictures, radar targets and more. Thomson placed a positively and negatively charged electric plate around the cathode ray which deflected away from the negatively charged plate towards the positively charged one.

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Since like charges repel and opposite attract, this indicated that the cathode ray was made up of negatively charged particles which he named ‘corpuscles’.

surrounded by electrons. So in 1911 the nucleus was discovered.

Thomson thought that these particles were from trace gas in the cathode ray tubes, leading him to believe that the atom was in fact divisible and that these ‘corpuscles’ (electrons) were the building blocks. To explain the atoms’ neutral charge, he suggested that the electrons existed in a cloud of positive charge. Thus the Plum Pudding Model (as it widely became to be known) was born.

Figure 3: Rutherford’s atomic model (Source: Adobe Stock) showing a positively charged nucleus with electrons surrounding it with mostly empty space.

Rutherford did not only discover the nucleus, but also the first particle to be known which makes it up.

The proton. With the help of his student, James Chadwick, they performed a series of experiments concerned with changing one element into another by bombarding them with high energy alpha particles. What they found was that nitrogen, oxygen and aluminium, when hit with these alpha particles, emitted a fast moving particle with a positive charge or, more specifically a hydrogen nucleus.

Figure 2: Plum Pudding Model (Source: Encyclopedia Britannica,Inc.) showing the electrons in a cloud of positively charged matter.

Building on this model, was Ernest Rutherford (once Thomson’s student) who proved that the Plum Pudding model was incorrect. With the help of Ernest Marsden and Hans Geiger performed an experiment using alpha particles, which are helium atoms with two protons and two neutrons, where they fired these particles at solid materials e.g gold foil and recorded the location at which the particles hit a phosphorescent screen.

Most hydrogen nuclei contain one proton. They realised that the positive charge of any nucleus could be regarded as an integer number of positively charged hydrogen nuclei which Rutherford named the proton.

Most of the alpha particles (as expected) were unaffected by the foil however some of these atoms were deflected at an angle (of more than 90 degrees) and some reflected straight back.

Rutherford concluded that the reason for this deflection was a dense core at the centre of the atom, where the positive charge was localised,

The next atomic model did not change much about the knowledge of the nucleus but Bohr suggested that electrons orbit the nucleus in what he described as concentric circles with a fixed, stable orbit modelled off of the solar system.

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In this diagram of Bohr’s atomic model (Figure 4) the nucleus is shown to be composed of two different kinds of particles however at the time the model was proposed (1913) the nucleus would have actually been proposed as that in Figure 3 because it was not until nineteen years later that the neutron was actually discovered.

gamma rays were big enough particles to do so.

Instead, he theorised that the radiation was made of particles with no electrical charge and roughly the same mass as a proton. This came to be known as the neutron.

In roughly 130 years, the understanding of atoms and nuclei had changed so drastically however this was only scratching the surface.

In 1968, at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Centre, it was discovered that protons and neutrons are not fundamental particles. They are made of even smaller particles called quarks. Protons are made of two up-quarks and a single down-quark and neutrons two down-quarks and one up-quark.

It is believed that everything in the universe is made up of different combinations of up-quarks, down-quarks and electrons and experimentally, they have not been proven to be made of any smaller particles. However, there is evidence that there are other fundamental particles which are also added to the mix.

Figure 4: Bohr’s atomic model (Source: abcte.org) showing the orbits of electrons around the nucleus.

In 1950, Frederick Reines and Clyde Cowan experimentally concluded that there was a fourth fundamental particle: the neutrino. These are very difficult to detect because they hardly ever interact with matter. An average energy neutrino can easily pass right through many trillion miles of lead without the slightest effect on its motion. (Greene, 2000)

The Nucleus: So, by 1911 physicists knew that the nucleus was positively charged but other than that, not much else was known about it.

In fact, each second, fusion reactions in the Sun’s core fling approximately 60 billion neutrinos onto every square centimetre of the Earth. (How The Sun and Stars Shine – CERN Courier, 2022).

It was particularly difficult to discover the existence of the neutron because it has no charge. Also, a neutron’s mass is so similar to that of a proton that with limited technology, they could easily be mistaken as the same particle. The person who discovered the neutron was James Chadwick in 1932. He bombarded beryllium atoms with alpha particles which produced an unknown type of radiation.

Furthermore, a particle called the muon was discovered in the late 1930s almost identical to an electron; it has a mass which is about 200 times heavier.

As technology has improved, physicists have been able to collide particles and matter with more energy and as a result have discovered more kinds of quark: charm, strange, bottom and top; another relative of the electron which is even heavier than

This radiation was previously hypothesised to be gama by scientists Frédéric and Irène Joliot-Curie.

However, protons were knocked out from the Beryllium atoms and Chadwick did not believe that 10

the neutrino – the tau; and two particles which behave similarly to the neutrino (the tau-neutrino and the muon-neutrino). (Greene (2000))

would move away from each other at a speed of about 13,000,000 metres per second.

In order for this repulsive force to be overcome, there must be an even stronger force keeping them together: the strong nuclear force. (Fermilab, 2016, 1:16-4:39)

This is not the end. Each of these particles has an antiparticle which has an identical mass but is opposite in different ways, for example charge. An electron’s antiparticle is called a positron and has exactly the same mass but a charge of +1 instead of -1. When collided, matter and antimatter essentially ‘cancel out’ to produce pure energy meaning that antimatter rarely exists naturally in the universe.

In order to ascertain the strength of the strong force, scientists looked at the periodic table where the highest number of protons in a stable element is roughly 100. Therefore it can be understood that the strong force cannot hold together more than 100 protons.

Figure 5 shows how these particles have been arranged by scientists into three groups called families. Each family consists of two quarks, an electron or one of its ‘cousins’ and one of the kinds of the neutrinos.

This is because the strong force has a property which is quite different from the electromagnetic force. EM forces have an infinite range, however the strong force can be described as more of a contact force; when two protons touch each other, they experience the strong force, but once they are pulled apart, the force is reduced to zero.

This explains why nuclei with smaller masses are more stable than those with larger masses: in those which are heavier, the protons in the nucleus push against each other however the strong nuclear force is only felt by the protons which are touching.

The aptly named gluon is the virtual ‘messenger’ particle of the strong nuclear force and binds the subatomic particles in the nucleus.

Figure 5: Table 1.1 (Source (Greene, 2000)) Everything that has so far been encountered by scientists is made of a combination of these particles and their antimatter counterparts.

The electromagnetic force is concerned with keeping the electrons in orbit around the positively charged nucleus, transferred by the virtual particles photons. These electrons do not fall into the nucleus because they revolve around the nucleus at high speeds and exist in discrete energy levels, and only become excited or de excited by absorbing or emitting a photon.

These are not the only parts which form nuclei and atoms, in order for them to interact as necessary, forces also play a part. There are four fundamental forces – gravitational, electromagnetic, nuclear strong and nuclear weak force which dictate all of the particulate interactions in the universe. Each of these have a corresponding particle which can be described as the smallest bundle of these forces.

Another explanation for how electrons do not crash into the nucleus is Schroedinger’s model of the atom. He proposed that electrons exist in probability clouds around the nucleus due to electrons’ wave-particle duality. According to the model in F7, electrons exist in quantised wave

It is known that like charges repel and opposite charges attract and a nucleus more often than not consists of more than one positively charged proton. Naturally these would repel each other and if this happened in the case of two protons, they 11

functions where their probability density is measured using a property called its quantum number and describes its distance from the nucleus.

(Gribbin, 1984)

piece in nuclear physics. (Science and Technology Facilities Council, 2008) Finally, the gravitational force in the nucleus, carried by the graviton, is the weakest of the four fundamental forces and has little effect on the nucleus of an atom. This force mostly describes interactions between two or more particles or atoms and is proportional to the masses, which are miniscule.

Conclusion: As John Gribbin remarks, physicists do not have “as clear an idea of what makes the nucleus tick as we do of the behaviour of an atom”. Gribbin (1984) In fact, the properties of the nucleus described above is just a brief overview and there are many more nuances of the nucleus defined by other characteristics of particles, for example, spin and colour. Through fully understanding the nucleus and ergo the subatomic world, physicists might finally be able to crack the code of what makes the universe itself “tick”.

Figure 7: Schrödinger’s Atomic Model (1926 AD) (Source: Rincón Educativo, 2023)

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Like the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force only interacts with particles in the nucleus.

Instead of binding subatomic particles together, the weak nuclear force causes these particles to change into others by interactions between the force particles, weak gauge bosons which play an important role in nuclear reactions. In beta decay, a neutron is turned into a proton or vice versa and an electron is emitted; however, the emission of electrons in beta decay baffled physicists until it was explained by Italian physicist Rico Fermi. He hypothesised that a weak nuclear force converts these particles simultaneously, emitting electrons, positrons and neutrinos, thus finding the missing

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Fermilab. (2016, May 24). The strong nuclear force .youtube.com/watch?v=c3nGE8Z3-lo Greene, B. (2000). The Elegant Universe. Vintage.

Gribbin, J. (1984). In search of Schrödinger’s cat. ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BB06258706 How the Sun and stars shine – CERN Courier. (2022, February 1). CERN Courier cerncourier.com/a/how-the-sun-and-stars-shine/ Schrödinger’s atomic model (1926 AD) - Rincón educativo. (2023, January 13). Rincón Educativo. rinconeducativo.org/en/recursos-educativos/sc rodingers-atomic-model-1926-ad/ Science and Technology Facilities Council. (2008, March 1). The weak and strong nuclear forces (9 of 15) YouTube. youtube.com/watch?v=41-LdIFC9I

Can Dust save the Amazon Rainforest?

Natalie R, Year 7

Dust can seem like one of the most boring and inconvenient things in the world. From it piling up behind an abandoned desk drawer, to it wafting up in the air and clogging your pores. Dust has never been an interesting or pleasant aspect of life, until now…

The Amazon rainforest, also called Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a humid, dense green jungle in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin encompasses 7,000,000 km2 (2,700,000 sq mi),[2] of which 5,500,000 km2 (2,100,000 sq mi) are covered by the rainforest. This region includes territory belonging to nine nations and 3,344 formally acknowledged indigenous territories.

Scientists have discovered that dust can actually save the Amazon Rainforest! But, for us to know how dust can do that, we need to know what the Amazon rainforest needs to survive.

The majority of the forest is in Brazil.

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across the Sahara, a tan cloud rises and stretches between the continents and bonds these 2 unlikely allies together, it’s a completely different story. What is it? Well, the answer is ….dust!

The transcontinental journey of dust is important because of what's in the dust. That’s right people, Phosphorus galore!

Dust picked up from the Bodele Depression in Chad at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, an ancient lake bed where rock minerals composed of dead microorganisms, are loaded with Phosphorus.

The image at the front of the article shows the Bodele Depression.

Wind and weather pick up on an average 182 million tons of dust each year and carry it past the western edge of the Sahara at longitude 15W. This volume is the equivalent of 689, 290 semi trucks filled with dust. The dust then travels 1600 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, though some gets dropped into the water, or flushed away by rain.Near the Eastern Coast of South America, at longitude 35W. 132 million tons remain in the air and 27.7 million tons, enough to fill 104, 908 semi trucks, falls to the surface of the Amazon Rainforest and fertilises the plants. In fact, the amount of phosphorus lost in the rainfall is completely replaced by the dust blown from the Sahara.

As well as being an extraordinarily useful tool for humanity, providing food resources, oxygen, paper and lots of other products, the Amazon Rainforest contains 40,000 plant species, 3,000 freshwater fish species, and more than 370 types of reptiles and has been described as Earth’s lungs. The Amazon Rainforest is a vital ecosystem to every manner of life, and thrives with the most exotic plant and animal life known to man.

This is where the dust comes in. Phosphorus is one of the essential nutrients for plant proteins and growth which the Amazon Rainforest needs to flourish. These nutrients are in short supply in Amazonian soils. Instead they are locked up in the plants themselves. Fallen, decomposing leaves and organic matter that biodegrade into the soil and become a compost for the plants, providing the majority of these nutrients. But some nutrients like Phosphorus, are washed away by tropical rainfall into the Amazon’s many streams and lakes, draining from the Amazon Basin like a slowly leaking bathtub.

Additionally, the dust also fertilises the vast number of phytoplankton in the Atlantic, the tiny algae that soak up huge amounts of carbon dioxide. When the phytoplankton eventually die, the remains sink to the bottom of the ocean, where the carbon stays locked away. Dust is, (and I say this with no exaggeration) a superhero battling one of our greatest enemies, the climate crisis.

Bibliography: 1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_rainforest 2. .nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/goddard/nas a-satellite-reveals-how-much-saharan-dust-f eeds-amazons-plants/ 3. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahara

The Sahara is a desert spanning North Africa, with an area of 9,200,000 square kilometres It is the largest hot desert in the world. These 2 ecosystems are completely different and very far away from each other, but when vast gusts of wind sweep 14

The Revolutionary Potential of Gene Editing Technologies Anna J, Year 9 Genetic engineering or genetic modification is a process that uses laboratory-based technologies to alter the DNA makeup of an organism. I think we have all heard of the groundbreaking science behind this, but as technology and our understanding of this expands, what could this mean for the future?

Jaenisch’s current research has led to significant advances in creating induced pluripotent stem cells and how they can be applied. An induced pluripotent stem cell, or iPS cell, is a cell taken from any tissue from a person and is genetically modified to behave like an embryonic stem cell. These cells are pluripotent, as the name implies, which means that they have the ability to form all adult cell types.

Jaenisch’s laboratories have reported success in reprogramming cells taken from a mouse's tail into IPS cells. Jaenisch has since shown the benefits of IPS cell-based treatment for sickle-cell anaemia and Parkinson's disease in mice. Even though this specific research and experiment was performed on mice, this method could be used with humans.

The first examples The first genome editing example was successfully achieved by American biotechnologists Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen in 1973, modifying a bacterium resistant to the antibiotic kanamycin. The following year, German molecular biologist Rudolf Jaenisch modified a mouse, making it the first ever genetically modified animal. The first plant was produced through genetic engineering in 1983 but it wasn’t until 1994 that the Flavr Savr tomato was produced for commercial use. Since then, thousands of different products have been modified to suit desired requirements. It is now estimated that upwards of 75% of processed foods in supermarkets are made with genetically modified ingredients.

CRISPR gene editing CRISPR editing is a genetic editing technique which involves the genomes of living organisms to be modified. It is based on the simplified version of the bacterial CRISPR-Cas9 antiviral defence system. By delivering the Cas9 nuclease complexed with a synthetic guide RNA (gRNA) into a cell, the cell’s genome sequence is able to be cut where desired to allow different genes to be replaced or removed in vivo. This was a revolution in the name of gene editing, as this could be replicated and made editing genomes easy, precise and cheap. In 2012 Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier published their findings that CRISPR-Cas9 could be programmed with RNA to edit genomic DNA, which won them a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020. Using this method of editing genetic material, it can be used in the creation of agricultural produce, new medicine and to control pests and pathogens.

However, its most advantageous use for humans is to use this technology to treat genetically inherited diseases such as cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy as well as cancer.

Rudolf Jaenisch and the mouse Rudolf Jaenisch is a pioneer of transgenic science in which an animal’s genetic makeup is altered.

Jaenisch, along with fellow scientist Beatrice Mintz, discovered that foreign DNA could be fused into the DNA of early mouse embryos. The pair injected retrovirus DNA into the embryos of mice while still at an early stage and discovered that the leukaemia DNA sequences had integrated into the genome of the mouse and had also passed down into its offspring. A retrovirus is a virus that works by converting its own RNA into DNA once it is in a host cell. Rudolf Jaenisch focussed on creating genetically modified mice to study cancer and epigenetic reprogramming. Epigenetics refers to the study of how different stimuli can cause changes that could potentially affect the way genes work.

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The ethical dilemma behind gene editing The topic of genetic engineering is a controversial one. The topic of designer babies comes into play, where a baby is genetically modified as an embryo to suit needs or wants. For example, several babies have been genetically engineered or selected to possess certain traits to help save the life of a sibling or close family member. While this could seem moral, some argue that it is not and that we shouldn’t ‘play God’. There is also the problem of where to draw the line to allow modification and whether it is for aesthetic purposes or medical purposes. Alongside, there is also the dilemma of the editing process going wrong and resulting in random deletions or insertions at the repair site, which may disrupt or alter gene functionality.

Bibliography 1. .sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S01677 7992200350X#:~:text=The%20developmen t%20of%20DNA%20editing,across%20all%2 0forms%20of%20life 2. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_ organism#:~:text=The%20first%20geneticall y%20modified%20animal,first%20commerci alized%20genetically%20modified%20food.

3. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Jaenisch 4. Gene Therapy and Genetic Engineering MU School of Medicine.

5. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRISPR_gene_editing 6. medlineplus.gov/genetics/understanding/the rapy/ethics/#:~:text=The%20ethical%20ques tions%20surrounding%20gene,available%20 only%20to%20the%20wealthy%3F

Conclusion In conclusion, the potential of gene modification could be endless. This technology has shaped lives and will continue to do so as our understanding and knowledge of this field continues to progress.

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near-infrared spectrograph and its FGS-NIRISS which contains two separate instruments (one that helps point the telescope and one that performs spectroscopy).

What are JWST and Euclid and how are they going to change astronomy?

A major issue that engineers faced when creating JWST was keeping its temperature low (MIRI requires 7 kelvins to work properly). If the surface of the mirror or any of its instruments got too hot, the infrared heat radiation would interfere with the faint infrared signals that the telescope hoped to collect.

This is why it is an open telescope without a cylindrical cover, and does not look like Euclid being closed would keep it too warm. It also has a cooling system engineered to interrupt JWST’s imaging as little as possible which uses cold helium gas, and the aforementioned tennis-court-sized sunshield which faces the sun at all times and blocks any heat radiation from our nearest star, as it is composed of layers which reflect the heat out to the sides of the telescope.

By Eleanor P, Year 9 In the last two years, we have seen the launch of two important missions into space. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and ESA’s Euclid telescope are both situated at the Lagrange Point 2 in an orbit around nothing, held in place by the gravitational force of the sun and the Earth. The two are close enough for communication with our planet but still have an uninterrupted view of outer space. So what are these telescopes, what questions do they seek to answer and how will they impact astronomy?

Launched on Christmas Day 2021 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, JWST is described by NASA as ‘the premier observatory of the next decade’, and is the largest telescope ever sent to space, with a sunshield around the size of a tennis court. Its primary focus is discovering more about the beginnings of the universe, by receiving infrared light from distant galaxies.

As previously stated, JWST aims to learn about the early universe. It does this by looking at light from very old, distant objects. The light from these objects has been redshifted. Light is not infinitely fast, and takes time to get anywhere. When we receive light from an object that is for example 10 billion light years away, we see the light that left it 10 billion years ago - we are looking at the object as it was 10 billion years in the past. Over this time - our 10 billion years - and with the expansion of the universe and therefore the distance between us and the object, the wavelength of the light increases and it becomes redder, hence the name ‘redshift’. Astronomers can use this information to work out how far away an object is, or the rate at which the universe is currently expanding.

JWST, like any telescope, in space or not, has many mirrors that help it to focus light. The primary mirror is the one you’ve probably seen in images, made up of 18 hexagonal mirrors made of beryllium and coated in gold which fold up in order to make it fit inside the Ariane 5 rocket it was launched in.

Getting the segments to align correctly was down to much new technology innovated by scientists at NASA as such a feat has not been attempted before. The size of the mirror (6.8m diameter) makes it all the more receptive to faint infrared signals and makes JWST more powerful. The secondary mirror is at the end of three poles, and focuses the light into the tertiary and then fine steering mirror in the centre of the primary mirror.

This forms the optical component of the telescope.

However, JWST also houses four other instruments: a mid-infrared instrument, near-infrared camera,

The fact that JWST can receive light from objects that are almost as old as the universe means that it is an incredibly important telescope for astronomers trying to learn about the big bang and early universe. JWST in just the last month has helped research into one of the most distant known black holes, UHZ1. The data recorded from this black hole (including its redhift, 10.1), along with X-rays from 17

throughout it, leading to better understanding of dark matter and energy. Euclid houses two scientific instruments, the VIS and the NISP. VIS has a wide view of the sky with the resolution of around 70 4K screens, and ranges from green to near-infrared light. NISP also has an extremely large field of view, the largest ever for an infrared instrument, and makes spectroscopic measurements of galaxies. Its resolution is not quite as good but its main focus is measuring the different wavelengths of light it receives (this helps to determine redshift).

As it is only a recent addition to the L2 point and took months of calibration in order to begin its work, Euclid has only just released its first proper images.

However, they are clear indicators of the standard and breadth of images that will be taken by the telescope, promising an extensive and efficient map of the universe and its dark matter.

NASA’s Chandra observatory, has allowed scientists to calculate that it is about 13.2 billion light years away - we are looking at what it looked like 13.2 billion years ago. (For context, the universe is approximately 13.7-13.8 years old.) The telescope will play a vital role in studying the formation of the first stars, black holes and other objects in space.

An image of galaxy NGC 6822 by Euclid. ESA/Euclid Consortium/NASA Euclid and JWST have different strengths and goals, but research from the two are going to be equally important going forward. Extensive dark universe mapping and detailed images of the beginnings of the universe are useful to areas of astronomy that are not fully understood currently. With the help of these observatories, orbiting nothing at Lagrange 2, we could soon start to see important research that finally answers age-old questions.

Euclid, primarily run by the ESA and launched only on the 1st July 2023, also uses infrared light.

However, it differs from Webb in its size, field of view, and aims. Whereas JWST hopes to answer questions around the formation of the universe, Euclid is going to help with learning more about dark matter and dark energy, substances that we understand little of but can estimate make up around 95% of the universe. One method it will use to do this is observing weak gravitational lensing, where minor distortions in images are created by large concentrations of matter and their gravity.

Bibliography webb.nasa.gov/content/observatory/ote/mirrors esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Webb webbtelescope.org/contents/articles/how-does-web b-stay-cold wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Webb_Space_Telescope _sunshield esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Euclid/ Frequently_asked_questions_about_Euclid webb.nasa.gov/content/about/innovations/cryocool er science.nasa.gov/mission/webb/spacecraftoverview scientificamerican.com/article/euclid-space-telescop e-releases-stunning-first-science-images/ www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/E uclid/Euclid_s_instrument

This will help to show the distribution of dark matter throughout the universe, which will be useful information for astronomers trying to learn more about it and how it behaves.

Euclid’s primary mirror is only 1.2m in diameter, tiny compared to JWST’s 6.5m. It is a standard closed telescope, partly due to the fact that it is not so much the clarity of its infrared images that matters but the width of its field and speed with which it takes them. These features are going to help Euclid to map a third of the sky over six years, a feat that will help build up a vast, detailed map of the observable universe and how matter is distributed

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Fancy growing Christmas Salt Crystal Candy Canes?

Anoushka D, Year 9 SUPPLIES ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Table Salt Water Mason jar Pan, Spoon, Measuring Cup and Tablespoon Pipe Cleaners {Red, White} Lolly stick (or similar) Ribbon for hanging on your tree

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Start with very hot water, either straight from the tap or boiled, and tablespoon by tablespoon add salt until the water cannot hold anymore.

The hotter the water, the more salt you will be able to add.

The goal is to add as much salt as the water will hold to make a saturated solution.

Twist one white and one red pipe cleaner into a candy cane shape.

Tie some string to the top of the candy cane and then tie the loose end to a stick. This will Place the candy canes in the salt containers and put them in a sunny spot. They should start to crystallise in just a couple of hours but leave for a few days to get a good growth.

Remove the candy canes and let them dry on paper towels keep the candy canes suspended in the salt solution.

HOW DO SALT CRYSTALS FORM? Growing these salt crystals is all about chemistry! The reaction or change that occurs between two substances such as the water and salt.

As the salt solution cools and the water evaporates the atoms {sodium and chlorine} are no longer separated by water molecules. They begin to bond together and then bond further forming the special cube shaped crystal for salt.

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Editors’ notes I was honoured and excited to get the opportunity to help edit ‘The Franklin’, and having read past editions, couldn’t wait to delve into some new topics. As someone who has been riveted by science from a young age, reading some of the hugely impressive work of fellow NHEHS students was truly inspirational. There are so many fascinating topics covered – I would really encourage all students to take some time to read through this edition and maybe next time they will be inspired to write their own article.

-Anoushka D, Year 9

I am honoured to be one of your Science Publication Leads this year, helping edit and contribute to the school’s science journal, The Franklin. It was incredibly fun and rewarding to see the 10th edition of this journal come to life, and knowing we helped put this together makes all the difference. A huge thank you to those who helped contribute and wrote pieces to include and to the amazing Ms Brown for organising everything. I hope you enjoy reading and broadening your horizons in the field of science!

- Anna J, Year 9

Contents Giant Tortoises ‘hunting’ birds: the return of a lost interaction. Rewilding projects and conservation efforts. 1 How did the work of other scientists help Crick and Watson to develop the theory of the structure of DNA? 4 How is antibiotic resistance caused, and how are hospitals preventing these infections?

7 How will AI shape the future of medicine?

5 What is the Progress of the Nucleus?

7 Can Dust save the Amazon Rainforest?

13 The Revolutionary Potential of Gene Editing Technologies 15 What are JWST and Euclid and how are they going to change astronomy?

17 Fancy growing Christmas Salt Crystal Candy Canes?

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