SATNAV Slim Issue 3

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september 2011 issue 3

Slim

science and technology news and views magazine

In This Slim Edition : THE BP CRISIS THE LHC & THE STANDARD MODEL CYBERTERRORISM

CHEMISTRY CROSSWORD INSIDE


SATNAV Magazine at the University of Birmingham

Editorial Greetings readers!

We present to you our most recent issue of SATNAV slim that coincides with the arrival of the new academic year! In addition to welcoming back our previous readers, this time of year enables us to extend our hands to a new influx of potential readers – the new freshers of 2011. So as well as welcoming you to our magazine we would also like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the University itself – you are going to love it! For those of you who haven’t come across SATNAV before, whether that is because you are new to the Uni or just the magazine - we are the student run, official science magazine for the University (and we are awesome!).

Contents

The new academic year brings with it the resurrection of all that is student life – of course this will mean different things for each of us, but for many it will probably consist of an overwhelming sense of trying to cram in as many things as possible in to each 24 hour period. So students, when you are next sitting at your desk cramming for an exam

Slim Issue 3 - September 2011

in to the early hours of the morning, trying to fit a gym session in before lectures or alternatively deciding between doing a shift at work or going to fab, you may be forgiven for wishing you were a Phreatichthys andruzzii. This cavefish that has just been discovered living in the deep caves under the Somali desert has been isolated in complete darkness for almost two million years, evolving without a day-night cycle. The result of this is their circadian rhythm has evolved in response to this lack of light and consequently their body clock has shifted from the typical 24 hours to 47 hours – meaning each of their ‘days’ is almost twice as long as ours! If only evolution would be so kind to us…

out at www.satnavmag.co.uk for the full edition and search SATNAV on facebook where we can keep you updated with all that is going on! You will also find us around campus in the next couple of weeks recruiting new writers/ designers for the SATNAV team, we are all very friendly and always welcome new members so come and say hello! Enjoy! Jade and Andy

Please read on and enjoy this issue where we continue our quest for protection of the plant, evaluate the growth of the mobile phone and give you an insight in to particle acceleration! Our writers have done a wonderful job again – so a huge thank you for that! We would also like to thank the SATNAV team for the production of this magazine. Check us

Editorial 2 Biodiversity In Plants: Why Should I Care? 3 Are We On The Edge Of A Mobile Phone Crunch? 4 Cyberterrorism 5 CERN Series Part1 Motivation For The LHC And The Standard Model 6 The BP Crisis: When Are We Going To Stop? 8 Crossword : Know Your Chemistry? 10

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Biodiversity in Plants: Why Should I Care? Conservation: ask the average person what this word means to them, and they might think of images of cute tigers, or a lonely polar bear balanced precariously on an ice floe. Indeed these are species at risk of extinction, but behind these charismatic icons, a greater and more pernicious danger lies: the staggering rate of loss of plant biodiversity.

Current rates of plant extinction have been estimated at 100-1000 times the natural background extinction rate. Plants are vitally important. They provide food, medicines, ornaments, habitats, raw materials, fuel, carbon sinks and myriads of other amenities to humans and other life forms. They produce oxygen through photosynthesis: 20% of the world’s oxygen is estimated to come from the Amazon rainforest alone. Rice is a staple food for over half the world’s population, and grains of all kinds are now the basis of the global human diet, feeding over six billion people. Many medicines, including aspirin, morphine, digitalis, quinine and the anticancer drugs vincristine and taxol all originated from plants, and it is estimated that 25-50% of medicines approved for use in the USA contain either plant-derived active ingredients, or synthetic or

modified versions of compounds originally identified in plants. When reminded of the huge importance of plants as a natural resource, it is worrying that current rates of plant extinction have been estimated at 100-1000 times the natural background extinction rate. The Sampled Red List Index, a report published by Kew and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in September this year, described one out of every five known species of plant as threatened by extinction.

yet this area of tropical rainforest is being lost approximately every 17 seconds.

Plants are essentially the bottom of a house of cards: remove them and everything else collapses. For a top predator such as a tiger or bear to go extinct would be a shame, to be sure. But it would not be as catastrophic for biodiversity and the ecosystem as a whole as the extinction of the 20% of plants that are currently threatened would be. Plants are relied upon by so many other species, from bacteria and fungi to herbivores large and small, and, The crisis deepens when you ultimately, humans. So will we be consider that these figures are seeing adverts to ‘sponsor a Lady’s only for known species – many Slipper Orchid’ or ‘donate just £2 a others we may never be aware of. month to the Society for the ProA 25 acre plot of tropical rainforest tection of Vietnamese Conifers’? It can contain nearly 700 species of seems unlikely, but action must be tree – equivalent to the total tree taken, and soon. diversity in North America – and Stephanie Smith Biosciences MSci

Laura Nunes

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Are We On The Edge Of A Mobile Phone Crunch? We all have at least once experienced a break-down in our mobile network, especially in big crowds during sporting events or gigs. People living in big cities like London and New York face this problem increasingly more often. And it threatens to get worse. When the 3G network was rolled out a decade ago, cellphone congestion seemed almost unreasonable. Then Apple launched the iPhone and have sold 50 million devices since. Think of the mobile network as a motorway that is built for the BlackBerry of Mercedes and the iPhone of BMW. Hence it wasn’t especially crowded 10 years ago. But every now and again traffic jams began occurring. The computing company Cisco predicted that if the growth in smartphone popularity contin-

Across

ues in this vein, mobile traffic will quickly increasing demand. In the US they double every year for the next have found their answer – tax iPhone owners four years. Thus the occasional more or cap their internet allowance - are the congestions will get worse. days of unlimited browsing over? ‘Something has to be done!’ Fortunately, increasing the fees is not always scream the terrified social netthe only way. Cheap mobile phone transworkers. Luckily, there are a few mitters, similar to wireless routers, could be magical ways to widen the moplugged into broadband connections already torway. In a recent article, New installed in almost every home and office. Scientist explains that additional By shifting the traffic onto the internet, they lanes could be added to the overwould bypass smartphone transmitters even crowded road if the military, TV when users are out. It would even make broadcasters and satellite mobile communications more energy communications give efficient! But the operators need to If the growth up a few pairs of sort out the expected technical in smartphone 5MHz chunks of struggles as soon as possible, spectrum to the popularity continues in because the demand for unlimmobile operators. this vein, mobile traffic ited internet won’t fade away But that might will double every year for that easily. Now that we’ve tried it, take a lot of could we ever live without it? the next four years. bureaucratic work, and yet not get close enough to the fill the Teodora Barzakova

Know your Chemistry?

3 A process commonly used to separate mixtures which contain mobile and stationary phases. 6 The most abundant element that is liquid at room temperature. 8 A hard, porous material used in the Iron smelting process. 10 Two compounds with the same molecular formula but different structural formulas are... 14 The pigment that gives leaves their green colour. 16 The thermodynamic property that is defined by the second

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law of thermodynamics.

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1 The process of reacting many monomer molecules together to form a polymer chain. 2 Smelly compounds containing rings of delocalised electrons. 4 Non-polar molecules that repel water are... 5 The most abundant element in our galaxy. 7 A constant with value 1.38x10-23. 9 A process involving the reaction of Nitrogen gas and Hydrogen gas over an enriched Iron or Ruthenium catalyst, resulting in the production of ammonia. 12 A mixture of multiple liquids that are normally immiscible is commonly referred to as an... 13 Latin for lead. 14 A xanthine alkaloid that many people use as a psychoactive stimulant in the mornings. 15 An element who’s name originates from the Greek word for Sun.

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more common. But this is not the extent of what malevolent hackers could potentially do. It has been identified that many computer applications running vital national services and financial computer systems are open to attack by competent hackers. The risks posed by the cyber savvy harbingers of doom are not taken lightly, with the formation of the US Cyber Command in June 2010 with the UK soon to follow with a similar system; global governments are taking the situation very seriously. Both the UK and India have confirmed plans to set up online tracking systems designed to sniff out criminal and dangerous behaviour on the Internet. Although cyber attacks could potentially wreak havoc on this country, those in the know suggest that most of our enemies do not possess the core skills required to hack such sophisticated systems. With the global eye firmly on the information security sector, we can be sure that both British and Global security agencies will have many teams of cyber do-gooders watching our backs, protecting us from the dastardly misdoings of the dark side.

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industrial systems across the UK. They could potentially change anything from food distribution routes, by feeding the drivers with false information, to reducing the safety of any vulnerable machine, by disabling safety features and safe-guards. A more cunning terrorist could exploit vulnerabilities in the financial sectors and skim off undetectable amounts of money, with the aim of funding other devious exploits. At the moment, fears that fully fledged cyber war will break out between sovereign states such as the US, UK, Russia and China are being downplayed. However, all of these nations now see the Internet as a useful extension of the -Financial markets conventional battleground; using -Communication networks it to infiltrate security systems (including those used by the to gain information about other emergency services) nations activities. For example, the -Smart power grids Sophos report suggests that such -Nuclear power stations techniques were used to target -Social networking sites suspected nuclear sites in both -Traffic systems Korea and Syria. -Water and sewerage systems Cyber terrorism on the other hand is perceived to be a much New targets could also now greater threat, with attacks such include certain industrial control as those experienced by Twitter systems, which have also been in December 2009, where visitors identified as under threat. Attack- to the site were redirected to a ers in the know could change vital website claiming to belong to the settings on an untold number of “Iranian Cyber Army�, becoming

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Over the past few months ever increasing hype has been surrounding the emergence of a new type of battlefield; one that does not exist in the tangible world. The threat of cyber warfare and cyber terrorism has been the subject of intense debate and media interest, gaining significant presence in The National Security Strategy outlined by HM Government in October of last year and in the Security Threat Report published by Sophos (an internet security company) in January 2010. If a fully fledged cyber attack were to be implemented against this country, we could expect all the following systems to be potential targets:

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Cyberterrorism

James Churm

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SATNAV Magazine at the University of Birmingham

CERN Series:Part I

Motivation For The LHC And The Standard Model The Large Hadron Collider is the most ambitious particle accelerator ever created. However, the basic principle of accelerating particles to learn about advanced physics is not new. The LHC builds on several decades of success in particle physics, both at CERN and elsewhere, Julian Evans explains some of the physics they hope to understand from this. So why do scientists want to accelerate particles anyway? When this was first achieved in the early 1930s, the eventual goal was to induce nuclear fission (splitting the atom) by firing an energetic particle into a large atomic nucleus. However, during some of these early experiments, new particles such as the muon were discovered. This prompted advances in particle acceleration and detection, to reach higher energies and to see what other particles could be found. By colliding two fast-moving particles together, the energy available to create new particles is even higher. The 1950s and 1960s saw the observation of a whole raft

of new particles. Initially it was supposed that they had no substructure and that there could be an infinite number of these, but theoretical physicists concluded that all matter is made from a total of 12 quarks and leptons, and that antimatter (particles which have the same properties as matter but with opposite electric charge) is made of 12 antimatter equivalents. All interactions between particles occur due to four different forces, which have carrier particles called bosons. However, not all of these had been discovered at the time. The theory based on these particles has become known as the Standard Model, and it still describes most of parti-

jcf/flickr

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cle physics as we know it today. Quarks form the bulk of what we see. There are six types (or “flavours�): down, up, strange,

All matter is made from a total of 12 quarks and leptons, and that antimatter (particles which have the same properties as matter but with opposite electric charge) is made of 12 antimatter equivalents. charm, bottom and top. The lightest, most stable are the down and up quarks, which form the protons and neutrons which make up the nuclei of atoms. The strange and charm quarks are less stable, and particles made from these, such as the kaon and lambda, were first discovered around 1947. The unusual choices of name represent the strange quark being quite unexpected, and the charm quark being a very welcome find due to it making the theory symmetric. The bottom quark was not discovered until 1977 and the top quark not until 1995, both at Fermilab in Illinois, USA. They have much


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greater mass and cannot exist for justify the very existence of mass. more than a trillionth of a second If the Higgs is not discovered (and before decaying, particularly the if it exists, the LHC will almost top quark. The Standard Model certainly find it), a new theory will had predicted their existence be- have to be developed, which may fore they were discovered, to fit the mathematics. Quarks are only ever found in nature in groups of The one three (baryons), or in a quarktheorised par ticle antiquark pair (mesons), which yet to be discovered is are collectively called hadrons. For instance, a proton is made of the Higgs boson, which two “up” quarks and one “down” gives mass to the others, quark, and a neutron from two and is needed to justify downs and an up. Most other the ver y existence of combinations are far less stable. The other family of particles are mass. the leptons: the electron, muon, tau particle and three neutrinos. They differ from quarks in that they are found alone. The muon predict yet more particles. Any and tau are similar to the electron future particle accelerators would in that they have the same charge, have to be tailored to search for but are heavier and unstable, these. hence them not being detected Other insights should be gained often – the tau was only discovfrom the LHC, such as proof of the ered in 1975. Each of the neutriexistence (or non-existence) of nos represents one of the other supersymmetric particles, which leptons. They have an extremely were first suggested in the 1960s, low mass and do not interact with although no attempts were made much – their presence can only be to combine it with the Standard inferred from the laws of physics. Model until around 1981. These Every lepton also has an antimat- would help greatly to explain ter counterpart. The four forces of nature are gravity, electromagnetism, and the weak and strong nuclear interactions. Each is carried by a particle, except for gravity. Electromagnetism is carried by the photon, a “packet” of light. The strong interaction is carried by gluons, which act on the so-called colour charge of quarks. The weak interaction is carried by the W and Z bosons, which were discovered in the late 1970s at CERN, shortly after they had been theorised. This was another major success for the Standard Model. It is still not complete, however. The one theorised particle yet to be discovered is the Higgs boson, which gives mass to the others, and is needed to

some more of particle physics’s current mysteries. For example, one might reasonably expect that due to the symmetrical nature of much of physics, that there might be equal amounts of matter and antimatter in the universe – however significantly more matter has been observed. Much of the mass in the universe is dark matter, the composition of which is still unknown, and it is thought that this may be supersymmetric. There is no direct evidence for the existence of supersymmetry yet though, and there are many other theories which attempt to explain the nature of the universe. All we can do for now is wait for the right collision. Julian Evans

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Crossword Answers

16/7/10 11:18:43

Last Issues Solutions: Across 1 Denature 5 Ecosystem 7 Neutrophil 12 Detritus 17 Thermoregulation18 Zygote 20 Polyploidy Down 2 Polyspermy 3 Keratin 4 Metaphase 6 Ligand 8 Endocytosis 9 Stomata 10 Okazaki Fragments 11 Oogenesis 13 Atrioventricular 14 Hibernation 15 Skin 16 Parasite 19 Xylem This Issues Solutions: Across 3 Chromatagraphy 6 Bromine 8 Coke 10 Isomers 14 Chlorophyll 16 Entropy Down 1 Polymerisation 2 Aromatics 4 Hydrophobic 5 Hydrogen 7 Boltzmann 9 Harber 12 Emulsion 13 Plumbum 14 Caffine 15 Helium

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Postgraduate Courses at the University of Birmingham

School of Biosciences MSc in Analytical Genomics MSc in Biological Recording: Collection and Management MSc in Molecular Biotechnology MSc/Diploma in Ornithology MSc in Toxicology MRes in Molecular Mechanistic Toxicology MRes in Conservation and Utilisation of Plant Genetic Resources MRes in Molecular and Cellular Biology School of Physics and Astronomy MSc Taught 1 year course in Physics and Technology of Nuclear Reactors MSc Taught 1 year course in Medical and Radiation Physics PhD/MPhil in Astrophysics and Space Research PhD/MPhil in Cold Atoms PhD/MPhil in Condensed Matter PhD/MPhil in Nanoscale Physics PhD/MPhil in Nuclear Physics PhD/MPhil in Particle Physics PhD/MPhil in Solar and Stellar Physics PhD/MPhil in Theoretical Physics School of Chemical Engineering PhD with integrated study in hydrogen, fuel cells and their applications PhD/MPhil Bioprocessing PhD/MPhil Energy Engineering PhD/MPhil Food Processing PhD/MPhil Speciality Chemical Products PhD with Integrated Study in Chemical Engineering MRes in Chemical Engineering Science MRes in Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and their Applications MSc/Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Chemical Engineering MSc/Postgraduate Diploma in Biochemical Engineering MSc/Postgraduate Diploma in Food Safety, Hygiene and Management MSc Air Pollution Management and Control Engineering Doctorate in Formulation Engineering School of Mechanical Engineering Postgraduate Certificate/Diploma/Masters in Engineering Management Postgraduate Certificate/Diploma/Masters in Operations Management Postgraduate Certificate/Diploma/Masters in Project Management

 School of Civil Engineering PhD/MPhil in Railways and Resilience and Sustainability MSc/Diploma/Certificate in Construction Management MSc/Diploma/Certificate in Geotechnical Engineering MSc/Diploma/Certificate in Geotechnical Engineering and Management MSc/Diploma/Certificate in Railway Systems Engineering and Integration MSc/Diploma/Certificate in Road Management and Engineering MSc/Diploma/Certificate in Water Resources Technology and Management School of Electronic, Electrical and Computer Engineering MSc in Electronic, Electrical and Computer Engineering MSc in Electronic, Electrical and Computer Engineering with Industrial Studies MSc in Communication Engineering MSc in Communications Engineering with Industrial Studies MSc in Satellite and Mobile Communications MSc in Satellite and Mobile Communications with Industrial Studies MSc in Communications Networks MSc in Communications Networks with Industrial Studies MSc in Embedded Systems MSc in Embedded Systems with Industrial Studies MSc in Electromagnetic Sensor Networks MSc in Electromagnetic Sensor Networks with Industrial Studies MSc in Radio Frequency Engineering MSc in Radio Frequency Engineering with Industrial Studies  MSc in Digital Entrepreneurship MRes in Electronic, Electrical and Computer Engineering PhD and MPhil research degrees also available School of Metallurgy and Materials PhD with Integrated Studies in Structural Metallic Systems for Gas Turbine Applications PhD in Metallurgy and Materials MRes in the Science and Engineering of Materials MRes in Biomaterials MRes in Materials and Sustainable Energy Technology MPhil in Metallurgy and Materials School of Chemistry PhD/MPhil in Chemistry

As of June 2010

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The BP Crisis : When are we going to stop? In the aftermath of another devastating oil spill, Andrew Wright invites readers to discuss the world’s environmental crisis and if it can be addressed before it’s too late. After BP set about trying to fix what is now another painful chapter in our planet’s growing list of man-made disasters, the old question of energy sources and usage is arising once more, and some are beginning to wonder how much longer we can keep using oil and fossil fuels to sate our world’s ever growing demand for power.

- 60,000 barrels of oils flowing quickly enough to serve as a reinto the Gulf each day, eventuplacement when the time does ally covering approximately come to fully utilise them. 2500 square miles of ocean, not including the large amount of dissolved oil lingering far below What options do we have? the surface. Continuing to use Non-RenewAlthough BP are rightly takable Sources: At the current ing responsibility in a cleanup rate of usage, fossil fuels have project estimated to cost them predicted to last approximately about $20 billion, it highlights another 250-350 years maxihow dangerous oil and other mum (not taking into account inDisaster Strikes similar non-renewable subdustrial expansion from growing countries such as China). This The most recent environmental stances can be even when not will mean that all the problems disaster, the Deepwater Horizon polluting the air. Of course situations like these associated with global warming Oil Spill, occurred last sumare rare, and BP will indeed and air pollution are only going mer, on April 20th 2010 when work hard to increase the safety to get worse, and could put our an offshore drilling unit - the of oil drilling and transportation; planet at serious risk. Deepwater Horizon - exploded Pollution is not the sole problem 40 miles off the coast of Louisi- however instances like these can be so deadly and so harm- when thinking of fossil fuels, the ana and sunk, causing the rig ful to our environment that when excavation and drilling to obtain to leak thousands of gallons of these fossil fuels is destroyoil, rapidly becoming the largest they do happen (and in cases like the Deepwater Horizon it ing dwindling animal habitats, environmental disaster in US was only a matter of time, see and destroying earth’s precious History. http://gizmodo.com/5551175/ ecosystems. Some people The leak lasted for 88 days, bp-knew-of-deepwater-horizon- believe that the earth’s ecosyswith estimates of about 35,000 safety-risks-almost-a-year-ago), tem will adapt to this change; the consequences are usually but for many, it is a huge risk to catastrophic. take - and it is not one humanity has ever needed to take The planet is running out of fuel before. For everything on the reserves, and energy compaplanet, the continuing use of nies continue to use every last non-renewable fuel provides a drop of non-renewable fuel to bleak prospect for the future, save themselves in the short as companies dig deeper into term. This serves not only to our planet to hunt down the last make the cost of living more remaining deposits of oil, gas expensive each year, but also and coal. continues to harm our planet, whilst other energy sources Nuclear Energy: The main probsuch as nuclear and solar lem with nuclear energy at the power may not be progressing current time is cost. Expensive

BPfutureatlas/flickr

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SATNAV Magazine at the University of Birmingham to build and to run, the power stations tend to split opinion to whether the nuclear industry should be allowed to grow or to be stopped altogether. Nuclear energy is a very efficient form of gathering energy, and technology has certainly improved since the 1990’s to ensure the safe use and security of radioactive substances. But like oil, accidents at nuclear power plants can be so devastating that it causes many people to be very wary of using nuclear power. However nuclear power is much less destructive than using non-renewable sources, and at the current time other cleaner sources cannot compete with the power output of nuclear energy. Couple this with the amount of land usage it would take to establish enough wind and solar farms to compete with nuclear energy, nuclear seems like a sensible option that will most likely be a major source of our energy in the near future. Renewable Energy: Clearly the most favourable option, but as of yet we are struggling to efficiently harness many clean forms of energy which are viable for the future. Wind farms are the best option when we consider renewable energy, turbines can be installed offshore, and farmers can lease tiny amounts of land to install a turbine on their property. It is free and the cost of setup can be recuperated in about 9 months. However, because of the amount of land that wind turbines use, large scale wind farms may not be feasible, and at the current time fossil fuel plants are still used to backup wind energy due to the intermittent nature of harnessing it. Solar energy is another popular choice, but converting the power to useful energy in houses is very inefficient with the current technology, however new technologies are being used to

increase the efficiency and over the next century we may start to see solar power as one of our main sources of energy. Hydrogen fuel cells will be a direct step in trying to replace the use of oil for fuel, but may still require energy plants to create the hydrogen to be used for fuel, unless cleaner ways of harnessing hydrogen are found. Choices are still yet to be made regarding new forms of energy and this writer thinks that we may be leaving our decisions too late. In such an important phase in mankind’s history, we should be planning well ahead to try and avoid any problems in obtaining energy in the future - problems which could include the denial of fuel to large countries which could result in political tension and even war.

Who is to blame for this?

have been taken about 20 years ago when the first clear signs of We should trouble emerged. With fuel poorly be planning well taxed and emisahead to avoid any sions poorly problems in obtainregulated, companies such as ing energy in the BP are put under future immense pressure to drill in more dangerous places, and with the obvious risks attached, maybe we should not be so surprised to hear that the Gulf Oil Spill is our fault too. We demand cheap oil, and are aghast when petrol rises by a few pence. Many of us have no qualms when driving to work when a bus or a bike is better. We all know how to be more environmentally friendly, but maybe we’re not trying hard enough. In one way or another, we are all intrinsically linked to that oil spill, and hopefully this terrible accident will serve as a message to some that we all need to shoulder the blame for the spill and what we are doing to our planet.

It is easy to make an example out of BP for such carelessness when dealing with such a damaging substance, but we are surely all to blame for this. We ourselves waste huge amounts Andrew Wright of energy each day. Governments across the globe have only recently started to really focus towards making our planet cleaner, a decision which should

BPjoeszilagyi/flickr

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IN THE NEXT ISSUE:

science and technology news and views magazine

'SCIENCE IN...'

Explore the various and sometimes unexpected ways that science is present in other subjects! From arts and literature, to food and emotions. CAREERS REVIEWS PUZZLES

Exploring the science of subjects across the campus

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WRITE NOW SATNAV TEAM Chief Editors Jade Ogle & Andrew Wright Life sciences Editor Ryan Hamnett Review editor Scott Davies Maths & Technology editor Benjamin Holmes Copy editor Laura Bowyer Secretary Laura Nunes Co-Layout Editors James Churm & Laura Nunes Publicity Officer & Treasurer Pavithra Ganesan

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C O V E R P H O T O NASA's Terra satellite captured this false-colour view of the Mississippi River Delta. The silver patches represent the oil that was leaked from the Deepwater Horizon well offshore, the water is light blue and the vegetation is red. Find out more: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=44078

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