• Question: do you think your job is beneficial to society and the world

    Asked by anon-207861 to Scott, Silvia, William, Oliver, Natalie, Michelle, Lowri on 4 Mar 2019. This question was also asked by anon-207866.
    • Photo: Silvia Imberti

      Silvia Imberti answered on 4 Mar 2019:

      It is greatly beneficial, even though the benefit is not always immediate and therefore difficult to point a finger at. But understanding how nature works, is often the starting point to begin doing new things with it*MATOMO_URL

      The example I always give is the following: did you know that some of the most powerful diagnostic tools currently in possession of medicine have been developed based on discoveries made by physicists who spent a long time locked in their lab, playing around with their little “toy” just because it was interesting to them***? Here they are (google like there is no tomorrow):
      Two examples:
      1. X-rays – see Nobel prize in Physics 1901 Roentgen and 1903/1911 Marie Curie
      2. MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) – this is the same as a technique we still use in our lab called NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance – they removed the word “nuclear” not to scare the public!) so google this one – Nobel prize in Physics 1844 Rabi and 1952 Bloch and Purcell.

      and now for CURE, rather than DIAGNOSTIC: guess who invented radiotherapy and proton beam therapy? http://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/highly-spec-services/pbt/

      Now for a bit of perspective:
      **What I said is mostly true, but not always, a lot of great things have been done – by engineers, by chemists) just by understanding “enough” of what they are doing, meaning with a sort of “practical knowledge”. Most synthetic chemistry knowledge has developed in this way.

      ***Having said all that, it is possible to became a bit too engrossed in your own little toy and scientist are very fierce with colleagues who do not seem to be doing the most of the tax payer money (also dubbed “stamp-collectors)”. Science funding is very competitive and there are many peer cross-check mechanisms in academia, to make sure money is used for the best science.

      You may ask what is the BEST science? Actually I ask you (class debate proposal) before you ask me again in a few days: how do you think the best scientific proposal is judged? All fields are interesting, so how do you compare one thing against another? Where does the scientific merit stand?

    • Photo: Lowri Evans

      Lowri Evans answered on 4 Mar 2019:

      Yes. We are currently running out of resources (e.g. fish), and with the human population still expected to reach 9.8 million people by 2050, it is more important than ever to manage our use of resources before it becomes too late. Fish and shellfish provide an important protein source for many humans across the globe. In addition to running out of resources, some types of fishing gear can be destructive to marine habitats. Therefore, part of my job is to develop a way for fisheries managers to calculate the health status of marine habitats and decide whether a fishing activity can continue to happen there or if the activity should decrease etc. This approach will be global, and therefore will benefit countless lives of marine creatures and humans alike.

    • Photo: Natalie Lamb

      Natalie Lamb answered on 5 Mar 2019:

      I think so yes.

      In the future, climate change means there will be less drinking water for us to drink and what is still there will likely be more dirty and need more treatment. I’m trying to look into the best ways of treating water that removes the most organisms and uses fewer chemicals because some of the chemicals we use today have problems.

      For example, chlorine is used in swimming pools because it kills any germs on your body when you get in the pool (or if you go to the toilet in the pool!). That same chlorine but in very very low amounts is used in tap water to kill germs in drinking water too. But chlorine is only made in one place in the UK so it has to get transported by big tankers. When it travels like this, a very big amount of chlorine in one place, if there is a car accident, the tanker could explode. I’m looking into safer ways of getting rid of germs from drinking water, like UV light bulbs.

    • Photo: Michelle Valkanas

      Michelle Valkanas answered on 6 Mar 2019:

      I am trying to find cheap ways to make our water safe from metsls like iron and lead. I believe society not only can benefit from my research, but need more people doing it! The more ideas, the closer we get to cleaner water!

    • Photo: Scott Graham

      Scott Graham answered on 6 Mar 2019:

      As clean safe water is vital for life, I would say my role in testing water and making sure it is free from harmful bacteria would benefit our future for our health. Not only do I make sure water is safe to drink from taps or swim in at swimming pools. I also test at various points of wastewater treatment plants and give feedback to how safe it is. this is useful as once processed, the treated water is put back into the environment by rivers oceans lakes, making sure this is safe will benefit our environment and marine ecosystem which in return will be beneficial to our future in the long run

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