Pioneering approach to science tuition delivers step change
30 September 2024
Critical skills shortages in science teaching which threaten the UK’s ambitions to lead global innovation could be eased with alternative tuition approaches for young people interested in science and technology. Over 90% of GCSE and A Level students completing a pioneering programme, Comprehensive Oxford Mathematics and Physics Online School (COMPOS) led by Oxford University Physics improved their ability and performance.
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PR & Media Contact: Tessa Curtis, Department of Physics
E: media@physics.ox.ac.uk
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Solar energy breakthrough could reduce need for solar farms
9 August 2024
Scientists at Oxford University Physics Department have developed a revolutionary approach which could generate increasing amounts of solar electricity without the need for silicon-based solar panels. Instead, their innovation works by coating a new power-generating material onto the surfaces of everyday objects like rucksacks, cars and mobile phones.
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PR & Media Contact: Tessa Curtis, Department of Physics
E: media@physics.ox.ac.uk
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AI-led science innovation protects communities hit by climate change
25 June 2024
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), Oxford University Physics Department, IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC), and various national forecasting and meteorology agencies across east Africa are joining forces to pioneer a transformative initiative that is revolutionising extreme weather forecasting and early warning systems in the region.
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PR & Media Contact: Tessa Curtis, Department of Physics
E: tessa.curtis@physics.ox.ac.uk
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James Webb Space Telescope Discovers the most distant galaxy so far
30 May 2024
The discovery of the most distant galaxy yet seen was announced today by an international team, with Oxford astronomers playing a key role.
The observations came from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST, the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope), which successfully launched on Christmas Day 2021.
Since then, JWST has been surveying the Universe out to unprecedented distances. The JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) team made the latest record-breaking discovery of a galaxy called JADES-GS-z14-0 in the constellation of Fornax.
Information and media interviews/ enquiries:
PR & Media Contact: Tessa Curtis, Department of Physics
E: tessa.curtis@physics.ox.ac.uk
First use of weather forecasts to show human impact on extreme weather is “transformational”, scientists say
30 May 2024
National forecasting centres like the Met Office could use the same tools used for weather forecasting to quantify how human behaviour is aggravating major events like floods, heatwaves and storms, climate scientists at Oxford University Physics show in a study to be published today (30/5) in Nature Communications
Oxford climate physicists, led by Professor Myles Allen, have, for the first time, demonstrated how state-of-the-art weather forecasts can be used to show how greenhouse gas emissions affect extreme weather. In new studies of recent events in both the UK and U.S., they assessed the impact of global warming at a local scale and found that human activity both worsened specific weather events and made them more likely to occur.
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PR & Media Contact: Tessa Curtis, Department of Physics
E: tessa.curtis@physics.ox.ac.uk
First proof that 'plunging regions' exist around black holes
16 May 2024
Einstein has been proved correct with a key prediction about black holes, an international team led by researchers at Oxford University Physics has found. Using X-ray data to test a key prediction of Einstein’s theory of gravity, their study, published today in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, gives the first observational proof that a 'plunging-region' around black holes not only exists, but exerts some of the strongest gravitational forces yet identified in the galaxy.
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PR & Media Contact: Tessa Curtis, Department of Physics
E: tessa.curtis@physics.ox.ac.uk
Breakthrough promises secure quantum computing at home
11 April 2024
The full power of next-generation quantum computing could soon be harnessed by millions of individuals and companies, thanks to a breakthrough by scientists at Oxford University Physics guaranteeing security and privacy. This advance promises to unlock the transformative potential of cloud-based quantum computing and is detailed in a new study published in Physical Review Letters.
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PR & Media Contact: Tessa Curtis, Department of Physics
E: tessa.curtis@physics.ox.ac.uk