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Day: 6 November 2011

A Roman holiday (on the cheap)

Being students nipping off to Rome for a long weekend sounds ridiculously decadent and unjustifiably pricey but I am here to say think again. With Ryanair offering unbelievable rates these days it can be cheaper to fly to Rome than take the train from Manchester to London! And it’s not just on travel that you can save.

The idea of renting a flat in Rome sounds ludicrously expensive too but again this is a misconception. For four nights we rented a tiny but sweet flat called ‘easy-roma’ in the really accessible area of Ponte Lungo (on the edge of the centre of Rome) for under a hundred Euros each. Having the flat meant we saved on eating out, as we had our own space to relax in after a hectic days sightseeing and attempt some Italian style cooking of our own.

Rome is a cultural dream and you would think that it would be costly to see some of the greatest paintings and architecture in the world, however so many of the wonderful churches and sights are free.

Il Gesu church, the Jesuit masterpiece in the Campo de’Fiori area, is particularly worth a visit. The ceiling is baroque at its best; a mixture of stucco, painting and statue melt into one creating a world of optical trickery and movement in the heavens. Note the aggression of the angel statue on the right hand side of the ceiling, who is literally booting the painted Protestants out of heaven! Another great church to go see for free is Santa Maria in Trastevere which hosts shimmering 13th century mosaics. Just remember that churches shut over lunch and what a very long lunch the Italians take, so do not go between 12-4; this is a fact we frustratingly forgot a number of times.

Personally I didn’t feel the need to go into the big tourist sights like the Colosseum or the Roman Forum and Palatine, which both have entrance fees, when you can see them in all their magnificence just walking around Rome; they are pretty hard to miss. As a massive history buff seeing the Colosseum for the first time was pretty breathtaking. Unintentionally we managed to wander past it just as the sun was setting and swarms of starlings were silhouetted dramatically against the mighty structure. It really was a moment straight out of Gladiator and I may have quoted “My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius” just the once!

All the little piazzas of Rome become a hub of activity after sundown and bars serving aperitivo make eating and drinking at night that bit more cost effective for the traveller on a budget. For those of you that are not aquinted with the term aperitivo, it is a pre-dinner drink and in Rome an aperitivo is always accompanied by finger foods or small hors d’oeurves. However the accompanying food is not always small, indeed there are a number of places where you get a full meal with your drink. The bar Aristocampo in Campo de’Fiori for example, has a huge buffet spread and it isn’t school meal style buffet food on offer but simple and delicious Italian cooking.

Of course I am not implying you will spend nothing, not with all the coffee to be drunk and the pasta to be eaten, but what I am saying is that going to Rome isn’t as extortionate as you may assume and if you had before discarded Rome on the basis of price, think again.

Nobel Prize winners earn acclaim for seminal research

After waiting expectantly for months with bated breath, science revellers across the globe now have a new elite of academics to behold at the top of their field. The Nobel Prize winners were elevated to glory in the scientific community by the venerable Nobel Prize committee who announced the illustrious awards last week. Since 1901 the Swedish Nobel Foundation have been acclaiming the world avant-garde in the fields of medicine, physics, chemistry, literature, peace, and since 1968, economics.

This year, three researchers credited with discovering that the expansion rate of our Universe is accelerating have had their formidable intellectual pursuit recognised with the Nobel Prize for Physics. Saul Perlmutter (US), Adam Riess (US) and Brian Schmidt (Australia) will divide the prize for their shared research. The researchers were involved in competing teams, studying Type 1a supernovae. These supernovae are the intense, resplendent, explosive ends to dense white dwarf stars.

Observations that more distant supernovae were speeding up suggested that the Universe is not only expanding but that this expansion is relentlessly increasing in rate. As with all momentous discoveries in science, more questions have been posed than answered, to explain this phenomenon. Cosmologists have cited the unfathomable depth and mystery of dark energy, which acts to drive the expansion through opposing gravity, as a potential explanation of these observations.

“For the discovery of quasicrystals”, Daniel Shectman (Israel) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, findings so controversial that he was asked to leave his research group when his theory was heavily disparaged. Shectman is credited with a stimulating discovery in 1982; an image appeared on his electron microscope that was counter to our understanding of the laws of nature. It was believed that all atoms were symmetrically packed in solid matter, creating repeatable crystals. However Shectman identified, battling an obstinate community, that some solids could be formed through unrepeated patterns that still follow mathematical rules.

Scientists have used aperiodic mosaics in medieval Islamic structures in Iran and Spain to understand quasicrystals at the atomic level, as these mosaics also follow mathematical rules but do not repeat. The arcane ‘Golden Ratio’, a concept that intrigued the ancient Greek philosophers, which is found in mathematics and art has been used to describe quasicrystals. These quasicrystals have been found naturally occurring in mineral samples in a Russian river, and recent laboratory exercises have manufactured quasicrystals to explore the applications of these esoteric and curious structures.

Academic venture in the occult domain of the human immune system has yielded a new understanding of how the body fights off infection, as well as an exquisite Nobel Prize medal for three pioneers. Bruce Beutler (US), Jules Hoffmann (France) and the late Ralph Steinman (Canada) all shared the prize in medicine. Professors Hoffman and Beutler are credited with discovering the mechanism through which the body’s first line of defence is activated whilst Professor Steinman discovered the dendritic cell, which helps defeat infection.

The immune system is divided into two main parts: innate (immediate response) and adaptive (clears infection and provides long lasting protection). Hoffman and Beutler both worked on the innate part of the immune system; in 1996 Hoffman discovered the “Toll” gene which is essential for inducing the innate system in fruit flies, whilst later in 1998 Beutlar discovered a comparable Toll-like receptor in mice. This Toll gene enables the flies to “sense” the infection, which is necessary for them to then fight the infection. Over 10 Toll-like receptors have been identified in humans, ensuring the scientists’ endeavours are not relegated to the redundancy of fruit flies and mice.

Professor Steinman discovered, in 1973, the dendritic cell. This acts as a bridge between the two parts of the immune system, deciding whether to activate the adaptive system. The Nobel Prize committee said: “Together Bruce Beutler, Jules Hoffmann and Ralph Steinman have revolutionised understanding of the immune system by discovering key principles for its activation”.

This year’s Nobel Prize winners have advanced human understanding of the world, probing and pushing the boundaries of science ever further. The revered awards have continued to remain respected, admired and relevant for over a century, with the current winners joining those pioneers of the past in celebration of humanity’s incessant compulsion to know more.

Fundamental physics law broken

One of the unbreakable laws of Physics may have just been broken at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity states that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light but scientists may have just recorded a speed faster than this supposed limit.

The team at CERN still believe this could have been caused by an error in the results as such a discovery as this would rock the world of science. They have asked the international scientific community to help explain the results.

CERN researchers sent a single beam of particles, known as neutrinos, through rock in the Earth to a lab in Italy. The neutrinos arrived in Italy 60 billionths of a second earlier than expected after taking a period of 0.0024 seconds to arrive. The equipment is extremely sensitive but to ensure the results weren’t a mistake, beams of particles were sent 16,000 times with the same results appearing every time.

Scientists are still looking for the potential mistake which could have caused this ground breaking result. If no error is found, the implications for science would be huge. To make something travel faster than light requires an infinite amount of energy. It is the highest speed limit in the universe. Exceeding this limit could make time travel possible.

In 2007, a similar experiment at Fermilab in America also found evidence of neutrinos moving faster than the speed of light. This experiment is similar in that it sends neutrinos through the Earth but the measurements aren’t precise enough to tell if the apparent speed of neutrinos was an error or evidence of neutrinos moving faster than the speed of light.

Until the results are proved one way or another, science will have to wait to find out if Einstein’s greatest mistake had nothing to do with the expansion of the universe as he thought, but is actually his most famous theory.

Which mobile operating system?

Debating the merits of the latest iPhone over the Blackberry or arguing that the green Android monster makes buying the whole phone worth it are commonplace around campus (unless I’m the only one who loves the green Android). With 24 month contracts being signed ever more frequently, how do we know which handset is best suited to our needs?

With the highest market share, handsets running the Android operating system are clearly a popular choice. Many manufacturers making many handsets mean there is more choice from the low end basic smart phones to the high end handsets which are more powerful than the average laptop. For example, the Samsung Galaxy S2 boasts a dual core processor. The 8 megapixel camera combined with the sharp 4.3 inch display can hardly hurt either. It also claims a longer talk time than most other smart phones at over 11 hours. Removable SD cards mean Android phones can accommodate as many pictures/contacts/drunken videos as you want.

Blackberry has traditionally been seen as the phone for business. Features such as Microsoft Office and PDF viewers make this a popular choice for people who need the office in their hand. Whilst the iconic style of handset has been copied by many manufacturers using the Android operating system, Blackberry are now releasing phones with touchscreens. One of these, the Blackberry Torch 9800, has a slide out QWERTY keyboard, five megapixel camera and the slightly shorter talk time of five and a half hours. Space for a memory card means Blackberry phones can also have plenty of space for storage.

It could be said that nothing will ever compare to the Apple iPhone. Seen frequently as a status symbol, the iPhone has long been the “must have” phone. There is little choice in handsets, but having the largest app store means phones running this operating system can still be personalised. The latest iPhone 4 comes with either a 16GB or 32GB hard drive. Even the cheapest 16GB model has more internal storage than both the Samsung and Blackberry models above but this amount of memory cannot be changed. At seven hours talk time, the battery life is between the Blackberry and Samsung. The five megapixel camera and high definition video recording make this phone perfect for those planning on recording their friends on a night to use as leverage at an opportune moment.

Preview: Exit Ten @ Moho Live

For the past few years Exit Ten have been flying under the radar, but they’re finally back, and they’re performing at Manchester’s Moho Live on November 16th.

The Reading five-piece are currently touring the UK to promote their second full-length album Give Me Infinity, which has been hailed by Kerrang Magazine as “a pure and diverse album that could effortlessly fill the biggest arenas”, and by Metal Hammer as “their most accomplished effort yet…a powerful and beautiful work”.

Since their ill-fated debut Remember the Day – which received a fantastic response from the press, but which was plunged into obscurity when the band’s record label went into administration and so ceased pressing copies and distributing it – the band have effortlessly transformed their sound from traditional metalcore to anthemic rock, driven by Ryan Redman’s powerful voice.

Now that they have re-emerged from the musical wilderness, you can expect the same cocktail of clinical, precision-guided riffage and soaring, life-affirming melody that Exit Ten have always been able to deliver in their live sets.

Over the years Exit Ten have consistently churned out top quality music, and this show will be no exception.

 

Steve Jobs: a legacy

There must be few people around who haven’t heard about the death of Steve Jobs, the former co-founder and CEO of Apple Inc. Steve Jobs is famous for his critical role in the development of the Apple brand and its products.

The journey started in 1976 when Steve Jobs, along with Steve Wosniak and Ronald Wayne. The company was incorporated without Wayne and, with the financial assistance of Mike Markkula, what we now recognise as Apple Inc. was born.

The Apple II was the first computer on sale which did not need assembling before use; a revolution at the time. The success of the computer was clear, with 6 million units sold during the period the computer was being produced from 1977-1993.

Despite the success of the company, board members were becoming concerned with Steve Jobs. He followed ideas on a whim, which many within the company disagreed with. This, coupled with financial problems, led to Jobs being removed from the company in 1984.

After leaving Apple, Steve Jobs was still in no short of success. He founded another company, NeXT, which produced the NeXT computer. This was the computer used by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN when the first web server was created. Jobs bought Graphics Group from George Lucas and renamed it Pixar. It became hugely successful with the release of Toy Story in 1995.

Apple Inc. bought NeXT in 1996 leading Steve Jobs back to his original role as CEO of the company after ousting the CEO at the time. The iconic iPod and the music store, iTunes, were released in 2001. By this time, Jobs had reversed the downturn of Apple Inc.

Just two years later, Steve Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He kept this secret from everyone, save a few people at the company.

Despite his illness, Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone in 2007 and the Macbook Air a year later. After several years of operations and treatment, and the rumours which accompanied them, Jobs took a leave of absence in January 2011 and resigned in August. He lost his fight with cancer on 5th October.

There is no doubt that Steve Jobs was a success. He co-founded one of the most successful technology companies ever. He led Apple Inc. into the 21st century and made its products the most sought after in the shops. His death is a loss to the industry.

Preview: Incubus @ Apollo

It is a sad fact of recent developments in my music tastes that I rarely seem to listen to guitar bands any more. Former favourites have been cast aside, forgotten about, left to gather dust in the nether regions of my electronic collection. Barely any have survived. They just don’t seem to sound like they used to. The Beatles, Radiohead and The Maccabees alone hold the fort. And Incubus. For some reason the angsty Californians won’t let me go. I’m humming Drive in the shower; I’m whistling Love Hurts on the bus. Still listening to music I loved when was fourteen, walking angrily to school with a rucksack on my back and the weight of the world on my mind, makes my love of Incubus a guilty pleasure, severely undermining my perceived super-cool-music-taste exterior.

But this is all about to change. They’re coming to Manchester. I’m going to see them. I’m going to go wild. I’m going to proclaim my love to the world, via the medium of the Mancunion Music Section. Unless they’re rubbish. Watch this space.

Bacteria Lessons for Glastonbury festival-goers

University of Manchester scientists have been conducting microbiology lessons at this year’s Glastonbury festival. They wanted to inform people about bacteria that make up our bodies. Bacteria are essential for keeping us alive and functioning: they digest food, make vitamins, and fine-tune our immune system, protecting us from infection.

Dr. Andrew McBain, head of a microbiology research group in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, was approached by Guerilla Science, an organisation which uses art and performance to challenge negative preconceptions about science.

Guerilla Science wanted to develop a demonstration of bacterial species present in the human body. It was commissioned as part of Wellcome Collection’s 2011 Dirt Season which aims to promote the importance of dirt in our everyday lives.

Dr. Joe Latimer, McBain’s research associate, and Sarah Forbes, a PhD student, volunteered to create and develop the demonstration.

It occurred at the famous Glastonbury site of Shangri-La, the festival’s version of a dystopian pre-apocalyptic ‘town’ overrun by a faux virus (a fluorescent marker which was spread by person-to-person contact).

‘Contaminated’ festival-goers were to enter Dr. Latimer’s ‘decontamination chamber’ where they were greeted with a microbial zoo with agar plates containing various microorganisms to which humans play host. This was where Dr. Latimer and Sarah Forbes taught the public about the importance of bacteria. Subsequent ‘treatment’ was then offered to festival-goers, ranging from a chemical spray controlled by people in biohazard suits to admitting your secrets to the ‘shame-drain’ which disguised your voice and broadcasted it to the public.

The project was a success and as a consequence, a second one was planned for Bestival. Dr. Latimer said, “I hope we convinced at least a few people that bacteria don’t just infect us, or live on us, but that they are us.”

Invisibility cloaks becoming reality

Invisibility cloaks or cloaking devices sound like they belong in Harry Potter or James Bond movies. However recent technological advances mean that cloaking devices are quickly becoming reality.

The latest cloaking technology uses carbon nanotubes embedded into aerogel, a foam-like material, to deflect light as a mirage does in a desert. We see objects by detecting particles of light, known as photons, when they are reflected from objects. This technology redirects the photons so our eyes detect the photons from the sky instead of reflected from the object, making it invisible to us. This phenomenon is called “photothermal” deflection.

The material creates the mirage effect when electrically heated as it is far more efficient at transferring heat to its surroundings than normal materials. This is similar to how mirages are formed in deserts when heat is reflected off the desert surface. Another way the device works is that the hotter the material gets, the easier light can move through it without interacting and therefore not be reflected off it. It is because the material needs to be heated quickly that the device works best underwater as water has a higher temperature gradient: it allows temperatures to change quicker than in air.

This latest research by the University of Texas into carbon nanotubes is the most promising example of cloaking devices in the optical range of light so far.

Other cloaking technologies include electromagnetic antennas and metamaterials. These bend photons around an object. However these tend to work only for specific frequencies of light. For example, they can bend a certain colour of light around an object but others will still interact normally with the object.

These technologies have only been tested with low frequencies of light so we may be waiting a while longer for Harry Potter technology.

New hope for asthma sufferers

A new asthma drug, omalizumab, has been deemed too expensive to be prescribed to patients by the NHS, despite the fact that it could wipe out the need to treat asthma with steroids.

There are currently over 5 million people suffering with asthma in the UK and a large percentage of them are reliant on oral steroids, typically administered by inhalers.

The new drug is administered by injection rather than by an inhaler, which has also been criticised recently.  The new drug could cost the NHS £12,000 a year for each patient based on fortnightly injections.

In a study conducted by the University of Manchester, over 60 percent of patients with severe asthma reduced their dependence on the oral steroids after taking omalizumab for 12 months. Half of these people stopped taking the steroids altogether.

Inhaler administered steroids can have very serious side effects, especially as many patients are reliant on them for many years. The steroids work as an anti-inflammatory for the lungs but have been linked to a number of serious conditions including weight gain, diabetes, and depression. In children there is also evidence that it can cause growth retardation.

Due to the cost of omalizumab, the NHS are only allowing around 1,000 asthma sufferers to use the drug. However Dr. Robert Niven of the University of Manchester, who co-wrote the paper for this study, has said that the NHS has not calculated the long term cost of prescribing steroids. He believes that if the NHS added up the amount of money it costs to treat the side effects of taking oral steroids later on in life, there is a good chance that omalizumab may be more financially viable.

Asthma charities are intending to campaign for the NHS to work with them and increase the number of people who are eligible for the drug.