Small Science on Small Islands…

Last week over 1000 school students on the Channel Islands were taken on an ‘Adventure in Nanoscience’. Dr Annela Seddon (left) from the University of Bristol, showed how scientists can study control and matter on an ultra-small scale.  She described some of her own cutting-edge nanotechnology research and gave an insight into life as an interdisciplinary scientist working at the interface of physics, chemistry and biology. 

Nanoscience is science on an astoundingly small scale ~ a nanometre is just one billionth of a metre, or about a hundred thousand (100,000) times smaller than the width of a human hair.   Dr Seddon described how researchers build new nano-materials and study them using powerful microscopes. 

Some dexterous volunteers demonstrated the difficulty of handling materials on the nano-scale with the aid of  some children’s building blocks, chopsticks and a pair of oven gloves… The audience also got involved to show why as objects get smaller, their behaviour gets stranger; and a Nobel prize-winning experiment using just a pencil and some sticky tape was carried out live on stage!  

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The four talks, at Guernsey Grammar School and Hautlieu School, Jersey were attended by GCSE & A-Level students from 11 schools across the two islands.  Annela was interviewed live on BBC Radio Jersey‘s breakfast show Jersey Today by Chris Stone and also spoke to local Jersey radio station Channel 103.  The event was covered by the Jersey Evening Post newspaper and the online news website Isle News featured an article, which you can read here.

This event was kindly sponsored by the States of Jersey Department for Education, Sport and Culture, States of Guernsey Education Department and the South West Branch of the Institute of Physics.  Many thanks to them, Andy Breslin, Jon Tarrant and everyone at Hautlieu School & Guernsey Grammar for their assistance and support to make this event happen.

Dr Seddon is a Lecturer in the School of Physics at the University of Bristol, working within the new Centre for Nanoscience & Quantum Information (NSQI) and the Bristol Centre for Functional Nanomaterials (BCFN).  She researches cell membrane structure and microfluidic devices, as well as novel assembly methods for carbon nanotube-based electronic devices.