Scientist of the Week

Dr. Sally Ride (1951-Present)

Dr. Sally Ride is most famous for being the first woman astronaut to orbit the earth and has since has won many awards for her contribution to science.

SallyRide is a Stanford University graduate.  She has achieved bachelors and masters degrees in Physics as well as a PhD in the subject.  Although well educated in science, Sally showed skill in a number of other fields. She holds a BA in English and pursued a career in tennis before turningto academia.

Afterher studies Sally began her career with NASA. She was one of 35 chosen out of 8000 applicants and was one of only six women within this cohort.  Her appointment with NASA lead her to being the first woman to orbit the earth in a space shuttle.  This was part of the mission carried out in 1983 in the shuttle Challenger. Sally took to orbit once again in Challenger in 1984 for an eight day mission.  Sally became an inspiration toyoung women in a heavily male dominated industry and showed them that there was a place for women in space.

After retiring from NASA in 1987 Sally continued her career in science as she became a Science Fellow at Stanford University and two years later both a Professor of Physics at the University of California, San Diego and Director of the California Space Institute. 

Asif that was not enough, Sally currently plays a large role in bringing people and science together as she helped set up the EarthKAM project with NASA which allows children to see images of the earth from an International Space Station.  She is also a children’s science author and features in the National Woman’s Hall of Fame.

Sally’s company Imaginary Lines Inc. Inspires girls to take up an interest or a career in science, mathematics or technology.  The idea behind this is to bring science to life and to support young scientists in meeting their potential in science. Check it out at www.sallyridescience.comor follow them on twitter @sallyridesci

Vital Statistics

50,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in the UK each year, many by the NHS breast screening programme. The Independent reports today that this valuable service is to be independently reviewed in the light of concerns over safety. Screening is routinely offered to women between the ages of 50 and 70 every three years and is said to save 1,400 lives per year. The investigation that has been announced today in a letter to the British Medical Journal by members of the executive of Cancer Research Uk has been sparked by the consideration that women are often "over-diagnosed" by this screening process. It is suggested that many end up having further investigation and prolonged treatment for cancer which would have otherwise remained undetected and caused no problems. Major critics of the screening programme are based at the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Denmark, they believe that only one woman per 2000 screened per decade are saved from cancer, this contrasts with the 1 in every 400 as stated by the NHS. Although the "vital statistics" are some what confusing do they really matter? Is the climate of watching the public purse going too far and putting finances ahead of detection and treatment of cancer? Also, if the results of the review reveal that screening needs to be reduced will this U-turn jeopardise the work of healthcare professional who have promoted screening for many more cancers such as cervical and prostrate cancers? I guess the jury is out until the review is performed, I await the results.

Science Meets Art

There are some fantastic cross-over between these two ever-changing genres.  Here, in my own city Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, there is a fantastic example that pays testament to this.  It takes the mundane (shopping trolleys) and twists these day-to-day objects into an alpha helical shape to celebrate the structure of DNA.  The use of these common objects in the making of this nucleic acid is fitting as the need for food shopping is something we all have in common, as is 99.9% of our DNA.

The installation, DL90 was designed by British Sculptor Abigail Fallis and will be on display at the site in the cities

Fourth Square

until 2014. 

I wonder if Watson and Crick ever dreamt that one day their painstakingly constructed model of DNA would be translated into an artistic installation rather than a protein.

Greetings!

This is a new blog set up to report on, discuss and have fun with science.  Every day, so many technologies are advancing and it’s hard to keep up with developments in such a wide variety of fields.  Here, aspects of science old and new will be celebrated, considered and brought to your attention.

Dr Steph