Technically Speaking | a science and engineering discussion

With an audience from the Engineering Development Trust’s virtual routes to STEM course, Laura, Emma, Antonia and Rwayda talk about their diverse careers in physics and engineering to find common ground. They talk about how they chose what to study at university and provide details on what some engineers do beyond applying scientific principles to solve a challenge.

Emma talks about how a degree in physics led her to study a doctorate in DNA and cancer, Antonia explains how chemical engineering led her to help companies make more sustainable energy choices and Rwayda talks about how a desire to build things led her to become a university lecturer in civil engineering. Laura talks about her varied career path that partly involved studying physics, becoming a nuclear scientist, working with engineers,  supervising project management students in a civil engineering department at university, and working as a science communications specialist.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas which contributes to the climate emergency. Intensive farming can lead to cows contributing significantly to levels of this gas in the atmosphere. Antonia, Ellie and Jasmin discuss the latest research to reduce the amount of methane cows produce through burps and flatulence. They look at additives to cow feed, using seaweed as an alternative feed, and selectively breeding the cows. They consider whether people should eat less meat and look at cultural and geographical challenges to doing so.

Fact check:

• Estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from livestock vary
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shows that methane has 81 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide
• Here’s how cows produce methane as part of their digestion
• News about the Bovaera additive produced by Arla
• News about Hilda the cow, selectively bred over 16 generations to produce less methane
• Denmark’s plan to introduce a tax for cows
• The article Ellie mentions in The Conversation

Most clothes are made of a mix of natural and synthetic fibres which makes them difficult to recycle back into clothing once they’re worn out. Antonia and Laura discuss an exciting new research project that has separated four different types of fibre from a single scrap of cloth using microwaves. They compare this to an alternative method which uses enzymes found in bacteria to recycle polyester and consider what these efforts might mean for a future circular economy where clothing is infinitely recyclable. Will we ditch cotton and start wearing completely synthetic fibres?

Fact check:

• Research using microwaves, and a news article about it
• The latest news on using enzymes to break down polyester (PET).
• A perspective on using enzymes to recycle PET, published in a biochemistry journal
• The pilot plant operated by Carbios, that Antonia mentions
• News about mountains of clothing waste in the Atacama Desert

And what does it take to win an award for it? Ellie, Rwayda and Laura discuss the Dalian Bay Undersea Tunnel in China which won Global Project of the Year 2024 for its novel construction methods and use of first-of-a-kind technologies, including floating giant concrete tubes into the bay to submerge and then connect them, an on-site laboratory so that experiments can inform the construction, and use of sensors in the specially developed cement which is designed to last an impressive 100 years in the frigid water of the bay.

References:

• Read about why it was awarded Global Project of the Year in Engineering News-Record
• News coverage on chinadaily.com
• More news coverage at ctgn.com
• A journal article about testing the special design of cement which used the manufactured sand

Science is always finding new ways to harness nature. Antonia, Ellie and Laura discuss what the blood from a certain type of sea creature is used for, and how scorpion venom is being studied for a whole host of medical research. They also look at Pangolin scales used to treat some ailments and a giant tuna which sold for a small fortune, but might not necessarily be worth their price tag.

Fact check:

• The cost of crab blood
• The news article from NPR about crab blood
• Facts about bacterial toxins
• News about scorpion venom
• More news about scorpion venom
• The journal article explaining the many potential uses of scorpion venom
• Pangolin scales in the news
• Some behavioural science used by the UK Government communications service to help change behaviours, which underscores Antonia and Laura's perspectives
• Possibly the world's most expensive tuna

And can natural genetic changes lead us to develop superpowers? Laura, Emma and Jasmin talk about different natural processes can lead to mutations, how our bodies detect and repair some mutations, and how some changes can lie hidden.

The article that inspired this episode: We are all genetic mosaics, from Knowable Magazine.

Fact check:
How many cells are in the adult human body
How long it takes for most cells in the human body to divide
Some more background on cell division
The DNA molecular clock
Repair mechanisms during normal cell function
Different types of DNA damage
Evidence for repairs taking less than a second, simple repairs taking minutes, and more complex taking hours as well as research that mentions why more complex repairs take longer.
Mutations you might want

The UK has plans to change how drinks containers are collected from consumers for recycling, but recent news stories indicate that glass could be excluded from this scheme. Laura, Antonia and Jasmin discuss what responsibilities packaging producers have, how glass and plastic are currently recycled, and consider what changes need to be made.

There were a lot of references in this fact-filled episode:

• Government target for recycling rates at gov.uk
• Amounts of litter, from Keep Britain Tidy (2020)
• Household recycling rates, from gov.uk
• Amount that a deposit return scheme can reduce littering by, from Actions to Protect Rural Scotland
• A report stating cost savings of a deposit return scheme, from DEFRA
• Statistics on local authority costs, from gov.uk
• Evidence from European Union countries on the deposit return scheme
• News article about charges that could be applied to glass bottle producers, in The Chronicle
• An overview of the Extended Producer Responsibility, from Ecoveritas
• Potential fees to be paid by companies under the extended producer responsibility scheme, suggested by UK government
• The main steps in plastic recycling using mechanical methods, from the British Plastics Federation
• The journal article Laura mentions where sorting facilities were analysed, in the journal Waste Management
• An overview of some chemical recycling method, from the British Plastics Federation
• Some more information on chemical recycling, from CAS – a division of the American Chemical Society
• Legislation on minimum recycled plastic content, from gov.uk
• The journal article Jasmin refers to when considering glass recycling rates, in the journal Sustainable Futures
• Articles explaining glass quality limitations from BBC Future and British Glass
• The energy saving by using recycled glass to make new glass bottles, from the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Is the internet really a useful tool for learning or is it a place where you shouldn’t believe what you see or read? Laura, Antonia and Ellie discuss what they have learned online, from detailed scientific information to practical skills like fixing a bicycle, and what they struggle to find. Laura and Ellie also share their insight as professional science communicators while Antonia explains how she finds information in her job as an energy analyst where she focusses on sustainability. There's a lot of information out there, but how useful is it and is everything that humanity knows easy to find online?

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What is cyber hacking and what can we do about it? Jasmin, Ellie and Antonia explore the different types of cyber hacking, compare it to the movies, and consider whether it can ever be ethical or "good"? They also discuss the best ways to combat cyber-attacks personally, and what companies are doing to protect us and their client information.

You might know that nuclear reactors are used along with turbines to generate electricity but what else could nuclear technology power? While battling brain fog brought on by fatigue, Laura and Antonia discuss future uses of high temperature heat to feed industrial clusters and look at two novel uses of nuclear power production that don't require reactors, but could be used to power space missions.

Read about heat requirements of smelting metals, power requirements of the experimental rig known as ALSEP as well as  the fateful Apollo 13 mission to the moon and the fuel cells for the command module, and diamond batteries.