• Question: What is it about your research that is different/better than anyone elses.

    Asked by thepaintyolo12345 to Andrew, Janey P, Kinda, Ravi, SarahJane on 18 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Sarah-Jane Walsh

      Sarah-Jane Walsh answered on 18 Jun 2013:

      Currently i’m looking at how the environment can make coral reefs stronger against climate change. For example if a coral grows in a really calm environment it isn’t used to a lot of change, but if a coral lives in an environment where it has big changes such as, high and low tide and big changes in temperature will be more used to change.

      In the lab we grow our corals under high and low light, high and low temperature, and high and low waves to see how this affects the coral and if any of these make them stronger against climate change.

      Once we identify this we can go to coral reefs around the world and predict which are the stronger coral reefs and so the most likely to survive. we can then tell the conservationists to protect that reef more as it has a stronger chance of surviving and produces stronger corals!

    • Photo: Andrew Manches

      Andrew Manches answered on 18 Jun 2013:

      Cant really say it is better or worse. Okay I will, it’s loads better. That’s because our world is changing. Technology is massively changing everything we do and it is set to change things a whole lot more. My research is not just about understanding how things are changing; my research is about using that knowledge to help design technology. So in that way, I get to help change the world. In a small way granted.

    • Photo: Ravi Kopparapu

      Ravi Kopparapu answered on 20 Jun 2013:

      My research is attempting to answer one of the oldest known question to human kind: Are we alone in the Universe ? Is there alien life beyond Earth ? Remember, we are just some life on a third planet orbiting a yellow star. The reason why we are able to think of any other things (music, dance, philosophy, finance, sports, movies etc.) is because we are a species on this planet evolved over billions of years ago.

      What would an alien life on another planet look like ? Would they have the same kind of interests ? What can we each share with each other ? These kind of big questions are what is different than anyone elses.

    • Photo: Jane Paget

      Jane Paget answered on 20 Jun 2013:

      Hmmm i think everyone’s research is important to them. If the research is important or worthwhile technically it shouldn’t get funded (technically). Understanding bacteriophage is important (and the best) for soo many reasons. I am looking into the catalytic mechanism of one type of bacteriophage protein. This protein could be used to engineer DNA in bacteria. We could alter the bacteria to produce clean efficient fuels or get rid of diffcult waste (like lignin in plant material). Bacteriophage proteins could also provide a way forward for gene therapy. I could go on ……………

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