Research Outreach – Issue 137: Transgressive poets, chronic pain, and self-assembling nanomaterials
Research Outreach Issue 137 continues to showcase the intriguing work being carried out by researchers across all disciplines from the evolution of hair to building a more effective acoustic computer, as well as a study into why women experience more chronic pain than men.
We also spoke with Kai Sicks, Secretary General at the German Academic Exchange Service, about the organisation’s work to cross borders and cultures through diverse, funded research projects that bring academics together across boundaries.
In the realm of the arts, one researcher explores how the first published female poet in England claimed the capital city as her own to gain much-needed respectability in a male-dominated art form, while in health research, nanomaterials may be the key to speeding things up for vaccine trials and production.
Transgressing gender and genre: Isabella Whitney’s appropriation of London
One sixteenth century writer rejected the gender divide to become first female secular poet to be published in England. Isabella Whitney wove herself, and her words, into the joys and horrors of the city of London.
Self-assembled nanomaterials fight viral outbreaks
New research proposes an innovative approach to containing and treating viral outbreaks, through taking advantage of nanomaterials’ unique properties to passivate viruses.
The origin of hair: The evolution of the trichocyte
Shining a light on the evolution of the peculiarly mammal trait – hair – and showing that the proteins which interact with keratin to form hair existed long before mammals evolved.
Change by exchange: The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
A discussion with Kai Sicks, Secretary General of the German Academic Exchange Service, which looks to spread the value of ‘exchange’ across borders through diverse research projects.
Building acoustic computers with tuneable phononic crystals
For 20 years, physicists have been researching wave propagation in a metamaterial called phononic crystals which are designed to control sound waves. A new deaf band-based model may lead to more effective acoustic computers.
Why do women experience more chronic pain than men?
New research proposes an innovative approach to containing and treating viral outbreaks, through taking advantage of nanomaterials’ unique properties to passivate viruses.