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Sniffing out signs of life
Science, Maths & Technology

Sniffing out signs of life

...Open University field trip to Iceland under a Europlanet grant. Copyright: Claire Batty Researching VOCs at AstrobiologyOU In AstrobiologyOU, we are studying VOCs in ‘analogue environments’. An analogue environment is a location or situation that resembles the geological or biological conditions of another planetary body. Some analogues are laboratory simulations,...
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Article 5 mins
Properties of gold
Science, Maths & Technology

Properties of gold

Open University chemist Mike Bullivant outlines the properties of gold...Find out more about The Open University's Science courses and qualifications [vial of gold] Why is gold so expensive? Gold is an unusual metal in that it predominantly exists in the Earth’s crust as the element (so-called ‘native’ gold); that is, it’s not chemically combined with other elements....
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Article 10 mins
How does COVID-19 affect cancer treatment?
Science, Maths & Technology

How does COVID-19 affect cancer treatment?

...Open University answer cancer-related questions about the new coronavirus in this series of articles...Who are we? We are cancer researchers working at The Open University. Our daily job involves identifying and testing new therapies and new diagnostic technologies for cancers. For this reason, we are regularly in contact with cancer charities and patient support groups....
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Article 10 mins
What is a confidence and supply government?
Society, Politics & Law

What is a confidence and supply government?

...opening of parliament. This may be a specific policy or simply evidence of influence on an existing policy. As with a full coalition, minor parties need to be wary in their negotiating strategy. Ask too little and be viewed by their supporters of selling themselves too cheaply. Demand too much and it may prevent a deal, destabilise the agreement and prove undeliverable....
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Article 5 mins
Thrill seeking and risk taking - what has made extreme sports into a worldwide phenomenon?
Health, Sports & Psychology

Thrill seeking and risk taking - what has made extreme sports into a worldwide phenomenon?

...Open University's Sport and Fitness courses and qualifications. Over the last 50 years the interest in extreme sports has increased significantly, with risk-taking behaviour in sport being used to describe engagement in high-risk leisure activities such as skiing and skydiving which tend to be characterised as activities that involve hazards (Jones et al, 2015). These are...
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Article 5 mins
Voluntary Gravedigging in the West of Ireland
OpenLearn Ireland

Voluntary Gravedigging in the West of Ireland

...open coffin. The wakehouse is usually run, managed and provisioned, just by women. This article is based on my doctoral study: Voluntary Gravedigging in the West of Ireland, published by the Open University in December 2024: https://oro.open.ac.uk/101454/. All of the participants have been given pseudonyms in this article but they have all given permission for their full...
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The science behind why we drink alcohol
Health, Sports & Psychology

The science behind why we drink alcohol

...Open University, investigates...Find out more about The Open University's Health and Wellbeing courses People have been consuming alcohol for at least 10,000 years. And when drinking water was rather risky, alcohol seemed a much safer bet . Amaldus of Villanova, a 14th-century monk, even wrote that alcohol “prolongs life, clears away ill humours, revives the heart and...
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Article 5 mins
From intuition to inference: how experts inform Bayesian models
Science, Maths & Technology

From intuition to inference: how experts inform Bayesian models

...Open University's Statistics courses and qualifications. In statistics, analysis is often presented as beginning with data. In practice, this is rarely true. Before any data is collected, there are already expectations about what values are plausible, which outcomes seem unlikely, and what patterns might emerge. These expectations arise from previous studies, theoretical...
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