Research Matters

Science education opens up a new world of opportunities today across industry and academia. A career in Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine (STEM) is rewarding for those minds that is inquisitive and wants to give back to the society in many different ways. In a recent conversation, the Research Matters team spoke to Prof. Brian Schmidt, a renowned cosmologist, winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics and the Vice Chancellor at the Australian National University on what he thinks about a career in science. Here is a summary of what Prof. Schmidt thinks of science education in today’s world

The human body harbours around 100 trillion microbes (bacteria, virus and others). While some harm us, others help us in different ways. A new study has now analysed the microbes present in our blood and has found that from an evolutionary perspective, they are related to each other, and strangely, even related to humans. This discovery has implications in drug discovery and designing therapies against harmful microbial infections.

Pursuing research is one of the aspirations of many young minds stepping out of their college. Unfortunately, for many, this aspiration remains largely a dream as costs of higher education are increasing day by day. But what makes higher education so expensive? In such scenarios, should students bear the cost of research? If not, then who should bear them and why? How can different beneficiaries of university research work to help students come out of the burden of education costs and serve society at large? In a conversation with the Research Matters team, the winner of 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, and the current Vice Chancellor of the Australian National University, Prof. Brian Schmidt, shares his views on the topic of research funding.

While open defecation has well known health risks, toilets with sewage pits come with their own drawbacks. One of them is the contamination of ground water due to sewage leachate -- the water that seeps into the soil from the pit and has extremely toxic levels of nitrates, ammonium and organic carbon. These toxins are known to contaminate ground water making it unfit for drinking. Now scientists have designed a twin-pit toilet system that reduces the levels of nitrates, ammonium and organic carbon in the sewage water before it is being absorbed by the ground. This treated water, the researchers say, have low levels of toxins, making it safe and saving water bodies from contamination due to sewage.

In a city like Bangalore, public transport system has a huge responsibility of transporting millions everyday and is a necessity to decongest the cities roads and help the city take a step towards sustainable living and greener environment. BMTC, the city's public transport cooperation has introduced many fleets of buses catering to different areas and targeting different types of customers. A new study now evaluates the sustainability of BMTC's fleet of Volvo buses and suggests ways that could help the cooperation maximise its profit and run its services efficiently.

Competition among different animals in a natural ecosystem is ubiquitous and determines many characteristics of the ecosystem. Ecologists use different mathematical models to estimate population of animals in the wild and help determine those species that are on the verge of being endangered or extinct. A new study by undergraduates at IISc has proposed a modification to an existing mathematical equation that takes competition of species into account, thus helping ecologists make accurate predictions along with actual field data.