tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/ucl-8915/articlesUCL – The Conversation2024-03-27T17:07:01Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2265582024-03-27T17:07:01Z2024-03-27T17:07:01ZThe total solar eclipse in North America could help shed light on a persistent puzzle about the Sun<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584141/original/file-20240325-24-ot473c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/totality-during-2023-australian-total-solar-2344355767">aeonWAVE / Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/types/#hds-sidebar-nav-1">total solar eclipse</a> takes place on <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/">April 8 across North America</a>. These events occur when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the Sun’s face. This plunges observers into a darkness similar to dawn or dusk.</p>
<p>During the upcoming eclipse, the path of totality, where observers experience the darkest part of the Moon’s shadow (the umbra), crosses Mexico, arcing north-east through Texas, the Midwest and briefly entering Canada before ending in Maine.</p>
<p>Total solar eclipses occur roughly <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/solar-eclipse-guide.html">every 18 months at some location on Earth</a>. The last total solar eclipse that crossed the US took place on August 21 2017. </p>
<p>An international team of scientists, led by Aberystwyth University, will be conducting experiments from <a href="https://www.fox4news.com/news/2024-eclipse-dallas-crowds-traffic">near Dallas</a>, at a location in the path of totality. The team consists of PhD students and researchers from Aberystwyth University, Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, and Caltech (California Institute of Technology) in Pasadena. </p>
<p>There is valuable science to be done during eclipses that is comparable to or better than what we can achieve via space-based missions. Our experiments may also shed light on a longstanding puzzle about the outermost part of the Sun’s atmosphere – its corona.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Eclipse shadow" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584503/original/file-20240326-18-9yqs13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584503/original/file-20240326-18-9yqs13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584503/original/file-20240326-18-9yqs13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584503/original/file-20240326-18-9yqs13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584503/original/file-20240326-18-9yqs13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584503/original/file-20240326-18-9yqs13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584503/original/file-20240326-18-9yqs13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The path of eclipse totality passes through Mexico, the US and Canada.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5186/">NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Sun’s intense light is blocked by the Moon during a total solar eclipse. This means that we can observe the <a href="https://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/corona.shtml">Sun’s faint corona</a> with incredible clarity, from distances very close to the Sun, out to several solar radii. One radius is the distance equivalent to half the Sun’s diameter, about 696,000km (432,000 miles).</p>
<p>Measuring the corona is extremely difficult without an eclipse. It requires a special telescope <a href="https://www.space.com/what-is-a-coronagraph.html">called a coronagraph</a> that is designed to block out direct light from the Sun. This allows fainter light from the corona to be resolved. The clarity of eclipse measurements surpasses even coronagraphs based in space.</p>
<p>We can also observe the corona on a relatively small budget, compared to, for example, spacecraft missions. A persistent puzzle about the corona is the observation <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781119815600.ch2">that it is much hotter</a> than the photosphere (the visible surface of the Sun). As we move away from a hot object, the surrounding temperature should decrease, not increase. How the corona is heated to such high temperatures is one question we will investigate.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Solar eclipse." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584507/original/file-20240326-20-xairh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584507/original/file-20240326-20-xairh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584507/original/file-20240326-20-xairh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584507/original/file-20240326-20-xairh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584507/original/file-20240326-20-xairh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584507/original/file-20240326-20-xairh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584507/original/file-20240326-20-xairh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/solar-eclipse-diagram-1146598682">Andramin / Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We have two main scientific instruments. The first of these is Cip (coronal imaging polarimeter). Cip is also the Welsh word for “glance”, or “quick look”. The instrument takes images of the Sun’s corona with a polariser. </p>
<p>The light we want to measure from the corona is highly polarised, which means it is made up of waves that vibrate in a single geometric plane. A polariser is a filter that lets light with a particular polarisation pass through it, while blocking light with other polarisations. </p>
<p>The Cip images will allow us to measure fundamental properties of the corona, such as its density. It will also shed light on phenomena such as the solar wind. This is a stream of sub-atomic particles in the form of plasma – superheated matter – flowing continuously outward from the Sun. Cip could help us identify sources in the Sun’s atmosphere for certain solar wind streams.</p>
<p>Direct measurements of the magnetic field in the Sun’s atmosphere are difficult. But the eclipse data should allow us to study its fine-scale structure and trace the field’s direction. We’ll be able to see how far magnetic structures called large “closed” magnetic loops extend from the Sun. This in turn will give us information about large-scale magnetic conditions in the corona.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Coronal loops." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584489/original/file-20240326-24-zlpsmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584489/original/file-20240326-24-zlpsmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584489/original/file-20240326-24-zlpsmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584489/original/file-20240326-24-zlpsmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584489/original/file-20240326-24-zlpsmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584489/original/file-20240326-24-zlpsmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584489/original/file-20240326-24-zlpsmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Coronal loops are found around sunspots and in active regions of the Sun.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/coronal-loops-an-active-region-of-sun/">NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The second instrument is Chils (coronal high-resolution line spectrometer). It collects high-resolution spectra, where light is separated into its component colours. Here, we are looking for a particular spectral signature of iron emitted from the corona. </p>
<p>It comprises three spectral lines, where light is emitted or absorbed in a narrow frequency range. These are each generated at a different range of temperatures (in the millions of degrees), so their relative brightness tells us about the coronal temperature in different regions. </p>
<p>Mapping the corona’s temperature informs advanced, computer-based models of its behaviour. These models must include mechanisms for how the coronal plasma is heated to such high temperatures. Such mechanisms might include the conversion of magnetic waves to thermal plasma energy, for example. If we show that some regions are hotter than others, this can be replicated in models. </p>
<p>This year’s eclipse also occurs during a time of heightened solar activity, so we could observe a <a href="https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/coronal-mass-ejections">coronal mass ejection (CME)</a>. These are huge clouds of magnetised plasma that are ejected from the Sun’s atmosphere into space. They can affect infrastructure near Earth, causing problems for vital satellites. </p>
<p>Many aspects of CMEs are poorly understood, including their early evolution near the Sun. Spectral information on CMEs will allow us to gain information on their thermodynamics, and their velocity and expansion near the Sun.</p>
<p>Our eclipse instruments have recently been proposed for a space mission called <a href="https://www.surrey.ac.uk/research-projects/feasibility-study-moon-enabled-sun-occultation-mission-mesom">Moon-enabled solar occultation mission (Mesom)</a>. The plan is to orbit the Moon to gain more frequent and extended eclipse observations. It is being planned as a UK Space Agency mission involving several countries, but led by University College London, the University of Surrey and Aberystwyth University.</p>
<p>We will also have an advanced commercial 360-degree camera to collect video of the April 8 eclipse and the observing site. The video is valuable for public outreach events, where we highlight the work we do, and helps to generate public interest in our local star, the Sun.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226558/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Huw Morgan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The eclipse will allow scientists to get rare measurements of the Sun’s atmosphere.Huw Morgan, Reader in Physical Sciences, Aberystwyth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1360282020-04-15T08:18:22Z2020-04-15T08:18:22ZCoronavirus: inside story of how Mercedes F1 and academics fast-tracked life saving breathing aid<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327931/original/file-20200415-153318-wcz4q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Tye / UCL</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>With the coronavirus pandemic spreading to nearly every country in the world, the number of hospital patients needing respiratory support is becoming unprecedented. It’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/ventilators-why-it-is-so-hard-to-produce-whats-needed-to-tackle-coronavirus-135895">not easy for manufacturers</a> to quickly make huge numbers of extra ventilators so there is likely to be an imbalance in supply and demand for the necessary equipment to provide this support. </p>
<p>To alleviate this problem, a team of engineers from UCL (the university in London where I work) and Formula One engine maker Mercedes-AMG HPP have been working flat out to manufacture large numbers of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device. This machine, similar to those commonly used to treat <a href="https://www.blf.org.uk/support-for-you/obstructive-sleep-apnoea-osa/cpap-machines">sleep apnea</a>, can support patients with severe breathing problems, freeing up ventilators for the most critically ill.</p>
<p>As with all things coronavirus related, speed is of the essence. The team has pulled off the task of moving from reverse-engineering an original product and producing a new design, through testing and regulatory approval to full-scale production in under 10 days.</p>
<p>Within one month, 10,000 devices have been delivered to meet the UK government target, with Mercedes repurposing its entire facility in Brixworth, Northampton to produce 1,000 a day. The designs and manufacturing instructions have now been released, at no cost, to governments, manufacturers, academics and health experts around the world. Within a week they had been shared with more than 1,300 teams in 25 countries.</p>
<p>The astonishing pace of this project has been made possible by an alignment of established academic, industrial and clinical collaborations, working under the umbrella of UCL’s Institute of Healthcare Engineering. The team was quickly mobilised to focus on a clearly defined, immediate need.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327938/original/file-20200415-153326-cogprt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327938/original/file-20200415-153326-cogprt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327938/original/file-20200415-153326-cogprt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327938/original/file-20200415-153326-cogprt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327938/original/file-20200415-153326-cogprt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327938/original/file-20200415-153326-cogprt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327938/original/file-20200415-153326-cogprt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Prof Tim Baker examines the finished device.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Tye / UCL</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The project began when <a href="https://mecheng.ucl.ac.uk/people/profile/tim-baker/">Tim Baker</a>, a professor of mechanical engineering, contacted his longstanding collaborators Andy Cowell and Ben Hodgkinson from Mercedes AMG HPP. On March 18, they met at MechSpace, a recently opened facility in central London for mechanical engineering students.</p>
<p>Baker presented the Mercedes engineers with a conventional CPAP flow generator given to him by <a href="http://www.uclh.nhs.uk/ourservices/consultants/pages/profmervynsinger.aspx">Mervyn Singer</a>, a professor of intensive care medicine at UCL Hospitals, with a simple instruction: “We need more of these.” Singer had been contacted by doctors in Italy and China who shared their experiences of CPAP as an important aid to manage coronavirus patients.</p>
<h2>Continuous pressure</h2>
<p>Unlike mechanical ventilation, CPAP doesn’t require a tube to be inserted into the patient’s windpipe. Instead, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482178/">continuous air pressure</a> (slightly higher than normal atmospheric pressure) applied through a face mask keeps the airways open and provides the patient with oxygen-enriched air. This reduces the work they have to do to breathe without requiring them to be sedated.</p>
<p>A CPAP flow generator works by exploiting a phenomenon known as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venturi_effect">Venturi effect</a>. A high-flow jet of oxygen draws room air in around it to generate a high output flow of oxygen-enriched air. Mechanical valves then allow you to adjust the pressure and oxygen concentration.</p>
<p>The beauty of this design is that it has no moving parts. This meant that the team could reverse engineer the device by making meticulous measurements of every dimension and translating them into a 3D computer model and manufacturing drawings. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327934/original/file-20200415-153347-17zirua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327934/original/file-20200415-153347-17zirua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327934/original/file-20200415-153347-17zirua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327934/original/file-20200415-153347-17zirua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327934/original/file-20200415-153347-17zirua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327934/original/file-20200415-153347-17zirua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327934/original/file-20200415-153347-17zirua.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The reverse-engineered CPAP flow generator.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Tye / UCL</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Over the following two days, MechSpace became the pit lane of the project with engineers from the Mercedes team using expertise acquired from the F1 industry to fast track design and prototype manufacture. They drew on the skills of three former UCL students, Jamie Robinson, Alex Blakesley and Ismail Ahmad. In particular, they used commercial software (Mashoom) that Robinson had developed during his degree to manage and store the computer designs that would underpin the production process.</p>
<p>The racing mentality of the Mercedes team drove the process forward at breakneck speed. Hodgkinson threw down the gauntlet of a 24-hour turnaround between him walking in the door at MechSpace and cutting materials for the prototype on their commercial production line in Brixworth. The team missed this target – but only by two hours.</p>
<p>With the team working round the clock, one of them was sent out to stock up on essential supplies including toiletries and a change of clothes. The t-shirts acquired from the nearest shop inadvertently provided a team uniform and the t-shirt logo was requisitioned as the name of the CPAP system, UCL-Ventura.</p>
<h2>Regulatory approval</h2>
<p>Regulatory approval for medical devices is a lengthy process that can often take years, but the team had deliberately focused on reverse-engineering an off-patent device, the Respironics WhisperFlow, that had been used in the NHS for decades. This enabled the device to be quickly approved for use by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).</p>
<p>The partnerships already in place through UCL’s Institute of Healthcare Engineering, led by Professor Rebecca Shipley, were also crucial to the speed of this project.</p>
<p>The team worked closely with a number of industry partners to check availability and arrange supply of other key regulated components including oxygen sensors and masks. The Mark I design went into clinical testing in patients at UCL Hospitals and sister hospitals on March 27, and the government order was confirmed four days later.</p>
<p>UCL mechanical engineers including Tom Peach, Tom Rushton, Peter Weston and James Weaver have continued to work flat out at MechSpace, sleeping at a hotel next door. A Mark II version of the device has now been approved that significantly reduces the oxygen requirements of the system. And it is this design that has now been made available for the global response to COVID-19. </p>
<p>Through collaboration, innovation and translation, this interdisciplinary team have been able to proceed quickly enough to deliver this vital healthcare technology to the frontline of the battle against this disease.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/136028/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Clare Elwell receives funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and The Wellcome Trust </span></em></p>In under 10 days, engineers from UCL and Mercedes F1 reverse-engineered a product, produced a new design, tested it, got regulatory approval and started production.Clare Elwell, Professor of Medical Physics, Vice Dean for Impact, UCL Engineering, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1246562019-10-03T15:03:15Z2019-10-03T15:03:15ZA new home for The Conversation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295418/original/file-20191003-52843-1k3wmyl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Shropshire House, The Conversation's new headquarters in the UK.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Workplace Company</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When The Conversation first launched in the UK, it was hugely reliant on a small number of early supporters to get the project off the ground. Perhaps none were more important than Professor Sir Paul Curran, President of City, University of London, who in addition to helping us attract members, secure funding and acting as our founding Chair, also gave us a home.</p>
<p>For the first six years of The Conversation, its offices were a converted caretaker’s flat on the roof of City’s University Building on Northampton Square. Those who visited may recall its quirks: the front door, the bathtub, the domestic kitchen, not to mention the editors’ constantly updated “banned list” of words and phrases. They will also recall the spectacular views south across the City, and north towards the hills of Hampstead.</p>
<p>When I arrived at The Conversation last summer, it became clear that we would need to move before long. We had outgrown it. While the space was fit for a start-up, we had developed into an established news publisher. At launch we had six editors, but by 2018 this had grown to more than 20, working with more than 80 universities for a monthly audience of close to 4m a month on our site alone.</p>
<p>Sir Paul had also shared the exciting plans for the <a href="https://www.city.ac.uk/about/governance/vision-strategy-2026">extension of City’s library</a> as part of a transformation of the university’s estate. Inevitably, this meant our little flat would be demolished.</p>
<p>We still felt it was important for us to be embedded within an academic institution, so I began discussions with several member universities to explore our options. As a result, as of the beginning of September I’m delighted that The Conversation now has a new home at University College London. UCL needs no introduction, as one of the world’s great research universities. Along with City, it was one of The Conversation UK’s thirteen founding partners. I’m particularly grateful to Professor David Price, Vice-Provost (Research) at UCL, a long-standing champion of The Conversation, for making this possible.</p>
<p>At UCL we are co-located with the Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy (<a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/steapp/">STEaPP</a>). STEaPP, led by Professor Joanna Chataway, brings experts from across science, technology and engineering together with policy experts to tackle today’s most pressing global challenges, from access to energy to climate change and congested cities. A mission that is deeply complementary with our own charitable purpose.</p>
<p>Our new office is in <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Shropshire+House,+Bloomsbury,+London/@51.5225438,-0.1373184,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x48761b292b677c21:0xa3e30f1ff5e5879!8m2!3d51.5225438!4d-0.1351297?shorturl=1">Shropshire House</a>, Capper Street, off Tottenham Court Road. It gives us room to grow, expand our internship programmes, and host editors from other editions delivering more to both our readers and our member universities. It’s now easier for us to welcome members, partners and supporters to join our morning news conference, when our editors discuss their upcoming stories. Do get in touch if you’d like to attend.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295483/original/file-20191003-52852-sk0tmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295483/original/file-20191003-52852-sk0tmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295483/original/file-20191003-52852-sk0tmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295483/original/file-20191003-52852-sk0tmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295483/original/file-20191003-52852-sk0tmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295483/original/file-20191003-52852-sk0tmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295483/original/file-20191003-52852-sk0tmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Editor Stephen Khan and some of the team.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, while we now have a new home in London, The Conversation is not London-centric, and never has been. A third of our editors are based outside London. And of course, our authors are drawn from universities all over the UK, and beyond. In fact we may be the most geographically diverse news publisher in the country. We have member universities in Ireland, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland, and work closely with our French and Spanish editions to support academics from across Europe. </p>
<p>Across the whole network, stories commissioned by The Conversation are now republished in 90 countries, in 23 languages, and read more than 40m times a month. In the UK alone, we’ve published 24,000 articles written by 14,000 academics since we launched. With a new home secured, I hope we’ll be able to grow even further.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124656/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
A new home for The Conversation.Chris Waiting, Chief Executive Officer, The ConversationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/856322017-10-12T14:29:03Z2017-10-12T14:29:03ZComputers will soon be able to fix themselves – are IT departments for the chop?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190005/original/file-20171012-31440-1tzlhhl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">They call me the digital lizard. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/laptop-computer-hand-coming-through-screen-74147725?src=QhzS2EeTL3o35SNF_68PDg-1-4">Jeffrey B. Banke</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Robots and AI are replacing workers at an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/24/millions-uk-workers-risk-replaced-robots-study-warns">alarming rate</a>, from simple manual tasks to making complex legal decisions and medical diagnoses. But the AI itself, and indeed most software, is still largely programmed by humans. </p>
<p>Yet there are signs that this might be changing. Several programming tools are emerging which help to automate software testing, one of which we have been developing ourselves. The prospects look exciting; but it raises questions about how far this will encroach on the profession. Could we be looking at a world of Terminator-like software writers who consign their human counterparts to the dole queue?</p>
<p>We computer programmers devote an unholy amount of time to testing software and fixing bugs. It’s costly, time consuming and fiddly – yet it’s vital if you want to bring high quality software to market. </p>
<h2>Testing, testing …</h2>
<p>A common method of testing software involves running a program, asking it to do certain things and seeing how it copes. Known as dynamic analysis, many tools exist to help with this process, usually throwing thousands of random choices at a program and checking all the responses. </p>
<p>Facebook <a href="https://arstechnica.co.uk/information-technology/2017/08/facebook-dynamic-analysis-software-sapienz/">recently unveiled</a> a tool called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3eV8NiWLg4">Sapienz</a> that is a big leap forward in this area. Originally developed by University College London, Sapienz is able to identify bugs in Android software via automated tests that are far more efficient than the competition – requiring between 100 and 150 choices by the user compared to a norm of nearer 15,000. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189609/original/file-20171010-17676-10qdlsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189609/original/file-20171010-17676-10qdlsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189609/original/file-20171010-17676-10qdlsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189609/original/file-20171010-17676-10qdlsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189609/original/file-20171010-17676-10qdlsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189609/original/file-20171010-17676-10qdlsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189609/original/file-20171010-17676-10qdlsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189609/original/file-20171010-17676-10qdlsm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bug on out.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/software-bug-causing-program-error-647034754?src=ShnB1VkW4HlqgkzEbavO3g-1-14">Phichak</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The difference is that Sapienz contains an evolutionary algorithm that learns from the software’s responses to previous choices. It then makes new choices that aim to find the maximum number of glitches and test the maximum number of kinds of choices, doing everything as efficiently as possible. </p>
<p>It may soon have competition from DiffBlue, a spin-out from the University of Oxford. Based on an AI engine designed to analyse and understand what a program is doing, the company is developing several automated tools to help programmers. One will find bugs and write software tests; another will find weaknesses that could be exploited by hackers; a third will make improvements to code that could be better expressed or is out of date. DiffBlue recently <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/27/diffblue/">raised</a> US$22m in investment funding, and claims to be delivering these tools to numerous blue chip companies.</p>
<p>The tool that we have developed is dedicated to bug hunting. Software bugs are often just an innocent slip of the finger, like writing a “+” instead of a “-”; not so different to typos in a Word document. Or they can be because computer scientists like to count differently, starting at zero instead of the number one. This can lead to so-called “off by one” errors. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189597/original/file-20171010-17715-1npsivb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189597/original/file-20171010-17715-1npsivb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189597/original/file-20171010-17715-1npsivb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1129&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189597/original/file-20171010-17715-1npsivb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1129&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189597/original/file-20171010-17715-1npsivb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1129&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189597/original/file-20171010-17715-1npsivb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1418&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189597/original/file-20171010-17715-1npsivb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189597/original/file-20171010-17715-1npsivb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1418&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Here he is!</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/fort-greene/7484436922">Fort Greene Focus</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>You find these annoying little glitches by making one small change after another – repeatedly testing and tweaking until you make the right one. The answer is often staring you in the face – a bit like the game “<a href="http://findwally.co.uk">Where’s Wally?</a>” (or Waldo if you’re in North America). After hours of trying, you finally get that a-ha moment and wonder why you didn’t spot it sooner. </p>
<p>Our tool <a href="https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=3082517">works as follows</a>: office workers go about their normal administrative duties in the daytime and report any bugs in software as they find them. Overnight, when everyone is logged off, the system enters a “dream-like” state. It makes small changes to the computer code, checking each time to see if the adjustment has fixed the reported problem. Feedback from each run of the code is used to inform which changes would be best to try next time. </p>
<p>We tested it for four months in a Reykjavik organisation with about 200 users. In that time, it reported 22 bugs and all were fixed automatically. Each solution was found on these “night shifts”, meaning that when the programmer arrived at the office in the morning, a list of suggested bug fixes were waiting for them. </p>
<p>The idea is to put the programmer in control and change their job: less routine checking and more time for creativity. It’s roughly comparable to how spell checkers have taken much of the plod out of proof-reading a document. Both tools support the writer, and reduce the amount of time you probably spend swearing at the screen. </p>
<p>We have been able to show that the same system can be applied to other tasks, including making programs run faster and improving the accuracy of software designed to predict things (full disclosure: Saemundur recently co-founded a company to exploit the IP in the system). </p>
<h2>Future shock?</h2>
<p>It is easy enough to see why programs like these might be useful to software developers, but what about the downside? Will companies be able to downsize their IT requirement? Should programmers start fearing that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/oct/04/the-cough-the-p45-the-falling-f-theresa-mays-speech-calamity">Theresa May moment</a>, when the automators show up with their P45s?</p>
<p>We think not. While automations likes these raise the possibility of companies cutting back on certain junior programming roles, we believe that introducing automation into software development will allow programmers to become more innovative. They will be able to spend more time developing rather than maintaining, with the potential for endlessly exciting results.</p>
<p>Careers in computing will not vanish, but some boring tasks probably will. Programmers, software engineers and coders will have more automatic tools to make their job easier and more efficient. But probably jobs won’t be lost so much as changed. We have little choice but to embrace technology as a society. If we don’t, we’ll simply be left behind by the countries that do.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85632/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Saemundur Haraldsson is a director of Easy Advanced Systems, which has been set up to develop the IP behind the system he developed at University of Stirling.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexander Brownlee receives funding from EPSRC and Microsoft.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>John R. Woodward does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The automation wave is coming for computer programmers – up to a point.Saemundur Haraldsson, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of StirlingAlexander Brownlee, Senior Research Assistant, University of StirlingJohn R. Woodward, Lecturer in Computer Science, Queen Mary University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/229262014-02-11T05:50:40Z2014-02-11T05:50:40ZMerger with UCL a new chapter for Institute of Education<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41156/original/f4v592tx-1392031178.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C36%2C953%2C682&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Change beckons.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> kmoliver</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There were mixed feelings at the Institute of Education last week, after it was announced that it was <a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/ucl-set-to-merge-with-institute-of-education/2011121.article">planning to merge</a> with University College London (UCL). </p>
<p>In some ways, it was a particularly poignant moment for me, as someone who first joined the Institute as a Post Graduate Certificate of Education student in 1968, returned for my Master’s degree in 1972, joined the staff as a professor in 1992 and then spent more than ten years as the institute’s director. </p>
<p>Yet it does not mark the end of the Institute of Education, but rather the next stage in its development. Although the announcement seems to have taken some people by surprise, it is actually an <a href="http://www.ioe.ac.uk/75390.html">extension of a strategic partnership</a> that has developed between the two institutions over the past year or more. </p>
<p>The Institute of Education has already had a number of incarnations during its 112 years. It started life as the <a href="http://www.ioe.ac.uk/about/62082.html">London Day Training College</a>, a partnership between the London County Council and the University of London. In 1932, it became the University of London Institute of Education and was run for many years as part of the central university. It was only in 1987 that it was granted autonomy within the federal university, with its own royal charter and its current name of Institute of Education, University of London.</p>
<h2>Economies of scale and reputation</h2>
<p>As director of the institute during its centenary celebrations in 2002, I have a keen awareness of this history. But I also recognise that we need to respond to changing circumstances. Although autonomy helped us develop to where we are now, it limits our capacity to move to the next stage. We cannot benefit from economies of scale found in multi-faculty universities and, like other specialist institutions, we are heavily exposed to risk when public policy in our particular field changes. </p>
<p>In the international context, we spend a great deal of time explaining what the Institute of Education is. We also have to explain why it does not appear in mainstream league tables and why it cannot join the <a href="http://www.russellgroup.ac.uk/">Russell Group</a> of 24 leading universities. </p>
<p>We succeeded in persuading the <a href="http://www.ioe.ac.uk/studentInformation/41459.html">China Scholarship Council</a> that we should be on their approved list. But we know of other organisations that will not even contemplate supporting our students because, although we ride high in the <a href="http://www.topuniversities.com/subject-rankings">QS subject rankings</a>, we are not seen as a department of a world-leading multi-faculty university. </p>
<p>When I first became director, there was discussion of a possible merger with the London School of Economics. This had its attractions, as the two institutions had common Fabian roots and it would have created a formidable world centre for the social sciences. But while the Institute of Education is predominantly a social science institution, it also needs to relate to many other disciplines. </p>
<p>A few years later, we created a consortium of the various specialist colleges in Bloomsbury, which brought some academic collaborations. However, there was little appetite for greater integration. </p>
<p>Becoming a faculty in UCL makes geographical and academic sense. We share at least one building and we are in the same academic league. If the Institute of Education had been part of UCL in the <a href="http://www.rae.ac.uk/">2008 Research Assessment Exercise</a>, which measures the quality of research in the UK, UCL would have risen from 11th to 9th in the overall league table.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the institute – an overwhelmingly postgraduate institution – recently embarked on a significant expansion of undergraduate numbers. Rather than developing a whole new infrastructure for this, it makes sense to join with an institution that already has well-established undergraduate provision.</p>
<h2>No need to lose the IOE brand</h2>
<p>There are, of course, legitimate fears about loss of identity. But the <a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slade">Slade School of Fine Art</a> and the <a href="http://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/">Bartlett</a> School of Architecture are strong brands within UCL, as is the <a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ich/homepage">Institute of Child Health</a>, which itself joined UCL a few years ago. </p>
<p>Internationally, in our own field, the <a href="http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/oise/Home/index.html">Ontario Institute for Studies in Education</a> was successfully integrated into the University of Toronto, and the <a href="http://www.nie.edu.sg/">National Institute of Education in Singapore</a> is part of Nanyang Technological University. <a href="http://www.tc.columbia.edu/">Teachers College Columbia</a>, perhaps our closest peer, is also part of one of the leading universities in the United States.</p>
<p>These institutions have a variety of different governance arrangements within their parent universities. It will be for the present management of the institute to secure appropriate arrangements within UCL, as well as proper protection for staff and students. </p>
<p>But, in principle, a merger need not be a threat to the vision and mission of the Institute of Education. </p>
<p>As one of my predecessors put it when we discussed merger a decade ago, the test must be whether the institute is better able to pursue its mission successfully as part of a multi-faculty university rather than alone. In my view, the balance of advantage has shifted significantly in the past 10 years. </p>
<p>UCL’s strapline is “<a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/">London’s Global University</a>”. The institute is already at the heart of London education and it is also a major international player in its field. The potential synergies are huge. Now we need to realise them in the Institute of Education, University College London. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22926/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geoff Whitty is affiliated with the Institute of Education, University of London </span></em></p>There were mixed feelings at the Institute of Education last week, after it was announced that it was planning to merge with University College London (UCL). In some ways, it was a particularly poignant…Geoff Whitty, Research Professor in Education , Bath Spa UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.