Abingdon News No. 60

www.abingdon.org.uk 3 Abingdon News The Wonder of Science In February, 4th and 5th Year students set out to the New Theatre in Oxford to listen to five renowned scientists talk about their areas of expertise, ranging from the wonders of material science to mind-boggling theories about time travel. The first speaker, Dr Anna Ploszajski, explained how both nature and science have come up with material designs that provide an advantage in certain areas, whether it be performance enhancing swimsuits with synthetic shark scales, or the evolution of jellyfish to be camouflaged thanks to the substance collagen. The second speaker was Dr Maggie Aderin- Pocock, a space scientist who presents BBC’s astronomy programme, The Sky At Night. She talked about the work of the Hubble Space Telescope and the introduction of the new James Webb Space Telescope that was launched on Christmas Day 2021. The third speaker was Professor Robert Winston, a medical doctor who specialises in the area of human fertility. He talked about how genetic engineering and selective breeding can lead to all sorts of favourable traits. To prove this he showed how a breed of ‘super rat’ could run for several hours longer than a normal rat. The fourth speaker was Professor Alice Roberts, a clinical anatomist who looks at ancient human remains. She showed how, from looking at bones, you can learn a lot about the person who they belonged to. The fifth and final speaker, Professor Jim Al- Khalili, spoke of the possibilities of time travel. He talked about how travelling to the future could be done by travelling at very high speeds or by slowing time which can be done by changing the gravitational field strength exerted on yourself. He also explained that time travel into the past was more difficult as it did not obey Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. He said, theoretically, the only feasible way time travel to the past was possible, was through a wormhole, essentially a connection between two widely separated regions of space time by something called an Einstein-Rosen Bridge. All in all, it was a great trip and we all learnt a lot from the speakers. Lower School pupils from Abingdon and St Helen and St Katharine worked in mixed groups to prepare for a balloon debate, with each group choosing a figure from literature to tie in with World Book Day. After a very close vote, Snowy from the Tintin books was the somewhat unlikely victor! The entire Lower School House room was converted into a quiet reading area for World Book Day giving everyone the chance to bury their head in a good book. The pupils were asked to bring their favourite book to school and spent tutor period discussing what it was about the book they loved in their mentoring pairs. Marking World Book Day 2022 …with the chance to bury their head in a good book …with the pupils of St Helen and St Katharine Hamlet at the Globe Upper Sixth English Literature students were treated to a performance of Hamlet at The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, a near-replica of the old Blackfriars Theatre, and part of the Globe complex in London. This candlelit production adapted Shakespeare’s texts in many unusual ways, incorporating lines from Romeo and Juliet, The Smiths’ ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’ and references to ITV’s teatime quiz, The Chase. Purists among our party baulked at the gravedigger’s metatextual deconstruction of Act 4 Scene 1, but we all agreed that it was a thoroughly engaging day out with lots of drama!