Europe | U.K. | Activism

Women in science: Smashing glass ceilings and glass walls

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A woman engineer who worked on the moon landing spoke this week of how she was once told the control room was no place for women. Things have changed a lot in 50 years, but not as fast as some had hoped. BBC News spoke to five scientists from different generations who are breaking barriers in their field. Famous for discovering the first pulsar more than 50 years ago, Prof Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell has also been a lifelong advocate of women in science. As a school pupil in Northern Ireland in the 1950s, like other girls she was not permitted to study science until her parents (and others
North America | United States | Adventure

The women of NASA are looking to the lunar horizon

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Growing up, Holly Ridings, Anne McClain and Nujoud Merancy dreamed of space. But they didn't let those dreams rest to become flights of childhood fancy. Now, all three women work at NASA. McClain is an astronaut who just returned from a six-month stint on the International Space Station. Merancy is the Exploration Mission Planning and Analysis lead for the Orion spacecraft that will be part of the Artemis mission in 2024. And Ridings is the first female chief flight director. And they're all working toward the goal of landing the first woman on the moon by 2024.
North America | United States | Science

24-Year-Old Biochemist Wins Miss Virginia Title After Doing A Science Experiment As Her Talent

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24-year-old biochemist Camille Schrier was crowned the new Miss Virginia recently, after showcasing her talents onstage in the form of a science experiment. While the usual ‘talents’ in these pageants often amount to singing a song or pulling a rabbit out of a hat, Ms. Schrier stepped out in lab coat and goggles to wow the judges with a demonstration of the catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide. After carefully mixing a solution of chemicals into beakers, Schrier’s experiment concluded with an explosion of blue and orange foam, which is known as the “Elephant Toothpaste” r
Asia | Kyrgyzstan | Career

Kyrgyzstan’s space women blast off from male dominance

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Having grown up in one of the poorest and most conservative regions in Kyrgyzstan, 17-year-old Begaiym Isaakova never imagined she would work in tech, let alone be part of a team of young women building the country's first spacecraft. By age 15, Isaakova was shocked to see her peers in Jalal-Abad being married off, but not too surprised. The message that girls should prioritise knowing how to serve men started early and was everywhere, including in schools and homes. Instead of being sent down the aisle in a country where early and forced marriage - including by bride kidnap - is common
North America | United States | Medicine

Pioneering Black Woman Physicist Invents Nanotech Treatment That Kills Cancer Cells

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The United States only officially began to outlaw racial segregation in the 1950s, and women have only been given equal academic opportunities at some top institutions since the 1980s. Columbia University, for example, didn’t allow women to apply until 1983—and the other Ivy League schools didn’t allow women until the 1960s and 1970s, themselves. These advancements in academic opportunity have helped to pave the way for women and people of color to contribute even more heavily to social and scientific progress, but African-Americans continue to make up a minority of pioneers in thes
North America | United States | Science

Meet the 29-year-old woman behind the first-ever black hole image

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The world was mesmerized this week by the first-ever image of a black hole, captured by a network of eight linked telescopes known as the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration. But in the days since, attention has turned to a second image: That of the 29-year-old woman who made it all possible. Computer scientist Dr. Katie Bouman has been credited with leading the creation of an algorithm that successfully photographed the halo of dust and gas situated 500 million trillion kilometers from Earth.
North America | United States | Science

The First All-Female Spacewalk Has Just Been Scheduled by NASA

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It is a big step for women. If all goes according to plan, on March 29, astronauts aboard the International Space Station are scheduled to conduct the first all-female spacewalk. Anne McClain and Christina Koch will venture out together about 240 miles (400 kilometres) above Earth and make history. Adding to the significance of their mission, the spacewalk will take place during Women's History Month.
Europe | Denmark | Science

WiFi Experiment Done By Five 9th Grade Girls Got Serious International Attention. THIS Is Why…

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Researchers from England, Holland and Sweden have shown great interest in the experiment done by 5 girls from northern Jutland in 9th grade. They did an experiment for a biology test, so brilliant, that it has attracted international attention among acknowledged biologists and radiation experts. The girls got really surprised by the sudden attention from all around the world. “It has been such a rollercoaster ride. I still cannot believe it”, says Lea Nielsen, one of the girls. “It’s totally overwhelming and exciting. It’s just not something you experience every day”. a
South Asia | Afghanistan | Science

Finally, visas in hand, Afghan girls depart for the U.S. and a global robotics competition

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When Afghan 10th-grader Fatemeh Qaderian learned that her girls’ robotics team had been denied visas to attend an international competition in Washington — despite applying twice — the 14-year-old said she “lost hope.” “We worked hard and spent a lot of time,” said Qaderian, who flew back and forth with her teammates from their hometown in western Afghanistan to apply at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. “I called my parents and told them what happened, and they were upset, too.” Those emotions morphed into elation as Qaderian and her teammates boarded a plane at Kabul Interna
International | Science

This science fair winner is taking on global drought using oranges and avocados.

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Science whiz Kiara Nirghin, a grade 11 student at St. Martin's School in Johannesburg, came up with an idea that could make a big difference in drought-stricken regions. "Currently, South Africa is experiencing one of the worst droughts in its history," said Nirghin. "I started looking at it, and not only is it affecting my community, it's a worldwide problem. From there, I started looking at, 'OK. What could I do to lessen the impact that the drought had on South Africa's food supply?' — which is one of the main things that it is affecting." Using orange peels and avocado skins, Nirgh
South Asia | Australia | Health

25-Year-Old Student Discovers Way to Kill Superbugs WITHOUT Antibiotics — Science Freaks Out

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The outlook for humanity is, indeed, bleak. However, thanks to a handful of research students from the University of Melbourne School, we may have hope after all. Ph.D. student Shu Lam, the study’s lead researcher, believes they’ve found a way around antibiotic dependency in the battle against bacteria. “We’ve developed a new class of antimicrobial agents, which are very unique. They come in the form of tiny star-shaped molecules that are made from short chains of proteins,” Lam told VICE. “We found that they are very effective at wiping out [bacterial] infections in mice and
International | Science

China’s bird flu warrior gets global award

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Chinese women scientists have started to make their mark on the world stage moreconsistently. For the second year in a row, a scientist from the Chinese mainland has won the L'Oreal-UNESCO for Women in Science International Award this year. Chen Hualan, the head of Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, an affiliate of the ChineseAcademy of Agricultural Sciences, received the award in Paris on March 24. Created in 1998, the awards program－jointly funded by the French cosmetics maker and theUnited Nations' agency－identifies and supports female scientists globally. Chen, 47, is th
International | Science

Three Revolutionary Women of Mathematics

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We have notable women to thank for modern computation, revelations on the geometry of space, cornerstones of abstract algebra, and major advances in decision theory, number theory, and celestial mechanics that continue to provide crucial breakthroughs in applied areas like cryptography, computer science, and physics. The works of geniuses like Julia Robinson on Hilbert’s Tenth Problem in number theory, Emmy Noether in abstract algebra and physics, and Ada Lovelace in computer science, are just three examples of women whose contributions have been absolutely essential.   Read t
North America | History

The Forgotten History of Female Mapmakers

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In the 1970s, early in her career as map librarian at the New York Public Library, Alice Hudson started researching women mapmakers throughout history. With few other women in her chosen field, she wondered how many had come before her. “I thought I might find 10,” she tells CityLab. But over the years, as she combed through maps, censuses, newspapers, and tips from colleagues, she was amazed by how many women there were in the early days of mapmaking. By the late ‘90s, she’d found over a thousand names of women who had drawn, published, printed, engraved, sold, or traded maps prior