My Opinon Piece for The New York Times published

The airlines are magicians. The magic lies in how the airlines have positioned flying as a minor part of the environmental crisis, and one which they will soon solve. They have used the classic techniques of magicians to weave this illusion: distraction, manipulation but above all psychology. We all want to believe in the magic of sustainable flight they offer us, even though it is fantasy. Read full article here

It’s a Gas

My new book has been published! Read an excerpt here.

Why are most gases invisible, odourless and tasteless? Why do some poison us and others make us laugh? And why do some power our engines while others make drinks fizzy? In It’s a Gas, I reveal an invisible world you have probably never thought much about.

Taking us back to that exhilarating – and often dangerous – moment when scientists tried to work out exactly what they had discovered, I show that gases are the formative substances of our modern world, each with its own weird and wonderful personality.

We see how seventeenth-century laughing gas parties led to the first use of anaesthetics in surgery, how the invention of the air valve in musical instruments gave us bicycles, cars and trainers, and how gases made us masters of the sea (by huge steamships) and skies (via extremely flammable balloons). This book reveals the immense importance of gases to modern civilisation. Read an excerpt here

My new BBC radio and podcast series is out!

Modern life would quite literally fall apart without glues – they hold our buildings, our phones, even our bodies together. But the story of stickiness runs much deeper than that. In fact, our greatest leaps forward as a species couldn’t have happened without adhesives.

In this series we chart the journey of human progress through the sticky substances that have shaped us. In episode one we explore the very earliest adhesives, dating back at least 190,000 years, that allowed our ancestors to invent, innovate, and make the first tools. And we hears how lumps of these prehistoric glues contain fragments of the stone age people who used them, trapped in time for thousands of years. Listen here or where ever you get your podcasts.

Producer: Anand Jagatia
Presenter: Mark Miodownik
Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem
BBC Studios Audio Production

Mission Hub: Preventing plastic pollution with engineering biology

I am part of a new Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Mission Hub which aims to tackle the urgent environmental challenge of plastic pollution and create new ways for the sustainable deconstruction of synthetic plastics as the UK transitions towards a circular plastics economy. 

The hub will be led by Professor Andrew Pickford (University of Portsmouth), with support from scientists from seven leading UK institutions, including UCL co-investigators: Professor Helen Hailes (UCL Chemistry), Dr Jack Jeffries (UCL Biochemical Engineering), Professor Mark Miodownik (UCL Mechanical Engineering), Professor Paola Lettieri (UCL Chemical Engineering), Dr Andrea Paulillo (UCL Chemical Engineering), Dr Brooks Paige (UCL Centre for Artificial Intelligence), Professor Christine Orengo (UCL Biosciences).   

Over the next five years, the Mission Hub will develop impactful engineering biology platforms that will enhance the performance of enzymes and microbes for the deconstruction of a wide range of plastics.  

Building on previous research from the Plastic Waste Hub at UCL, the project will also develop innovative and environmentally friendly ways to create high-value products from waste. 

The use of phase change material as an actuator in linkage fabric structures

A new research paper from my research group shows the latest developments in our work developing wearable assistive linkage fabrics. The work was led by PhD student Christian Partik. We are developing wearable assistive devices that can actively modulate stiffness on demand is envisioned to support joints and facilitate limb movement. This paper shows how this can be done using phase change materials.  Read the paper here.

Comfort Loop Research Project

I am leading this project which was recently awarded UKRI £1.75M funding to address the issues concerning pollution and global warming impacts of nappies, incontinence products and period products.

With birth rates increasing in some parts of the world and ageing populations a significant factor in others, demand is rising for disposable nappies, period products, incontinence pads and similar items. Exacerbated by a multitude of product types and multiple disposal routes, the resulting plastic waste stream is already out of control.

The Comfort Loop is a University College London project to design a sustainable, joined-up system covering production, use and disposal of absorbent hygiene products in the UK. Focused on fundamental research with potential for practical impacts, the research will harness the expertise of the NHS, charities, the recycling sector and local government.

This project is one of five multidisciplinary 3-year projects funded by EPSRC and BBSRC.