Orbyts

We are delighted to present Orbyts' very first Impact Report!   Please find and read the Orbyts Impact Report (2017-2023) here: orbyts.org/impact   Over the past six years we have watched the programme enable a transformational impact on young people, researchers and teachers alike and we’re excited to share that impact with you here.     To date, Orbyts has created over 100 research partnerships between researchers and schools, empowering 1500+ school students by helping them to see that there is a place for them in science and that they are beyond capable of working on world-class research. We have increased inclusivity in post-16 STEM uptake, with student groups that Orbyts have engaged being 50+% girls, 50+% pupil premium, and with students identified from 48+ ethnicities. We have grown with new Hubs in North East England and Leicester, alongside expansion of our London Hub.    Read the report for all the statistics on Orbyts, spotlights on the ground-breaking research being led by students, and all the exciting plans for Orbyts in 2024!

Hear ye, hear ye! 📣 Orbyts has been featured in two publications in the last week: A&G and Physicsworld. Here are the links to the two publications below. You can enjoy reading about all the good stuff we're doing at Orbyts while having a cup of tea or coffee! A&G: https://lnkd.in/dAm8UfHF Physicsworld: https://lnkd.in/dueYzqmZ

Last week, our Teaching and Learning Leads Christian Lao and Dr Abbie Bray hosted a teacher's panel on Zoom as part of our Orbyts Fellows Training! We were honoured to have Dave Elliot from St Mary's Catholic School, Newcastle, Arwen Webb from Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School, and Marco Pereira from King's College London Mathematics School talk to us about best practices in the classroom and answer all our questions. Thank you so much for your time teachers!

New publication! 📝 💥 A paper by Suman Chakraborty from Northumbria University was recently published, which was accomplished with the help of students from Royal Grammar School Newcastle as part of their Orbtys project! The students are all listed as co-authors and mainly contributed to the section as shown in the figure below. Check it out here! https://lnkd.in/e8ZgQXXK Here's a word from Suman: "We recently published a paper entitled "Statistical survey of pitch angle anisotropy of relativistic electrons in the outer radiation belt and its variation with solar wind/geomagnetic activity" in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Science. The work presented in this paper is part of an Orbyts project that I led at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne during the summer of 2023. Nine students participated in this project and performed the formal analyses, and they are also coauthors of this paper. The Earth is surrounded by a region of trapped charged particles, commonly known as the radiation belts. During periods of disturbed geomagnetic conditions, the quantity and energy of these trapped particles can vary by several orders of magnitude which can pose serious threats to spacecraft orbiting in this region of space. Therefore, the space science community is aimed at understanding the dynamics of this region to mitigate space weather hazards. In this paper, we defined a pitch angle anisotropy index (PAI) using 7 years of electron flux measurements from NASA's Van Allen Probe mission to study the evolution of outer radiation belt relativistic electron pitch angle distributions (ePADs). ePADs provide us useful information about the underlying physical mechanisms and therefore have been a tool to study this region of near-Earth space. Our results show that a simplified formula can capture the overall spatial and energy dependence of the outer radiation belt relativistic ePADs. The results also confirm that solar wind dynamic pressure (Pdyn) is the dominant parameter in governing the outer radiation belt pitch angle anisotropy, and thus can be used as a driver in radiation belt models. I would like to congratulate all the students on their first scientific publication, and for participating in the project. I would also like to thank the school and Natalie Wright (teacher at RGS) who helped us to successfully execute the project at RGS." Congratulations and fantastic work to the RGS students! ✨ ☀️ Image caption: (A, B, C) Shapes of different ePADs in the outer electron belt at all magnetic local time (MLT). (D, E) Temporal evolution of PAD and PAI of electrons from 0320 UT to 0620 UT on 17 March 2015. (Chakraborty et al., 2024)

Tuning In to Learning: The Impact of Music and Noise on Brain Function A team of young researchers from Wimbledon High School GDST along with Orbyts Fellow Natalie Gunasekara from UCL Medical Physics & Biomedical Engineering conducted two intriguing studies to explore how music and background noise affect cognitive performance!   In the first study, participants listened to different music genres (classical, rock, and pop) while their brain activity was monitored using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). The results revealed a fascinating pattern: classical music significantly increased brain activity in prefrontal regions, associated with attention and memory, suggesting a positive impact on cognitive function. In contrast, rock music seemed to have a detrimental effect, potentially influencing brain function and hindering performance.   The second study delved into the impact of background noise on cognitive performance. Participants were exposed to different levels of background conversation, ranging from singular to multiple concurrent conversations, mimicking a typical coffee shop study scenario. The fNIRS data showed a clear trend: as the number of conversations increased, brain activity in regions responsible for attention and cognitive control decreased. This suggests that heightened background chatter, often found in classrooms or coffee shops, can significantly impair focus and hinder learning.   Overall, these findings highlight the importance of the auditory environment in optimising cognitive performance. By choosing the right music and minimising background noise, individuals can enhance their ability to concentrate, learn, and retain information! #OrbytsConference2024

Unraveling Jupiter's Auroras: A Symphony of Solar Winds Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School students and Orbyts Fellow Dr William Dunn from UCL Physics and Astronomy have embarked on a dual mission to explore the captivating dance of Jupiter's auroras. Through meticulous analysis of light curve graphs, solar wind propagation data, and X-ray observations from ESA’s XMM-Newton and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, they've uncovered intriguing patterns that shed light on the underlying mechanisms behind these celestial spectacles.   The team's analysis revealed distinct families of x-ray peaks within the auroral light curves, suggesting a correlation between solar wind activity and auroral intensity. They identified a prominent ‘triangular’ peak shape, which appears to be associated with specific solar wind conditions. Additionally, the students' meticulous examination of solar wind data revealed three distinct types at Jupiter during the observations: fast solar wind, slow solar wind, and solar storms. Each of these wind types seems to have a different impact on Jupiter's auroral displays.   A particularly exciting finding is the potential link between solar storms and the intensification of Jupiter's auroras. The students' analysis suggests that these powerful bursts of solar energy may trigger enhanced auroral activity, leading to more spectacular displays. Further, they found that prominent auroral bursts often coincided with CMEs.   This comprehensive research marks a step forward in our understanding of Jupiter's auroras. By unraveling the complex interplay between solar winds and the Jovian magnetosphere, we can gain valuable insights into the fundamental processes that drive these breathtaking phenomena.   The team is currently writing up their findings for the Royal Astronomical Society’s A and G magazine! Look out for when it's published! 📝 #OrbytsConference2024 (Image Caption) Left: Solar wind data utilising Chihiro Tao’s Solar wind propagation model (Tao et al. (2005)). Right: X-Ray and Optical Images of Jupiter’s Aurora at the two poles. Respective credits for images- X-ray: NASA/CXC/UCL/W.Dunn et al, Optical (South Pole): NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstädt /Seán Doran (North Pole): NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS (Obtained from https://lnkd.in/eF4EzW-B)

Unraveling the Quantum Tapestry: Deepening understanding of a quantum algorithm   A team of students from Alperton Community School along with Orbyts Fellow Robert Banks from UCL delved into the complex topic of quantum computing. Their focus was on a specific quantum algorithm, called continuous-time quantum walks.    The team aimed to optimise the quantum walk for a particular problem known as max-cut. This problem involves finding the best way to divide a network into two groups, with applications in various fields like computer science and biology.    By carefully tuning the parameters of the quantum walk algorithm, the researchers discovered that the performance of the quantum walk was not limited by how the walk was performed. Their findings represent a novel contribution towards understanding continuous-time quantum walks. By deepening our understanding of continuous-time quantum walks, they have opened up new possibilities for further algorithmic development. This might one day lead to solving complex problems that would be computationally challenging for classical computers. This research exemplifies the power of young minds in driving innovation in the cutting-edge field of quantum science. #OrbytsConference2024

Can AI Predict Space Weather? A Student-Led Investigation ☀️ A group of students from St Mary's Catholic School and Fellows Kendra Gilmore and Paloma Jol from Northumbria University, set out to investigate whether artificial intelligence (AI) could be used to predict geomagnetic storms. They used a machine learning technique called recurrent neural networks (RNNs) to analyse data on Earth's magnetic field and solar wind conditions.    The students trained their AI model on a dataset of historical data. They then used the model to predict future geomagnetic storms. When the model was trained on 40% of the data, the predictions were inaccurate and did not resemble the actual values. However, when the model was trained on 90% of the data, the predictions became more accurate, with some correlation between the predicted and actual values.    While the results were promising, the students concluded that AI is still not reliable enough to accurately predict geomagnetic storms as even with 90% of training, the results were not particularly accurate. They suggest that further research is needed to improve the accuracy of AI models for space weather forecasting.    This student-led research highlights the potential of AI to revolutionise our understanding of space weather. By continuing to develop and refine these models, we may one day be able to accurately predict and prepare for the impacts of geomagnetic storms! #OrbytsConference2024

Hunting Tornados on the Sun: A Study of Solar Vortices ☀️ 🌪️ Students from Jesmond Park Academy and Orbyts Fellows Jordan Talbot and Shivdev Turkay from Northumbria University delved into the world of solar vortices, a fascinating phenomenon of swirling structures that resemble tornadoes on Earth, exploring their formation, characteristics, and impact on the heating of the solar atmosphere.    By analysing data from numerical simulations, they found that solar vortices are born from the complex interplay of magnetic fields and plasma flows in the sun's atmosphere. These vortices can vary in size and intensity, ranging from small, localized swirls to vast, swirling structures that span thousands of kilometers.    Another key aspect of this study was developing a pipeline to identify vortices and their properties in the plasma flows of the Sun. This is to aid in the current challenge of observing solar vortices effectively with telescopes. Numerical Simulations were hence studied as a proxy for observations as the variables are known and the simulations are free from distortion effects present in real observations. The research also highlighted the importance of studying solar vortices to improve our understanding of the interplay between plasma flows and the solar magnetic field. By gaining a better understanding of these swirling structures, scientists can develop more accurate models and predictions of solar activity and improve our understanding of solar phenomena that can cause space weather! Image Caption: Different types of solar vortices by Tziotziou et al., 2023 (https://lnkd.in/eTChSrHb). #OrbytsConference2024

Jupiter's X-ray Mystery: Unveiling the Secrets of Jupiter's Aurora   A team of students from Chingford Foundation School along with Orbyts Fellow Bryn Parry from UCL Physics and Astronomy delved into the enigmatic world of Jupiter's X-ray emissions. By analysing data from the XMM-Newton X-ray telescope and employing models of plasma processes, they sought to understand how X-rays are produced in different regions of Jupiter. Their findings revealed intriguing patterns! The best fit for the observed X-ray spectra in the equatorial and southern regions suggests a strong connection between scattered solar radiation and the X-rays emitted from these areas. In contrast, X-ray spectra from the northern region were compatible with models of a process called charge exchange, where ions precipitating into Jupiter’s atmosphere interact with neutral atoms producing X-rays. The source of these precipitating ions is compatible with the emission of sulphur and oxygen from Jupiter’s moon Io.   This difference between the northern, southern, and equatorial regions highlights the complexity of the processes involved in X-ray production in different parts of Jupiter's magnetosphere. The study also raised intriguing questions about the sudden spike in temperature observed in the northern region between 2019 and 2020 and how the X-ray data could be more closely correlated with solar activity and the state of Jupiter. This groundbreaking research not only sheds light on the enigmatic world of Jupiter's X-ray emissions but also inspires further exploration of the aurorae on other planets! #OrbytsConference2024