Blog posts

FoNS-MAD: the low cost technologies that can change lives

The final of the 2024/2025 Faculty of Natural Sciences Make-A-Difference competition takes place on Wednesday 22 October 2025. Ahead of this, we hear from the finalists about their projects.

“We knew it would happen again.” That was the certainty Arda Kancal and his teammates brought with them from Istanbul, Turkey. The 2023 earthquake that devastated their country was not the first, and, according to seismologists, almost certainly not the last. With a 60% chance of a similarly catastrophic quake hitting Istanbul by 2030, the team behind D-View entered Imperial College London’s Faculty of Natural Sciences Make-A-Difference (FoNS-MAD) competition determined to build something life-saving.

D-View
Team D-view: Earthquake rescue drones

Their project, an autonomous drone system that uses low-cost geophone sensors to locate trapped earthquake survivors, was born not only out of a sense of academic curiosity but also necessity. “We watched as people in our hometowns waited for rescue that never came,” Arda said. “We knew we had to do something. Something cheap enough for governments to actually use, something deployable, not just theoretical.”

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How measurement can shape reality

PhD student Harsh Rathee explores an experiment from Imperial’s Quantum Measurement Lab, which captures the peculiar nature of the quantum world.

Quantum physics is captivating yet perplexing, contrasting sharply with our everyday experiences. The allure and mystery surrounding the term “quantum” has unfortunately led to misconceptions in the general public. Hollywood has capitalised on this mystery, portraying quantum physics as the basis for instantaneous teleportation, time travel, and multiple dimensions.

While some of these explanations contain a kernel of truth, they often rely on a leap of faith to explain groundbreaking scientific advancements. However, it is important to note that the real-world progress in quantum technology is far from dull.

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Living with fire: adapting to changing wildfires risks in the Brazilian Amazon

Illustration of the diversity of land management and associated use of fires within the Brazilian Amazon (Illustration from Manini Bansal)

PhD student Michel Valette explain how multi-scalar and inter-disciplinary research could support adaptation to emerging wildfire risks and the development of integrated fire management policies.

In January 2025, the Los Angeles wildfires captured the media spotlight, partly due to the widespread destruction in urban areas, the risks to human life, and the astronomical costs associated with the wildfires. The Los Angeles wildfires add to a growing list of wildfires that have made headlines in recent years, such as the 2023 Canadian wildfires, the 2022 European wildfires, and the 2019–2020 Black Summer in Australia.

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Restoring the world beneath our feet

Alice Day is a PhD student at the Waring Lab and the Fisher Lab within the Department of Life Sciences. She researches the potential of fungal inoculations in restoring agricultural land. In this blog post, she discusses how modern agriculture has depleted our soils of the microbes that once made them thrive, and how we may one day re-introduce them.

Miss Alice Day, doing fieldwork for her project investigating fungal inoculants.

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Malaria: A call for action

Krystal Birungi, a field entomologist from Uganda and an advocate for investment in fighting malaria, spoke about the release of the World Health Organisation’s World Malaria Report 2024, In December, Krystal visited the House of Commons to call for increased funding to combat the disease, which claims the life of one child every minute in Africa.

Malaria remains one of the leading causes of death on the African continent, which bears the heaviest burden of the disease. In 2023, Africa accounted for an estimated 94% of global malaria cases and 95% of malaria-related deaths.

Here she shares her thoughts on the new World Malaria Report.

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Why we created the ultimate toolkit for every aspiring sustainability leader

Eirini Sampson, a PhD student at the Centre for Environmental Policy, co-founded the Sustainability Future Toolkit – an online resource that helps future-proof the careers of students looking to be part of the critical green transition. From helping students develop ‘green skills’ to learning about how to enter specific industries, she explains how her toolkit prepares students for a sustainable job market.

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Auroras in Cambridge and the future of space weather forecasting

Postdoctoral researcher in the Space and Atmospheric Physics group, Adrian LaMoury, delves deep into the science of auroras and the future of forecasting space weather.

“Any chance of northern lights in Cambridge tonight? Saw a dubious tweet”

This was the message I received from a friend on the evening of 10 May 2024. I replied that it was their best chance in years.

Aurora photo from Cambridge – purple, blue and green lights are in the sky
My friend in Cambridge was treated to quite the display. Image credit: Matthew Roberts

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