Lets get physics-al!

Back pain is the biggest cause of disability worldwide and in about 40% of all cases this is caused by disease of the movable structures in your spine known as spinal discs. Our research has developed an injectable gel which can be injected into the centre of these structures and induces repair. In this talk we will discuss the causes of back pain, and how we can try and fix the spinal disc.

Friction is all around us. Sometimes we want higher friction when we don’t want things to slide, like hands on rocks when climbing. In other instances we want things to slide easily, such as preventing skin rashes from incontinence pads. When humans interact with their surroundings, levels of friction with the skin must be carefully considered to care for our skin and prevent injury, or in other words - rubbing people up the right way. We will explore all things friction and look at how our research can benefit people.

Until recently only the fittest of the fit went to space. Commercial space travel however, means enough money can make the trip possible but having money doesn’t mean you’re healthy! It’s not ethical to put people in a centrifuge until they have a heart attack but we may have the solution. We’ll explain how computer models can explore what puts people at risk and how we can advise patients and companies about safety to travel.