The 9th edition of the Spin Your Thesis! campaign is a wrap!

With a diameter of 8m, the LDC offers various hypergravity environments from 1 to 20g simulated by the centripetal forces due to rotation. Within the LCD, scientists can conduct studies involving cells, plants and small animals, as well as physical science and technology demonstrations. Data acquired in the LDC are particularly important since observations done in microgravity may not be sufficient enough. Therefore, a broader gravity spectrum with gravity levels rising above 1g can usefully add to the general scientific data set. Another advantage of the LDC is that the different g levels can be controlled for an extended period of time (even up to 6 months, although students in the SYT campaign will only use it for 2,5 days) with a constant supply of power, gas or liquids. 

The teams have been developing their experiment since they were selected last October 2017. During this preparation period, they not only learned to conduct valid scientific research, but all team members were also highly active in project and financial management, logistics, coordination and outreach. These additional aspects make the SYT campaign extraordinary in terms of learning goals for students. As one SYT team member of the Bristol Bone Biologists mentioned: ‘We really loved it. It’s made all of the work of the last year worth it. Being at the LDC has been really helpful and our experiment has gone as well as we had hoped. We’re excited to get back to the lab to start analysing our samples’.

The Bristol Bone Biologists team, comprised of two female PhD candidates from Bristol University, aims to investigate how altered gravity affects joint formation in the early development of osteoarthritis: one of the most common joint diseases globally.

Since there is no cure for osteoarthritis, with the only treatments available focussing on pain relief and consequently causing many unpleasant side effects, the team hopes to learn more about development of the disease and how environmental factors, such as gravity, may affect disease onset. Not being able to investigate this with joint tissue of humans, the team chose to use zebrafish in order to understand with how altered gravity and osteoarthritis associated genes may alter joint formation in early development. For 2,5 days, the team had about 1500 zebra fish embryos spinning in the centrifuge at 6g. Now that the campaign has finished, the team will be busy analysing their results. This includes staining the samples, measuring the material properties, creating biomechanical models and looking at muscle cartilage, bone formation and behavioural videos. They will also be looking at whether the inner ear structure and sensory organs have changed, since many patients suffering from osteoarthritis also develop hearing loss. The team aims to finalize the experiment and publish the results by December 2018. 

For the three master students of team Avalanche, the campaign was just as fruitful: ‘It was an extremely informative process. What we especially enjoyed was that we were really working towards something, and that it actually worked in the end. It feels very rewarding, since we saw the end result directly. It was amazing to witness what’s involved in conducting science – from finances to engineering and all the different persons involved. Without ESA’s Education Office, we would not have been able to experience this’. 

The team focused on granular avalanches in altered gravity. Granular avalanches can consist of materials varying from dust to large rocks and can occur in a wide range of geomorphological processes. Not only on Earth, but even on celestial bodies such as Mars and the Moon, avalanches are abundant and are one of the most important processes shaping the landscape. This is especially the case in environments where other forming processes, such as weathering and erosion, are not common. Thus, gravity is one of the main drivers of granular avalanches and is a key factor in the establishment of the avalanches’ architecture. 

The team aimed to examine the influence of gravity on sorting in polydisperse materials of various combinations, and how this consequently affects the lateral and longitudinal characteristics of an avalanche. Team Avalanche performed over 125 experiments using gravity levels ranging from 1g to 10g, with each spin lasting only a few minutes, the team was very busy each day replacing the materials. Luckily, no major setbacks took place and the team managed to obtain their scientific objectives.

Over the coming few weeks, the teams will analyse their results and start writing their theses while the LDC will return back to its normal state. The employees working at the LDC will miss the students:  ‘Most often we work with professors and scientific professionals. Even though everybody who comes here usually likes the experience they obtain at the LDC, it is especially nice for us to witness the enthusiasm and reactions of students who come over for the very first time. They are highly moved and often surprise us in what they achieve. For them, it is not just an everyday thing, which motivates them to work at their best capabilities’.

We completed this SYT campaign successfully and both teams are satisfied with their results. If you are interested in participating in the SYT campaign, please click here and see how you can propose and conduct your own experiment in altered gravity.

We are looking forward to the next SYT! campaign and we hope to see you there!