• Question: have you ever invented anything if so what

    Asked by anon-217556 to Harrison, Savannah, Philippe, Lucy, Joanna, Edoardo on 14 Jun 2019. This question was also asked by anon-217052.
    • Photo: Harrison Prosper

      Harrison Prosper answered on 14 Jun 2019:

      I haven’t invented any device. But, I’ve invented new algorithms, discovered some amazing mathematical relationships, and introduced new ways of doing analyses.

    • Photo: Philippe Gambron

      Philippe Gambron answered on 17 Jun 2019:

      I would not describe what I do as inventions. We progress little by little, like ants. I have never made anything revolutionary. What I have done was simply innovations, find a way to do something better. This will not bring any huge change but it will allow other people to do what they do a little better and, in the end, it might bring something bigger.

    • Photo: Savannah Clawson

      Savannah Clawson answered on 17 Jun 2019:

      I have never invented any machine of my own but I did help to model a brand new proton therapy beamline during my degree. This is a machine that uses high energy particles to treat cancer. Proton therapy is different to normal x-ray cancer therapy because of the way that the protons deliver their energy to the cancer cells. Normal cancer treatment can sadly make you very sick whilst you try to kill the cancer because we can’t accurately aim the x-rays so this means you can make healthy parts of the body sick too. Proton therapy allows us to deliver the treatment in a more accurate way so we hope that we can reduce the effects of this! However, it is still quite a new treatment so lots of tests need to be done before we can decide if it really is better!

    • Photo: Edoardo Vescovi

      Edoardo Vescovi answered on 18 Jun 2019: last edited 18 Jun 2019 2:00 am

      I’ve never had the joy of inventing a device or an experiment. Anyway, I do invent new ways of doing calculations, either on paper or on computers. I do this in some imaginary models of nature where particles’ properties are particularly simple. My inventions are alternative ways to speed up existing calculations or brand new methods to calculate other quantities for the first time. No experiments are possible, so only pencil and pc can spit out numbers.

    • Photo: Joanna Huang

      Joanna Huang answered on 19 Jun 2019:

      Does inventing a new way to eat ice cream count? If so, it’s great on french fries. Otherwise in terms of Science – I’d have to say no. Most of the things I work on, like others have said, goes into a much bigger framework. The progress I make for the team is small, but these small steps all eventually lead to the big end goal.

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