It’s time for another featore on ZME Science! We always present you the latest and most interesting research, but we don’t spend nearly enough time talking about the people who do the research. Here, we’ll be showing you not only a review of the most fascinating studies of the week, but who the people behind them are.

Astronomers discover a double supermassive black hole

Scientific Paper
Article
Featured Researcher: Fukun Liu
Peking University Beijing
Research Interests: Black Hole Physics; Supermassive Black Hole Binaries; Accretion Disks; QSOs and Active Galactic Nuclei; Transient Activities of Galactic Nuclei; Electromagnetic Counterparts of Gravitational Wave Radiations; Gravitational Wave Astrophysics

Scientists find a way to turn light into matter

Scientific Article
Article
Featured Researcher: Oliver Pike
Imperial College London
Oliver Pike is currently completing his PhD in Plasma Physics at Imperial College London. I haven’t found more information, but I’ve contacted him in the hope that he will share more about his research interests with us.

Plants talk to each other through fungus in the ground

Scientific Paper
Article
Featured Researcher: Zdenka Babikova
Palacký University of Olomouc, University of Aberdeen
Zdenka Babikova is currently working on her PhD. Her main areas of interest are: chemical ecology; ecology of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; ecology of aphids, insect herbivores, predators and parasitoids; conservation biological control; plant volatiles and induced plant defence; plant pathology.

Promising discovery in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Scientific Paper
Article
Featured Researcher: César de la Fuente-Núñez
University of British Columbia
Research Interests: Regulation of biofilm formation and swarming motility (two mechanisms of bacterial cooperation) in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the effect these processes have on virulence and pathogenesis.

Huge meta study shows no link between vaccination and autism

Scientific Paper
Article
Featured Researcher: Guy Eslick
The University of Sydney
His research has primarily focused on determining risk factors and understanding the epidemiology of gastrointestinal diseases for the most part upper gastrointestinal cancers, predominantly, esophageal cancer and related disorders. He is also interested in understanding the epidemiology of Rare Cancers.

Trillions of pieces of plastic in the Arctic ice

Scientific Paper
Article
Lead Researcher: Rachel W. Obbard
Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth University
Rachel Obbard studied engineering physics at the Colorado School of Mines (B.Sc.), earned her M.Sc. in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of New Hampshire, and earned her Ph.D. in Engineering with a concentration in Materials Science at Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, England and returned to Thayer in January 2009. Professor Obbard is interested in all aspects of materials science, but especially in the study of natural ice in the Polar Regions and in materials in sports equipment and in cultural heritage.

Unexpected exoplanet (gas giant) found just 115 light years away

Scientific Paper
Article
Lead Researcher: Marie-Eve Naud
Université de Montréal
Her main interests are Astrobiology, Exoplanets, Planet’s atmospheric and surface biosignatures, Visible and infrared instrumentation, Education and public outreach. In 2012, she participated in a French documentary series called SURVIE, in which she discussed exoplanets and the possibility of alien life in the Universe. She is currently searching for substellar objects around close-by young late stars. You can also read a recent interview with her here.

Scientists beam power to medical chips deep inside the human body

Scientific Paper
Article
Lead Researcher: John S. Ho
Stanford University
Born in Cupertino, California, HE completed BEng in Electronic and Computer Engineering (ECE) at HKUST in 2010. hE IS currently pursuing a PhD in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, under the supervision of Prof. Ada Poon, where HE IS a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellow. Current research focuses on wireless power transfer and electromagnetic interfaces for the human body.