Alumni CAM

Articles

Articles

Plant Power experiment

Features /

Photosynthesis is a superpower

Take some carbon dioxide and throw in a little water. Add sunlight and chlorophyll. What do you get? Oxygen, sugar… and the key to life on Earth. Photosynthesis is the plant superpower, and this ability to convert light energy – the most abundant energy source on Earth – into chemicals is what keeps us humans alive. But what if we could develop a hack that allows us to siphon off some energy from this process? Are clean energy systems that rewire photosynthesis actually such an improbable idea?
Orpheus Vase History

Features /

A History of History

Everything humans do is in History,” says Regius Professor of History Chris Clark. “It’s like the largest imaginable novel, the richest treasure house of human material you could possibly ask for.” And History as a field of human inquiry is as old as, well, History itself. Its written beginnings lie among Ancient Egyptian records of the pharaohs, the analyses of Herodotus and Thucydides, the lively narratives of China’s ‘Grand Historian’ Sima Qian. In 1724, History became a formal subject of study at Cambridge with the founding by King George I of the University’s Regius Professorship, held by Clark for the past decade. 
Professor Michael Kenny

Features /

And the answer is… a written Constitution?

Back in 1819, one Colonel Fletcher sent the then Home Secretary, Viscount Sidmouth, a cartoon entitled The British Constitution. It depicted the Constitution as the skeleton of John Bull, the personification of England, pierced with the cruel arrows of National Debt, Lost Liberties and Officers of the Crown, among others. Alongside him lie, discarded, Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights and the Habeas Corpus Act – “The Proud Barriers to Ministerial Tyranny overthrown for the convenience and shelter of Villainous Traitors”. An exhortation reads: “Countrymen! Behold with Aching Hearts your once noble fat & jolly Kinsman, Mr Bull!” 
year abroad suitcase

Features /

On the right path

From learning to use temperamental Soviet telex systems while nursing a vodka hangover to sharing recipes with the babushki of Kazakhstan, the year abroad has been opening the eyes of Cambridge modern language students for years. Here are their stories from around the world in 365 days.
Illustration of paper letters fluttering towards someone.

Inbox /

Editor's letter and inbox

Welcome to the Michaelmas edition of CAM.
Architect's impression of the new Cambridge Children's Hospital.

News /

Campendium

CAM's summary of what's been happening across the University.
Our three student bellringers.

Student life /

Ding Dong Merrily on high!

The Cambridge University Guild of Change Ringers makes sure everyone is ready to pull their weight.
Amelia (left) and (right) Miriam.

My room, your room /

Miriam Margolyes returns to 301, Newnham College

BAFTA-winning actor Miriam Margolyes meets third-year historian Amelia Bell to discuss books, biscuits and... well, you’ll see.
The Chancellor at an honorary degrees ceremony.

University matters /

What does it take to be an outstanding Chancellor?

As the University says goodbye to Lord Sainsbury of Turville, we celebrate the man behind the gown.
Illustration of Professor Xavier Moya.

Brainwaves /

What’s behind the revolution in heating and cooling? No gas.

Heating and cooling are the elephants in the room when it comes to global warming. They account for 50% of all CO2 emissions – yet few of us are as aware of them as we are of the impact of aviation, for example. Perhaps this lack of awareness explains why there has been little focus on challenging the status quo – until now.
Close-up of sheet music.

Soundtrack /

I was teaching, studying, founding orchestras... luckily I don’t need much sleep

For composer and conductor Adam Pounds (Trinity Hall 2002), completing a Master’s at Cambridge was the ultimate balancing act.
Forever my BNOC temporary tattoo.

Features /

BNOC

Behind the shifty nominations, bizarre stunts, attempts to rig the results and a lot – a lot! – of peacocking, the process of becoming a Big Name On Campus is a serious business. But where did this annual celebration of everything Cambridge come from, and how has it evolved to assume its now legendary status?

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