Cambridge Alumni Magazine
Issue 103 – Michaelmas 2024

Oh Miriam! The making of a bona fide national treasure.

Parasocial relationships matter, but should you be worried?

Quantum leap: how magnets could rewrite superconductor laws.

Cover of issue 103 of the Cambridge Alumni Magazine, CAM.

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Features

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?

Features /

Cold storage

Mind-bending speed. Extraordinary accuracy. And… no data storage to speak of. Quantum computing holds immense potential, but while quantum memory can store vast amounts of data, that storage is ‘non-persistent’ – it can only hang on to it for around 100 milliseconds. Oh, and did we mention it will only work below -273°C?

Detail from Models Triptych: Madonna Cascade by Rose Garrard.

Features /

Art without men

The Women’s Art Collection, held at Murray Edwards, is Europe’s largest collection of art by women. Here is the world through women’s eyes.

Features /

From particle collisions to data constellations

Dr Mireia Crispin-Ortuzar swapped her research on supersymmetry for a chance to reduce mortality from ovarian cancers.

Features /

What happens when all your BFFs are more URL than IRL?

The parasocial relationship – a one-sided friendship, typically focused on a celebrity – is not new, but it has recently become turbo-charged. Should we be worried?

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.

Student life /

Ding Dong Merrily on high!

The Cambridge University Guild of Change Ringers makes sure everyone is ready to pull their weight.

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.

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.