The spectrum of research

Scientific research can be thought as on a spectrum from blue sky to applied - this week, two stories that span this. Claire Concannon learns about a blue-sky research project on bacterial evolution while Katy Gosset watches testing of a new system of base isolation designed to help homes during earthquakes.

Using science to solve an urgent problem - like, say, developing a vaccine in the midst of a global pandemic - is pretty satisfying. But knowledge only moves forward because researchers build on what is already known, the idea of 'standing on the shoulders of giants' to see further. If no-one has done the basic research into how cells and immune systems work, you have nowhere to start.

So at one end of the science spectrum you have blue sky research, which asks basic questions about the world, without knowing what the application of the knowledge gained might be. At the other, is applied science, specific research aimed at fixing an immediate problem.

This week, two stories that span this spectrum.

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Blue sky thinking

Professor Craig Cary from the University of Waikato has been to the most extreme environments around the world - from deep sea, super hot and toxic hydrothermal vents, to the ultimate in dry and cold on Mount Erebus in Antarctica. His quest? To discover new bacteria that live there. He is fascinated by the microbial life that calls these extreme places home and how have they adapted to survive and thrive in these hostile conditions.

But for his next project, to find the bacteria he needs, he won't be boarding a plane or boat, but instead, asking a supercomputer to find it for him from a vast array of genome databases.

Craig is part of an international group of researchers who have been awarded a Human Frontier Science Program grant to investigate the evolution of the flagellum of a group of bacteria. The flagellum is the tiny protein motor that allows bacteria to move and find the nutrients they need to multiply. It's a critical job. Craig and his colleagues will be investigating whether flagella evolution always involves small step-wise changes, or, whether sometimes large protein components are incorporated that allow leaps forward in flagellum evolution.

Its blue sky research - high risk, possible high reward, but with no idea right now of what the application of any knowledge to come out of the project might be.

Base isolation for homes

When earthquakes strike, we're often just relieved to have survived. But Canterbury's deadly quake sequence has shown damaged homes can also cause years of disruption, stress and expense…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details