̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Eloy de Lera Acedo

Cambridge researchers awarded European Research Council Consolidator Grants

cg605 — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 16:00:25 +0000

̽��ֱ��ERC is the premier European funding organisation for excellent frontier research. This year it has awarded €657m in grants to 321 researchers across Europe.

Consolidator grants are given to excellent scientists, who have 7 to 12 years’ experience after their PhDs, to pursue their most promising ideas.

“ERC Consolidator grants support researchers at a crucial time of their careers, strengthening their independence, reinforcing their teams and helping them establish themselves as leaders in their fields,” said President of the European Research Council Professor Maria Leptin. “And this backing above all gives them a chance to pursue their scientific dreams.”

Cambridge awardees:

Dr Eloy de Lera Acedo, STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellow at Cavendish Astrophysics and the Kavli Institute for Cosmology of the Department of Physics, has been awarded a grant for REACH_21: Probing the Cosmic Dawn and Epoch of Re-ionization with the REACH experiment.

De Lera Acedo said: “REACH_21 aims to unveil the mysteries of the infant universe. We want to answer the question: how did the cosmos, that evolved from the Big Bang, become the complex and luminous realm of celestial objects we can see from planet Earth today?

“This unknown missing piece in the puzzle of the history of the universe is now closer to being understood thanks to a new experimental approach that attempts to observe extremely faint radio signals emitted nearly 13.5 billion years ago by the most abundant element at that time: Neutral Hydrogen.”

“This is amazing news for the REACH collaboration. We have been designing our experiment for over five years and are currently awaiting the start of scientific observations in South Africa. ̽��ֱ��ERC grant is going to allow me to use the REACH telescope, analyse its data, and hopefully access a whole new world of information about the early evolution of the cosmos.”

Dr Daniel Hodson, of the Department of Haematology, has been awarded a grant for Unwind-Lymphoma: RNA helicases; switched paralogue dependency as an exploitable vulnerability in aggressive B cell lymphoma.

Hodson said: “This ERC-funded project, Unwind Lymphoma, will explore sex-specific, cancer cell addiction to the DDX3 family of RNA helicases, proteins that unwind secondary structure in mRNA.

“We will develop recent findings from our lab showing that whilst most male Burkitt lymphoma cells have deleted the X-chromosome gene DDX3X, they instead become uniquely addicted to the Y-chromosome paralogue DDX3Y, a related protein that is silenced in most normal cells. By unravelling the molecular basis of this ‘switched paralogue dependency’ we will expose a potential therapeutic Achilles Heel in this devastating form of blood cancer.

“I am thrilled to receive this award, which I hope will take me one step closer to a tenured position in Cambridge or beyond.”

Sohini Kar-Narayan, Professor of Device and Energy Materials of the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, has been awarded a grant for BIOTRONICA: Bio-Electronic Integrated Devices for Healthcare Applications.

Kar-Narayan said: “My research focuses on the development and characterisation of novel functional polymers and nanocomposites, and their application in functional devices using microscale additive manufacturing methods. It covers novel energy harvesting nanomaterials to microfluidic biosensors, to materials and devices for next-generation flexible and wearable electronics.

“I am absolutely delighted to have been awarded a Consolidator Grant to develop new tools for remote health monitoring and personalised medicine. These include novel non-invasive ‘point-of-care’ biosensors, which could potentially be self-powered through energy harvested from the body, thus enabling a step change in health monitoring and patient care.”

Dr Elisa Laurenti, ̽��ֱ�� Associate Professor in Stem Cell Medicine and Wellcome Royal Society Sir Henry Dale Fellow of the Wellcome Medical Research Council Cambridge Stem Cell Institute and Department of Haematology, has been awarded a grant for HEXAGEN: Harnessing haematopoietic stem cell EX vivo Adaptation for GENe therapy.

Laurenti said: “Blood stem cell-based gene therapy has the potential to cure an expanding range of debilitating genetic diseases. HEXAGEN seeks to further improve gene therapies and their outcomes by overcoming the loss of stem cell function observed in current clinical protocols. Using cutting edge single cell technologies, we aim to identify how blood stem cells adapt to the invitro environment, dissect how this negatively impacts their function, and design new strategies to improve gene therapy.

“This award gives my team the unique opportunity to be ambitious and complete a full circle from basic stem cell biology to improving gene therapy for patients with many diseases. I am very excited, because unlocking blood stem cell behaviour outside our bodies will also drive many other clinical applications.”

Dr Naomi McGovern, of the Department of Pathology and the Centre for Trophoblast Research, has been awarded a grant for PMDR: Placental macrophages: Their development and role in the placenta.

McGovern said: “My team’s research focus is human placental macrophage biology. We are interested in determining the role of these cells in mediating healthy placental function and in protecting the placenta from infection. By developing our understanding of these cells, we will be able to provide new insight into pregnancy disorders.

“I am delighted that our proposal was selected for an ERC Consolidator Award. It is an acknowledgement of the exciting research my team carries out. ̽��ֱ��hard work of my team and the additional expertise provided by our supportive collaborators all helped to form the basis for this proposal. ̽��ֱ��award will provide my group with the time and resources to undertake high-risk research to inform on placental biology. It is now up to us to deliver on this generous investment.”

Professor Robert Phipps, of the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, has been awarded a grant for IonPairEnantRadical: Transforming Enantioselective Radical Chemistry using Ion-Pairing Catalysis.

Phipps said: “Chemical reactions that are driven by radical mechanisms are rapidly growing in importance, but it is an ongoing challenging to control enantioseletivity in those that form stereocentres. This grant will fund an ambitious program which will apply innovative and unexplored ion-pairing strategies to control enantioselectivity in a variety of important radical chemistries for which there are no or limited existing methods for imposing enantiocontrol.

“I am extremely grateful that my proposal was selected for funding in this very competitive call. I am excited about the chemistry that my group will be able to explore over the coming five years with this fantastic opportunity!”

Akshay Rao, Professor of Physics of the Cavendish Laboratory in the Department of Physics, has been awarded a grant for SPICE: Spin-Exchange and Energy Transfer at Hybrid Molecular/Lanthanide Nanoparticle Interfaces to Control Triplet Excitons.

Rao said: “Our project, SPICE, will explore the physics and chemistry of a new class of hybrid materials, organic molecules connected to lanthanide doped nanoparticles.

“Although we are still at an early stage of research, if we succeed it may create transformative applications in areas ranging from optoelectronics, data communication, photocatalysis, optogenetics and 3D bio-printing. Over the long term this kind of blue-sky science is what drives technological innovation helping to drive improved productivity in industry, but also directly tacking major societal challenges such as climate change and health.

“We are delighted that our project has received the support of the European Research Council. This is a great opportunity for us to pursue high-risk high-gain blue-sky science and push the limits of our understanding of these materials and take them towards application. ̽��ֱ��award also serves as recognition of the excellent science done by our PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, who’s tireless efforts to push the scientific frontier have made possible the breakthroughs that have brought us here.”

Dr Milka Sarris, Assistant Professor of the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, was awarded a grant for LongWayFromFlam: ̽��ֱ��uncharted journeys of inflammatory cells and their functional implications.

Sarris said: “My group studies how cells of the immune system move in the body to generate and resolve inflammatory responses. To study these processes, we use state of the art microscopy techniques and genetic approaches in zebrafish, a small vertebrate model organism.

“I am absolutely thrilled to have won this award at a key stage of my career and to be able to pursue an ambitious new line of fundamental research. It was a long process and I remain very grateful to my university colleagues, the peer reviewers and the evaluation committee for their feedback.”

Eight researchers from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge have won European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grants

Photos provided by winners

From clockwise: Eloy de Lera Acedo, Daniel Hodson, Sohini Kar-Narayan, Elisa Laurenti, Naomi McGovern, Robert Phipps, Akshay Rao and Milka Sarris.

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes

Non-detection of key signal allows astronomers to determine what the first galaxies were – and weren’t – like

sc604 — Mon, 28 Nov 2022 16:00:00 +0000

Using data from India’s SARAS3 radio telescope, researchers led by the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge were able to look at the very early Universe – just 200 million years after the Big Bang – and place limits on the mass and energy output of the first stars and galaxies.

Counterintuitively, the researchers were able to place these limits on the earliest galaxies by not finding the signal they had been looking for, known as the 21-centimetre hydrogen line.

This non-detection allowed the researchers to make other determinations about the cosmic dawn, placing restraints on the first galaxies, and enabling them to rule out scenarios including galaxies that were inefficient heaters of cosmic gas and efficient producers of radio emissions.

While we cannot yet directly observe these early galaxies, the results, reported in the journal Nature Astronomy, represent an important step in understanding how our Universe transitioned from mostly empty to one full of stars.

Understanding the early Universe, when the first stars and galaxies formed, is one of the major goals of new observatories. ̽��ֱ��results obtained using the SARAS3 data are a proof-of-concept study that paves the way to understanding this period in the development of the Universe.

̽��ֱ��SKA project – involving two next-generation telescopes due to be completed by the end of the decade – will likely be able to make images of the early Universe, but for current telescopes, the challenge is to detect the cosmological signal of the first stars re-radiated by thick hydrogen clouds.

This signal is known as the 21-centimetre line – a radio signal produced by hydrogen atoms in the early Universe. Unlike the recently launched JWST, which will be able to directly image individual galaxies in the early Universe, studies of the 21-centimetre line, made with radio telescopes such as the Cambridge-led REACH (Radio Experiment for the Analysis of Cosmic Hydrogen), can tell us about entire populations of even earlier galaxies. ̽��ֱ��first results are expected from REACH early in 2023.

To detect the 21-centimetre line, astronomers look for a radio signal produced by hydrogen atoms in the early Universe, affected by light from the first stars and the radiation behind the hydrogen fog. Earlier this year, the same researchers developed a method that they say will allow them to see through the fog of the early universe and detect light from the first stars. Some of these techniques have been already put to practice in the current study.

In 2018, another research group operating the EDGES experiment published a result that hinted at a possible detection of this earliest light. ̽��ֱ��reported signal was unusually strong compared to what is expected in the simplest astrophysical picture of the early Universe. Recently, the SARAS3 data disputed this detection: the EDGES result is still awaiting confirmation from independent observations.

In a re-analysis of the SARAS3 data, the Cambridge-led team tested a variety of astrophysical scenarios which could potentially explain the EDGES result, but they did not find a corresponding signal. Instead, the team was able to place some limits on properties of the first stars and galaxies.

̽��ֱ��results of the SARAS3 analysis are the first time that radio observations of the averaged 21-centimetre line have been able to provide an insight to the properties of the first galaxies in the form of limits of their main physical properties.

Working with collaborators in India, Australia and Israel, the Cambridge team used data from the SARAS3 experiment to look for signals from cosmic dawn, when the first galaxies formed. Using statistical modelling techniques, the researchers were not able to find a signal in the SARAS3 data.

"We were looking for a signal with a certain amplitude,” said Harry Bevins, a PhD student from Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory and the paper’s lead author. “But by not finding that signal, we can put a limit on its depth. That, in turn, begins to inform us about how bright the first galaxies were.”

“Our analysis showed that the hydrogen signal can inform us about the population of first stars and galaxies,” said co-lead author Dr Anastasia Fialkov from Cambridge’s Institute of Astronomy. “Our analysis places limits on some of the key properties of the first sources of light including the masses of the earliest galaxies and the efficiency with which these galaxies can form stars. We also address the question of how efficiently these sources emit X-ray, radio and ultraviolet radiation.”

“This is an early step for us in what we hope will be a decade of discoveries about how the Universe transitioned from darkness and emptiness to the complex realm of stars, galaxies and other celestial objects we can see from Earth today,” said Dr Eloy de Lera Acedo from Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory, who co-led the research.

̽��ֱ��observational study, the first of its kind in many respects, excludes scenarios in which the earliest galaxies were both more than a thousand times as bright as present galaxies in their radio-band emission and were poor heaters of hydrogen gas.

“Our data also reveals something which has been hinted at before, which is that the first stars and galaxies could have had a measurable contribution to the background radiation that appeared as a result of the Big Bang and which has been travelling towards us ever since,” said de Lera Acedo, “We are also establishing a limit to that contribution.”

“It’s amazing to be able to look so far back in time – to just 200 million years after the Big Bang- and be able to learn about the early Universe,” said Bevins.

̽��ֱ��research was supported in part by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), part of UK Research & Innovation (UKRI), and the Royal Society. ̽��ֱ��Cambridge authors are all members of the Kavli Institute for Cosmology in Cambridge.

Reference:
H T J Bevins et al. ‘Astrophysical constraints from the SARAS 3 non-detection of the cosmic dawn sky-averaged 21-cm signal.’ Nature Astronomy (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41550-022-01825-6

Researchers have been able to make some key determinations about the first galaxies to exist, in one of the first astrophysical studies of the period in the early Universe when the first stars and galaxies formed, known as the cosmic dawn.

This is an early step for us in what we hope will be a decade of discoveries about how the Universe transitioned from darkness and emptiness to the complex realm of stars and galaxies we can see today

Eloy de Lera Acedo

NASA Goddard

Early galaxies capture by the NASA/ESA Hubble Telescope

Yes

Licence type:

Public Domain

Astronomers develop novel way to ‘see’ first stars through fog of early Universe

jg533 — Thu, 21 Jul 2022 15:00:00 +0000

̽��ֱ��researchers, led by the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, have developed a methodology that will allow them to observe and study the first stars through the clouds of hydrogen that filled the Universe about 378,000 years after the Big Bang.

Observing the birth of the first stars and galaxies has been a goal of astronomers for decades, as it will help explain how the Universe evolved from the emptiness after the Big Bang to the complex realm of celestial objects we observe today, 13.8 billion years later.

̽��ֱ��Square Kilometre Array (SKA) - a next-generation telescope due to be completed by the end of the decade - will likely be able to make images of the earliest light in the Universe, but for current telescopes the challenge is to detect the cosmological signal of the stars through the thick hydrogen clouds.

̽��ֱ��signal that astronomers aim to detect is expected to be approximately one hundred thousand times weaker than other radio signals coming also from the sky – for example, radio signals originating in our own galaxy.

Using a radio telescope itself introduces distortions to the signal received, which can completely obscure the cosmological signal of interest. This is considered an extreme observational challenge in modern radio cosmology. Such instrument-related distortions are commonly blamed as the major bottleneck in this type of observation.

Now the Cambridge-led team has developed a methodology to see through the primordial clouds and other sky noise signals, avoiding the detrimental effect of the distortions introduced by the radio telescope. Their methodology, part of the REACH (Radio Experiment for the Analysis of Cosmic Hydrogen) experiment, will allow astronomers to observe the earliest stars through their interaction with the hydrogen clouds, in the same way we would infer a landscape by looking at shadows in the fog.

Their method will improve the quality and reliability of observations from radio telescopes looking at this unexplored key time in the development of the Universe. ̽��ֱ��first observations from REACH are expected later this year.

̽��ֱ��results are reported today in the journal Nature Astronomy.

“At the time when the first stars formed, the Universe was mostly empty and composed mostly of hydrogen and helium,” said Dr Eloy de Lera Acedo from Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory, the paper’s lead author.

He added: “Because of gravity, the elements eventually came together and the conditions were right for nuclear fusion, which is what formed the first stars. But they were surrounded by clouds of so-called neutral hydrogen, which absorb light really well, so it’s hard to detect or observe the light behind the clouds directly.”

In 2018, another research group (running the ‘Experiment to Detect the Global Epoch of Reionization Signature’ – or EDGES) published a result that hinted at a possible detection of this earliest light, but astronomers have been unable to repeat the result - leading them to believe that the original result may have been due to interference from the telescope being used.

“ ̽��ֱ��original result would require new physics to explain it, due to the temperature of the hydrogen gas, which should be much cooler than our current understanding of the Universe would allow. Alternatively, an unexplained higher temperature of the background radiation - typically assumed to be the well-known Cosmic Microwave Background - could be the cause” said de Lera Acedo.

He added: “If we can confirm that the signal found in that earlier experiment really was from the first stars, the implications would be huge.”

In order to study this period in the Universe’s development, often referred to as the Cosmic Dawn, astronomers study the 21-centimetre line – an electromagnetic radiation signature from hydrogen in the early Universe. They look for a radio signal that measures the contrast between the radiation from the hydrogen and the radiation behind the hydrogen fog.

̽��ֱ��methodology developed by de Lera Acedo and his colleagues uses Bayesian statistics to detect a cosmological signal in the presence of interference from the telescope and general noise from the sky, so that the signals can be separated.

To do this, state-of-the-art techniques and technologies from different fields have been required.

̽��ֱ��researchers used simulations to mimic a real observation using multiple antennas, which improves the reliability of the data – earlier observations have relied on a single antenna.

“Our method jointly analyses data from multiple antennas and across a wider frequency band than equivalent current instruments. This approach will give us the necessary information for our Bayesian data analysis,” said de Lera Acedo.

He added: “In essence, we forgot about traditional design strategies and instead focused on designing a telescope suited to the way we plan to analyse the data – something like an inverse design. This could help us measure things from the Cosmic Dawn and into the epoch of reionisation, when hydrogen in the Universe was reionised.”

̽��ֱ��telescope’s construction is currently being finalised at the Karoo radio reserve in South Africa, a location chosen for its excellent conditions for radio observations of the sky. It is far away from human-made radio frequency interference, for example television and FM radio signals.

̽��ֱ��REACH team of over 30 researchers is multidisciplinary and distributed worldwide, with experts in fields such as theoretical and observational cosmology, antenna design, radio frequency instrumentation, numerical modelling, digital processing, big data and Bayesian statistics. REACH is co-led by the ̽��ֱ�� of Stellenbosch in South Africa.

Professor de Villiers, co-lead of the project at the ̽��ֱ�� of Stellenbosch in South Africa said: "Although the antenna technology used for this instrument is rather simple, the harsh and remote deployment environment, and the strict tolerances required in the manufacturing, make this a very challenging project to work on.”

He added: “We are extremely excited to see how well the system will perform, and have full confidence we'll make that elusive detection."

̽��ֱ��Big Bang and very early times of the Universe are well understood epochs, thanks to studies of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation. Even better understood is the late and widespread evolution of stars and other celestial objects. But the time of formation of the first light in the Cosmos is a fundamental missing piece in the puzzle of the history of the Universe.

̽��ֱ��research was supported by the Kavli Institute for Cosmology in Cambridge (UK), the National Research Foundation (South Africa), the Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA trust (UK) and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Reference

E de Lera Acedo et al.: ' ̽��ֱ��REACH radiometer for detecting the 21-cm hydrogen signal from redshift z ≈ 7.5–28.’ Nature Astronomy (July 2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41550-022-01709-9..

A team of astronomers has developed a method that will allow them to ‘see’ through the fog of the early Universe and detect light from the first stars and galaxies.

̽��ֱ��first stars were surrounded by clouds of hydrogen, which absorb light really well, so it's hard to detect or observe the light behind the clouds directly.

Eloy de Lera Acedo

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Artist's impression of stars springing up out of the darkness

Yes

Licence type:

Attribution

Existing infrastructure will be unable to support demand for high-speed internet

sc604 — Tue, 26 Apr 2022 15:00:00 +0000

̽��ֱ��researchers, from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and BT, have established the maximum speed at which data can be transmitted through existing copper cables. This limit would allow for faster internet compared to the speeds currently achievable using standard infrastructure, however it will not be able to support high-speed internet in the longer term.

̽��ֱ��team found that the ‘twisted pair’ copper cables that reach every house and business in the UK are physically limited in their ability to support higher frequencies, which in turn support higher data rates.

While full-fibre internet is currently available to around one in four households, it is expected to take at least two decades before it reaches every home in the UK. In the meantime, however, existing infrastructure can be improved to temporarily support high-speed internet.

̽��ֱ��results, reported in the journal Nature Communications, both establish a physical limit on the UK’s ubiquitous copper cables, and emphasise the importance of immediate investment in future technologies.

̽��ֱ��Cambridge-led team used a combination of computer modelling and experiments to determine whether it was possible to get higher speeds out of existing copper infrastructure and found that it can carry a maximum frequency of about 5 GHz, above the currently used spectrum, which is lower than 1 GHz. Above 5 GHz however, the copper cables start to behave like antennas.

Using this extra bandwidth can push data rates on the copper cables above several Gigabits per second on short ranges, while fibre cables can carry hundreds of Terabits per second or more.

“Any investment in existing copper infrastructure would only be an interim solution,” said co-author Dr Anas Al Rawi from Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory. “Our findings show that eventual migration to optical fibre is inevitable.”

̽��ֱ��twisted pair– where two conductors are twisted together to improve immunity against noise and to reduce electromagnetic radiation and interference – was invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1881. Twisted pair cables replaced grounded lines by the end of the 19th century and have been highly reliable ever since. Today, twisted pair cables are standardised to carry 424 MHz bandwidth over shorter cable lengths owing to deeper fibre penetration and advancement in digital signal processing.

These cables are now reaching the end of their life as they cannot compete with the speed of fibre-optic cables, but it’s not possible to get rid of all the copper cables due to fibre’s high cost. ̽��ֱ��fibre network is continuously getting closer to users, but the connection between the fibre network and houses will continue to rely on the existing copper infrastructure. Therefore, it is vital to invest in technologies that can support the fibre networks on the last mile to make the best use of them.

“High-speed internet is a necessity of 21st century life,” said first author Dr Ergin Dinc, who carried out the research while he was based at Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory. “Internet service providers have been switching existing copper wires to high-speed fibre-optic cables, but it will take between 15 and 20 years for these to reach every house in the UK and will cost billions of pounds. While this change is happening, we’ve shown that existing copper infrastructure can support higher speeds as an intermediate solution.”

̽��ֱ��Cambridge researchers, working with industry collaborators, have been investigating whether it’s possible to squeeze faster internet speeds out of existing infrastructure as a potential stopgap measure, particularly for rural and remote areas.

“No one had really looked into the physical limitations driving the maximum internet speed for twisted pair cables before,” said Dinc. “If we used these cables in a different way, would it be possible to get them to carry data at higher speeds?”

Using a mix of theoretical modelling and experimentation, the researchers found that twisted pair cables are limited in the frequency they can carry, a limit that’s defined by the geometry of the cable. Above this limit, around 5 GHz, the twisted pair cables start to radiate and behave like an antenna.

“ ̽��ֱ��way that the cables are twisted together defines how high a frequency they can carry,” said Dr Eloy de Lera Acedo, also from the Cavendish, who led the research. “To enable higher data rates, we’d need the cables to carry a higher frequency, but this can’t happen indefinitely because of physical limitations. We can improve speeds a little bit, but not nearly enough to be future-proof.”

̽��ֱ��researchers say their results underline just how important it is that government and industry work together to build the UK’s future digital infrastructure, since existing infrastructure can handle higher data rates in the near future, while the move to a future-proof full-fibre network continues.

̽��ֱ��work is part of an ongoing collaboration between the Cavendish, the Department of Engineering, BT and Huawei in a project led by Professor Mike Payne, also of the Cavendish Laboratory. ̽��ֱ��research was also supported by the Royal Society, and the Science and Technology Facilities Council, part of UK Research and Innovation.

Reference:
Ergin Dinc et al. ‘High-Frequency Electromagnetic Waves on Unshielded Twisted Pairs: Upper Bound on Carrier Frequency.’ Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29631-8

Researchers have shown that the UK’s existing copper network cables can support faster internet speeds, but only to a limit. They say additional investment is urgently needed if the government is serious about its commitment to making high-speed internet available to all.

We can improve speeds a little bit, but not nearly enough to be future-proof

Eloy de Lera Acedo

Miroslaw Nozka/EyeEm via Getty Images

Copper wires

Yes