Is chemistry really so difficult?
Chemistry has progressed in a way few outsiders appreciate. It underpins many other sciences; from genomics and molecular biology, food and sports science, through to cosmology and planetary science. Why hasn't the public impression of chemistry evol....
More details | Watch nowC60-Buckminsterfullerene: Not just a Pretty Molecule
Amongst the Nobel Laureates lecturing in Lindau, Sir Harold Kroto would probably earn the award for the most unusual and characteristic way of presenting. This lecture, which is the first he ever gave in Lindau, is no exception. Kroto`s way of presen....
More details | Watch nowA Greenhouse-Gas Experiment
Fullerene C28
Jonathan describes a smaller 'buckyball' with its inherent differences from C60.
More details | Watch nowFullerene maths
How the structures of fullerene molecules obey the rules of mathematics discovered long ago by Euler.
More details | Watch nowCarbon nanotubes
Chemistry of C60
The Carbon Revolution 1 – many forms
The differences in the structures and properties of the various allotropes of carbon are clearly explained.
More details | Watch nowLongboard chemistry
How the production of new polymers has made long- and skate-boarding possible.
More details | Watch nowC60 and Nanotubes
Jonathan shows how a sheet of graphite (hexagons) can be modified to make closed cages and tubes. In real life the smallest of these tubes are only 1/100,000,000 meter in diameter - a nanometer (nm) - hence they are called nanotubes. Depending on....
More details | Watch nowOrganometallic uranium chemistry: small molecule activation
Jess gives a lively account of her work which involves the study of how uranium organ-metallics can catalyse unusual and useful reactions. She is a PhD student at the University of Sussex, UK.
More details | Watch nowIncendiary science: fireworks at the Royal Society
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, fireworks offered some intriguing possibilities for scientific research among the experimental philosophers of the Royal Society. What was the nature of fire? How did combustion work? Why did gunpowder exp....
More details | Watch nowMaking the tiniest machines
Over the past few years some of the first examples of synthetic molecular level machines and motors Ñ all be they primitive by biological standards Ñhave been developed. These molecules respond to light, chemical and electrical stimuli, inducing mo....
More details | Watch nowCognitive Chemical Lunchbox
Start at 15:00 minutes. Dr Jeremy Spencer examines the role of flavonoid-rich foods which have been shown to promote a healthy heart and improve our mind and mood.
More details | Watch nowChemistry: A Key to Human Progress
Basic research in science has greatly increased our understanding of nature, expanded frontiers of inquiry, shown us how little we know, triggered creative waves of invention and innovation, and prompted technological breakthroughs that were inconcei....
More details | Watch nowFrom Waste to Wealth Using Green Chemistry
The world faces the fundamental problems of increasing waste and decreasing resources as it tries to cope with the increasing consumption of a growing population. It is clear that these challenges can only be met through a fundamentally different a....
More details | Watch nowWhat’s in my stuff?
Sustainability is not just about carbon or carbon dioxide, it is also about the sustainable use of the planet's finite mineral and material resources. The availability, affordability and sustainable of supply of a number of important chemical element....
More details | Watch nowHarnessing the light fantastic
Professor Nick Terrill, principal beamline scientist at Diamond Light Source, explains how intense light produced at the UK's national synchrotron science facility in Oxfordshire is being used to examine colour changing polymers and research the next....
More details | Watch nowChemistry and Captain Scott’s 1901 Discovery Expedition to the Antarctic
Dr Derek Craston, the UK Government Chemist, reveals how Captain Scott's preparations for his 1901 Discovery Expedition to the Antarctic included a personal request to the Government Chemist to analyse his planned food supplies. Tellingly, the resea....
More details | Watch nowThe quest for a clean drink
Phil Souter, scientist at Procter & Gamble, discusses the challenges faced in making potential water sources (such as lakes, ponds, wells, flood water) drinkable using chemical technology. During the lecture he will touch upon the impact of unsaf....
More details | Watch nowWhy Transforming Cities?
Start at 35 minutes. Professor AbuBakr Bahaj, Professor of Sustainable Energy at the University of Southampton, talks about the importance of planning cities and the potential of reducing their impact on the environment and resources.
More details | Watch nowFuture Cities
Dr Richard Miller, Head of Sustainability at the UK's Technology Strategy Board, speaks about the problems we are facing in our cities and current ways in which these are being addressed. He gives examples of how chemists and small-medium sized ent....
More details | Watch nowWatts New with Clean Energy? Batteries Included
This talk shows how scientists use structural and modelling techniques to help understand the fascinating properties of crystalline materials.
More details | Watch nowA medicine cabinet in your garden?
Professor Monique Simmonds talks about the use of plants and fungi as sources of sustainably harvested medicines
More details | Watch nowThe wonders of chemistry
Chemistry is central to everything you do in your life. So much so, that we take it for granted and often forget about it. This talk, through a series of short demonstrations aims to convey the major themes that underpin the wonder of chemistry.
More details | Watch now‘How should a chemist understand brewing?’ Beer and theory around 1800
Eighteenth-century chemists could gain useful income and patronage as advisors to industry – and some of the wealthiest and most influential industrialists were brewers. Making chemical knowledge credible to this audience, however, was not always e....
More details | Watch nowCatalytic Clothing
When science meets fashion exciting things happen. Unlikely collaborators designer Helen Storey MBE and scientist Tony Ryan OBE have teamed up for Catalytic Clothing - a radical project that endeavours to clean the air we breathe through the clothes ....
More details | Watch nowFT-ICR. The Key to Unlocking Nature’s Isotopic Zoo
Alan G. Marshall, Florida State University's 2006-2007 Lawton Professor, will speak on 'Reading Chemical 'Fine Print': The Key to Unlocking Nature's Isotopic Zoo' as he delivers the Tenth Annual Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor Lecture.'Natur....
More details | Watch nowThe Red Tide
The chemical reactions that cause 'red tide', as well as the effect of the chemical processes.
More details | Watch nowThe History of Nitrous Oxide
The Chemistry of Gasoline
Explaining the chemistry behind gasoline. Also given is an explanation of ethanol, an alternative fuel.
More details | Watch nowGreen Chemistry – an overview
Chemi- and bio-luminescence
Chemiluminescence and bioluminescence. General chemistry explained and examples such as fireflies, Wintergreen mints, etc. are introduced
More details | Watch nowFuel cells and their efficiency
Bio-fuels and solar energy
A comparison of bio-fuels and solar energy. Examples include algae-based oil and solar panels.
More details | Watch nowNanotechnology: Use and misuse
Sir Harry Kroto won the Nobel Prize for discovering the soccer-ball-shaped fullerenes, strangely-structured carbon molecules also known as buckyballs. These molecules led to the development of carbon nanotubes and the burgeoning field of nanoscience.....
More details | Watch nowSmart drugs and sneaky microbes
Young scientists like Maartje Bastings are set to revolutionise the way we deliver drugs. Her work will aid the development of 'smart drugs' which target specific proteins in the membranes of particular cells, proteins like the aquaporins discovered ....
More details | Watch nowSeeing green
The 2008 Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to Roger Tsien and colleagues for work on the green fluorescent protein (GFP). This protein, originally found in jellyfish, enables scientists to track the activity of individual proteins within living ce....
More details | Watch nowCatalysts and collaborations
Catalysts facilitate almost every reaction in the human body. They also enable us to make all kinds of molecules in the lab, and few people have contributed more to this field than Richard Schrock. Can he help Norweigan student Christer pstad to cata....
More details | Watch nowThe Periodic Table as you’ve never seen it before
A wonderful set of videos about all the elements, available interactively from the opening page.
More details | Watch nowA nano-sized gas sensor 5
The CRPGL group is a newly formed lab in Luxembourg. Within the project their role is to start looking at 'scale up', plasma treatment at larger scales than is possible in the other labs, coupled with a battery of different sample testing techniques.
More details | Watch nowBucky Balls
The Buckyball, or C-60 molecule was discovered by accident (in the lab) while trying to understand the chemistry between the stars in the Interstellar Medium ISM. The discovery led to the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1996. Here we look at the structur....
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