From Proto-oncogenes to Precision Oncology
The diagnosis, classification, and treatment of human cancers are being transformed by scientific discoveries that were strongly influenced by the discovery of the c-src proto-oncogene, as described in the lecture by Michael Bishop. The path to this ....
More details | Watch nowContinental loss: the quest to determine Antarctica’s contribution to sea-level change
For over 50 years scientists have been working to understand Antarctica’s contribution to sea level. For much of this time there has even been disagreement about if this massive ice sheet is growing or shrinking. In 2012, advances in data analysis....
More details | Watch nowWriting wrongs – Rachel Carson, Silent Spring
What role do literature, science and policy play in protecting the planet? Fifty years since the death of conservationist Rachel Carson, we look at her masterpiece Silent Spring, and ask: "What have we learnt? Listen to our panel of experts: author ....
More details | Watch nowThe Future of Life
Ever since its first appearance, more than 3.5 billion years ago, life has evolved without guiding plan, propelled by: 1) its own intrinsic properties, which, with the help of outside energy, provided the necessary driving force; 2) accidental geneti....
More details | Watch nowUpdated Notions on Darwinian Evolution
Charles Darwin had based his theory of biological evolution on the observation that phenotypic variants of a given species can sometimes over-grow their parental population, and he attributed this to selective advantage, i.e., to the impact of natura....
More details | Watch nowClimbing the Everest Beyond the Everest
The challenges associated with pursuing ribosomal crystallography can be described as a series of Everest climbing. At each step, when reaching the summit, a taller and more difficult one became exposed. Snapshots of this story will be described.__....
More details | Watch nowMolecular Catalysis for Green Chemistry
Science is inevitably intertwined with society. The state of the art of science, coupled with industrial endeavors, has determined our quality of life. Chemists are proud of their ability to generate high value from almost nothing by using accumu....
More details | Watch nowChemistry: the Key to Our Future
Chemistry is not merely a science of making observations in order to better understand Nature. Our science is creative and productive, generating substances of very high value from almost nothing. Chemists already have made enormous contribution to....
More details | Watch nowThe Science and Policy of Climate Change
Climate change is the most serious environmental challenge facing society in the 21st century. The basic science is clear: the International Panel on Climate Change concluded that there is more than 90% probability that human activities are causing....
More details | Watch nowCatalysis at Surfaces: From Atoms to Complexity
Catalysis by solid surfaces is, among others, of importance for the chemical industry (e.g. the Haber-Bosch process) as well as for environmental chemistry (car exhaust catalyst). Surface physical techniques enable investigation of the underlying e....
More details | Watch nowGreen Chemistry and Catalysis
Much of the chemical industry is based on processes that were developed decades ago. The change in the cost of petroleum carbon and energy sources and the need to control emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants will change the rules of the....
More details | Watch nowHow embryos build organs to last a lifetime
All the organs of our body originate from small founder populations of cells which multiply into complex structures. ÊAdult stem cells are used to maintain organs throughout adult life and to repair or regenerate them after damage.Ê Focusing on the....
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Epigenetics, Diet and Cancer Prevention
How genes can be switched on and off by environmental effects and how this affects the development of cancers.
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 nowSex and the City – The Emerging Role of Human Skin
What role does the skin play in the unconscious judgements we make of age, health and attractiveness of those we meet, every day of our lives? As Mankind faces its greatest and most complex environmental threat ever, how can a skin layer 1/50 of a mi....
More details | Watch nowFrom the Romans to the Ring Main
In London major trunk mains, commissioned by Water Companies who ceased trading over 100 years ago, operate alongside modern assets such the Thames Water Ring Main commissioned in the 1990’s. Hence legacy plays an important part in way the current ....
More details | Watch nowThe Nuclear Debate
New carbon targets requires reducing emissions of greenhouse gases by 50% for 2030. This house believes that it will be impossible to meet the emissions reductions required to fulfil these obligations without the use of nuclear power. Taking the pr....
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 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 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 nowUnique skyscraper design impresses at national competition
The team from the University of Sheffield´s Department of Architecture beat off stiff competition from 90 other teams to be shortlisted in the ISOVER Multi-Comfort Skyscraper Design Competition, thanks to their design of a 60-floor, environmentally-....
More details | Watch nowEvery clod has a silver lining
Critical Zone
Professor Banwart talks about the crucial challenge for the SoilTrEC project is to understand the rates of processes that dictate soil mass stocks and their function within Earths Critical Zone (CZ)
More details | Watch nowWater – managing a fragile resource
Our research is focused the major challenges we face in the sustainable management of water, It draws together multidisciplinary teams - from scientists and engineers to town planners and architects - to work on all aspects of the water cycle, from c....
More details | Watch nowUrban River Corridors
Can we achieve all of our social, economic and environmental goals in urban river corridors?
More details | Watch nowAfrica’s future: do water issues matter?
What will happen in Africa as water demand increases? Robert Dewar is the recently retired UK High Commissioner to Nigeria and former Ambassador to Ethiopia. Robert drew on his considerable experience of working and living in ....
More details | Watch nowPeople, Pollution and Plumbing
Feasibility of Zero-Energy Housing in Florida
This presentation is a brief overview of the possible ways to achieve a zero net energy consumption for a typical Florida house. Examples include photo-voltaics and wind-turbines. An emphasis on the economic aspects of being "off-the-grid".
More details | Watch nowHousing for a low carbon energy future.
Almost half of the UK 's energy is used in buildings to provide a safe, healthy, comfortable, productive and fun environment. Most future low carbon scenarios assume significant reductions in carbon emissions associated with the built environment ove....
More details | Watch nowClimate change and extinction
Today countless protected areas for biodiversity are maintained at huge public and private expense. The question we must consider is whether our protection strategies actually protect when the real threats are related to the current climate change. M....
More details | Watch nowWhat’s going on Underground? Tunnelling into the Future
Urban congestion is a serious problem in many cities, so the creation of underground space and in particular the development of underground transport is environmentally essential. How can tunnels be built in ground sometimes as soft as toothpaste? Wh....
More details | Watch nowClimate change: space and our own planet.
Dr Maggie Aderin develops instruments that monitor climate change. Find out about these and other missions that are making science count in the battle against climate change. With practical experiments to show how climate change works Maggie shows ho....
More details | Watch nowClimate change on the living Earth
Observations from around the Earth suggest that even the gloomiest predictions of climate change from the 2007 IPCC report may underestimate the seriousness of the changes due this century. In this lecture, Professor James Lovelock discusses the cons....
More details | Watch nowFrom sled dogs to rockets. Up the poles.
As part of the celebrations for International Polar Year, Paul Rose takes us on an insightful science journey to the Antarctic and the Arctic. What really are the challenges facing scientists as they work in the remotest field sites on earth?
More details | Watch nowMusic’s Energy Footprint
A look at how the UK music industry is working with energy and climate researcher Catherine Bottrill to reduce its carbon footprint.nIn 2007 a group of influential people from the music industry formed Julie's Bicycle, an organisation dedicated to re....
More details | Watch nowJames Lovelock – A Final Warning
James Lovelock is best known as the father of Gaia theory; the idea that all parts of our planet form a complex interacting system, like a single organism. His new book depicts Gaia in trouble. In this interview Lovelock sounds a final warning for pl....
More details | Watch nowAncient tsunamis
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was not the first of its kind, according to research in Nature. Two groups of scientists have found sedimentary evidence for possible predecessors to the 2004 event in...
More details | Watch nowClimate change: Bhutan
Nature reporter Anjali Nayar hiked for 21 days in Northern Bhutan to find out how this tiny Himalayan nation is dealing with rapidly melting glaciers.
More details | Watch nowClimate change: The two-degree target
In December 2009, policy makers meet in Copenhagen, Denmark to thrash out a new global deal on climate change. The aim is to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures. We sent three young climate researchers along ....
More details | Watch nowThe role of Aerosols in Climate Change
Phillip Howard presents on recent discussions regarding the role of aerosols in global climate change.
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