The last 2 million years of human evolution
Human evolution can be divided into two main phases. Evidence points strongly to Africa as the major centre for the genetic, physical and behavioural origins of humans, but new discoveries are prompting a rethink of some aspects of our evolutionary o....
More details | Watch nowMulti-field problems involving multi-fracturing solids.
For many problems involving multi-fracturing solids and/or particulate media, the system response is governed by the presence of an additional phase, either gaseous, liquid or both, or by the need to consider other physical phenomena, such as thermal....
More details | Watch nowNanotubes: The Materials of the 21st Century
Carbon nanotubes, some 1000 times smaller than conventional carbon fibers, have tensile strengths 100x that of steel and conduct electricity like metals. They promise a revolution in structural and electrical engineering.
More details | Watch nowOn the Air
Michael Garrett discusses the physical properties of gases and demonstrates how air is liquefied. Liquefied gases are a key resource for survival with an amazing range of applications and there are now few industries which are not in some way depende....
More details | Watch nowArchitects of the Microcosmos
In thistalk Harry Kroto explains that molecules have structures that are every bit as real in the mind of the chemists who create them, as are the edifices of brick, steel and concrete designed by architects and built by engineers.
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John Murrell discusses the basic physical principles relating to the gaseous, liquid and solid states with the aid of models and demonstrations. Attention is drawn to phase changes and subtle features involving intermediate phases such as liquid crys....
More details | Watch nowCrystallographic electron microscopy
Born in Lithuania, Aaron Klug, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1982, tells us about his early life and education growing up in Durban, South Africa. He developed an early interest in physiology and anatomy but did not find his teacher very inspiring and ga....
More details | Watch nowRichard Ernst
Nuclear magnetic resonance (nmr), a powerful technique for determining molecular structure, has totally revolutionised chemistry. From its inception half a century ago, its potential as an analytical tool for identifying compounds was clear, albeit l....
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Prof. C.N.R. Rao was born and brought up in Bangalore, India where he developed his interest in science. He studied for his Ph.D at Purdue University in the US but returned to India to continue his career. He has had numerous visiting positions abroa....
More details | Watch nowRudolph A. Marcus
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1992 'for his contributions to the theory of electron transfer reactions in chemical systems'. We ask Marcus to explain how he works and he replies that he draws pictures in order to visualize problems. On relig....
More details | Watch nowC-60, the Celestial Sphere that Fell to Earth
In 1985 an experiment, designed to unravel the carbon chemistry in Red Giant Stars, revealed the existence of C-60 Buckminsterfullerene (the third allotropic form of carbon). The story of the discovery and the way its symmetry relates to the natural ....
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