Wingtip Vortices
A very well-explained description of the theory of lift and of how the energy-sapping wingtip vortices are created in aircraft flight. This talk was the runner-up in the 2016 Kroto Prize for Innovative Use of Technology in Science Learning.
More details | Watch nowMinimizing a Bacterial Genome by Global Design and Synthesis
In 2010, we chemically synthesized the 1078 Kb Mycoplasma mycoides genome and transplanted it into a recipient cell cytoplasm to create a 'synthetic cell', JCVI-syn1.0 (Science, 329, 52-56, 2010). We identified several hundred non-essential genes by ....
More details | Watch nowRole of Nitric Oxide and Cyclic GMP in Cell Signaling and Drug Development
Nitric oxide research has grown rapidly with about 150,000 research publications describing its biological effects. It is an important messenger molecule that affects most tissues and biological processes. Many effects of nitric oxide are mediated by....
More details | Watch nowThe Adventure of Cold Atoms. From Optical Pumping to Quantum Gases
Conservation laws are very important in quantum physics. Two examples of applications will be given. First, optical pumping which uses transfer of angular momentum from polarized photons to atoms to produce highly polarized atomic gases. Then, laser ....
More details | Watch nowWhat About Redefining Time Using a Stable Laser?
Several laser-based Atomic Clocks now have an accuracy potential of ~2 x10-18, a hundred-fold better than the best achieved after more than 60 years' experience with rf resonances in Cs atoms. Still, this long attention span documents that the Cs Fou....
More details | Watch nowWhere am I From? Where Are You Going?
Scientific research is a never-ending 'journey of knowledge'. There is more meaning in experiencing various encounters and making a good journey itself than reaching the destination. Basic science has eternal cultural value; it has served to heighten....
More details | Watch nowThe Science of Chillies
What goes up must come down
A fascinating discussion between two humanoids about the mystery force of gravity.
More details | Watch nowSoil Recovery by Re-use
Aki decribes her experiments in improving soils using various buffering materials.
More details | Watch nowSolar Energy
Genetic Engineering
Bacterial cell walls, antibiotics and the origins of life
The cell wall is a crucial structure found in almost all bacteria. It is the target for our best antibiotics and fragments of the wall trigger powerful innate immune responses against infection. Surprisingly, many bacteria can switch almost effortl....
More details | Watch nowTackling the great challenges of the 21st century
Sir Paul Nurse, President of the Royal Society and Lord Stern, President of the British Academy, discussed the new opportunities – and need – for collaboration between the traditional academic disciplines to respond to the big issues of our time,....
More details | Watch nowEbola: inside an epidemic
Find out what we have learnt from the outbreak so far (March 2015) and what is being done to ensure continued resilience to epidemic scenarios.
More details | Watch nowWomen writing science
Join us as we celebrate International Women’s Day by exploring the history of women writing about science. How did early women scientists use writing in order to further their careers? In which ways were they limited by their gender? What influen....
More details | Watch nowCan nanocrystals stop the climate change?
Fossil resources are limited and their CO2 emission strongly contributes to the global warming which is mainly responsible for the increasing appearance of natural catastrophes. Renewable biomass which can be converted into various forms of usable en....
More details | Watch nowThe biology of Striga
One of the major parasites is striga, a weed that sucks the juice and nutrients from cereal crops such as millet, sorghum and maize and causes great yield losses. A single striga plant can produce hundreds of thousands of seeds. The seeds are so tiny....
More details | Watch now‘Witch Weed’ – breaking the spell
Striga (witchweed) is a parasitic weed that seriously constrains the productivity of staples such as maize, sorghum, millet and upland rice on some farms in Uganda. Kilimo Trust supported this initiative to try and control its spread.
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 nowOn the Genetic Basis of Morphological Evolution
Darwin's theory of evolution states that variation of the shape and pattern of the adults rather than the embryos are the basis for natural selection. In order to understand how morphological variation arises, it is important to identify the genes th....
More details | Watch nowFrom the Structure of the Ribosome to the Design of New Antibiotics
Structural studies of the ribosome exemplify the evolution of structural studies in cell biology from the early negatively stained images of macromolecular assemblies in whole cells, to a detailed atomic understanding of the mechanism of action of a ....
More details | Watch nowProtein Cross Talk in Cell Signaling
The main focus of the talk will be on signaling by tyrosine phosphorylation, which has been directly implicated in the regulation of cell growth, differentiation and transformation. External signals coming in the form of mitogenic hormones and growt....
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