Physics Interviews

Southern African Large Telescope

Case works on the Southern African Large Telescope a huge 11m telescope which can see better than the Hubble Space TelescopeCase Rijsdijk

Living in space

We talk to Kevin Fong who is a space physiologist about the problems associated with actually living in space.Kevin Fong

The Accelerating Universe

Brian won a share of the five hundred thousand dollar prize for his discovery that the universe is expanding as it ages and the older it gets, the faster it expands.Brian Schmidt

Kitchen Science - Is it a Meteorite?

Colin sent us a rock he thought was a meteorite, we visit the natural history museum to find out if he is right.

Robot Cars - the DARPA Urban Challenge

In this week's tech section, Chris Vallance tells us about the DARPA Urban Challenge, and how this could lead to cars that drive themselves!Chris Vallance

Micro-microwaves and Mini-Fuel Cells

This month, we chat to Mark Peplow about the worlds smallest microwave oven, and a microscopic fuel cell.Mark Peplow, Chemistry World

Over Everest

It seems that it’s no longer impressive just to have been able to climb mount Everest; now the goal is to fly over it! We spoke to Giles Cardozo and Bear Grylls...Giles Cardozo, Bear Grylls, Michael Vore

The Manchester Science Festival

Ben Valsler and Dave Ansell took some of their favourite Kitchen Science experiments to Manchester as part of the Manchester Science Festival - and bumped into Johnny Ball!David Price, Science Made Simple; Johnny Ball

Cloning - Dolly and Beyond

We spoke to Professor Ian Wilmut who, in 1996, cloned the first mammal, Dolly the sheep.Professor Ian Wilmut, University of Edinburgh.

The Brightest Diamond; Synchrotron, that is...

The Diamond Synchrotron creates very high energy electromagnetic radiation (known as synchrotron light) that scientists are using to probe hidden secrets. We sent Meera down to the site this week to find out how it works and the benefits of using such high-energy light.Richard Walker & Sanjeet Dhesi, Diamond Synchrotron; Tim Wess, Cardiff University

Inside the Atom

Chris spoke to Dr Ben Allanach about what we find when we break open an atom...Dr Ben Allanach, Cambridge University

The Search for Sub-Atomic Beauty

We spoke to Cristina Lazzeroni, of Birmingham University, about her work using particle accelerators to track down antimatter and 'beauty' quarks...Dr Cristina Lazzeroni, Birmingham University

Great Trainers or Cash Drainers?

When you're buying training shoes, do you really get what you pay for? Professor Rami Abboud doesn't think you do...Professor Rami Abboud, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School at the University of Dundee

Machinima

For this, the first of our monthly Technology segments, we look into the world of Machinima - Machine Cinema where characters from computer games perform as actors in home made movies... Chris Vallance

Super Non Stick Surfaces

Non-stick pans are great, they make it so much easier to clean cooked on scrambled egg! But the Thin Films and Interfaces group at Cambridge University have found a way to make a super non stick surface, just by changing the surface structure of ordinary Teflon. Ullrich Steiner explains...Professor Ullrich Steiner, Cambridge University

Plastic Logic - Plastic Paper and E-Ink

Now, if you listen carefully you will notice that we, in the Naked Scientists are surrounded by paper. We usually try not to make you hear but similarly in offices all around the country incredible amounts of paper are thrown away on a daily basis. I’d just like to point out that I take all my paper home to recycle. Maybe a better solution would be to remove the need to use all this paper in the first place and do away with all those hours spent photocopying and all those pages that come out of printers. We sent Azi to find out about the design and uses of plastic electronics and e-ink.Professor Henning Sirringhaus and Simon Jones, Plastic Logic

Biocomposites - the Future for Plastics?

Biocomposites, materials similar to plastics but made from biological material, could be the ideal replacement for petrochemical based plastics. Paul Fowler explained more to Chris...Paul Fowler, Univeristy of Wales, Bangor

Robot Wars - The history of Robots and Robots at War

Once a judge on Robot Wars, Professor Noel Sharkey told us about the part robots have to play in real wars...Professor Noel Sharkey, Sheffield University

Robots in Genetic Research

What do we need robots for in genetics? Just what difference do they make? We sent Meera to the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute to find out...Sarah Sims & Jonathan Davies, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

Train a Robot? Why bother, when he can just look it up?

The Semantic Robot Vision Challenge was set up to find robots which could locate an object in real space, after only seeing it in cyberspace. We spoke to Professor Jim Little and Dr Per-Erik Forssen about their winning robot, Curious GeorgeProfessor Jim Little and Dr Per-Erik Forssen, University of British Columbia