The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
Discussion
Plants vs Animals Deathmatch by the looks of things...
http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayC...
http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayC...
I was a bit disappointed by last nights lecture!
I know they're aimed at kids for the most part - but the last few years have managed to be entertaining and informative. This year seemed a little patronising and simplistic for me, and I didn't think the subject was particularly interesting.
Last year was fascinating, with logic gates and silicon chips. This year we have had people dressed up as catepillars, etc. All a bit Sesame Street
You can watch a lot of the past Lectures on the Royal Institutions website http://www.rigb.org
The 2 stand out for me are Carl Sagan from 1977 and Richard Dawkins from 1991
David Attenborough's from 1973 also appears to be there, but I cannot find Heinz Wolff's from 1975, so it might be a bit hit and miss which are available.
List of the past Christmas Lectures here
The 2 stand out for me are Carl Sagan from 1977 and Richard Dawkins from 1991
David Attenborough's from 1973 also appears to be there, but I cannot find Heinz Wolff's from 1975, so it might be a bit hit and miss which are available.
List of the past Christmas Lectures here
Russ35 said:
You can watch a lot of the past Lectures on the Royal Institutions website http://www.rigb.org
The 2 stand out for me are Carl Sagan from 1977 and Richard Dawkins from 1991
I never knew Carl Sagan did a Royal Institute lecture, or that I could see it online!The 2 stand out for me are Carl Sagan from 1977 and Richard Dawkins from 1991
Brilliant - that's my evening sorted
This years shows are buried away on BBC4, at least they are back on the BBC.
They are on December 28th, 29th and 30th @ 8pm
This years host is Dr Mark Miodownik who is a materials scientist.
Taken from the RI website
They are on December 28th, 29th and 30th @ 8pm
This years host is Dr Mark Miodownik who is a materials scientist.
Taken from the RI website
Why Elephants can't dance said:
We are all familiar with watching ants labouring for hours on a hot sunny day lifting crumbs or dragging bits of leaf back to their ant hill – but have you ever wondered how hard it is for them? They are often carrying 300 times their own weight, which is impressive when you consider that the world's strongest man can only lift three or four times his own weight. Are the materials that make up ant muscles much better than ours, or are we just not trying hard enough? Other weird effects of size come to light once you start delving into the subject. The amount of sleep that mammals need is in proportion to their size, and all animals have the same number of heartbeats but mice use them up quicker than elephants. Mark tells the story of the materials science of animal size, how we have pieced together some of the physical rules that govern the strength, life span and dance moves of animals.
Why chocolate melts and jet planes don't said:
As we zoom into the microscopically small realm beneath our fingertips to explore the tiny world we have created inside mobile phones, jet planes and chocolate, curious things start to happen. Gravity becomes less and less important, while stickiness and quantum mechanics start to dominate. This is the wild west of science, where anything and everything seems possible, but is it? Can we create invisibility cloaks, self-healing phones and super-strong jet planes just by controlling the scale of things? Journey into the inner space of the things around us to find out how the very small affects the very large. Mark shows that even the taste of chocolate depends on the size of extraordinary crystals which are designed to only melt in your mouth.
Why mountains are so small said:
In 2009 the world's tallest building the Burj Khalifa was opened in Dubai; at almost half a mile high it is an engineering marvel. But will future generations think it puny and laugh at us? Could we build a tower to reach the moon? We ask whether this engineering challenge is remotely possible and show that one of the major hurdles is the force that keeps space together – gravity. The curious way that gravity affects large things is nothing to the effect that time has on them. Not just a few years, or even decades but eons of time. Could this explain why Earth's mountains are small fry compared to other mountains in the universe? How big to is too big for a glacier, a mountain or a planet?
In the days of Prof Eric Laithwaite et al, these were far more informative. Now they seem, as someone above said, aimed at kids. There was a lab steward who brought out the demonstrations, called Mr P....??? damn can't recall but he was a fixture on these events; not seen anymore though. I'll still watch though.
motco said:
In the days of Prof Eric Laithwaite et al, these were far more informative. Now they seem, as someone above said, aimed at kids. There was a lab steward who brought out the demonstrations, called Mr P....??? damn can't recall but he was a fixture on these events; not seen anymore though. I'll still watch though.
I always thought he should have been called "Igor".Eric Mc said:
motco said:
In the days of Prof Eric Laithwaite et al, these were far more informative. Now they seem, as someone above said, aimed at kids. There was a lab steward who brought out the demonstrations, called Mr P....??? damn can't recall but he was a fixture on these events; not seen anymore though. I'll still watch though.
I always thought he should have been called "Igor".
"Ach zo! Zsthrow ze svitch Igor!"ETA: I discover he was Mr (Bill) Coates. In his white lab coat too...
Edited by motco on Wednesday 1st December 16:51
motco said:
Eric Mc said:
motco said:
In the days of Prof Eric Laithwaite et al, these were far more informative. Now they seem, as someone above said, aimed at kids. There was a lab steward who brought out the demonstrations, called Mr P....??? damn can't recall but he was a fixture on these events; not seen anymore though. I'll still watch though.
I always thought he should have been called "Igor". "Ach zo! Zsthrow ze svitch Igor!"I swear you could hear the rattle of chains as he pulled a cardboard prop of the circulatory system onto the stage.
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