Relevant Links
Short talks from University of Oxford Physics Department.
Contains episodes previously published as:
(1) 'Astrophysics: An Introduction'
(2) 'Lab, Camera, Action!': "Lab, Camera, Action! is a series of short videos presented by Dr Andrew Steele about physics, explaining basic concepts, the work done here in Oxford, and even some experiments to try at home. These engaging tutorials cover a range of topics from spectroscopy, superconductivity and the transit of Venus in a clear, accessible way which will appeal to science enthusiasts everywhere."
(3) 'Physics Flash Talks': 'A showcase of research at Oxford Physics through exciting 10 minute presentations delivered by graduate research students. The topics span the breadth of research at Oxford and include topics such as climate change, exoplanets, magnetism, the higgs and quantum computers.'
| # | Episode Title | Description | People | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Creative Commons | Plants, Photosynthesis, and Solar Energy | The planet is in trouble; fossil fuels are being depleted and are contributing to global warming. Plants, however, have been directly harnessing solar energy for as long as they have existed. A flash talk from Tomas Leijtens. | Tomas Leijtens | 07 Jul 2014 |
| 2 | Creative Commons | Are we still in the dark about Dark Matter? | Kathryn boast gives a flash talk discussing what we already know about dark matter, and what we still have to find out about it. | Kathryn Boast | 07 Jul 2014 |
| 3 | Creative Commons | Einstein's Greatest Blunder | Albert Einstein is one of the greatest scientists to ever live, and even he made mistakes, as Luke Jew explains - A comforting thought for all of us! This great mistake was about the astrophysics that will ultimately determine how our universe will end. | Luke Jew | 07 Jul 2014 |
| 4 | Creative Commons | The Hare and the Tortoise | A flash talk given by Liam Brannigan about "Connecting the fast and slow parts of the climate system through the stormy upper ocean. " | Liam Brannigan | 07 Jul 2014 |
| 5 | Creative Commons | Quantum Measurement and Control: How to Roll a Six Everytime | In this flash talk Wojciech Kozlowski discusses the bizarre properties of measurement and how we can harness its probabilistic nature to produce results. | Wojciech Kozlowski | 07 Jul 2014 |
| 6 | Space - The Ultimate Laboratory | What can space teach us about the laws of physics? Space is huge and complicated. This is a challenge, but also gives us the ultimate physics lab. Francesca Day explores this further. | Francesca Day | 07 Jul 2014 | |
| 7 | Creative Commons | Lab, Camera, Action: Tides | The Bay of St Brieuc in Brittany has one of the largest tides on Earth. Dr Andrew Steele takes some time out of his holiday, on the day of the highest tide of the year, to find out why. | Andrew Steele | 03 Feb 2014 |
| 8 | Creative Commons | Lab, Camera, Action: Transit of Venus | In June of 2012, one of the rarest predictable astronomical phenomena took place: Venus passed directly in front of the Sun, as seen from Earth. For more information, visit transitofvenus.org. | Andrew Steele | 03 Feb 2014 |
| 9 | Creative Commons | Lab, Camera, Action: Maglev Train | Wheels are so last century. We’ve got a train set which doesn’t have any; it just floats around the track in a billowing cloud of steam. Dr Andrew Steele explains how our superconducting magnetic levitation—or maglev—train really works. | Andrew Steele | 03 Feb 2014 |
| 10 | Creative Commons | Lab, Camera, Action: Particle Accelerator | Dr Andrew Steele takes a look inside the ISIS particle accelerator in Oxfordshire, where scientists use neutrons to investigate the structure of materials, and accelerator physicist Dr Suzie Sheehy explains how this massive machine works. | Andrew Steele, Suzie Sheehy | 03 Feb 2014 |
| 11 | Creative Commons | Lab, Camera, Action: Make your own CD spectrometer | How do we know what the stars are made of when we've never been to one? Dr Andrew Steele shows us how to make a spectrometer, a device used by scientists to analyse light, using a cereal box and a CD. | Andrew Steele | 03 Feb 2014 |
| 12 | Creative Commons | The Physics of the Violin | Jesse Liu, winner of the the departmental Speaking Competition for undergraduates, gives a short talk on the physics of a violin. | Jesse Liu | 13 Dec 2013 |
| 13 | Creative Commons | The coldest place in the Universe | Tiffany Harte, Oxford Physics, discusses absolute zero temperatures and how by cooling atoms in a lab we can aim to replicate the coldest place in the Universe. | Tiffany Harte | 13 Dec 2013 |
| 14 | Creative Commons | Heart of Darkness: The Interplay of Galaxies and Dark Matter | A short flash talk from Peter Hatfield, Oxford Physics, who discusses the origins of the galaxies we see in our night sky and the mysterious nature of dark matter. | Peter Hatfield | 13 Dec 2013 |
| 15 | Creative Commons | Superconductivity -- alchemy for the 21st Century? | An exciting talk and demonstration about superconductivity and its potential practical applications by Ben Williams, Oxford Physics. | Ben Williams | 12 Dec 2013 |
| 16 | Creative Commons | Sea Ice Growth: Mushy layers, Convection and Brinicles | Joe Hitchen, Oxford University Physics Department, describe the different stages of sea ice growth and the formation of hollow tubes of ice in the ocean known as brinicles. | Joe Hitchen | 12 Dec 2013 |
| 17 | Creative Commons | Matter, Antimatter and The Mystery of Existence | In this talk Nazim Hussain, Oxford University, will provide an introduction to matter and antimatter and the interplay between them. | Nazim Hussain | 12 Dec 2013 |
| 18 | How to find a Higgs boson | The discovery of the Higgs boson last summer is widely regarded as one of the most important scientific discoveries of our time. | David Hall | 04 Jun 2013 | |
| 19 | What is a Quantum Computer? | How does a quantum computer work? Why is a quantum computer so much better than a traditional computer? This talk will give you an insight into the strange features of the quantum world that we can exploit to develop a super fast quantum computer. | Michael Peterer | 04 Jun 2013 | |
| 20 | Dealing with Frustration - Order in Disorder | Magnetic particles can get frustrated in their interactions with other particles because of lattice geometry. Lots of new and exciting physics is involved in understanding how they deal with their frustration. | Zhiming Darren Tan | 04 Jun 2013 | |
| 21 | Masters of Nature? - The physics of trying to control the climate | The Earth's climate is changing; but what are we doing about it? The frustration felt all around the world at the inability to agree a meaningful deal on global carbon dioxide emission leaves people looking for alternatives. | Richard Millar | 04 Jun 2013 | |
| 22 | Light Fantastic: X-ray Laser Research in Oxford | David LLoyd describes how x-rays can be used for far more than identifying broken bones. | David Lloyd | 04 Jun 2013 | |
| 23 | Creative Commons | Extra-solar planets: from science-fiction to reality | Since the discovery of the first extra-solar planet in the '90s, our perspective of the Universe has changed. Over the last two decades a whole host of exotic planet systems have been found, including analogues of famous science-fiction-worlds. | Ruth Angus | 04 Jun 2013 |
| 24 | Introduction to Astrophysics | A short introduction to Astrophysics at Oxford University by Professor Roger Davies. | Roger Davies | 05 Sep 2008 |