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Science, Maths & Technology
Design and Creativity
We encounter designed products every day, from bus tickets to buildings. We travel on, wear and even eat products that have been designed. What it is like to be a designer? What are the design processes that generate products? The 28 video tracks on this album reveal the importance of creativity in the design process and explore the products and...
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History & The Arts
Composing with MIDI
In the last 50 years, developments in technology have had a profound effect on the production, recording and manipulation of music. The 8 video tracks in this album introduce Simon Whiteside, a television and film composer, explore his recording studio and explain how he uses MIDI to create music for films and television programmes. Using an ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Keeping Ahead in ICT
The legacy of apartheid in South Africa left people in urban townships and rural areas without access to basic communication technology that defines the digital age. Today, the latest mobile phone technology has changed everything. To reach the poorest communities, the government has had to adapt the technology and build new commercial ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Riddle of the Tay Bridge disaster
On December 28th 1879, the Tay Bridge collapsed as a train passed over it, killing all 75 passengers on board. At the time of this tragedy, the Tay Bridge was the longest bridge in the world, and to this day the accident remains the worst structural disaster the UK has ever seen. This album attempts to unlock the mystery of this catastrophe, ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Structural Integrity: Silver Bridge
The 1967 collapse of the Silver Bridge over the Ohio River was an engineering mystery and a human tragedy - 46 people died. Why did a suspension bridge built to last a century not make 40 years? Built in 1928, it was a slimmer version of similar bridges built in nearby Pittsburgh. The slimming down was deemed to be safe because of the use of a ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Structural Integrity: Materials Testing
How is safety built into the design of new structures? What sort of tests are used to ascertain the safety of proposed designs? Structural integrity, the study of the safe design and assessment of materials and structures under load, has become crucial in engineering design. Concepts within stress analysis have wide applicability, as there ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Structural Integrity: designing against failure
The Kinzua rail viaduct, in Pennsylvania, collapsed when it was hit by a tornado in 2003. First built in 1882 and redesigned 1900, it was at one time the highest bridge in the world. The two video tracks in this album tell the story of the Kinzua catastrophe. The subsequent forensic investigation has cast new light on the failure of Tay rail ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Cyborgs and cybernetics
What are cyborgs? Would a cyborg future deliver positive human advances or a Hollywood-style nightmare in which human beings have become a sub-species? Could we one day download our minds? This album gives an insight into the development of cybernetics and how it is used to fuse technology and humanity. The interfaces that communicate between ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Computer technology: robotic milking and interactive mirrors
What have computers got to do with cows? Can a wooden mirror help us understand the computing behind digital image capture? Neil Rowse is the first dairy farmer in the UK to use a computerised system that gives cows control over when they are milked, and allows him to remotely monitor the welfare of individual animals. Daniel Rozin has created ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Ecosystems: modelling the Earth
How can numerical models help us to understand our planet? How do we make sure they represent reality? This album introduces ongoing work to model the entire planet's ecosystems, simulating the complex physical, chemical and biological interactions taking place between every living organism and climatic activity. Since everything is ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Supply chains: healthcare
From surgical tools to obstetric instruments, personalised colostomy bags to hip implants, the UK's National Health Service requires an astonishing number of products to be manufactured, delivered and routinely managed. What happens behind the scenes to ensure the systems function smoothly? This album focuses on the different roles of B.Braun, a...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Ecosystems: the carbon cycle
What is photosynthesis, and why does Sir David Attenborough describe it as 'the very basis of life?'. This album explains how the balance of sunlight, water and nutrients are fundamental to the process and how this balance acts to regulate individual ecosystems. But photosynthesis is only part of the carbon cycle. How is carbon returned to the ...