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Science, Maths & Technology
Combating air pollution
What’s in the air you breathe and how do you know it’s safe? Pollution control is vital since nobody has a choice when it comes to inhaling the air around them. This album introduces the scientific processes behind air monitoring and air quality management. The five video tracks explore the nature of pollution arising from different forms of ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
The physical world: quantum
This album examines the revolution in scientific thinking that overthrew classical physics in favour of quantum physics. Called the crown of the twentieth century, quantum mechanics is a blueprint for how everything behaves on an atomic level. Seven video tracks presented by Robert Llewellyn offer a beginner's guide to quantum. He revisits the ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
The fascination with crime
Whether it's literature, television or film, crime has always been a popular genre with wide-appeal; but why is this source of fear such a fascinating subject to us? This four track audio album strives to answer this question through interviews with key figures such as criminologists and crime authors, with members of the general public also ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Searching for Syphilis
At the end of the 15th century a terrifying new epidemic spread across Europe, but was this disease, known as the Great Pox, really Syphilis? Did Christopher Columbus actually bring the disease back from the New World? Join us as we look at whether the discovery of a 600 year old skeleton can shed new light on the origins of one of mankind's ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Bang challenge: Island hopping
Your mate is stuck on a tiny island surrounded by shark infested waters. Can your knowledge of science save the day?
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Science, Maths & Technology
Exploring oak woodland
Oak woodland is a characteristic feature of the English landscape and home to a huge variety of plants and animals. On this album, Professor David Streeter of the University of Sussex explores some characteristic features of an English oak wood, and reveals some of the processes that maintain the web of life within the wood. In three further ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Bang challenge: Kill or cure
You've been infected, now you need a cure, and fast. Can your knowledge of biology identify the bacteria and get you the correct antidote?
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Science, Maths & Technology
Bang challenge: Escape the airtight room
Trapped, and your oxygen is running out. Can your science skills get the door to this airtight room to open in time?
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Science, Maths & Technology
Exploring wave motion
What are waves and what happens to them when they pass through a gap? Do different sorts of waves behave in the same way? Dr Andrew Norton of The Open University uses a ripple tank to demonstrate some of the key features of wave motion, and show how waves spread out when they pass through an aperture. Using a laser and a diffraction grating, he ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
DNA, RNA and protein formation
How is genetic information stored in cells, and how is the information accessed and used? On this album, Dr Norman Cohen of The Open University uses models and graphics to provide easily understood explanations of how genetic information is stored in DNA, how DNA is replicated, and how genetic information from DNA is used to create new protein ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
The sound of silence
Why does each musical instrument have its own unique sound? What exactly distinguishes a guitar from a fiddle? Follow the story as we find out exactly how a musical note is produced and how to create the sound of silence. This material forms part of The Open University course MU120 Open mathematics.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Exploring the science of climate
The idea that human activities could influence global climate first emerged more than a hundred years ago, when the Swedish scientist Arrhenius warned that burning coal could lead to global warming. The tracks on this album take a historical look at the systematic study of weather and climate, from the amateur scientists of the Mannheim group ...