activity icon
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?
audio icon
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 ...
audio icon
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 ...
audio icon
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.
audio icon
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 ...
audio icon
Science, Maths & Technology
Exploring sedimentary processes
What is sand? What’s it made from, and how does it get from where it’s made to the beaches and sand dunes that surround many of our shores? On this album, Dr Dave McGarvie of The Open University takes us on a visit to Cornwall to follow grains of sand on their journey from the high moorland to the sea shore. Back in the lab, he demonstrates some...
audio icon
Science, Maths & Technology
The physical world: helicopters
Want to learn to fly a helicopter? In this album Royal Berkshire Ambulance pilots show two complete beginners the ropes. Normally, Marie and Tracey dispatch air ambulances, now they find out how to fly one. The five video tracks offer a hands-on explanation of the science and engineering behind helicopter flight. They show how rotors help this ...
audio icon
Science, Maths & Technology
The physical world: waves and relativity
This album explores the science of waves. Five video tracks feature two pair trawling fishermen from the Cornish village of Looe. Their lives and livelihoods depend on gadgets like radio, GPS and radar. This album explores the physics behind this technology, gives a simple introduction to wavelengths and looks back to the discovery of ...
activity icon
Science, Maths & Technology
Bang challenge: Snakes by a flame
It's dark – you need light to avoid standing on the slumbering snake. Can your science know how help you make enough light to escape without waking the python?
audio icon
Science, Maths & Technology
Rocks in the field
Geology is the scientific study of the Earth, its origin, structure, processes and composition. This album features The Open University's Glynda Easterbrook and fellow geologist Tony Lee as they visit Northern Ireland to look at some amazing rock forms and some fascinating successions of different depositional environments. This material forms ...
audio icon
Science, Maths & Technology
Personal and career development in engineering
What's it like working as an engineer, and what career opportunities are available? On this album, 6 practicing engineers talk about the work they do and the career path they have followed. This material forms part of The Open University course T191 Personal and career development in engineering.
audio icon
Science, Maths & Technology
Using and managing waste
Do you know what happens to the things you throw away? Sustainable management of municipal and industrial waste is essential in any society, but is particularly crucial for a future in which we face diminishing resources and a growing population. This album considers the issues that are driving the waste management industry across the EU, ...