How do lenses and mirrors change the path of light - and what effect do their shapes have?

The music of North India is mesmerising, and shrouded in tradition and culture. There, raga is the art of life - it is the music of the mind. The tracks in this album focus on three instruments - the tabla, the alap and the voice - all central to the existence of Raga. Each instrument is broken down into the individual sounds that make up the intricate compositions. Performances on all three complete this introduction to the fascinating sound of Raga. This material is drawn from The Open University course AA317, Words and music.

Sam Newington explains that discovering the real lives of Greek women takes more than just a first read of the texts

This innovative album introduces one of the biggest, and most complex, of today’s environmental problems – climate change. It features the hard-hitting, "Who Will Pay", selected as a finalist in an international film competition on "Vulnerability Exposed: The Social Dimensions of Climate Change" organised by the World Bank. This 'Earth in Crisis' album offer a sophisticated understanding of the processes and players that shape contemporary international environmental problems, evaluates what can and should be done in the future, and explores how responses to these dilemmas are intertwined with issues of development, international justice and responsibility. The eleven video tracks focus on climate change induced flooding in the delta regions of Bangladesh and in the Thames region of the UK. In the first five audio tracks, members of The Open University course team explore the main issues raised in the videos. The final three audio tracks explore some of the wider political and scientific dimensions of climate change. This material forms part of The Open University course DU311, Earth in crisis: environmental policy in an international context.

This series of tracks looks at how two quite different industries respond to problem solving. They show that methodology is similar regardless of the industry's focus or size. Material is taken from The Open University Course T889 Problem solving and improvement: quality and other approaches.

The Rough Science crew were challenged to make a lens out of ice. You can too, by following our simple instructions.

Maps are an intrinsic feature of the modern world - they hold both intellectual and aesthetic qualities. But how and why were the first maps created? The idea of mapping leads on to questions in society - how do we all link together? The tracks on this album focus on mapping and the importance of it, but also on the idea of the city, and what actually determines whether makes an impact on the world. The material forms part of the course DD100, An introduction to the social sciences: understanding social change.