Read Mike Leahy and Zeron Gibson's G-Force diary, as part of the BBC/OU's programme website for Lab Rats

Discovering gravity was only part of Isaac Newton's immense contribution to mathematics and science, Robin Wilson and Barbara Allen describe his rise from humble beginnings to national acclaim and pay homage to his genius.

This free badged open course, Microgravity: living on the International Space Station, will help you to consider microgravity environments in more detail than before! You will make direct comparisons of some important physical values between the International Space Station (ISS), the Earth and the Moon.

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Please note: This is course is due to be archived on Wednesday 30th November. You can study the course up until this date. For learners who have completed the course, the Statement of Participation will remain in your learner records in your OpenLearn profile.
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From the moment that Galileo dropped two cannonballs of different sizes and weights from the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa mankind has been fascinated by the impact of gravity. This free course, Motion under gravity, looks at gravity, its impact on objects and how the energy involved in the movement of objects is dispersed or stored.

Robert Llewellyn and Dr Jonathan Hare take on Hollywood Science, testing the science that filmgoers take for granted. Here they look at how well the science in the movie Speed stacks up

The Open University's researcher in volcanoes, Hazel Rymer explains why the Poás volcano in Costa Rica is her favourite, and how evidence form previous experiments there has lead her to believe there may be an environmental crisis - similar to one in the 1990's - on it's way. There have been changes in gravity above Poás, and Hazel talks us through some experiments she will be undertaking in the future.

The science goes on, despite experiencing an earthquake at the Poás volcano in Costa Rica

How have scientists studied distant stars to learn more about exoplanets, the invisible planets that orbit them?

Professor Russell Stannard explains why the word ‘space’ – so-called empty space – isn’t simply another name for ‘nothing’.