BBC R4 - Six physics related documentaries
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BBC R4 - Optical Tweezers
Broadcast October 29, 2003

BBC Blurb
At the nano-scale - a billionth of a metre - light can
perform a handy task. It can grab and hold tiny particles.

In a concentrated beam of laser light there are attractive
and repulsive forces. These are strong enough to manipulate
molecules. The laser beams or 'tools' are known as ‘optical
tweezers’ or ‘optical traps’

Justin Molloy at the National Institute for Medical Research
uses optical tweezers to  investigate single strands of muscle.
He hopes to find out what happens to our individual muscle
molecules as they contract and relax.

And Pàl Ormos at the Biological Research Centre in Hungary is
using light to build and drive  tiny ‘lightmills’. One day these
might provide power for a microscopic laboratories, the so-called
'lab-on-a-chip'.

Peter Evans discovers that this technology could become one of
science’s more versatile  tools.
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BBC R4 - Nuclear Fusion
Broadcast July 6, 2009

BBC Blurb
Gareth Mitchell asks if nuclear fusion could be close to
generating energy, and visits a facility in California
which is using giant laser beams to initiate nuclear fusion.
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BBC R4 - Special Relativity & How It All Began
Broadcast January 13, 2005

BBC Blurb
Einstein's 'miraculous year' proved once and for all the
existence of atoms, formed the basis of quantum theory
and, with special relativity, completely transformed our
perception of space and time, leading to one of the most
famous equations of all time: E=mc².
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BBC R4 - General Relativity & Einstein's 'Biggest Blunder'
Broadcast January 20, 2005

BBC Blurb
All cosmology today is essentially based on Einstein's
theory of general relativity and so  far, every prediction
he made about the universe has turned out to be true.

Even his so called 'biggest blunder' may well solve the
greatest riddle in cosmology today, the nature of dark
energy - the mysterious force that makes up nearly 80%
of the universe.
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BBC R4 - Quantum Theory & Why God Does Play Dice
Broadcast January 27, 2005

BBC Blurb
It's not just cosmologists who claim to be working in Einstein's
shadow. Particle Physicists trying to discover how the very
first atoms formed at the beginning of the universe, through
to quantum theorists and those working on a unified theory of
everything all cite Einstein as a major influence. And his theories
remain unchallenged to this day.

Brian also visits the University of Vienna where scientists are
'teleporting' bits of  information, following thought experiments
first proposed by Einstein in the 1930s.
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BBC R4 - Playing The Wind
Broadcast December 14, 2003

BBC Blurb
On a wind-swept German beach a man is harnessed to one end
of 150 feet of Nylon line with the other end tied to an iron post.
At his side are two tall wooden boxes with the curves of an
aircraft wing, and the strings of a giant guitar. A violin bow
is raised above his head, and the air is singing with the most
ethereal of sounds.