Physics World Stories Podcast

Explore the potential of space-based solar power, with solar cells in space capturing 24/7 solar energy and beaming it back to Earth. Discover the Tidal Stream Industry Energiser Project (TIGER), harnessing kinetic energy from tidal currents. Learn about the potential risks for marine wildlife with the introduction of large machinery in the marine environment.

In recent weeks the astrophysics community has been buzzing following the discovery that the universe appears to be filled with a background hum of gravitational waves. Using radio telescopes in the Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and the US, several teams have noted the same thing: that gravitational waves leave a faint fingerprint in the signals received from pulsars within our galaxy. The discovery is another exciting breakthrough within multimessenger astronomy. In this episode of the Physics World Stories podcast, Andrew Glester explores the implications of the new gravitational wave discovery, announced on June 28 by the NANOGrav collaboration in the US. He is joined by Cherry Ng, an astronomer at the Laboratory of the Physics and Chemistry of the Environment and Space, part of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). In the podcast, you will hear about what this gravitational wave signals can reveal about the massive objects triggering them, most likely the merger of supermassive black holes.

Gordon Moore, the co-founder of Intel who died earlier this year, is famous for forecasting a continuous rise in the density of transistors that we can pack onto semiconductor chips. His eponymous “Moore’s law” still holds true after almost six decades, but further progress is becoming harder and eye-wateringly expensive to sustain. In this episode of the Physics World Stories podcast we look at the practicalities of keeping Moore’s law alive, why it matters, and why physicists have a critical role to play. Right now, one of the key questions is whether computer hardware can keep up with the demands of large language models and other forms of generative AI. There is also concern over whether computing can help tackle today’s complex global challenges without skyrocketing energy demands. New computing paradigms are needed, and optical- and quantum based-computing may have key roles to play, but there are still big question makers over their practical usefulness at scale. Physics Word Stories is presented by Andrew Glester and this month’s podcast guests are: Louis Barson, director of science, innovation and skills at the Institute of Physics (which publishes Physics World) Thomas Ferreira de Lima, a researcher at NEC Labs America Anson Ho, an AI forecasting researcher at Epoch Find out more on this topic in the recent Physics World article ‘Moore’s law: further progress will push hard on the boundaries of physics and economics’.

When discussing the capabilities of the latest AI chatbots, a physicist may argue: “Okay, they’re impressive at regurgitating texts that sound increasingly human. But we physicists don’t have much to worry about. It will be ages before the bots learn to grapple with physical concepts and the creativity required to do real physics!” Such a view is almost certainly misguided. In a recent paper uploaded to arXiv, Colin West from the University of Colorado Boulder reported that the latest version of ChatGPT (built on GPT-4) scored 28 out of 30 on a test designed to assess students’ grasp of basic Newtonian mechanics. The previous version (GPT-3.5) managed just 15 correct answers, and neither version had any explicit programming regarding the laws of physics. Can you imagine the improvement 20 years from now? In the latest episode of the Physics World Stories podcast, Andrew Glester considers how the exponential improvement in GPT (and other large language models) will change the way we teach and practise physics. Should we be excited or scared? Should physics courses ban or embrace the use of AI chatbots? What are the skills that future physics will need? Will physics cease to exist as a discipline in the way we understand it now? These are just some of the existential questions tackled by two guests from the University of Nottingham: Philip Moriarty, a nanotechnology specialist; and Karel Green, an astronomy PhD student and Physics World contributor.

If you were awarded $3m prize money for your scientific excellence and hard graft, would you give it all away to strangers? That’s what the Northern Irish astrophysicist Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell did in 2018 after winning the Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for her 1967 discovery of pulsars and her inspiring scientific leadership. She used the cash – topped up with more personal money from a separate prize – to launch the Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund, which supports PhD students in the UK and Ireland from groups under-represented in physics. In this episode of the Physics World Stories podcast, we look at the impacts the award is already having on the lives of early-career physicists. Our first guest is Helen Gleeson, a liquid crystals and soft matter researcher at the University of Leeds, who is chair of the selection panel for the fund. She talks about the importance of providing opportunities for physics students from non-traditional backgrounds, who may face multiple barriers – both personal and structural within the physics community. https://youtu.be/EigAPYgJo0M Later in the episode, we also hear from a fund awardee. Joanna Sakowska, a PhD student at the University of Surrey, is studying the formation and evolution of the Magellanic Clouds galaxies, while searching for neighbouring ultra-faint dwarf galaxies believed to contain large quantities of dark matter. Sakowska offers inspiring, practical advice to anyone interested in a career in physics, emphasizing the importance of reflecting on your personal achievements, even if self-promotion does not come naturally! Want to know more about the Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund and how to apply? Listen to the episode or read this recent Physics World article by Helen Gleeson.  

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are set to play a key role in the transition to a decarbonized world. They are one of the principal energy sources for electric vehicles, grid storage and many consumer electronics. As things stand, however, the way that we produce and manage LIBs over their life cycles is far from perfect – bringing environmental, economic and geopolitical concerns. In the latest episode of the Physics World Stories podcast, Andrew Glester looks at how we can make LIBs more sustainable, with a focus on activities in the UK. The first guest is Gavin Harper, a metallurgy researcher at the University of Birmingham, a lead author on a recent LIB roadmap article in JPhys Energy. Harper talks about opportunities for improving LIB waste management and creating circular economies. For instance, batteries can be designed to make it far easier to reuse constituent parts, while smart grids can enable consumers to trade energy between electric cars, houses, and the grid. Harper tackles the big question: is it more environmentally friendly to own an electric car, rather than a conventional fossil fuel-powered vehicle, if you consider the full life cycle? Local lithium supplies Some of the most contentious issues with LIBs relate to lithium mining. Roughly 60% of known lithium reserves are located within the salt flats of Latin America, mostly within the “lithium triangle” of Bolivia, Argentina and Chile. The vast amounts of water needed for extracting lithium from brine deposits can lead to water scarcity, pollution of local soils and water, and disruption of local ecosystems. Meanwhile, China has surged ahead of the world in its capacity for manufacturing LIBs, with Western nations now keen to build up their own knowledge bases and search for local lithium deposits. One intriguing possibility in the UK is to extract lithium directly from geothermal waters near the coast of Cornwall. Ali Salisbury, an exploration geologist at Cornish Lithium, joins the podcast to explain how Cornwall’s unique geology – lying on top of a large, fractured mass of granite containing lithium-rich minerals – is enabling this possibility. Cornish Lithium says the method could have minimal environmental impacts, and the company is also investigating more sustainable forms of hard-rock lithium mining in the same region.

When pioneering musicians such as Kraftwerk and Brian Eno began experimenting with synthesizers and digital samplers in the 1970s, it was considered avant-garde and confined to niche audiences. It didn’t take long, however, for electronic music to explode in popularity, and today computer-produced music is ubiquitous among many genres and styles. This episode of the Physics World Stories podcast looks at a new trend in its nascent stages – music generated by quantum computers. The first guest is science writer Philip Ball, who recently attended an improvised musical performance at the Goethe-Institut in London, an experience he described in this Physics World feature. Ball explains why the interface of quantum mechanics and music is interesting from both a scientific an artistic point of view. Later in the episode, podcast host Andrew Glester is joined by Maria Mannone, a theoretical physicist working on quantum information at the University of Palermo in Italy, who is also a composer. Mannone discusses some of her experiments that incorporate scientific concepts into sound, and you can hear some of the music that emerges. For much more quantum-inspired content, make sure to visit this website again on 14 April for World Quantum Day. During that week, the Physics World Weekly podcast will have a quantum theme and we will share a selection of quantum-related feature articles, interviews and analysis pieces. There will also be a chance to access quantum content and discounted quantum ebooks, shared by IOP Publishing – which publishes Physics World. This episode is sponsored by Pfeiffer Vacuum. The company provides all types of vacuum equipment, including hybrid and magnetically-levitated turbopumps, leak detectors and analysis equipment, as well as vacuum chambers and systems. You can find about Pfeiffer Vacuum’s impact in space research in this video, and explore all its products on the Pfeiffer Vacuum website.  

A new film Space, Hope and Charity tells the story of Charity Woodrum, an astrophysicist whose childhood dream of working for NASA was nearly derailed by a personal tragedy. Woodrum is now studying for a doctorate in galaxy quenching at the University of Arizona using data from the James Webb Space Telescope. She joins this episode of the Physics World Stories podcast to speak about finding purpose in academic research, and her gratitude to the colleagues who helped her through the darkest moments. Podcast host Andrew Glester is also joined by the film’s director Sandy Cummings, a broadcast journalist with more than 20 years of experience working for NBC News. Cummings says she is drawn to stories of people facing huge challenges, and the quest for hope and purpose. Space, Hope and Charity aired at this year’s American Astronomical Society annual meeting in Seattle, US. Its official premiere is at the Phoenix Film Festival with three screenings and Q&A sessions over three days, 31 March – 2 April 2023. See the trailer on YouTube.

The European Space Agency (ESA) recently made history by selecting John McFall – an amputee, Paralympic sprinter and medical scientist – among its latest cohort of astronauts. McFall’s inclusion is part of an ESA parastronaut feasibility project for making human spaceflight accessible to people with physical disabilities. In the latest episode of the Physics World Stories podcast, people involved in this initiative explain why making space more accessible is not only fair but also the very essence of exploration. The first guest is Mike Miller-Smith, chief executive of Aerobility, a UK-based charity that helps people with any disability to fly planes. Aerobility is being consulted as part of ESA’s feasibility study and the organization will share its experiences in adapting aircraft. “People often say to us: ‘when I’m flying, I’m leaving my disability on the ground’,” Miller-Smith tells podcast host Andrew Glester. Also in the episode you will hear from Irene Di Giulio, an anatomy and biomechanics researcher at King’s College London, whose research group is also part of ESA’s initiative. Di Giulio says that almost everything we currently know about space biomechanics is based on non-disabled people, often with athlete levels of fitness. She says that small adjustments to equipment can make space far more accessible, and certain disabilities may even bring advantages in microgravity environments.

Long-term listeners will know that the December episode of Physics World Stories is a celebration of the year’s best popular-science writing. This year, Andrew Glester is joined by comedian and writer Robin Ince, author of the recent book The Importance of Being Interested: Adventures in Scientific Curiosity and host of the longstanding BBC Radio 4 science show The Infinite Monkey Cage, co-presented with the physicist Brian Cox. Ince talks about his circular journey with science: from enjoying it as a child, to feeling disengaged as a young adult, to now building his entire creative output around his fascination with the natural world. In an entertaining conversation, Ince talks about the importance of critical thinking and how he longs for a society that celebrates the beauty of uncertainty. Also in the episode, Physics World editors discuss the following books, reviewed in the latest issue of the magazine: First Dawn: From the Big Bang to Our Future in Space by Roberto Battiston Horizons: a Global History of Science by James Poskett Nomad Century: How to Survive the Climate Upheaval by Gaia Vince