Smart Stuff (Ri Christmas Lectures 2002)

Synopsis

A series of lectures about materials, delivered by Professor Anthony Ryan. Each lecture takes a well-known object, natural or man-made, and demonstrates the amazing properties of the materials from which the objct is made.

Series

Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, The

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Year of release

2003

Year of production

2002

Notes

One lecture broadcast daily 26-30 December 2002

Documentation

Accompanying booklet ‘Smart Stuff’ by Anthony Ryan available separately price £5.50 from 4 Learning.
Accompanying website www.channel4.com/smartstuff

Subjects

Science; Technology

Keywords

materials; materials science

Distribution Formats

Type

VHS

Format

PAL

Price

£19.99 each part £79.99 the set

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

5 X 50 minutes

Year

2003

Sections

Title

Spider that spun a suspension bridge, The

Synopsis

Everything about a spider’s web - from the material it is spun from, to the glue that binds it together - is an engineering materpiece. Built in seconds, each strand in the web is a highly engineered polymer fibre, 10-times stronger than steel.

Duration

50 mins

Distributors ref

18514887X

Title

Trainer that ran over the world

Synopsis

An average pair of trainers lasts six months, having run 3,000 miles, absorbed 400 litres of sweat and withstood 400 tonnes of impact. This lecture explains that the secret of how they survive this battering lies in some miraculous chemistry that lurks beneath their flashy skin.

Duration

50 mins

Distributors ref

1851448888

Title

Phone that shrank the planet, The

Synopsis

Ten years ago mobile phones were the size of bricks, as heavy as a bag of sugar and the property of only the very rich. Now they are everywhere, smaller than a credit card and lighter than a Mars bar. Explains how the technology shrank and the price plummeted.

Duration

50 mins

Distributors ref

1851448896

Title

Plaster that stretches life

Synopsis

The humble plaster is one of the simplest steps on the road to repairing the damaged body, yet it is a marvel of chemical engineering - a miniature hospital, dispensing everything from antibiotics to aftercare.

Duration

50 mins

Distributors ref

185144890X

Title

Ice-cream that will freeze granny, The

Synopsis

Creating ice cream that will re-freeze time after time but still remain as tasty as the day it was made, is a major culinary conundrum. The problem requires all kinds of chemical trickery. But if we can achieve this seeminly magical feat, could we not do far more than make the perfect raspberry ripple? Could we cyrogenically freeze a body and then defrost it back to life?

Duration

50 mins

Distributors ref

1851448918

Distributor

Name

4 Learning

Notes

Channel 4 Learning has now closed. This used to be the educational broadcasting arm of Channel 4. The online shop sold educational DVDs and CD-ROMs for use in primary and secondary schools.