Superconductivity
In Our Time23 Helmi 2023

Superconductivity

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the discovery made in 1911 by the Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (1853-1926). He came to call it Superconductivity and it is a set of physical properties that nobody predicted and that none, since, have fully explained. When he lowered the temperature of mercury close to absolute zero and ran an electrical current through it, Kamerlingh Onnes found not that it had low resistance but that it had no resistance. Later, in addition, it was noticed that a superconductor expels its magnetic field. In the century or more that has followed, superconductors have already been used to make MRI scanners and to speed particles through the Large Hadron Collider and they may perhaps bring nuclear fusion a little closer (a step that could be world changing).

The image above is from a photograph taken by Stephen Blundell of a piece of superconductor levitating above a magnet.

With

Nigel Hussey Professor of Experimental Condensed Matter Physics at the University of Bristol and Radbout University

Suchitra Sebastian Professor of Physics at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge

And

Stephen Blundell Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford and Fellow of Mansfield College

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Jaksot(1078)

The Evolution of Lungs

The Evolution of Lungs

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the evolution of lungs and of the first breaths, which can be traced back 400 million years to when animal life spread from rock pools and swamps onto land, as some fis...

10 Heinä 202548min

The Vienna Secession

The Vienna Secession

In 1897, Gustav Klimt led a group of radical artists to break free from the cultural establishment of Vienna and found a movement that became known as the Vienna Secession. In the vibrant atmosphere o...

3 Heinä 202554min

Hypnosis

Hypnosis

Ever since Franz Anton Mesmer induced trance-like states in his Parisian subjects in the late eighteenth century, dressed in long purple robes, hypnosis has been associated with performance, power and...

26 Kesä 202545min

Paul von Hindenburg

Paul von Hindenburg

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and role of one of the most significant figures in early 20th Century German history. Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934) had been famous since 1914 as the victori...

19 Kesä 202552min

Copyright

Copyright

In 1710, the British Parliament passed a piece of legislation entitled An Act for the Encouragement of Learning. It became known as the Statute of Anne, and it was the world’s first copyright law. ...

12 Kesä 20251h

Lise Meitner

Lise Meitner

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the decisive role of one of the great 20th Century physicists in solving the question of nuclear fission. It is said that Meitner (1878-1968) made this breakthrough ov...

5 Kesä 202557min

The Korean Empire

The Korean Empire

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Korea's brief but significant period as an empire as it moved from the 500-year-old dynastic Joseon monarchy towards modernity. It was in October 1897 that King Gojong ...

29 Touko 202547min

Molière

Molière

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the great figures in world literature. The French playwright Molière (1622-1673) began as an actor, aiming to be a tragedian, but he was stronger in comedy, tour...

22 Touko 202551min

Suosittua kategoriassa Historia

olipa-kerran-otsikko
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
mayday-fi
totuus-vai-salaliitto
huijarit
mystista
tsunami
konginkangas
rss-ikiuni
rss-subjektiivinen-todistaja
rss-i-dont-like-mondays-2
sotaa-ja-historiaa-podi
rouva-diktaattori
tiedetta-ja-sirkushuveja-vanhojen-aikojen-podcast
rss-kirkon-ihmeellisimmat-tarinat
rss-peter-peter
romani-podcast
rss-iltanuotiolla
rss-sattuu-sita-suomessakin
rss-outoja-uutisia-pohjois-suomesta