Everything moves – even things that appear to be stationary are moving. Being able to accurately describe and analyze qualitatively common situations involving motion is one of the cornerstones of physics. This program clearly illustrates how displacement, velocity and acceleration in which an object is traveling, how far it goes, how fast it travels and whether it slows down or speeds up. In student friendly terms we examine vectors, displacement, velocity, acceleration and acceleration on Galileo’s planes. A great introduction to some fundamental physics concepts.
Subjects: Physics
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Forces, Materials and Explosions
This program explores the forces released by explosions and their impact on materials. It identifies key features of explosions: rapid gas expansion and – with high explosives – shock waves.
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Astrophysics: A Tour of the Universe
Astrophysicist Rachel Webster – a Professor at Melbourne University – reviews key aspects of our current knowledge of the Universe and other topics and concepts that excite students.
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Einstein’s Heroes: Newton, Faraday and Maxwell
Dr Robyn Arianrhod, a writer and mathematician at Monash University takes us on a remarkable journey as she traces the connections between the development of electrodynamics by Faraday and Maxwell, and Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity. Along the way, she looks at the roles both mathematics and experimentation have played in establishing these key areas of modern physics.
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Daniel Gottesman: Quantum Cryptography
Sensitive information can be valuable to others – from personal credit card numbers to state and military secrets. Throughout history, sophisticated codes have been developed in an attempt to keep important data from prying eyes. Now, new technologies are emerging based on the surprising laws of quantum physics that govern the atomic scale. These powerful techniques threaten to crack some secret codes in widespread use today and, at the same time, offer new quantum cryptographic protocols which could one day profoundly alter the way we safeguard critical information.
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John Grant: Mission To Mars
An expected 90-day robotic odyssey on Mars has stretched into a two year scientific marathon. Dr. Grant, a geologist with the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, helped pick the landing sites and works on the day-to-day operations of the Spirit and Opportunity Rovers. He shares the latest photos, explains what Martian mysteries have been uncovered and offers a look at how scientists plan to push the limits of future robots in space.
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The John Ellis/Robert Orr: The Large Hadron Collider
International researchers at the Large Hadron Collider have embarked on one of science’s greatest adventures. With its very high energy, the particle collider will explore the mysteries surrounding the smallest particles of matter. It may also pierce secrets that the universe has hidden since the early stages of the Big Bang, such as the nature of dark matter and the origin of matter itself. It is the largest scientific experiment ever attempted and the complex international efforts to bring it to life, including Canada’s involvement, are part of this presentation.
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Edward Kolb: The Quantum and The Cosmos
Long before the emergence of planets, stars, or galaxies, the universe consisted of an exploding quantum soup of “elementary” particles. Encoded in this formless, shapeless soup were the seeds of cosmic structure, which over billions of years grew into the complex universe we observe today. Prof. Kolb reveals how the connection between the “inner space” of the quantum and the “outer space” of the cosmos may hold the key to the nature of the dark matter holding our galaxy together and the mysterious dark energy pulling it apart.
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Raymond Laflamme: Harnessing the Quantum World
Is the world ready for this upgrade? The very foundation of computer science is changing. As Moore’s Law draws to a close, rules of quantum physics are taking over. Learn how leading researchers are using counterintuitive effects, such as superposition, in their quest to build ultra-powerful quantum computers. Prof. Laflamme explains how quantum particles behave, are controlled and, ultimately, can be used to calculate.
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Gerard ‘t Hooft: Science Fiction and Reality
In the recent past, rapid scientific and technological developments have had tremendous impact on human society. The personal computer, internet and mobile telephones changed the world and shrank our planet. These developments are vastly different from the forecasts by science fiction authors who promised us space travel and intelligent humanoid robots. Could scientists have done a better forecasting job? What can we say about the future now? Nature’s laws are very strict but also show gaps that might promise fantastic possibilities for a scientific future, even within our lifetime.