Stories From Science

Professor Frank Close is a theoretical physicist, award-winning science communicator and is now Emeritus Professor of Physics at Oxford University. In this podcast - the second part of a two-part interview - we discuss Frank’s life as a writer – from as the author of bestselling science books such as ‘Neutrino’ and ‘The Infinity Puzzle’ to his latest books that examine the history of the Atomic Spies. We discuss the background and content of his latest book “Trinity”, about the extraordinary life - and the secrets that still persist - about nuclear spy Klaus Fuchs.

Frank Close is a particle physicist, Emeritus Professor at Oxford University, science communicator, writer, and bestselling author of books from the Cosmic Onion and Neutrino, to histories of the atomic spies in 'Half-Life' and most recently 'Trinity: The Treachery and Pursuit of the Most Dangerous Spy in History'. He was head of communications at CERN and in 1993 gave the annual Royal Institution (RI) Christmas Lecture. Frank is also one of the founders of the ATOM Festival of Science and Technology, and in this episode - the first of two parts - I talk to Frank about the responsibilities of communicating science to the wider world, how the UK almost pulled out of CERN in the 1980s - and how to create an explosion in your bare hands.

Nightshade is a black cat, the only friend and companion of Seth Seppi, the oppressed and downtrodden kitchen boy at the remote Last Chance Hotel, owned by the nasty Bunn family. When a strange gathering of magicians arrives for dinner at the hotel, and the kindly Dr Thallomius is poisoned by Seth's special dessert, Nightshade helps Seth solve the locked-room murder investigation because Seth is the main suspect! This is Nightshade's theme, specially composed by talented young songwriter and musician Oliver Nicholls.

Our blue planet has a defensive shield, made up of layers that allow life to flourish. But our species has created a new layer - of data - using an army of satellites orbiting high above the Earth. Increasingly, this thin veneer is becoming just as critical to modern life, and we use it to navigate, communicate, maintain security and track everything from natural disasters to climate change. There are also huge business opportunities to be had from gazing down at the Earth from the High Frontier. For this episode of Stories from Science, we sat down with Philip Briscoe and Andrew Carrel of UK company Rezatec. Using science and research from areas as diverse as climate science, biosecurity, data analytics and machine learning, they transform data into something called ‘landscape intelligence’, and it's being used by a rapidly growing customer base of governments, NGOs and businesses. From protecting our forests to managing our water supply, we’ll discover just how powerful and transformative Earth Observat