all that sounds problems anyone beep
something that probably makes people of
appearing all right
am i there yes all right I'm hoping
people can hear us and if you can't I'm
sure you'll let us know very shortly my
name is Brady Haran and I make periodic
videos and sixty symbols but you don't
hear to see me no doubt you're probably
here to make some of these professors
and we have here
professor ed Copeland hello professor
Martin Polyakov hi professor Mike
Muirfield and professor Phil Moriarty
hello and I'm going to Connor I'm going
to go back to live alone on the other
side of the camera now in school now
we're hoping that you're all going to
start sending in some quests you're
we're hoping you'll start sending in
some questions but I'm also going to ask
a few on your behalf that have been sent
in earlier and I'll start off with
probably the most obvious one and I'll
ask the professor's to answer for a
minute or two perhaps from left to right
starting with ed and that is can you
tell us who you are and a little bit
about what you do and a little bit about
your research because I think a lot of
people see you in these videos and
perhaps don't know what your specialties
are and what you really do on a day to
day basis so please go ahead okay so I'm
Linda learning the physics department
and within the physics departments I run
the particle theory group and in that
group I work mainly on the early
universe trying to understand how and
the world of particle physics links in
to cosmology so I look at the primordial
fluctuations this that arise in the very
earliest moments of the universe and
then try and determine the signatures
that they would leave in things like the
Cosmic Microwave Background the remnant
radiation of the Big Bang and from that
try and constrained physics of the other
universe by using physics of the late
universe so that's why I think it's so
much fun as you set about it I'm Martyn
Poliakoff I appear on periodic videos
I'm research professor in green
chemistry that is cleaner ways of making
chemicals
materials trying to eliminate as much as
possible pollution trying to make as
much of the chemicals out of the
starting material with as little waste
as possible and the particular area that
I'm interested in is replacing solvents
and chemical reactions and I do this by
using high pressure gases either high
pressure co2 or high pressure steam
which can replace the ordinary toxic
solvents that's used in many chemical
reactions so my work is on the Border's
of chemistry and chemical engineering
hello I'm Michael Murray field I'm kind
of at the opposite end of the scale from
our tuning that I tend to deal with
things at ridiculously low pressures and
also very inefficient processes for a
research point of view I'm an astronomer
mainly interested in studying the
formation of galaxies there's lots of
ways to study in the formation of
galaxies and I kind of take the
archaeological approach to it of looking
at relatively nearby galaxies and trying
to figure out why they ended up looking
the way they are how they ended up being
put together in the way they are to try
and unravel the processes through which
these ecosystems form okay so back guess
my research interests are closer to to
Mars in that what I use nanoscience and
nanoengineering represents a convergence
of physics and chemistry when you're
working on single molecules or single
atoms it's very difficult to disentangle
whether you're actually doing physics or
chemistry some sort of mixture above and
where I'm really focused at the moment
is work in ultra-high vacuum very very
low pressure so I share that with my and
but also like five degrees above
absolute zero space and trying to
measure the forces between individual
atoms and individual molecules
particularly what we're working on at
the moment is trying to detect the force
due to hydrogen bonding manipulating
atoms by which I mean picking up or
translating more atoms very in a very
very deterministic and precise way with
computer computer control ultimately
what I'd like to do is to be able to
tell a computer I would like to build a
particular structure which is 10 atoms
wide by 10 atoms high by ten out and
Steve
atoms are different places within that
under complete computer control
Martin would look upon that as chemistry
I guess all right then thank you very
much I don't know whether many people
are listening to us as yet but I'll try
to find that out shortly it could be
having problems and I wouldn't even know
about it
another question that I've been asked a
bit about is before we talk a bit more
science a lot of people have asked about
making the videos and the videos you've
been involved in and I know it's just a
tiny fraction of what you do in your job
but a lot of people have asked has it
made much of an impact on you has it
changed your job much or has much come
about because of it so perhaps in the
same order could you tell us about your
experience of making making these videos
sure it's I love making the videos I and
yes it's had a big impact of me it
certainly changed the way I think about
explaining things
it's amazed me made me cause to try and
avoid getting too technical because I
know Brady all shout at me and then if I
try to stop using too many numbers and
equations because I know I'll get
slapped down for that one that's
actually quite useful it really makes
you think about what you're saying and
think about the science and its have a
lot of it hunts and quite a large impact
in terms of people watching them and
coming up to us after after the videos
and saying how much they've enjoyed them
so I've definitely changed the way I've
been thinking about science at least
when it comes to explaining it to the
public I think it's made a lot of
difference to me as well partly because
I have explained all sorts of things
that I would never thought about having
to describe the chemistry of the statue
of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro
or trying to think of something chemical
to say about Sydney Opera House and at
the same time it has made me meet
through the internet all sorts of people
chemists all over the world have written
to me ask me for advice and also I
suppose because of my
hair you can see I have better air than
these guys then I stopped quite a lot in
the street all over the place or on
trains and so on so I really quite
strange that people come up to me and
say I really enjoyed your videos
complete strangers and we certainly have
something in common yeah I I mean the
first thing to say is I thoroughly enjoy
doing it's challenging entertaining
interesting to try and come up with ways
to explain bits of science it also means
you know I mean with tax-funded
scientists right we're actually paid by
the taxes of the people in this country
and so you kind of feel that you
actually have some sort of obligation
not just to sit away and actually do
your research but I need to explain it
and to explain some of the excitement
about science you're doing some of the
science science that your colleagues are
doing around you and it's actually hard
to do that in a way that reaches more
than half a dozen people at once so this
is a way of really paying back some of
what we've been able to do by actually
being help explain the science we did so
it's you know it's a probably enjoyable
thing but actually something that
obligations don't work cause I suggest
that I don't enjoy doing it but it is
something that I feel I really should be
doing as well as enjoying yep totally
second that and I guess one of the
really nice aspects of from for me apart
from working with brandy even though it
does turn Liam very many occasions up
was absolutely terrible doing it again
is a fact you get emails from people in
the other side of the world who say or
you know I give an open physics I've
never thought about doing physics and
now I'm not gonna renewed interest or
students who really haven't again
considered doing physics and then email
to say that when I'm near Turing in
physics now that's that's just brilliant
and Martin's point about meeting up with
them sometimes strange people here and
there but generally hits it so it's it's
a great pleasure I was coming back not
so long ago from Dublin and somebody
came up and I have my family with me and
somebody came up and set up seen your
videos and 60 samples so I went up a few
more notches in the estimation of my
children and access to it I think the
other thing which is quite nice is that
sitting the four years since
started making these videos there'd be a
number of occasions when I had really
quite sad experiences with some of my
friends or close people close to me who
died and I made videos about them and
the sympathy from the viewers who've
watched these videos has been really
very comforting to me and so I feel that
I'm part of the global community in a
way I've never felt before
if we can go back a little bit to your
science and your research this was
another thing there were a few questions
about so I think it's worth worth asking
few more questions about it we talked
about your research a bit in the videos
but quite often you talk about things
that are away from your core research
people have asked for you to talk a bit
more are there any topics that we
haven't covered in your particular
fields so you know galaxies for my core
the particle physics for head or green
chemistry for Martin are there any areas
that we haven't covered yet in the
videos that really excite you that
they're the things you're really into at
the moment because people would like to
hear the things that really get your
juices flowing and can you tell us a bit
about that and maybe give us a preview
as to what might be in a future video
about them then you go ahead so the I
suppose the it and there are two things
at the MoMA one we have done a video on
to introduce but I think we need
probably to do a follow-up and that's
the Fab Four which and but I'll tell you
about something else rather than that
and that's I work on cosmic strings
these are may be hypothetical objects
maybe they are they're formed in the
early universe in a phase transition and
they're like the analog of dislocations
that you might get when ice freezes from
water and you get cracks in the ice or
when you you've ironed forms a solid
then you can get you can get lines in
the iron and these are fault lines and
this the analogous thing can form in the
very early universe and they're very
massive an extremely thin and and
because they're so massive they can
attract matter
on them and in particular when light
from the early universe passes by them
the light gets bent and we use a
distinctive pattern in the what's known
as the microwave background and by
searching by doing calculations based on
these strings you can then make a
prediction as to what this pattern in
the microwave background should look
like and there's a satellite out there
at the moment looking at the microwave
background looking for fluctuations in
the temperature of this background very
small fluctuations and by determining
those fluctuations you we might be able
to find the signature of these objects
and know if they're there that this is
the Planck satellite that should be
releasing its data next year and if
they're there then it will be the first
evidence of very early phase transitions
leading to these what are called
topological defects they're these
strings and you can link these strings
to string theory which is often comes
under criticism for being a theory that
never predicts anything and we actually
have a prediction as to what signature
you might find that so we're quite
excited waiting for the data to come
from Planck to see whether it shows any
evidence of these objects chemists deal
with rather more specific problems so
there's so many molecules one could make
videos for every neighbor and is always
really exciting about the particular
molecule that you're working on today
and my research group has students
working on also two different reactions
and I'd like to make videos about them
all but one of the reactions that we are
working on at the moment is reactions of
so-called singlet oxygen oxygen o2 has
somewhat surprisingly has two unpaired
electrons and this is what makes it
magnetic you can see it on our video
about oxygen but if you shine light on
oxygen in the presence of catalysts you
can cause these two electrons to pair
and then the real oxygen becomes very
much more reactive it will react in
molecules which
normally it won't react unless you keep
two very high temperature and so we're
doing a whole series of experiments on
singlet oxygen making molecules in a
cleaner way than they're being made at
the moment and I hope we'll have some
videos on that soon and the other thing
that I'm really excited about is that
we're just about to start building a new
chemistry building here at Nottingham
which is going to be completely carbon
neutral it's going to use much less
energy than ordinary chemistry labs and
could be enormously important for
chemistry labs all over the world and
we're going to tell you about it and let
you watch the project as it goes along
okay so research wise I guess the thing
that's exercising me most at the moment
and I hope to convince Brady to make a
few videos about is looking at Oh
astronomers study the spectra of
galaxies quite a lot and there's two
things you can learn from the spectra of
galaxies monies how the stars are moving
in the galaxies by the Doppler shift in
the light and the other is you can
figure out what the galaxies made of
from the strength of the various
absorption lines you see in the spectrum
it tells you which chemical elements
there are all roughly what what relative
proportions one of the things that
astronomers are both not really done
before is do both of these things at the
same time so we're actually is trying to
study both the motions of the stars and
so sort of tagging you know whether
there are some that have particular
chemical properties that may be doing
different things what others do so in
the research side that's what most
excites me the other thing that's
exercising me in terms of making a video
comes out of the comments actually from
from the one of the several of the
previous videos which is people are
getting very exercised about speed of
light and whether photons really always
travel at the speed of light or not and
I'm still kind of getting my head around
that one and talking to various
colleagues who know more about it and
idea to try and really kind of come to
grips with what it is you know weather
weather like we do waste travels at
speed alight weather if he does slow
down when you go through water or glass
or whatever so I hope to make a video
about that in the very near future yeah
I'll second that Mike as you know so in
terms of refraction and away from what
core research that's really what I've
been very much interested in making
videos bleep knows yeah
it's totally to speak later unless I
don't know why you're crossing your arms
they think you're cold
are you cold it's freezing in I tell you
you should know that in the UK
we're very energy conscious I'm always
cold and we normally wear thin splitters
yes I'm wearing a tie in your honor
yeah so in terms of research what I'd
really like to focus on again it's it's
back to us whether this chemistry is
that the current resolution with the
type of microscope I use which is called
a scanning probe microscope is far below
atomic resolution no it's single bond
resolution and some of the highest
resolution images have been acquired
recently we've got a problem and
research really on that type of high
resolution image and we touched on it
before not the producers or the sixty
symbols videos but I'd really like to
revisit back particularly cause both
minutephysics and Vsauce have discussed
you know what's the fundamental reason
you can't put your hand through the desk
and in terms of the repulsion of
electrons on highly the probably
exclusion principle that's something we
can measure directly on an atom by atom
basis and I really like to do a video on
that okay let's move away from science
for a minute tell us we're going the
same order because it seems to be
working fine at the moment and ed we've
also been asked if you can speak a bit
louder as I warned because you've got
yours you've got your lovely soft voice
and I can't get so can you tell us a bit
about your hobbies and interests away
from work and away from science well I'm
a timer sports fanatic I love cricket
and I love football for my sins I
support Hunter's field
town which is a and unknown team for
most people but they did have their
glory days in the 1930s and so it's a
labor of love and what following them
and I used to play a lot of cricket and
I now play and less less cricket because
I don't know if you're aware most you
may not be aware a cricket match and a
proper cricket match lasts five days and
the poor brady yeah
poor Brady's in morning because they
Australian got thrashed anyway I think
that's about it but that's about all a
thank you all for coming no but I even
playing for one day reserved too much
when we have a family so crickets taking
a backseat now but most of my hobbies
time is spent taking people to and from
dance that's when you have a family and
you have young girls you you dance and
know what I don't know about do play do
blaze and ballet isn't worth knowing so
that's another video we have to make
before we move away from sport because I
know when we talked to Professor
Polyakov we would definitely be moving
away from sport I must tell you all the
story everyone who's listening I'll tell
you a story an exclusive story because
you've come to the Hangout and that is
Professor Polyakov knows so little about
sport that he once walked into a room
where I was watching the Formula One
Grand Prix motor racing and he asked if
it was a game of football
I'm not in the least bit interested in
sport I'm ashamed to say I didn't watch
any of the Olympic Games and so if you
wish to ask discuss sport you must ask
my colleagues I would say that to some
extent making the videos of my hobby and
I also I read quite a lot I don't watch
much television I go to the cinema but I
quite often get bored and go outside and
work well my wife watches the rest of
the film and I also enjoy speaking
foreign languages and one person asked a
bit earlier today with I speak spoke
Russian and for him I should just say
yoga rebuttal skin.look civilian unique
thorny plain note that the nobility of
funghi ski so just saying I have to
speak English okay I'm afraid you're
back with a small little bit here I used
to be a Keynes once when he's playing
gold from not terribly good far side
football team until I say soccer
American area with the other side soccer
yeah so I think the serious damage to
the ligaments in my wrist at some point
which ended up not terribly promising
career so I'm now more in the spectator
mode so I do enjoy watching Formula One
races and focus for general I like going
watching the touring cars preferably in
person and watch Nottingham Forest by
once in a while so variety sports as
with aid I have a young child who is
very very keen on swimming so I spend a
truly scary amount of time very into it
from swimming events in terms of other
things variety of hobbies of one kind or
another and I also feel obliged to
mention that I do run a little business
making the world's most beautiful
Christmas presents Christmas babe just
around on the table at this point which
is basically making little glass cubes
that contain various kind of
astronomical objects in them and
although it's a business I do it because
I enjoy doing it and everything
asteroids into a small kid always you
have to shrink it a lot so we've got
variety of things in cube so they know a
variety bits of pieces but mainly
trading around not my nine year old I'd
say 19.99 two posters Parker and
wonderful Christmas person to play yes
so I'm sorry not into sport I share
Morton's I've owned same version no I
would say a version just for my some
very unhappy memories of secondary
school and beating people into various
things like so I three children a man
said and Mike had said I spend a lot of
time taking them to the Arnold swimming
to Bali lots of Bali and a lot more you
see and yeah so my key activity outside
of work is music and particularly heavy
metal death metal thrash metal whatever
version of metal you like how hard rock
etc I know increasingly getting more
time appointments to actually pick up
the guitar and play it but you've pretty
made a couple of videos for nullifier
what's the difference between death
metal and thrash metal that's a very
good question so I saw with delegator
yeah exactly yes so death metal
and I'll shoot really of trash metal I
would say thrash metal is it's like a
mixture of punk and having metal death
metal takes the more darker and satanic
and it's has lots more slower riffs I
would say to mix what makes you sort of
slow G stop at very fast rate I'll have
to ask one more music question because
we have got a lot of requests feel about
this and I want to get off the topic as
soon as possible so we might as well
consolidate it all into one question and
people have asked if you could tell us
any more about how you enjoyed the
experience of making the golden ratio
heavy metal song and I've also asked if
you have any plans for other songs
involving any numbers be they irrational
or otherwise I thought was so much fun
working with dear friend on that it's we
bought a grid which really cleared off
each other quite well I would say we
were bouncing e-mails back and forth
getting very excited if I would do it
this we can introduce this I wanted to
have at least a 19-minute long
progressive metal ethic fear didn't want
to have that which is river I think
I've exhausted the musical side of
things but now maybe I'll come back to
achieve really wooden George Lemaitre on
the future but for now I think with the
more relaxed piano piece Mossadegh piano
piece from a few weeks ago I'll call it
a day for but no I think there were more
things planned with there are there's a
there's a very special musical piece
coming for periodic videos which is
chemistry based with day but we'll keep
that a secret for a bit longer but
that's going to be really cool one other
thing oh it's just a little bit more
music yeah right go on then hopefully
what we'll do in the future might be to
listen to the music form by two items we
will well we'll do that we've had some a
lot of people who watch these videos
obviously have an interest in science
and some of them are an age where they
haven't yet started their career and
they're considering science and some
people have asked a little bit about
what their job prospects are like in the
four fields that you work in and some
people have expressed you know are they
just limited to working at university
not there's anything wrong with working
in the university but is that is that
the limit of what they could
is this a good time to be getting into
particle physics or chemistry or
astronomy or nanoscience could you just
give us a little rundown of how things
are placed in your field and why they
should or shouldn't be pursuing a career
in these areas well I think I would say
usually you should learn to speak loudly
and then you look you'll be amazed what
I would say if you enjoy science do
science just do it because you enjoy
that has to be the main reason and then
everything else will flow from it I
think your enthusiasm will get you
through then too many it'll open up many
doors there are there are many ways you
can develop a physics background you
cannot you can go into research like we
we have done and all of the disciplines
that we're involved in a well supported
throughout well they're all
international areas that are that are
well funded but you don't have to stay
in university research there are lots of
fantastic positions in cutting
consultancy companies in major
industrial of shoots even locally that
are closest like Rolls Royce that you
know local company which has got an
international reputation I think a
science background is just ideal if you
want to so try and guarantee yourself a
job in this climate but if I'm
fascinated by string theory and particle
physics in the areas that you work in
and I will get you to lean slightly
closer to Martin so you're in the shot a
bit better the if I'm interested in that
I thought I'm not going to get a job at
rolls-royce because I know a lot about
string theory surely the only job I can
do is like what you do know and because
it's not just the I mean you you apply
it to string theory of course you apply
your your expertise to that but what
you're actually solving are equations
right of them but what we're all doing
at some level is solving equations and
then using the solutions to represent
something in this case string theory in
Mike's case understanding the dynamics
of galaxy formation but they're
basically solving differ
Rachele equations and that ability to to
take a problem from the start and follow
it through and solve it is what an
employers looking for they're not
looking for someone who can particularly
you know the fact that they've applied
it to string theory shouldn't hold them
back if it does then by making they're
losing some really good talent that they
could pick up that depresses me a little
bit to hear that to hear that you who's
doing what you do and mike who does what
he does are just doing the same thing
you're just solving the same equations
that makes no no no the same equations
and they're not the same but this it's
the same idea mathematics is the
language of physics and in many ways the
language of chemistry like that an
ability to understand raise a reaction
that use of mathematics that's the tool
that I'm saying we've all learned to
develop and it's that and our ability to
apply it to different situations which I
think an employer would find particular
use before we let the physicists have
another go man you tell us why we should
all become chemists well I think that
chemistry is actually a very exciting
time to be a chemist in some time ways
more exciting than when I started
because there are all sorts of new
opportunities and new challenges and the
biggest challenge is that the world has
such a huge population already 7 billion
people and it's increasing quite rapidly
it's increased by nearly a factor of 3
during my lifetime and we need to have
new ways of making the chemicals that
everybody needs and if we don't they
just won't have the basic necessities of
life that we need at the moment and I
think this is a fantastic challenge and
there are a huge range of jobs that
chemists can do beginning at one end be
teaching at the university or at schools
going right the way up into all sorts of
areas companies that make concrete
employ chemists railways employed
chemists to look at the oils that you
need to use for lubrication all sorts of
things so you can find jobs almost
anywhere
chemist you can also find jobs making
hair conditioning care conditioner to
answer questions that several review
posed before hand no I don't use hair
cut so okay um I mean I echo everything
that's been said particularly the reason
the fundamental reason to do science is
because you and that's really the reason
to go for it I don't want to be the
person who injects the air of do move
gloom into this but if you pick an area
as useless isn't quite a word up but you
want to look for
but as abstract as astronomy or particle
physics you've got to go into it with
your eyes open like the wrong huge
industries based around particle physics
or astronomy and so in those particular
areas the chances are you will end up
going down the route that edges out line
that you your study the subject because
you love it you'll require these skills
studying something you love studying but
what you were then ultimately apply to
could be anything I mean a big employ of
physics graduates for example is in
financial modelling choosing something
you directly associate with physics at
all but it means this having that
ability to manipulate equations and so
on but as a section one you know if you
really committed actually you know I
really want to be an astronomer it's
what I really want to do by all means go
for it but go for it with your eyes open
and the simple thing to think about is
you know over the course of my career
I'll probably supervised about twenty
PhD students there'll be the people who
will be in a position to take my job
when I retire and so if you think just
incredible terms odds terms that means
that you're competing against nineteen
other people for my job and so you know
as I say by all means go for it because
you love it because it's going to help
you out in your future life and because
it's something you really want to find
out about but do it realistically
keeping in mind that actually you don't
want to be thinking is accident you want
the only thing I could do with my life
because actually call it because it's a
you know you may well not be the lucky
one who gets that job but also because
you're throwing away all these are
possibilities which will also lead to
exciting careers and allow you to apply
those skills
oh yeah thank you my throat in checking
that nor the realism again enthusiasm
passion for the subject are absolutely
key but now tied okay everyone wants you
to put all be louder okay let me pause
for it
so there was an article in something
called physics world a few months ago
which talked about after PhD what the
students do and this is right across the
board in terms of physics some of this
might be true also depending which area
chemistry you do and so and one of the
surveys in that article was they asked
PhD students in physics in the US what
did they want to do after they finish
the PhD fifty percent said they wanted
to get into academia the next most
popular answer was I don't know and when
you look over the last couple of decades
of how many of them actually make it
into academia my statistic of one in
twenty is pretty pretty one there it's
about four to five percent so but on the
other hand as there has also said you
just have a wide range of options so I
thought I'm organizing great I can get a
plug in I'm organized something called
so you have a PhD in nanoscience what
now next law it's actually this day week
in London and I'm getting lots of people
from different disciplines you've got a
PhD in nanoscience or physics or
chemistry and asking them to tell
students and postdocs about research
trajectory we've got people from the
publishing industry from teaching from
NGOs from various charities from
industry of course from research right
across the board from the city so those
careers are right there it's just
exceptionally challenging as mike has
said to really get into that academic
professorial half note which is them I
think quite guilty because it wasn't
quite as difficult when I started 15
years ago I don't want to get too bogged
down on this on this topic but there is
one more question that's come up a lot
and I think it's worth asking and
perhaps this is one I should ask in the
first instance to Mike because of a
position I know he has and then to
Martin because of the chemistry
perspective and that is a lot of people
have been in touch on the forums and
whatnot because they don't because
they're not in the UK they're wondering
what their chances are of getting to
study at will they've asked about the
University of Nottingham for obvious
reasons so I guess they mean UK
universities but let's stick with
Nottingham and Vee parochial can people
who aren't in the UK easily come here
and study here
easily is probably putting it too
strongly I mean so I'm the reason on
called on to answer this is I'm actually
the undergraduate admissions tutor for
physics I kind of deal with all the
applications and so on every year we get
a fair number of applications from the
from students apply out loud as I can
applications from outside the UK every
year we take a number of students both
from within the U and actually from more
broadly across the world the probably
the main issue is in terms of the way
the UK school system work people kind of
specialized by early on which means
their last two years of high school
they've really been studying just maths
and science if they're going to go on to
do a science degree and typically
particularly people from the US for
example tend to have done a more
broad-based a high school education and
that means there's a bit of a mismatch
and so really our advice is to do what
you can to get those slightly higher
level qualifications in the maths and
the physics and in the gain in the u.s.
context that means taking a piece taking
advanced placements where you can just
to kind of match yourself more so that
you don't have that huge mismatch
between the kind of thing that the UK
students know who are coming in here and
students from abroad so there are ways
to do it but you the issue tends to be
one of how do you match where you've got
to to what the expectations of a pretty
- diversity are every year people
succeed in doing it and I guess the open
you know the other piece of advice is if
you if you do want more information or
advice get in touch with someone like me
or admissions tutors from other
universities because we have a lot of
experience from students from all around
the world and we can tell you about the
particular qualifications available to
you wherever you are
professor Polyakov so I think one seven
mag said applies also to chemistry and
though the qualification issues are
slightly different and in general it is
quite possible from students from all
over the world to come to Nottingham and
we have students from nearly every
country studying on this campus and of
course we also have campuses in both
China and Malaysia where you can study
quite a few subjects but at the moment
not science subjects and I think the
thing to do is if you're interested in
coming to study at Nottingham send
people in the email
and we will pass it on to the admissions
department and they will answer your
question how your qualifications match
up and so on but generally we really
keen to get the best possible students
working here at Nottingham and it would
be great to see some of you given your
enthusiasm for science that we've seen
through your comments the people
watching this video obviously that one
of the main ways that they're able to
interact with you when you're in the
videos is through the comment section
under the videos I was wondering if you
could shed some light in the usual order
perhaps to what extent do you read these
comments and questions or engage with
them I think people would be interested
to know whether or not they're talking
to a brick wall
I can tell them they're not talking to a
brick wall because I read all the
comments but I'm sure they'd be more
interested to know whether or not you
guys are interested in the comments that
go under YouTube videos could perhaps
each of you shave you on that I am
interested and I must admit I'm rubbish
and actually addressing them I don't
tend to reply
whereas I know Martin I think Martin
does and them and Phillip certainly does
um and I don't really have a reason why
I don't I do read them all and I find
them fascinating and then I usually
enjoy what's being said that and once or
twice I've ended up just bursting out
laughing when I was at one said I'd and
I've got a piece of advice for the first
speaker on the video and that was me and
he said if you get your two back teeth
moves then it will leave room for the
front teeth to realign and so I see you
know though that the code the comments
range in all sorts and occasionally I
get a bit nervous if I started there
answering that I'll end up in a big
discussion that could just go nowhere
and so I tend not to but I do find them
I do enjoy reading them I read most of
the comments and they've been son for
example in Japanese that they couldn't
read but in general they read them I
used to answer them quite a lot for the
moment I've forgotten my youtube
password
I can't so I rather got to login again
under a different name or press this
thing forgotten your password but your
comments are really important to us
because otherwise we have no feedback
when you what you like what you don't
like and what more things you want to
explain so please keep on commenting and
if anything comment more than you are
now because it's really good and it's
particularly good when discussions start
between different people to one person
trying to explain something to something
else and I think this is because the
real strength of our videos and if you
look at them the number of comments has
really increased over time to begin with
we got quite excited if we've got 30 or
40 comments now we get disappointed if
we don't have 30 or 4 comments in the
first hour so I use not to read them for
the reason that I use not to watch the
videos because I used I hate seeing
myself on video so much that for many
many years calm down so many years but
something for the first year or
thereabout I'm loud enough for a person
yeah for about the first year I didn't
really didn't look at the comments
because I require me to watch the videos
well I probably heard I could've avoided
but anyway so now I am under protest
willing to watch the videos which means
it's easier to read the comments now and
I do read the comments probably for the
exactly the reason that Martin says that
is the way we get the feedback as the
world what's working what's not working
what we explain well but actually also
because I find it's a really good place
to when I'm thinking well what can we
make a video about next go looking at
the comments and seeing what's got
people confused or arguing about points
just makes me start thinking so this
whole thing about the speed of light for
example will come out of there it's
comment to the YouTube videos and the
extensive discussion of it so I like
using them to find out what we might
want to make a video about next as well
right Lag um so yeah I do read the
comments and as Brady knows I get stuck
in occasionally and answer some of those
comments I find out quite relaxing
because there's nothing I like more time
as maid knows that a good solid
achievement but yeah the great thing
about the Commons is well - like the
comments and student questionnaires
after lectures that they can tell you
you know what you're doing right what
you're doing wrong you can try ni
enacted the edges one thing I can never
iron out as I just cannot stop stand
still on doing these videos and I guess
one of them was one of my favorite
comments was under that golden ratio
song wearing big block capitals is what
hell is this this is horrible
unsubscribe so you know that's that's a
good solid reaction I would you like to
see so you know give an influence
somebody that so that extent would in
disgust they want to subscribe and do
something right just to clarify we don't
want we don't like it when you
unsubscribe we prefer when you are
subscribed just say lots of comments
saying girl she stands a shaky I hope
he's not ill so I would like to say that
my hands have always shaken since I was
quite young and I'm not ill but I'm
really pleased with your concern but
there's no need to that you can comment
about the science rather than my shaking
hands on that point yes I am Sherlock
Holmes our generation we did get a few
questions about that feel how often we
were specifically asked how often do you
get the Sherlock Holmes thing it's
remarkable so on YouTube quite a lot but
what was very interesting is ten years
ago students your Novotny students you
didn't pick up on it at all and then
suddenly Holmes came back into vogue
basically and now I get it quite a lot
yeah diabolical tendencies of the most
hereditary kinda thinkers I mean we also
have a professor snape at this
university but we won't discuss him
today
from there the I wasn't going to ask
this question but I think maybe I should
know after a little bit of the banter
that that last question and someone
asked who would win a fight between you
for physical
would you
who know who would win a fight in
twinkles away we've got Martin
outnumbered here but they can see I can
cause explosions but physicists can't
unless its nuclear yeah and another
question a more silly question that was
asked but I'm always fascinated to hear
the answer is if you could have a
superpower what superpower would you
like to have we'll start with you Ed I
know I know you know you had this look
on your face that you didn't want to be
asked first but I have to stick with the
tradition assume I'd like to be able to
fly fly but there has to be a benefit to
going Bert I was asked this question
when I was a child and the answer I get
gave was that I wished I could leave any
food without complaining and I've almost
got to that stage so you're almost a
superhero I don't understand sausages I
think I'm gonna have to go with the
flying as well actually I'm afraid to be
very unoriginal about it I mean you know
wonder why you watch a bird just hanging
up there in the sky
so not you know not flying around a
light beam or anything but just hanging
there in the sky an ability to creep
back in the house four o'clock in the
morning but overwork and my Martin wife
after I've been in the love you've been
envelope okay the ability to move more
quietly another question this is a
question from me how we going to time
we're doing this is a question that I
just find curious and I'd like to hear
what each of you say about it
you all have lived long enough to have
seen advances in your fields and that
must be an exciting thing when you think
about what was known when when you were
students and now you look at what you
know now to what extent does it
frustrate you or not frustrate you that
you won't know about the future advances
those advances that are going to happen
in 70 or 80 years beyond your beyond
your range of mortality does that does
that something you're comfortable with
or does it eat you up inside I think
that's partly because we've we've
I think we've all joined into the club
of science which is you know it
progresses it just vouchers forward and
well of course it has its own pickup
here and there but we're all trying to
learn off from previous knowledge and
extend it and given that the fact that
we're not going to know what you know
seventies well yeah no probably not
seventy years but ahead no it doesn't
doesn't bother me too much it doesn't I
have a little story this might might
sort of links to this and in in in a
sensor one of the first talks I heard
when I was a graduate student at
Newcastle was from the Nobel Prize
winner
he won it and what I've forgotten his
name the chemist and not working as the
physicist from and so Neville not that's
so he was the eldest person to get the
Nobel Prize for Physics for work done
when he was in his 60s I think and so we
asked him a question he talked about the
time yet he asked Paul Dirac if he would
teach him quantum mechanics because he
was old enough to know Paul Dirac and
Calder I just said no and walked out and
so he had to teach himself quantum
mechanics and then we said to him do you
think the problems that you were dealing
with are more difficult than the
problems we are facing and as a PhD
students and he said no they were far
easier
he says the problems just get harder and
harder and harder and so that that is
the nature of the subject they be the
easiest stuff gets done before the
harder stuff but it still needs the
wonderful breakthroughs but so that I as
a Newton guy he was just picking all the
low-hanging fruit what is GCSE results
with professor Polyakov so I disagree I
think that the question of the problems
are always the same degree of difficulty
but they're different I don't think I
would be disappointed to know what's
going to happen in the future I'd be
quite excited to know what's going to
happen next week let alone what's going
to have but I think certainly by far the
most exciting development
from my point of view in science in my
lifetime has been the fact that people
can image atoms when I was young we were
told you could never see atoms they were
going to be visible and then using
various scanning microscopy the sort of
thing that filled us routinely you can
now see the individual atoms in a way
that nobody would have been thought
possible and it's been really quite
exciting to see that molecules have the
shapes that people or those molecules
that we imaged have shapes that people
said they had and it's been quite a
reassuring confirmation of what we know
and I'm sure they're going to be similar
breakthroughs in the future that we
can't imagine and that's what makes
sense exciting you know I don't I mean I
sort of the implication in this is that
the level of frustration would go down
if I just had that next bit right but I
have a feeling that that next bit is
just going to raise many more questions
and then double you know and so when
you're making your videos in 50 years
time you can be asking exactly the same
question and in fact you know although
scientists keep going on about a theory
of everything and you know the end of
science will figure it all out I think
we don't because it would mean that the
subject today it means we've done
movement stuff and we've reached the end
of the line and I honestly don't think
that's the way it's going to work out
but actually there are always deeper
questions to ask and so I suspect you
know at any point in history you could
ask the question you just ask them and
we will just get our bit of it you get
to see the 40-year span of science
I like that suspect 140 years a fan of
science it's probably pretty much as
exciting as another 40 as many sites I'm
backing with a with a lotta my god yeah
I'm going to be really disappointed I
think not to know before I die
the problem or the solution of the
problem that's at the heart of quantum
mechanics which is what really is a
wavefunction entanglement if you take
two particles and you mix them up
together in the States and want one and
universal you end of you because you
make a measurement on this one
sorry Brady this one responds
instantaneous at hold that the whole
issue of entanglement I think is for me
this one of the central problems along
with what they had dark matter and dark
energy is and you know that the
we'd be very very arrogant to think that
it's just a question of darting eyes and
closing teasers a vast amount left to be
done
so yeah I'd love to be around when it's
not such a grand unified theory but an
understanding really of the essence of
quantum mechanics that's what I'm really
looking forward to I'm hopefully I'll be
around you see I'll ask a final a final
question that is quite similar to what
Phil was just saying but it's a question
a few people asked and I think it's a
good way to perhaps end and that is in
your specific fields not being too
general but in your specific fields what
is the discovery or the kind of the Holy
Grail or the Eureka moment that's
feasible kind of in in your professional
lifetime that you're really excited
about hearing or seeing or happening if
for me there's a possibility that the
Planck satellites or maybe one of the
gravitational wave detectors will see
direct evidence of gravitational waves
of which you can best based on that you
can then say something quite fundamental
about the theories of the early universe
in particular the theories that describe
things like the inflationary universe
how structures emerged from the initial
seeds and that direct detection of the
the what's known as the ten symbols and
is feasible and it all depends upon the
underlying theory if the underlying
theory is good to no good to us then it
will detect something and we'll know
next year and if it's not if it's
decided the ten Samar's are going to be
so small we're not going to see them
then sadly it's going to be out of reach
so that is something that if they're
seen it will have a major impact on this
subject so I think in chemistry the real
challenge is to design molecules that
have particular properties before you
make them chemists now can make
molecules of particular shapes
without any difficulty gives me an
excuse to show my model give it to
squeak because the physicists like such
toys but but what we can't do at the
moment is to say I want to make a
molecule that has this particular
properties we have to make the molecule
which we hope will have the right
properties and then perhaps measure the
things and tweak the stretch a bit till
we get the right shape it's a bit like
hacking when you're making computer
programs but what would be a real trend
and I think will be possible as
computers become more powerful when we
understand how molecules interact with
each other will be to predict that if we
want these properties we need to make
that molecule and then the chemists can
actually make it and all being well if
you're not quite there the first time
you'll be pretty close so I guess I I
probably go back to something that Ed
was talking about which is gravitational
waves button used in a different mode
which is in principle they give a
completely new way of looking at
astrophysics going on in the universe so
merging black holes exploding stars all
those kinds of things will give out a
gravitational wave signature and so if
we can start detecting gravitational
waves then we have a whole new way of
looking at universe so it's not like you
know we've got this far into the
ultraviolet in terms of the radiation
were looking at we can push a little bit
further look at a slightly different way
back this is a completely new way of
looking at the universe and so if that
happens that to me would be a very
exciting thing now the caveat goes with
that is I've been going to science talks
for about 30 years now and including
talks on gravitational waves and
throughout that entire 30 years they've
been saying and within the next 10 years
we will detect these gravitational waves
and in fact just a few weeks ago there
was a talk here I went to where somebody
stood up and said I'm within the next 10
years
so maybe we're closer to detecting them
now it's a fiendishly difficult thing to
do so it's not surprising that it's sort
of its defeated as so far but if we can
just open up that whole new frontier of
studying gravitational waves we'll learn
about the universe at home anyway yeah
maybe I should have been a chemist
because what Martin said really
resonated very
with me except the way I really like the
idea of function driving your oven you
want to pick a particular function and
what you want to get your molecular
system or your a nanostructure system on
it give you that function there are
things called genetic algorithms or
evolutionary strategies where you try to
basically get nature to evolve to a
particular solution and I think there
are we're certainly over the next twenty
to thirty years where this would become
more and more important in chemistry you
dine in a property you have different
fields that you apply or you mix your
reactants accordingly you let the
computer or do the detection for you and
you automate the process and then if
that couples back into my particular
field I really really buy retirement and
to go full circle to something I said
right at the start by overtime and I'd
like to be in a position where I can
tell a computer to build a particular
nanoparticle so many out and say up to a
hundred atoms to put each one of those
atoms in place and some places of
silicon some places are born some places
of germanium and to do that without any
human operator involvement at all that's
really by retirement what I'd like to
upon please and you also want a video
journalist that would do that as well so
you don't have to be interviewed by me
but yeah that would be great yeah which
is quite current because the LHC of
course is up and running and I think one
of the one of the hopes that many of us
who work on sort of the early universe
have is that the LHC might see something
not just the Higgs but something
completely different you know that's
evidence for example of extra dimensions
appearing in new particles evidence of
black holes forming and evaporating
really quickly and sort of which is
again seen as evidence of extra
dimensions with very particular shapes
and if it could if any of that could
turn it and that would be phenomenal
well guys we've pretty much run out of
time so if you want to quickly perhaps
each you can say a goodbye say goodbye
and think thank you everyone for
watching I'll let the guys say goodbye
and then they're telling you they've all
got families will ever to go pick up
their kids and take them to ballet and
swimming and things like that so it's
about time for us to finish up so I just
like to say thank you very much all the
support you've offered to all of our
videos and to Brady as well
we appreciate it thank you so I like
thank you as well you've heard that we
read read your comments so now's your
opportunity to put lots of comments on
to this video and let us tell let let us
know whether you really enjoy this
whether we should do it again or whether
it's been a complete disaster and you
rather watch our proper videos so let us
know what you think so just add my
thanks as well and and just say all that
I shall really enjoy doing this and so I
hope you enjoyed you too so that we have
any excuse to do it again
yeah like Dec or what everybody else
said this has been a vast amount of fun
thank you ma'am
so yeah let's hope you enjoyed it as
well and hopefully we spoke lively
enough for most of it thanks everyone
that's it from us bye-bye now