Physics World Weekly Podcast

This episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast looks at how geoscientists and musicians interpret the soundscapes of the oceans in terms of both science and art.

Our first guest is geophysicist Rob Abbott of Sandia National Laboratory in the US. Earlier this year, he led an expedition to the arctic coast of Alaska’s North Slope where they used an undersea optical-fibre cable to listen to rumblings under the sea ice. He talks about detecting icequakes and possibly the icebreaking activities of a whale, as well the challenges of working in temperatures below -40 °C.

Next up is the geoscientist Rónadh Cox and the percussionist Cormac Byrne who share a love of Ireland’s rugged west coast and the bodhrán – a handheld drum associated with Irish folk music. Cox, who is at Williams College in Massachusetts, describes how huge Atlantic waves shape the Irish coastline – often shifting giant boulders. Byrne explains how he teamed up with Cox and musician Rónán Ó Snodaigh to create music inspired by ocean waves – which he performs for us on the bodhrán.

• Cox and Byrne were interviewed by Physics World’s James Dacey, who has also written a blog about their collaboration: “Stormy rhythms: creating music from the giant waves that shape our coasts”.

This episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast features an in-depth interview with the engineer and pilot Maya Ghazal, who fled from the war in Syria and arrived in the UK in 2016. Despite facing prejudice when she first tried to resume her education, Ghazal gained a degree in aviation engineering and pilot studies and is now a graduate research engineer at the UK’s Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry. There, she works on aeronautics for space in support of the UK’s national space strategy.

Ghazal is a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency). She speaks to science journalist Anna Demming about her journey from war-torn Damascus to the UK, how she overcame barriers faced by refugees and how she found an unexpected passion for all things aeronautical.

In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast, we meet Hannah Coleman, Ryan Hill and Matt Brookes of the UK’s University of Nottingham, who talk about a new way of scanning the brain using quantum devices called optically pumped magnetometers. A key feature of the technique is that it allows magneto-encephalography to be used to study the brains of children, which had not been possible using other technologies.

We also hear from Adam Soule, an undersea expert at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the US. Soule talks to Physics World’s James Dacey about doing science in the Alvin submersible vehicle, which is currently be refurbished to allow it to reach the astonishing depth of 6.5 km.

Finally, my colleague Margaret Harris joins me for a chat about some of the unexpected consequences of the recent cold snap in Texas.

Do quantum effects such as entanglement and coherence play a role in consciousness? In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast, Betony Adams of the Center for Quantum Technology at South Africa’s University of KwaZulu-Natal talks about recent developments in the burgeoning and contentious field of quantum biophysics.

Also in this week’s podcast is Giacomo Indiveri, who is professor at the Institute of Neuroinformatics at the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich and editor-in-chief of the new journal Neuromorphic Computing and Engineering. Indiveri explains how researchers are developing new neuromorphic technologies that mimic how information is processed by the nervous system. He also talks about his own research on developing neuromorphic cognitive systems using very large scale integrated circuits and chats about the scope and aims of the new journal.

In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast we look at the science of three very different types of materials.

First we hear from Vanessa Hearnden , Julian Dean and Stephen Birch of the University of Sheffield, who have sent caramel wafers to prospective students interested in studying materials science and engineering. Before they eat them, the students perform a series of experiments on the wafers. The Sheffield trio explain what is learned and how the exercise has encouraged students to study in their department.

Next up is the chemist Emily Draper, who develops and characterizes self-assembled materials at the University of Glasgow. Draper has won the BTM Willis Prize for her innovative use of small angle neutron scattering to study supramolecular materials. She talks about her research and what it is like to use large science facilities such as the Institut Laue Langevin in France and the UK’s ISIS Neutron and Muon Source.

Finally, Physics World’s James Dacey is on hand to talk about an environmentally friendly acoustic material that is made from wood.

• You can read more about the University of Sheffield wafer-snapping experiment in the paper “Bending bad—testing caramel wafer bars” which is free to read in Physics Education.