Technically Speaking | a science and engineering discussion

Recent news has reported that the sale of collagen supplements is making a huge contribution to deforestation. Antonia, Ellie and Laura talk about what collagen is, why we need it, how our bodies make it and whether supplements can help. They also dive into the news articles that link this beauty product to deforestation and question just how big the link is.

Nuclear waste is hugely important for society; the UK has used nuclear power for decades and now we need to safely and responsibly dispose of the waste. Laura talks to Penny Harvey and Petra Tjitske Kalshoven , two anthropologists at the University of Manchester and part of The BEAM research network . They discuss how nuclear waste can be locked away deep underground in a specially engineered faci...

You may not realise it but scientists are just as creative as artists. Laura is joined by Tamas Zagyva, a research associate at Imperial College London , and Bridget Kennedy , an artist and lecturer in fine art at Newcastle University, to talk about how they find inspiration, what sort of emotions their work evokes, and what sort of skills are required in their respective disciplines. Heart of Gla...

Vitrification – the process of making glass – is used to immobilise nuclear waste and also happens naturally in the earth. Laura talks to Tracey Taylor from the UK’s National Nuclear Laboratory about the glass making process and to Brian O’Driscoll , a geologist from the University of Ottawa in Canada, about natural glass and why researching this material is so important. Heart of Glass is an exhi...

We're part of an exhibition where science becomes art! Heart of Glass is an exhibition at Florence Arts Centre in Egremont, West Cumbria, UK. The exhibition is on 24th March to 30th June and features images taken at a microscopic scale of nuclear waste glass. The exhibition is supported by The University of Manchester and involves The BEAM nuclear and social research network .

It may not be a very well-known discipline but materials science is really important. Laura, Jasmin and Emma discuss how graphene is made, what makes it a wonder material, what it can be used for and how it can contribute to making environmentally friendly products. They also talk about a much more mature material which influenced the second industrial revolution: steel. This alloy might be old te...

There’s a technology boom (!) and loads of buzzwords surround it including I4.0, big data, and digital twin. Laura and Antonia are joined by special guest Matt, from the Nuclear Institute, to talk about what these things really mean and to try and define them. They also talk about how the nuclear industry is starting to embrace these new technologies, ushering a renaissance of nuclear power that b...

To mark our 50th episode we're revisiting the topic of our first ever episode with a fresh perspective. Laura, Antonia, Rwayda and Jasmin talk about how much the climate will change, how we can have confidence in the climate models, and what civil engineers must do to adapt infrastrucutre like roads and buildings to minimise future risks from the changed climate. They also discuss the perception o...

Loads of alternatives to meat are appearing but what's in them and how are they made? Laura, Ellie and Jasmin discuss their preferences, look at how minced beef is made, compare nutritional factors and speculate on what the future might hold. They also ask existential questions like what is meat anyway and when is a sausage not a sausage? Laura did way more research than the team could include in...

Ever wondered what it’s like to work on a documentary? Antonia asks Ellie and Laura about their experiences of working on TV or as a consultant science communicator. They talk about how they got into science communication, what their role was on the various shows they’ve worked on, and how you tell a compelling story.

Some power stations in the UK that originally burned coal have switched to burning wood pellets. These are usually imported and of course, cutting down forests can lead to loss of habitat. Laura, Antonia and Jasmin discuss greenhouse gas emissions from burning wood and coal, talk about responsible forest management, and discuss how important biomass is for the UK's electricity supply. These discus...

The TIGRR lab in Melbourne has recently announced plans to use genetic material from an extinct animal – the thylacine or Tasmanian tiger – to bring this species back while some crime fighting organisations are investing in genetic technology that could bring back the woolly mammoth. Weird right? Antonia, Ellie and Laura discuss extinction, climate change, and habitat loss while also debating whet...

In the last episode Antonia mentioned that some champions of sustainability have been awarded the Nobel Prize. The team got a bit distracted by this so here's the raw, unedited snippet of the conversation that didn't make the final cut for the episode.

It's possibly the most well known prize that a scientist can be awarded! Ellie, Laura, Antonia and Emma disucss how the nominations and awards are made, what the award means and how science has changed since the first Nobel Prizes were awarded over 100 years ago. They also talk about some of their favorite Nobel Prize wining discoveries and whether they would give out extra awards in the future. T...

We see it a lot in films where someone's life splits into two timelines and it features in the Marvel universe, but is the mutiverse real? Laura and Emma T. talk about quantum physics and the various theories that predict the multiverse as well as discussing practical applications of concepts related to physics such as finding probabilities and quantum entanglement. They also talk about some of th...

At least twenty volcanoes are erupting as you read this but for many, it's not something we often think about. Laura, Antonia and Ellie discuss animals that live near volcanoes, what you would need to know to predict a volcanic eruption, how likely one is to erupt and whether we'd like to live near one. Just how does the galapagos land iguana sense that their volcano is about to blow?

There are loads of things that we eat and drink that can be harmful if you have too much, and lots of ways that plants and animals protect themselves using toxins. Laura, Ellie and Priyanka discuss venomous snakes, and how they differ to poisonous creatures, and talk about what exactly happens in our bodies. What’s the difference between a neurotoxin and chemotherapy? Are apple pips really poisono...

Trends show that an increasing number of people would prefer to drive cars with an automatic gear box. Is that because they're better to drive or because everyone will be driving electric cars which don't tend to need to change gears? Laura, Rwayda and Antonia discuss current advances in car technology, share their own experience of driving, and speculate about what the future might hold. Will we...

You hear a lot about it, but what is cryptocurrency, how do you get hold of it and what's it useful for? Laura finds out from Aneeqa and Jennifer what things like blockchain and mining bitcoin are about and how you can own a non-fungible token (NFT). They also discuss whether this decentralised currency is sustainable or if its all really a pyramid scheme. Read more about this in Laura's article .

Ever thought about changing your career path? Are you just starting your career journey? Wondering what the difference is between science and engineering? Antonia, Rwayda and Ellie talk about their careers in these different disciplines, how they got started and whether they've changed their mind about what they want to do. They share the highs and lows of exam results days and how they recovered...

With the expense of the James Webb Space Telescope and the ever worrying climate emergency, we're wondering what the benefit of space travel and space exploration is. Ellie, Antonia, Laura and Emma discuss this from the point of view of climate science, discovery, collaboration, what inspired us to become scientists, and space tourism. We talk about what the future might hold. What would you do if...

We're finding out more about the natural world all the time! Laura, Ellie and Aneeqa are joined by Katya from Drunk on Porpoise to talk about hunting strategies used by animals, how zoologists have discovered these strategies, and how we could use this knowledge to engineer a better world. 

A stripped down version of our episode 'what is sustainability?' that provides a clear explanation of the topic without any of the distractions.

Our research for the episode on a house that stores electricity involved some kinda weird-yet-strangely-compelling conversation and we've pulled the best bits together! Antonia and Chris discuss many reasons why a cement-based battery is safe to handle, review research into wearable devices and energy harvesting, and question what the future might hold.

A recent discovery got the team speculating about the future. Laura, Antonia and Rwayda take a look at research where cement is made to store electricity and wonder whether this material could be used to build our future homes. How much electricity can it store and what can it power? Is there a futuristic way of using that power without the need for cables? What's next for this laboratory discover...