Physics World Stories Podcast

One of longest-running physics jokes is that, despite numerous promising breakthroughs, practical nuclear fusion will forever be 30 years away. Earlier this year, there was an exciting result in the …

From Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” concertos to the Beatles’ “Blackbird” – musicians have always been inspired by nature. Many artists have even incorporated the sounds of nature into their songs. Now…

After decades in the making, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) finally launched on 25 December 2021, ushering in a new era for astronomy. On Monday the $10bn mission reached its destination, the …

In keeping with our festive tradition, the December episode of Physics World Stories is all about physics books. Host Andrew Glester is joined by Physics World’s reviews and careers editor Laura Hisc…

The open hardware movement advocates the sharing of designs for material objects. For the global science community it means people can access instructions to 3D print increasingly sophisticated tools…

In this episode of the Physics World Stories podcast astronomers discuss the search for signs of extraterrestrial technologies. Fingerprints might include traces of pollution in exoplanet atmospheres…

In this episode of the Physics World Stories podcast you will hear from scientists and software engineers at the vanguard of developing free and open-source software for physics research. Guests talk…

Why lie on a beach when you could go to Chernobyl? In the past few years there has been a steady growth in alternative tourism, which includes people going to sites of scientific interest. In this ep…

You could be forgiven for thinking the themes in this month’s episode of Physics World Stories have been stolen from Hollywood. Podcast host Andrew Glester profiles two upcoming NASA missions to aste…

In June 1925 Werner Heisenberg retreated to Helgoland in the North Sea, a treeless island offering the 23-year-old German physicist a space to think, along with some respite from the extreme hay feve…

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are designed to replicate human capabilities, and in some cases improve upon them. Lifelike robots are physical examples of AI technology, but it is the digi…

The global particle physics community has been energised by two recent results that offer tantalising glimpses of new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics.

Researchers at CERN’s LHCb…

1 December 2020 was a dark day for Puerto Rico and the global astronomy community. The iconic Arecibo Observatory collapsed, with the radio telescope’s 900-tonne suspended platform crashing into the …

February 2021 is an exciting month for Mars exploration, with three separate missions arriving at the red planet. In this episode of the Physics World Stories podcast, Andrew Glester takes a closer l…

In this episode of the Physics World Stories podcast, scientists and engineers from the CERN describe how the pandemic has affected the particle physics lab and the way they collaborate with colleagu…

In this episode, Andrew Glester is joined by Physics World journalists to discuss some of 2020’s best physics books, along with their favourite examples of physics featuring in television and film th…

An unlimited world of structures built from precision-engineered unit parts – it is easy to see why LEGO appeals to many physicists. But in addition to the pure enjoyment, this plastic construction t…

Media coverage of quantum computing often focuses on the long term potential for these devices to leave classical computing in the dust. But what about the rudimentary quantum systems that are alread…

The news last week that scientists had spotted a potential signature of life in the clouds of Venus was always likely to cause a stir. But arriving the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic – during which …

Studies suggest that human error is responsible for over 90% of the 1.25 million people who die each year globally due to car accidents. Therefore, improving driver safety is one of the biggest incen…