Physics Lives films: Watch four physicists in their working lives

Physics Lives is a four part video series intended to showcase the rich variety of life as a university research physicist. The films demonstrate fascinating aspects of physics, while also making often complex themes accessible to a wider audience.

Air Apparent: Mapping air pollutants

Dr. Mark Richards investigates a problem that is linked to over 50,000 deaths each year in the UK: air pollutants. Richards demonstrates a machine he has created which measures air quality and how he can produce a pollution map, which he hopes will provoke thought about peoples’ lifestyles and how they travel.

Baths and Quarks: Understanding solitons

University of Cambridge Physicist Professor David Tong takes viewers on a journey which starts in the bath and ends kicking a football around in the lab. Tong talks his audience through the special relationship shared between quarks and solitons and the essential role they play in life and the universe.

Ion Beam Cop: Forensic science and analysis

Watch University of Surrey’s Dr. Melanie Bailey as she talks about ion beams and their role in forensic science. Bailey explains how she uses ion beams to analyse gunshot residue in a crime scene to help inform police investigations.

Written in the Sky: Aurora borealis uncovered

Viewers are transported to the northernmost point of Iceland, where space plasma physicist Dr. Jim Wild is training his advanced camera technology on clear patches of sky. Wild aims to capture clear images of the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, so he can decode and understand the aurora lights.