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THE MATERIAL WORLD
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MISSED A PROGRAMME?
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PROGRAMME INFO |
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Quentin Cooper reports on developments across the sciences. Each week scientists describe their work, conveying the excitement they feel for their research projects.
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Contact Material World |
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LISTEN AGAIN Ìý30 min |
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PRESENTER |
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"For me science isn't a subject, it's a perspective. There are fascinating scientific aspects to everything from ancient history to the latest gadgets, outer space to interior decorating; and each week on The Material World we try to reflect the excitement, ideas, uncertainties, collisions and collaborations as science continues its never-ending voyage into the unknown".
Quentin Cooper |
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PROGRAMME DETAILS |
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| Wouldn't gills be easier than diving gear? |
Thames Barrier
Could the devastation caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita ever happen in the Thames Estuary and how prepared are we?
The Thames barrier is a staggering feat of engineering. AfterÌýeight years of construction, building deep into the chalky river bed, it was completed in 1983. The barrier stretches 520 metres across the Thames andÌýhasÌýten gates, each made of steel up to 50 milimetres thick, and weighing nearlyÌýthreeÌýand a half thousand tonnes each.Ìý
Andy BachelorÌýis Thames Tidal Flood Risk ManagerÌýfor the Environment Agency and Roland Grzybek is a civil engineer with Halcrow.Ìý TheyÌýwill join Quentin Cooper to explain the future of our flood defences.
Artifical Gills
The famous sea-explorer Jacques Cousteau predicted that man would one day be able to breathe whilst submerged in the ocean.Ìý But is it possible yet?
Edward Cussler is Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of MinnesotaÌýand devised a solutionÌýsome 20 years ago: a box with a special membrane.Ìý He even submerged his dog, Muggins, inÌýthe device and sent him underwater forÌýthree hours.ÌýÌý
Quentin Cooper is also joined by Professor David Evans, Head of Zoology at the University of Florida, an expert on fish gills who is skeptical about the prospects for underwater humans. |
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