Many physicists work for small-to-medium-sized companies that provide scientific instrumentation and services – and some have founded companies of their own. Such businesses can have limited resources for marketing and customer service, so using social media can be an efficient way to connect with existing users and attract new customers. In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast, Alex Peroff and Neil Spinner of Pine Research Instrumentation explain how they use social media – including podcasts, videos, webinars and live chats – to get their message out. From their base in Durham, N ..read more

This episode of Physics World Stories explores the science, politics and ethics in the Netflix series 3 Body Problem. Adapted from the celebrated Chinese novel The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin, the multi-layered story centres around humanity’s first contact with an alien civilization. As the drama unfolds, with physicists among its lead protagonists, the plot navigates the challenges of communicating with aliens across interstellar space – and the inevitable tensions that arise on Earth. To discuss 3 Body Problem, podcast host Andrew Glester is joined by three special guests: Matt Kenzie ..read more

This episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast explores how the medical physics community is embracing environmental sustainability. Our guests are the medical physicists Rob Chuter of the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in the UK and Kari Tanderup of Aarhus University in Denmark. They chat with Physics World’s Tami Freeman about the environmental impact of healthcare provision – and how the community can reduce its carbon footprint without having negative impacts on health outcomes. This podcast was created in collaboration with IPEM, the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine. IPE ..read more

Purpose-Led Publishing is a coalition of three not-for-profit scientific publishers: IOP Publishing, AIP Publishing and the American Physical Society. The coalition launched earlier this year, and its members have promised that they will continue to reinvest 100% of their funds back into science. Members have also pledged to “publish only the content that genuinely adds to scientific knowledge,” and have also promised to “put research integrity ahead of profit”. This episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast features an interview with Antonia Seymour, who is chief executive of IOP Publishing ..read more

This episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast features an interview with Tannie Liverpool, who uses statistical physics to explore outstanding questions in biology. Based at the UK’s University of Bristol, where he is professor of theoretical physics, Liverpool explains how complex biological behaviours can be described at a very fundamental level using statistical physics. He chats with Physics World’s Katherine Skipper about own research into cells and tissues, including the mathematics of wound healing. Liverpool also explains how physicists, materials scientists and mathematicians worki ..read more

In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast I am in conversation with Frederic Bertley – who is president and CEO of COSI (Center of Science and Industry) in Columbus, Ohio. Bertley explains how science centres like COSI can boost scientific literacy and talks about the Color of Science initiative, which he founded to highlight and promote diversity in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics. Bertley also talks about his life-long love of ice hockey and how sports can be used to get people interested in science. Indeed, he explains in detail the physics of baseball pitch ..read more

The effects of quantum mechanics are all around us, but the quantum properties of matter are generally only apparent at the microscopic level. Superfluidity is an exception, and some of its bizarre characteristics can be seen with the naked eye. What is more, superfluid helium II has found several important applications in science and technology – and is used multi-tonne quantities today at facilities like the Large Hadron Collider. My guest in this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast is John Weisend who is senior accelerator engineer at the European Spallation Source and adjunct profe ..read more

This month’s episode of Physics World Stories features an interview with composer Amanda Lee Falkenberg with music from The Moons Symphony. Her creation takes listeners on an epic journey through the science and stories of the moons of our solar system. The seven-movement symphony dramatises the geophysical features of Io, Europa, Titan, Enceladus, Miranda, Ganymede, before turning to our own Moon for two-part finale. In creating the work, Australian born Amanda Lee Falkenberg immersed herself in the scientific research and consulted many scientists and astronauts. The Moons Symphony performed ..read more

As computing power continues to grow, theoretical physicists have been able to do larger and more complicated simulations. Running these models consumes a growing amount of energy, and for the time being, this results in more greenhouse-gas emissions that contribute to climate change. Indeed, doing an intensive supercomputer simulation can result in emissions that are on par with taking a long-haul flight. In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast, Alejandro Gaita and Gerliz Gutiérrez  of Spain’s University of Valencia tell Physics World’s Margaret Harris how the physics communi ..read more

This episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast features a wide ranging interview with Keith Burnett, who is president of the Institute of Physics (IOP). The IOP is the professional body and learned society for physics in the UK and Ireland. It represents 21,000 members and a key goal of the institute is to make physics accessible to people from all backgrounds. Burnett, who is halfway through his two-year term in office, was knighted in 2013 for his services to science and higher education. He has served as vice chancellor of the University of Sheffield and is also an advocate for high-quali ..read more