Yule blog: Christmas lectures
Pete Wilton | 22 Dec 09
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Celebrate Christmas with Oxford University scientists by watching or listening to this year's Christmas Science Lectures.
These annual lectures for schools, which took place 14-16 December at the OUMNH, covered topics from prime numbers to robots and chemistry and are now available on the OU podcast pages and, later today, on iTunesU.
The video we've highlighted shows the first lecture in which OxSciBlog favourite Marcus du Sautoy investigates why David Beckham chose the number 23 shirt as part of a journey into the maths of prime numbers - numbers that crop up everywhere from music to cicadas and conspiracy theories.
In the second lecture Stephen Cameron introduces us to RoboCup and the world of robot football. How can football teach us to build and train better robots and what can such competitions tell us about the future of robotics? Find out in this video.
Rounding things off in the third and final lecture is a cool and crazy chemistry show hosted by Malcolm Stewart and Roger Nixon. What happens when you freeze a banana? What colour is liquid oxygen? Which makes a bigger bang, a hydrogen or helium balloon? Their hands-on demonstrations give you the answers.
Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year to all our readers!
The Oxford Science Blog will return in January...
Image: presents by Mike Fleming via Wikimedia Commons
Your comments
Ho Ho Ho! Merry Xmas
Stacey Woods | 27 Dec 09
Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year! Very good video and I believe it honestly is...