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Spooklights

What happens when the lights go out? Chemist Andrea Sella investigates will-o'-the-wisps and other faint phenomena we never see because modern life has eradicated total darkness.

Folk tales are full of fleeting phenomena like will o' the wisps, faint glows that must have spooked our ancestors . But these days, it's just about impossible to escape the omnipresent illumination of modern life, and these evocative spooklights have vanished like ghosts. Chemist Andrea Sella explores the science of lights so dim, they can be witnessed only in complete darkness. From the spontaneous combustion of marsh gas to the lightning sparks emitted by crushed sugar, Professor Sella finds there's more to light than ever meets the eye.

Available now

30 minutes

Last on

Fri 25 Nov 2011 11:00

Broadcast

  • Fri 25 Nov 2011 11:00