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Bubbles

Exploring bubbles, those magical - and ultimately fragile - spherical cavities. With Helen Czerski, Constantin Coussios and Bradley Hart.

Fragile gas filled spheres, sparkling champagne globules that fill your nose with fizz, pipe dreams that pop when the illusion grows too big: the Forum explores the mysterious world of bubbles. Bridget Kendall is joined by bubble physicist Helen Czerski, biomedical engineer Constantin Coussios and artist Bradley Hart who makes giant paintings using bubble wrap.

Photo credit: Associated Press

Available now

41 minutes

Last on

Mon 11 Aug 2014 02:06GMT

Chapters

  • Helen Czerski

    How bubbles help the oceans breathe

    Duration: 13:44

  • Constantin Coussios

    Therapeutic uses of bubbles in medicine

    Duration: 04:23

  • 60 Second idea

    Telescopic ocean goggles

    Duration: 05:04

  • Bradley Hart

    Turning a β€˜dumb’ material into art

    Duration: 12:15

Helen Czerski

Helen Czerski

Helen Czerski is a physicist and oceanographer at University College London. She explains why ocean bubbles are essential for the planet’s wellbeing and describes the difficulties of studying them in the middle of ferocious Atlantic storms.

Constantin Coussios

Constantin Coussios

Constantin Coussios is Professor of Biomedical Engineering atΒ  Oxford University. He puts micro-bubbles inside the human body, tracking the tiny nano sized spheres as they make their wayΒ  through the blood stream. He wants to control the bubbles so they release the cancer drugs encased in them at exactly the right place and right time.

Bradley Hart

Bradley Hart

Visual artist Bradley Hart exploits the curious properties of bubbles which make them such powerful metaphors for our digital, pixelated, disjointed times. He injects paint into bubble wrap, to create large-scale works of art.


You can see some of Bradley's bubble wrap art work in the gallery on the right.


Photo c/o Bradley Hart

60 Second Idea to Change the World

60 Second Idea to Change the World

Helen Czerski proposes a pair of telescopic goggles that let you see into the ocean the way you can see into the sky. You’d see whales and the giant squid and vast puffs of drifting phytoplankton like clouds, showing where the ocean currents were going.Β Β Β  You’d see the β€œweather” of the ocean: it’s all moving around down there, and you’d get a feel for what it’s doing.Β Β  And – hopefully – the goggles would show us why the ocean really matters for us and help us respect it more. Β  Photo of Plankton by ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ

Broadcasts

  • Sat 9 Aug 2014 21:06GMT
  • Sun 10 Aug 2014 09:06GMT
  • Mon 11 Aug 2014 02:06GMT

Do you think political or business leaders need to be charismatic? Or do you prefer highly competent but somewhat stern people?

Do you think political or business leaders need to be charismatic? Or do you prefer highly competent but somewhat stern people?

We’d love to hear your views on charm and charisma for a future Forum.

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