Size Matters

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[edit] General Information

Science Documentary hosted by Mark Miodownik, published by BBC broadcasted as part of Royal Institution Christmas Lectures series in 2010 - English narration

[edit] Cover

[edit] Information

Material scientist Dr Mark Miodownik gives a series of lectures on how size influences everything in science and nature, including the shape of the universe.

[edit] Why Elephants Can't Dance

How can a hamster survive falling from the top of a skyscraper, ants carry over 100 times their own body weight and geckos climb across the ceiling? In the first of this year's Christmas lectures, material scientist and engineer Dr Mark Miodownik investigates why size matters in animal behaviour. He reveals how the science of materials - the stuff from which everything is made - can explain some of the most extraordinary and surprising feats in the animal kingdom.

[edit] Why Chocolate Melts and Jet Engines Don't

Dr Mark Miodownik zooms into the microscopic world beneath our fingertips, where strange forces dominate the world and common sense goes out of the window. He reveals how this world can make objects behave like magic and discovers the secrets of the extraordinary metals that make jet engines possible. Mark reveals why chocolate is one of the most sophisticated and highly engineered materials on the planet, using special crystals designed to melt in the mouth, and he looks forward to new era of self-healing materials.

[edit] Why Mountains are So Small

Why is the tallest building on earth less than half a mile high? Why don't we have mountains as tall as those on Mars? Dr Mark Miodownik investigates the world of the very big and very tall. He reveals that, at this scale, everything is governed by a battle with one of the strangest forces in the universe - gravity. With help from acrobats, levitation devices, spiders and sticky goo, Mark discovers how gravity can make solid rock behave like a liquid and investigates whether it might be possible to build a structure from Earth into space.