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The Hunt for Nothing, Part 1

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Manage episode 167112844 series 1301277
Content provided by BBC and BBC Radio 4. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by BBC and BBC Radio 4 or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.

"Is there any such thing as nothing?" This question from Bill Keck sparked so much head scratching that we have devoted two episodes to this curious quandary.

In the first programme, the team considers the philosophy and physics of nothing. As Prof Frank Close, author of "Nothing: A Very Short Introduction" explains, nothing has intrigued great thinkers for thousands of years, from the Ancient Greeks to today's particle physicists.

Otto Von Geuricke, the Mayor of Magdeburg in Germany, invented the artificial vacuum pump in the 17th century and presented spectacular displays to demonstrate the awesome power of nothing.

Cosmologist Andrew Pontzen helps Hannah search for nothing in the depths of space and inside the atom. However, as they find out, recent discoveries in physics involving quantum fluctuations and the Higgs field have proved that nothing is impossible.

If you have any Curious Cases for the team to solve please email curiouscases@bbc.co.uk

Presenters: Adam Rutherford & Hannah Fry Producer: Michelle Martin.

  continue reading

142 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 
Manage episode 167112844 series 1301277
Content provided by BBC and BBC Radio 4. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by BBC and BBC Radio 4 or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.

"Is there any such thing as nothing?" This question from Bill Keck sparked so much head scratching that we have devoted two episodes to this curious quandary.

In the first programme, the team considers the philosophy and physics of nothing. As Prof Frank Close, author of "Nothing: A Very Short Introduction" explains, nothing has intrigued great thinkers for thousands of years, from the Ancient Greeks to today's particle physicists.

Otto Von Geuricke, the Mayor of Magdeburg in Germany, invented the artificial vacuum pump in the 17th century and presented spectacular displays to demonstrate the awesome power of nothing.

Cosmologist Andrew Pontzen helps Hannah search for nothing in the depths of space and inside the atom. However, as they find out, recent discoveries in physics involving quantum fluctuations and the Higgs field have proved that nothing is impossible.

If you have any Curious Cases for the team to solve please email curiouscases@bbc.co.uk

Presenters: Adam Rutherford & Hannah Fry Producer: Michelle Martin.

  continue reading

142 episodes

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