2007 series
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Missed out? Catch up!
All The Material World programmes are available online to allow you to listen again.
Science in the sunshine
Study, experimentation, friendship... get to know what really goes on at Open University summer schools.
Do the right thing?
The more human minds enquire, the more we find challenges to the practicing of an ethical science.
Once again, BBC Radio 4's The Material World is teaming up with the Open University to bring a short series of reports from Summer Schools. Quentin Cooper visits four residential schools, each looking at a different area of science, meeting students getting a taste of science both inside - and outside - of laboratories.
Thursday 9th August
Quentin is in Bath with students on the Technology in Action course. One of their tasks is to design a “rescue robot” that can work in a hazardous environment. It’s a challenging brief - will they succeed? While the students build their robots, Quentin talks to course tutor Jon Rosewell.
Quentin also visits the Bristol Robotics Laboratory to see how research scientists are tackling some crucial robotic problems: how can you build a robot that is "energy autonomous"? Can you "teach" robots to work together?
Find out more about Technology in action residential courses
and the Robotics and the meaning of life: a practical guide to things that think online course.
Thursday 16th August
Quentin Cooper joins a group of Open University geology students on a field trip to Staithes in North Yorkshire. The students will be looking for fossils in the cliffs, and studying the landscape for clues about the Earth’s evolution.
Quentin also talks to geologists Glynda Easterbrook and Richard Davies. Modern geology relies on sophisticated imaging equipment to provide accurate data about rock strata, but the students soon realise that there’s no substitute for careful observation.
Find out more about the Geological history of the British Isles residential course.
Thursday 23rd August
Quentin Cooper visits Malham in the Yorkshire Dales, and joins an Open University residential course about the environment. The students will be learning how to observe, sample and measure different types of vegetation.
But plants also provide vital clues about air quality and pollution. Biologist Hilary Denny and earth scientist Mark Brandon will be helping Quentin interpret the evidence.
Find out more about Environmental Science in the field.
Thursday 30th August
In the last programme in the series, Quentin Cooper goes to Durham and joins an Open University psychology course. The students have to devise a psychological investigation of memory or communication. But framing a psychological investigation that is ethical, systematic and meaningful is not easy. Psychologists Ilona Roth and Alex Easton discuss the difficulties of applying scientific method to psychology.
Find out more about Exploring psychology residential courses.
Content last updated: 23/07/2007
