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Dr. Helen Czerski: Everything
around us exists somewhere
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on a vast scale from
cold...to hot.
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Whether living or dead,
solid or liquid, visible or
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invisible, everything
has a temperature.
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It's the hidden energy
contained within matter.
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And the way that energy
endlessly shifts and flows
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is the architect that
has shaped our planet
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and the universe.
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Across three programs,
we're going to explore
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the extremes of the
temperature scale,
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from some of the coldest
temperatures...
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to the very hottest
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and everything in-between.
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In this program, we're going
to venture to the bottom
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of the temperature scale.
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We'll explore how cold has
fashioned the world around us
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and why frozen doesn't
mean what you might think.
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And we'll descend to the very
limits of cold, where
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the everyday laws of physics
break down and a new world
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of scientific
possibility begins.
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Temperature is in every single
story that nature has to tell,
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and in this series
we'll show you why.
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[Dogs barking]
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We've always
been familiar with the
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experience of cold and heat,
but until recently we didn't
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understand what
they actually were.
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And as the era of modern
science dawned, that lack
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of knowledge was becoming
a barrier to progress.
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I'm here at the Radcliffe
observatory in Oxford and what
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it was built to observe
is the cosmos.
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Back in the 18th century,
this was one of the foremost
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centers of the new
science of astronomy.
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But while looking up there,
they discovered they had
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a problem that
started down here.
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Amy Creese is a
Meteorological Observer.
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It's a role that was created
here over 200 years ago,
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to solve a very specific
problem caused by temperature.
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Creese: Early observers,
made quite meticulous records
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of the temperature, and
that was because it was
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important to know
what the temperature was like
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in order to correct something
called atmospheric refraction,
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which is how much the light
from a celestial object bends
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as it comes into the
Earth's atmosphere.
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And that depends quite a lot
on temperature so, in order to
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make very accurate
measurements of positions
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of stars, the observers found
that they needed to measure
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temperature as well, so they
kept very good records of that.
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Czerski: So even those people
who are looking up at the cosmos
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and thinking grand thoughts
about the universe needed to
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know about this quite mundane
thing down here, which was
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the temperature.
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And you've got a book there
with some of the earlier
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recordings in it.
- I do.
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I have a book here
from 1776.
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It's some of the original
recordings from Thomas Hornsby
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who founded this observatory,
and several times a day--he was
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much more keen than I am--
he came up here and took
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measurements of
pressure and temperature.
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But he also made some quite
funny notes in the margins.
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For example, on the 26th
of January in 1776,
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he wrote about
how the wine in his study had
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started to freeze because it
had got very cold that day.
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Which is a very important thing
for a scientist to know about.
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Creese: And I'm glad that
he wrote about it.
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Ha ha ha ha!
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Czerski: These are some of the
earliest regular measurements
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of temperature ever made.
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And they were only possible
thanks to one of the greatest
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scientific innovations of
the 18th century:
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the modern thermometer.
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The first thermometers
were simple tubes filled
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with liquid, and if you put
them in something warm,
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the liquid level would go up,
and if you put them
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in something cold, the
liquid level would go down.
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That's not much use if
you're trying to establish
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a universal temperature scale
that everyone can agree on.
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Every inventor had their own
idea of what that scale
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should be, and so no two
thermometers were alike.
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A solution that was arrived
that was really clever.
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It was to say that perhaps
we can find fixed points.
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So perhaps there are
situations which are
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absolutely always the
same temperature.
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And then everyone can agree
on those points on the scale,
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and then we can all
calibrate our instruments.
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The choices that stuck were
those made by Daniel Fahrenheit,
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who was a Polish physicist,
and he chose 3 fixed points
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that everyone else
then followed.
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So the first one of his fixed
points was this mixture here--
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ammonium chloride and
liquid water and water ice.
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And that is a very interesting
type of mixture because,
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when you mix those 3
things together, they will
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find an equilibrium at a
very specific temperature.
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And Fahrenheit chose that as
his starting point, so this is
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at 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Fahrenheit's second fixed
point was a mixture of water
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and ice, which will
always settle at the same
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temperature,
32 degrees Fahrenheit,
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more familiar to us these days
as 0 degrees Celsius.
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And then there was one more
fixed point, and Fahrenheit
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chose the temperature of
the human body. So if you put
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a thermometer under your arm
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or under your tongue,
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Fahrenheit said that was
96 on his scale.
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And that was the beginning
of the Fahrenheit scale.
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All of those scientists and
engineers could calibrate
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their thermometers using those
same 3 points. They could
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divide up the temperature
scale in exactly the same way,
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and finally the really science
of temperature could begin.
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The thermometer opened up
a whole world
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of possibilities for
astronomy, meteorology,
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and of course medicine,
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but it also brought with
it a paradox.
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While we now had a standard
scale to record temperature,
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we still didn't have any
scientific explanation of what
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temperature really was,
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of what made
things hot or cold.
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Some of the earliest
scientific theories proposed
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that temperature was
a physical substance.
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One idea was that heat was
a weightless liquid, called
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"caloric," that
warmed things up.
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Another theory, suggested
that cold consisted
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of "frigorific" particles.
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These ideas persisted until
the late 18th century,
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when they were thrown
into doubt by a discovery
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about heat that would
ultimately transform our
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understanding of cold.
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In the 1790s, an American-born
inventor working in Germany
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called Count Rumford applied
his mind to the study of heat.
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And this is the report that
he wrote on his work.
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And I love this document
because it's written
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in a very human way.
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Count Rumford was overseeing
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the manufacture of cannons by
German artillerymen, when he
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noticed something very
curious as they bored holes
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into the cold metal.
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And you can see just what that
was using a simple hand drill
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and an infrared camera.
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And I'm just gonna drill
through this piece
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of metal here.
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[Drilling]
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And have a look on the
infrared camera. You can see
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the spot around where I
was drilling has warmed up,
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and I can feel the heat with
my fingers.
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So even a simple drilling
experiment like this
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can generate heat.
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And this was exactly what
Count Rumford observed,
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as he watched the
cannon-makers at work.
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As they bored through
the metal, the cold iron
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got hotter.
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[Drilling]
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Rumford had discovered
something fundamental
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about temperature, of what
makes matter hot or cold.
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Yet it would be nearly a
century before it was fully
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recognized and explained.
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And the first step towards an
explanation would come from
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a completely different branch
of science altogether.
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In 1827, Scottish botanist
Robert Brown was deep into his
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research on flowering plants.
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It was an exciting time in
biology because of the new
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realization that inside the
very tiny plant cell, there
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was an even tinier mechanism
making everything work.
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Brown was particularly
interested in pollen.
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So, he took pollen grains back
to his laboratory, suspended
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them in drops of water,
and looked at them under
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his microscope.
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And what he saw was the pollen
grains sitting the water,
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but from them, there were
emerging even smaller particles.
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And when he watched
those particles, they were
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moving, they were
jiggling about.
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So the first thing that Brown
did was check whether they
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were alive.
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But they weren't. And he
tried with lots of different
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materials, and what he saw
was that every time there was
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a particle that small, just
on the edge of what
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the microscope could see, it
would always be just jiggling
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about, whatever it was made of,
and he no idea why that was.
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The answer didn't come until
1905 in a paper written by
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Albert Einstein that drew
together two crucial ideas...
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first, that all matter
was made of atoms,
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and second, that these atoms
were constantly moving about.
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This finally solved the
mystery of Robert Brown's
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jiggling particles.
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They were being bombarded
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by billions of
smaller, invisible atoms.
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And Einstein's explanation
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depended on one
fundamental point:
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that the movement of atoms
was directly linked to
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their temperature.
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The physical existence of
our universe is all
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about the relationship between
matter and energy, and this
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paper was where that
story really started.
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Einstein understood that heat
is just the energy that atoms
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have due to their movement,
and the measure of that
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movement energy
is temperature.
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The more energy, the faster
the movement, and the higher
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the temperature.
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More than a century after
Rumford had puzzled over what
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was heating up his cannons,
Einstein had explained it.
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The very act of boring through
the metal was adding energy to
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the atoms, increasing their
movement, and so making
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the metal hotter.
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This definition of heat also
means something profound
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for our understanding of cold.
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Because if heat is the measure
of energy of the movement
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of atoms, then cold is simply
an absence of energy, a lack
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of motion.
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And this is vital to
understanding how every single
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solid thing in our entire
universe came into being.
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To show you why, we're in
Iceland, the perfect place to
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explore the relationship
between cold and matter.
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This is Breidamerkurjokull
glacier.
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Here, matter exists
side-by-side in 3 very
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different forms.
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[Plop]
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Nearly everything in this cave
is made of water molecules,
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from the ice itself to the
water flowing through it
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and even in the air.
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Billions upon billions of the
same type of molecule, all
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in the same place but behaving
in 3 different ways:
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as a solid,
a liquid and a gas.
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Each of these 3 states is
a consequence of temperature,
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Of how fast the molecules
of water are moving.
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And when the water reaches
its freezing point and changes
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from a liquid to a solid,
something extraordinary is
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happening in the hidden
world of its molecules,
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something we can't see
by looking at ice at this
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massive scale.
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To understand it, we need
to look at something very
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much smaller
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and something that's also
frozen, even if it might not
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look like it.
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This is table salt, sodium
chloride, about as common as
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you can get.
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And even here, you can see
that salt's a little
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bit sparkly.
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If I put it under
the microscope,
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now you can see
what's going on.
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Those tiny little grains of
salt here have flat faces.
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They're little cubes.
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And every single grain is
the same, not a perfect cube,
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00:14:32,448 --> 00:14:35,275
but they've all got a cubic
shape and it's those flat
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faces that are reflecting
the light and making
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the salt sparkle.
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And that's an indication
of something deeper down
245
00:14:41,758 --> 00:14:44,413
in the structure of the salt.
246
00:14:48,172 --> 00:14:52,896
Salt is made of equal numbers
of sodium and chloride ions.
247
00:14:53,034 --> 00:14:55,758
The chloride ions are
assembled in rows and columns
248
00:14:55,896 --> 00:14:59,172
so that they sit on
a square grid.
249
00:14:59,310 --> 00:15:04,241
The smaller sodium ions fit
into the spaces in-between.
250
00:15:04,379 --> 00:15:08,862
A salt crystal is just a giant
grid like this, a cube that's
251
00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:12,655
a million or so atoms
long on each side.
252
00:15:12,793 --> 00:15:16,448
This is the hidden
structure of a crystal.
253
00:15:16,586 --> 00:15:19,758
Its atoms are no longer free
to move around each other.
254
00:15:19,896 --> 00:15:24,310
Each one is locked in its
own place on the grid.
255
00:15:24,448 --> 00:15:26,275
So the salt looks like
that here.
256
00:15:26,413 --> 00:15:28,896
It would look like that
if I took it into a sauna
257
00:15:29,034 --> 00:15:33,482
because it's frozen,
it's a frozen solid.
258
00:15:33,620 --> 00:15:35,965
Freezing is simply what
happens when the molecules
259
00:15:36,103 --> 00:15:39,137
of a substance no longer have
enough energy to move past
260
00:15:39,275 --> 00:15:43,310
each other, and so they
become fixed in position.
261
00:15:45,206 --> 00:15:47,862
And this doesn't always happen
at a temperature that we would
262
00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:50,000
consider "cold."
263
00:15:50,137 --> 00:15:54,793
For salt, it happens at
800 degrees Celsius.
264
00:15:57,068 --> 00:15:59,896
Liquid iron freezes to
become a solid metal
265
00:16:00,034 --> 00:16:04,965
at around 1500 degrees Celsius.
266
00:16:05,103 --> 00:16:12,172
Liquid tungsten turns into a
solid at nearly 3500 degrees.
267
00:16:12,310 --> 00:16:16,965
It's exactly the same process
that transforms liquid water
268
00:16:17,103 --> 00:16:21,172
into solid ice at
0 degrees Celsius.
269
00:16:24,413 --> 00:16:27,344
As with other liquids,
the molecules in liquid water
270
00:16:27,482 --> 00:16:30,551
have enough energy to keep
moving past each other.
271
00:16:30,689 --> 00:16:34,896
But as they cool,
the molecules slow down.
272
00:16:35,034 --> 00:16:38,344
As water reaches its freezing
point, they arrange themselves
273
00:16:38,482 --> 00:16:43,344
in tightly fixed positions
forming a hexagonal lattice,
274
00:16:43,482 --> 00:16:46,172
a crystalline structure.
275
00:16:53,310 --> 00:16:56,689
The beautiful symmetry of
snowflakes comes in part from
276
00:16:56,827 --> 00:17:00,517
this microscopic,
hexagonal form.
277
00:17:03,862 --> 00:17:06,275
Here, deep in this cave
of ice, it exists
278
00:17:06,413 --> 00:17:09,034
on a massive scale.
279
00:17:09,172 --> 00:17:13,137
And in fact, the very process
of cooling and freezing is key
280
00:17:13,275 --> 00:17:17,310
to how the entire
planet formed.
281
00:17:22,758 --> 00:17:25,551
Some 4 billion years ago,
the Earth was covered
282
00:17:25,689 --> 00:17:28,275
in molten rock.
283
00:17:28,413 --> 00:17:31,689
As we've seen in the striking
landscapes of Iceland,
284
00:17:31,827 --> 00:17:37,068
that lava eventually cooled
and froze into solid rock.
285
00:17:37,206 --> 00:17:41,034
And sometimes, the way it
cooled created something
286
00:17:41,172 --> 00:17:43,482
truly extraordinary.
287
00:17:43,620 --> 00:17:45,344
The hexagonal columns
of basalt
288
00:17:45,482 --> 00:17:50,413
at Reynisfjara are one of
Earth's natural wonders.
289
00:17:50,551 --> 00:17:54,000
And Professor Thor Thordarson,
a volcanologist from the
290
00:17:54,137 --> 00:17:58,862
University of Iceland, is one
of the world's leading experts
291
00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:02,448
in how they were formed.
292
00:18:02,586 --> 00:18:04,275
Thordarson: So here we have
these beautiful regular
293
00:18:04,413 --> 00:18:06,482
columns, and, these extend
at 10, 15 meters up
294
00:18:06,620 --> 00:18:07,965
into the cliff face.
295
00:18:08,103 --> 00:18:12,310
Columns like this are
fairly unusual.
296
00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:20,034
Czerski: These columns tell a
story of how the intricacies
297
00:18:20,172 --> 00:18:22,206
of cooling and freezing
have shaped
298
00:18:22,344 --> 00:18:24,827
the fabric of our planet.
299
00:18:28,172 --> 00:18:31,103
Thordarson: So this column here
which is about 80 centimeters
300
00:18:31,241 --> 00:18:33,862
in width here, this width
is actually a function
301
00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:35,655
of the cooling.
302
00:18:35,793 --> 00:18:38,551
So if you think of a lava
flow, it starts cooling from
303
00:18:38,689 --> 00:18:45,379
the surface, and it also
cool fastest where it is close
304
00:18:45,517 --> 00:18:48,172
in contact with
the atmosphere.
305
00:18:51,137 --> 00:18:55,344
As the lava cools and freezes,
it also shrinks, as its
306
00:18:55,482 --> 00:18:59,275
molecules arrange themselves
into a solid structure.
307
00:18:59,413 --> 00:19:02,655
This happens more quickly at
the surface, where the lava
308
00:19:02,793 --> 00:19:05,931
meets the air, and more
slowly underneath, where it
309
00:19:06,068 --> 00:19:08,965
stays warmer.
310
00:19:09,103 --> 00:19:12,206
And if the rate of shrinking
is great enough, the cooling
311
00:19:12,344 --> 00:19:17,241
lava at the surface is under
so much stress that it cracks.
312
00:19:17,379 --> 00:19:20,413
And often the most efficient
way to dissipate this huge
313
00:19:20,551 --> 00:19:25,413
buildup of stress is to crack at
an angle of 120 degrees,
314
00:19:25,551 --> 00:19:28,034
the angle that gives
us a hexagon.
315
00:19:28,172 --> 00:19:31,413
As the rock beneath the
surface also continues to cool,
316
00:19:31,551 --> 00:19:34,344
these cracks extend
downwards creating the
317
00:19:34,482 --> 00:19:38,448
colossal pillars we see today.
318
00:19:38,586 --> 00:19:40,448
Czerski: Can you tell from the
size of these how quickly
319
00:19:40,586 --> 00:19:41,896
these cooled?
320
00:19:42,034 --> 00:19:43,275
I mean, did these take
a day to form
321
00:19:43,413 --> 00:19:46,172
or a week or a year?
Can you tell?
322
00:19:46,310 --> 00:19:48,206
Thordarson: Not exactly, but
I would guess between
323
00:19:48,344 --> 00:19:50,206
10 and 20 years.
324
00:19:54,068 --> 00:19:55,517
Czerski: This landscape
was formed
325
00:19:55,655 --> 00:19:58,000
because lava
began to cool and freeze
326
00:19:58,137 --> 00:20:01,000
at just the right
speed for the laws of physics
327
00:20:01,137 --> 00:20:03,241
to create a masterpiece.
328
00:20:03,379 --> 00:20:06,551
A little faster or slower,
and these columns
329
00:20:06,689 --> 00:20:09,172
wouldn't exist.
330
00:20:09,310 --> 00:20:13,275
They stand as evidence that
solid rock, the fabric of our
331
00:20:13,413 --> 00:20:18,068
world, is frozen and the
architect that sculpted it
332
00:20:18,206 --> 00:20:20,137
is temperature.
333
00:20:36,965 --> 00:20:40,103
And as we humans have built
architectural wonders of our
334
00:20:40,241 --> 00:20:43,551
own, so we've learned to
harness this potential
335
00:20:43,689 --> 00:20:46,689
of cooling and freezing
to change the very nature
336
00:20:46,827 --> 00:20:48,758
of matter.
337
00:20:53,586 --> 00:20:56,103
This is Ely Cathedral.
338
00:20:56,241 --> 00:20:59,517
It's been here for nearly
1,000 years and over
339
00:20:59,655 --> 00:21:02,551
the centuries, countless
craftsmen have taken local raw
340
00:21:02,689 --> 00:21:06,862
materials, limestone and oak,
and transformed them into this
341
00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,172
vast and intricate structure.
342
00:21:14,724 --> 00:21:17,241
But we're not here because
of those materials.
343
00:21:17,379 --> 00:21:20,586
We're here to see
something else.
344
00:21:20,724 --> 00:21:24,068
The stained-glass windows
here are breathtaking.
345
00:21:24,206 --> 00:21:27,896
And they only exist thanks to
the unique properties of glass
346
00:21:28,034 --> 00:21:30,655
that emerge as it cools.
347
00:21:34,620 --> 00:21:37,068
It's only when you're
right in close like this that
348
00:21:37,206 --> 00:21:40,137
you can really appreciate
these fabulous windows.
349
00:21:40,275 --> 00:21:43,068
Each one of these panels is
illuminating the cathedral
350
00:21:43,206 --> 00:21:44,896
with a story.
351
00:21:45,034 --> 00:21:48,206
But the story that you can
see from down there is built
352
00:21:48,344 --> 00:21:51,724
of 1,000 smaller stories
that you can only see up here,
353
00:21:51,862 --> 00:21:55,896
because every single one
of these pieces of glass
354
00:21:56,034 --> 00:21:58,689
is carrying its own
distinctive history of how
355
00:21:58,827 --> 00:22:03,172
cooling shaped it and
locked in its properties.
356
00:22:12,517 --> 00:22:15,172
To understand why, we're going
to meet someone who works
357
00:22:15,310 --> 00:22:18,655
with glass day in, day out.
358
00:22:18,793 --> 00:22:22,172
This is Walter Pinches,
a glassmaker carrying on
359
00:22:22,310 --> 00:22:26,793
a tradition that's changed
little in 800 years.
360
00:22:28,413 --> 00:22:29,896
How hot is it in there?
361
00:22:30,034 --> 00:22:31,482
Pinches: 1250, 1300.
362
00:22:31,620 --> 00:22:33,137
Czerski: 1300 degrees C.
363
00:22:34,448 --> 00:22:38,034
It's only 2 meters away.
Ha ha ha!
364
00:22:39,896 --> 00:22:43,000
Standing next to the fiery
glow of the furnace, it's easy
365
00:22:43,137 --> 00:22:46,344
to think that the key
to glassmaking is heat.
366
00:22:46,482 --> 00:22:49,517
But the real key to this
process is what happens when
367
00:22:49,655 --> 00:22:54,103
the glass comes out of the
furnace and begins to cool.
368
00:22:54,241 --> 00:22:56,758
And the color's just mixing into
the liquid as you go along.
369
00:22:56,896 --> 00:23:00,965
Color's already twisted in,
you've already got your pattern.
370
00:23:01,103 --> 00:23:03,862
Czerski: Cooling is a process
that craftsmen like Walter
371
00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,827
learn to control precisely.
372
00:23:06,965 --> 00:23:10,551
When the hot glass first
emerges, it's molten, so like
373
00:23:10,689 --> 00:23:14,379
all liquids, its molecules are
still free to move and slide
374
00:23:14,517 --> 00:23:16,931
over each other.
375
00:23:17,068 --> 00:23:20,206
And this gives Walter a brief
window of time to manipulate
376
00:23:20,344 --> 00:23:22,172
its shape.
377
00:23:22,310 --> 00:23:25,965
But with every passing second,
the glass is cooling,
378
00:23:26,103 --> 00:23:28,655
especially at the surface,
where it's in contact
379
00:23:28,793 --> 00:23:30,896
with the air.
380
00:23:31,034 --> 00:23:33,068
What's amazing about
this is that the inside
381
00:23:33,206 --> 00:23:35,068
and the outside are different
temperatures, and right
382
00:23:35,206 --> 00:23:37,862
in that molecular level,
everything in there is
383
00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:40,482
different--everywhere
is behaving differently
384
00:23:40,620 --> 00:23:42,655
because of its temperature.
385
00:23:44,655 --> 00:23:48,068
Starting at the surface,
the glass begins to freeze.
386
00:23:48,206 --> 00:23:52,689
Its atoms slow down and come
to rest in fixed positions.
387
00:23:52,827 --> 00:23:56,551
And they do so in a way that's
unlike many other solids.
388
00:23:56,689 --> 00:23:58,310
This is my favorite bit,
when it just blows up
389
00:23:58,448 --> 00:24:02,827
like a balloon.
390
00:24:02,965 --> 00:24:06,241
As we've seen when other
substances freeze, like water
391
00:24:06,379 --> 00:24:09,931
or salt, their atoms become
fixed in the ordered structure
392
00:24:10,068 --> 00:24:11,931
of a crystal,
393
00:24:12,068 --> 00:24:14,310
but glass is different.
394
00:24:14,448 --> 00:24:17,965
It cools more quickly, and so
its atoms don't have time to
395
00:24:18,103 --> 00:24:21,586
arrange themselves in
a regular pattern.
396
00:24:21,724 --> 00:24:24,793
Instead, they freeze in
the disordered, chaotic
397
00:24:24,931 --> 00:24:27,586
arrangement of a liquid.
398
00:24:27,724 --> 00:24:32,344
And this gives glass one of
its most valuable properties.
399
00:24:32,482 --> 00:24:36,827
Unconstrained by a rigid,
crystalline structure, it can
400
00:24:36,965 --> 00:24:42,137
be worked and manipulated into
an infinite number of forms.
401
00:24:46,448 --> 00:24:48,275
This is the clever bit.
402
00:24:48,413 --> 00:24:50,758
Hot molecules at the bottom
flowing quickly, cooler ones
403
00:24:50,896 --> 00:24:53,655
at the top flowing
more slowly.
404
00:25:01,448 --> 00:25:04,862
By precisely controlling the
heating and cooling of glass,
405
00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:08,758
craftsmen like Walter can
create shapes and forms that
406
00:25:08,896 --> 00:25:10,448
are truly unique.
407
00:25:21,482 --> 00:25:23,275
The modern
world is built of solids,
408
00:25:23,413 --> 00:25:26,068
like glass, that we have
created by controlling
409
00:25:26,206 --> 00:25:29,517
the process of cooling
and freezing.
410
00:25:41,551 --> 00:25:44,448
But that change, from liquid
to solid, isn't the end
411
00:25:44,586 --> 00:25:46,413
of the story.
412
00:25:49,344 --> 00:25:51,689
As a solid becomes colder,
it may look
413
00:25:51,827 --> 00:25:54,517
outwardly the same,
414
00:25:54,655 --> 00:25:57,655
but in the hidden world of
atoms and molecules, it can
415
00:25:57,793 --> 00:26:01,448
still be changing in ways
that utterly transform how
416
00:26:01,586 --> 00:26:04,310
it behaves.
417
00:26:04,448 --> 00:26:07,241
And occasionally, when we've
failed to understand these
418
00:26:07,379 --> 00:26:10,482
changes, our pursuit
of progress has ended
419
00:26:10,620 --> 00:26:12,758
in catastrophe.
420
00:26:15,379 --> 00:26:19,620
On the 15th of April 1912,
"Titanic," that unsinkable
421
00:26:19,758 --> 00:26:24,793
symbol of luxury, struck
an iceberg and sank.
422
00:26:26,862 --> 00:26:31,103
There were 2,200 people
onboard, and more than
423
00:26:31,241 --> 00:26:34,103
1,500 of them died.
424
00:26:36,724 --> 00:26:40,448
Titanic was built of
state-of-the-art steel.
425
00:26:42,551 --> 00:26:46,034
As with glass, we'd learned
over centuries to make steel
426
00:26:46,172 --> 00:26:49,655
incredibly strong, through
precisely honed processes
427
00:26:49,793 --> 00:26:52,241
of heating and cooling.
428
00:26:52,379 --> 00:26:55,517
Nobody doubted she was strong
enough to stand up to
429
00:26:55,655 --> 00:26:59,103
the extreme cold of the Arctic.
430
00:26:59,241 --> 00:27:01,448
To understand
what went wrong,
431
00:27:01,586 --> 00:27:04,827
we've come to the Cammell
Laird shipyard in Merseyside,
432
00:27:04,965 --> 00:27:06,586
where marine engineers
are working on their
433
00:27:06,724 --> 00:27:09,172
latest project.
434
00:27:12,103 --> 00:27:15,758
This is the Royal Research
ship "Sir David Attenborough."
435
00:27:15,896 --> 00:27:18,758
When complete, she will be
one of the most modern
436
00:27:18,896 --> 00:27:23,000
and advanced polar research
ships in the world.
437
00:27:26,551 --> 00:27:29,275
And Captain Ralph Stevens,
will be responsible
438
00:27:29,413 --> 00:27:32,000
for navigating this
huge vessel through icy
439
00:27:32,137 --> 00:27:35,241
polar waters.
440
00:27:35,379 --> 00:27:36,931
It's astonishing to
me that we're still building
441
00:27:37,068 --> 00:27:38,862
ships of steel. You know,
we associate steel with
442
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:41,103
the Industrial Revolution
150 years ago,
443
00:27:41,241 --> 00:27:43,586
and yet we are still building
ships from steel.
444
00:27:43,724 --> 00:27:45,724
Why is it so good?
445
00:27:45,862 --> 00:27:47,896
Stevens: Well, for us,
it's quite
446
00:27:48,034 --> 00:27:52,379
a revolutionary material, and
that allows us to take in ...
447
00:27:52,517 --> 00:27:54,965
It's quite common for us to
say some of the ice is as hard
448
00:27:55,103 --> 00:27:58,551
as steel, and some of the
glacial ice, it's rock-hard,
449
00:27:58,689 --> 00:28:01,620
and it's noticeably different.
When you hit a piece, you'll
450
00:28:01,758 --> 00:28:03,689
hear a big clang
throughout the ship.
451
00:28:03,827 --> 00:28:05,724
[Loud clang]
452
00:28:05,862 --> 00:28:07,586
And so we want
the hull to be able to take
453
00:28:07,724 --> 00:28:11,620
all of these forces that it's
exposed to without cracking.
454
00:28:11,758 --> 00:28:13,482
And steel can do that job?
455
00:28:13,620 --> 00:28:16,034
Stevens: Steel can do that.
The right steel can do that.
456
00:28:17,724 --> 00:28:21,000
Czerski: But ironically, steel
may actually have been Titanic's
457
00:28:21,137 --> 00:28:24,068
Achilles' heel.
458
00:28:24,206 --> 00:28:26,482
Because what the engineers
of the day didn't fully
459
00:28:26,620 --> 00:28:29,448
understand is that under
certain conditions,
460
00:28:29,586 --> 00:28:34,310
the behavior of steel can
fundamentally change.
461
00:28:34,448 --> 00:28:38,793
And the key to this
change was cold.
462
00:28:41,586 --> 00:28:44,758
Steel, like many metals,
is ductile.
463
00:28:44,896 --> 00:28:46,965
That means that it can
stretch when put under
464
00:28:47,103 --> 00:28:50,517
stress, a property that's
useful in a huge structure
465
00:28:50,655 --> 00:28:53,103
like a ship.
466
00:28:53,241 --> 00:28:56,517
Few had imagined that, in the
cold, this crucial property
467
00:28:56,655 --> 00:28:59,206
might change.
468
00:28:59,344 --> 00:29:01,655
Got a sample
of shipbuilding steel here
469
00:29:01,793 --> 00:29:03,241
with a little
notch in the bottom.
470
00:29:03,379 --> 00:29:05,413
And I'm gonna do this
experiment twice--once
471
00:29:05,551 --> 00:29:07,896
with this one, which is at
room temperature, and once
472
00:29:08,034 --> 00:29:11,241
with an identical sample which
has been in the dry ice here,
473
00:29:11,379 --> 00:29:14,482
-80 Celsius,
very, very cold.
474
00:29:14,620 --> 00:29:15,896
The difference will
be very obvious.
475
00:29:16,034 --> 00:29:18,620
So here we go.
476
00:29:18,758 --> 00:29:21,758
First... the steel
at room temperature.
477
00:29:21,896 --> 00:29:23,724
[Banging]
478
00:29:33,137 --> 00:29:35,034
So, here's the cold one.
479
00:29:35,172 --> 00:29:38,000
Down at -80 Celsius.
480
00:29:39,551 --> 00:29:41,793
[Banging]
481
00:29:48,172 --> 00:29:50,103
This is the sample at room
temperature, and you can see
482
00:29:50,241 --> 00:29:53,517
that it bent, absorbed the
energy, absorbed the energy,
483
00:29:53,655 --> 00:29:55,275
but it didn't snap.
484
00:29:55,413 --> 00:29:58,103
Whereas this one, this is
the cold-temperature one,
485
00:29:58,241 --> 00:30:00,896
and the surface looks really
different. There's all this
486
00:30:01,034 --> 00:30:03,448
speckled pattern,
and that's the snap.
487
00:30:03,586 --> 00:30:05,586
This was brittle fracture.
488
00:30:05,724 --> 00:30:07,517
You don't want your ship
doing this.
489
00:30:09,724 --> 00:30:12,655
Cold has changed the nature
of the steel, making it
490
00:30:12,793 --> 00:30:15,517
more brittle.
491
00:30:15,655 --> 00:30:18,586
And it's this that some
experts now think could have
492
00:30:18,724 --> 00:30:24,344
played a significant role
in the "Titanic" disaster.
493
00:30:24,482 --> 00:30:27,896
Analysis of metal taken from
the wreckage suggests that
494
00:30:28,034 --> 00:30:31,206
rather than flexing on
collision with the iceberg,
495
00:30:31,344 --> 00:30:36,241
the hull and rivets had become
brittle, and they fractured.
496
00:30:39,275 --> 00:30:40,655
[Bang]
497
00:30:46,275 --> 00:30:49,551
With this in mind, modern
shipbuilders are able to avoid
498
00:30:49,689 --> 00:30:53,241
the mistakes of
their predecessors.
499
00:30:53,379 --> 00:30:55,517
Stevens: We did some
calculations. We went through
500
00:30:55,655 --> 00:30:58,310
the last 10 years
of temperatures our ships have
501
00:30:58,448 --> 00:31:01,379
been exposed to, and that we
came to 25 degrees and then
502
00:31:01,517 --> 00:31:03,758
reduced it down to -35.
503
00:31:03,896 --> 00:31:05,896
So the game is that
you want the steel to give
504
00:31:06,034 --> 00:31:08,344
a little bit,
but--and not snap.
505
00:31:08,482 --> 00:31:10,896
Stevens: That's it. We can't
afford to have it fracture.
506
00:31:11,034 --> 00:31:13,034
And if the worst
came to the worst,
507
00:31:13,172 --> 00:31:16,172
you want that steel to deform
rather than crack.
508
00:31:19,827 --> 00:31:23,103
Czerski: The tragic irony of
"Titanic" is that she was
509
00:31:23,241 --> 00:31:24,655
constructed from metals
510
00:31:24,793 --> 00:31:27,310
that we've
been using for centuries.
511
00:31:29,275 --> 00:31:32,827
We thought
we understood them...
512
00:31:32,965 --> 00:31:38,103
but cold altered them in
ways that no one expected.
513
00:31:45,689 --> 00:31:48,448
Since then, we've been much
more aware of the hidden
514
00:31:48,586 --> 00:31:52,034
changes that can occur within
materials, when they're cooled
515
00:31:52,172 --> 00:31:55,482
far below their
freezing point.
516
00:31:55,620 --> 00:31:58,689
And by pushing temperatures
lower and lower, we're
517
00:31:58,827 --> 00:32:01,827
beginning to unlock some
strange and exciting new
518
00:32:01,965 --> 00:32:04,103
properties of matter.
519
00:32:07,655 --> 00:32:09,827
This is a material with
a very long name.
520
00:32:09,965 --> 00:32:13,517
It's yttrium barium
copper oxide, and it doesn't
521
00:32:13,655 --> 00:32:17,137
look like very much. There's
very strong magnets here,
522
00:32:17,275 --> 00:32:19,448
and it's not responding to
them. It doesn't conduct
523
00:32:19,586 --> 00:32:22,241
electricity, doesn't
seem very interesting.
524
00:32:22,379 --> 00:32:26,241
But when you cool it down,
it changes completely.
525
00:32:26,379 --> 00:32:29,413
Using liquid nitrogen,
we're reducing the temperature
526
00:32:29,551 --> 00:32:34,586
of the disc to -196
degrees Celsius.
527
00:32:34,724 --> 00:32:36,965
And now,
when I bring it close to
528
00:32:37,103 --> 00:32:40,448
the magnets, something
unexpected happens.
529
00:32:45,551 --> 00:32:47,172
It's levitating.
530
00:32:48,965 --> 00:32:51,586
And it will scoot around
on a little track here
531
00:32:51,724 --> 00:32:53,275
for quite a while.
532
00:32:53,413 --> 00:32:54,931
So something's changed.
We've cooled it down.
533
00:32:55,068 --> 00:32:57,448
The behavior
changed completely.
534
00:32:59,724 --> 00:33:02,344
And that's because cold
has altered the material
535
00:33:02,482 --> 00:33:04,896
at the atomic scale.
536
00:33:05,034 --> 00:33:08,068
Materials conduct electricity
when electrons travel
537
00:33:08,206 --> 00:33:09,931
through them.
538
00:33:10,068 --> 00:33:12,482
But the atoms in a conductor
are an obstacle to the flow
539
00:33:12,620 --> 00:33:16,068
of electrons, because as
electrons bump into them they
540
00:33:16,206 --> 00:33:19,172
lose energy.
541
00:33:19,310 --> 00:33:22,965
At extremely low temperatures,
the electrons can team up into
542
00:33:23,103 --> 00:33:27,413
pairs, and then the attraction
between the electron pairs
543
00:33:27,551 --> 00:33:32,758
helps them navigate through
the atoms far more easily.
544
00:33:32,896 --> 00:33:36,310
So, when I bring the disk
close to the magnetic track,
545
00:33:36,448 --> 00:33:40,620
a strong electric current
begins to flow in the disk.
546
00:33:40,758 --> 00:33:44,310
This in turn, generates
its own magnetic field.
547
00:33:44,448 --> 00:33:48,068
The magnets in the track and
the disc repel each other,
548
00:33:48,206 --> 00:33:50,206
and so the disk levitates.
549
00:33:50,344 --> 00:33:53,551
This is an example of
superconductivity. Once it's
550
00:33:53,689 --> 00:33:56,793
cooled down below the critical
temperature, the properties
551
00:33:56,931 --> 00:33:59,482
of the material change.
It becomes able to conduct
552
00:33:59,620 --> 00:34:02,724
electrical currents without
any resistance, and it also
553
00:34:02,862 --> 00:34:07,172
changes how it
responds to magnets.
554
00:34:09,172 --> 00:34:11,965
The peculiar electromagnetic
properties of super-cooled
555
00:34:12,103 --> 00:34:15,103
materials have given us
a powerful new tool
556
00:34:15,241 --> 00:34:18,206
in engineering and medicine.
557
00:34:21,689 --> 00:34:24,689
Some countries already use
a supersized version of this
558
00:34:24,827 --> 00:34:29,344
magnetic levitation effect in
their high-speed rail systems.
559
00:34:29,482 --> 00:34:32,931
Having no contact with the
track, trains run faster
560
00:34:33,068 --> 00:34:37,068
and more smoothly
and efficiently.
561
00:34:37,206 --> 00:34:41,103
And inside MRI scanners,
liquid helium super-cools
562
00:34:41,241 --> 00:34:44,275
massive coils of copper wire
to a temperature of
563
00:34:44,413 --> 00:34:48,965
-269 degrees Celsius.
564
00:34:49,103 --> 00:34:52,517
At this extreme cold,
an electric current can flow
565
00:34:52,655 --> 00:34:56,103
with almost zero resistance
which helps generate the
566
00:34:56,241 --> 00:34:59,137
powerful and stable magnetic
field that the MRI
567
00:34:59,275 --> 00:35:01,344
machine needs.
568
00:35:04,827 --> 00:35:07,689
The extraordinary discoveries
we've made at extremely low
569
00:35:07,827 --> 00:35:11,034
temperatures are now driving
one of the biggest scientific
570
00:35:11,172 --> 00:35:14,000
quests of the modern age:
571
00:35:14,137 --> 00:35:17,344
How cold is it possible to go?
572
00:35:17,482 --> 00:35:20,206
And how do we get there?
573
00:35:22,448 --> 00:35:24,275
[Liquid bubbling]
574
00:35:26,379 --> 00:35:28,551
We know that as you cool
materials down, they tend to
575
00:35:28,689 --> 00:35:31,241
turn into liquids and
then solids, but actually
576
00:35:31,379 --> 00:35:35,379
the question of how cold you
could make something started
577
00:35:35,517 --> 00:35:37,551
with gasses, and this was
the kind of experiment
578
00:35:37,689 --> 00:35:39,310
that was used.
579
00:35:39,448 --> 00:35:42,137
What I've got here are
4 beakers, each of which is
580
00:35:42,275 --> 00:35:45,000
at a different temperature.
581
00:35:45,137 --> 00:35:50,068
They range from -5
to 50 degrees Celsius.
582
00:35:50,206 --> 00:35:53,068
Into each, we're placing
a syringe containing
583
00:35:53,206 --> 00:35:56,655
15 milliliters of air
at room temperature.
584
00:35:56,793 --> 00:36:00,137
This air will heat up or cool
down until it's at the same
585
00:36:00,275 --> 00:36:04,448
temperature as what's
in the beaker.
586
00:36:04,586 --> 00:36:06,586
So much science is about
waiting, and this is one
587
00:36:06,724 --> 00:36:08,793
of those experiments.
588
00:36:11,103 --> 00:36:13,241
But it's not the change in
temperature that's interesting
589
00:36:13,379 --> 00:36:16,137
here, it's something else.
590
00:36:16,275 --> 00:36:20,034
After 5 minutes, the air
that's heated to 50 degrees
591
00:36:20,172 --> 00:36:23,931
has expanded from 15 to
16 milliliters, while
592
00:36:24,068 --> 00:36:27,482
the air that's cooled to
-5 has reduced to
593
00:36:27,620 --> 00:36:29,586
14 milliliters.
594
00:36:29,724 --> 00:36:32,482
In other words, there's a
direct relationship between
595
00:36:32,620 --> 00:36:36,310
the temperature of a gas
and its volume.
596
00:36:38,137 --> 00:36:40,586
So the first scientists who
saw this kind of relationship
597
00:36:40,724 --> 00:36:42,551
did something very
straightforward. They plotted
598
00:36:42,689 --> 00:36:46,068
a graph that showed
temperature against volume.
599
00:36:46,206 --> 00:36:48,137
And at the higher
temperatures, the volume is
600
00:36:48,275 --> 00:36:50,827
higher, and as you go down to
the lower and lower and lower
601
00:36:50,965 --> 00:36:53,793
temperatures, the
volume decreases.
602
00:36:53,931 --> 00:36:55,655
And then there's a question.
603
00:36:55,793 --> 00:36:59,103
Because at some point, even
though they couldn't see it,
604
00:36:59,241 --> 00:37:01,448
if that line kept going,
605
00:37:01,586 --> 00:37:04,275
it was going to pass through
zero volume,
606
00:37:04,413 --> 00:37:07,482
and at that point and past
that point, what happens to
607
00:37:07,620 --> 00:37:09,586
the temperature?
What does it mean?
608
00:37:09,724 --> 00:37:12,379
And that was the first hint
that there might be a limit
609
00:37:12,517 --> 00:37:14,517
on just how cold you can go.
610
00:37:17,275 --> 00:37:20,448
This observation led to
a concept known as
611
00:37:20,586 --> 00:37:25,206
Absolute Zero,
the theoretical limit of cold.
612
00:37:27,758 --> 00:37:29,551
And now we know
exactly what it is.
613
00:37:29,689 --> 00:37:33,724
On the Celsius
scale, it's -273.15--
614
00:37:33,862 --> 00:37:36,965
a fantastically low
temperature, but below that
615
00:37:37,103 --> 00:37:40,103
there's nowhere to go. That's
the coldest you can get.
616
00:37:40,241 --> 00:37:42,241
[Wind howling]
617
00:37:43,827 --> 00:37:45,758
And it remains a
theoretical point
618
00:37:45,896 --> 00:37:50,103
on the temperature scale.
619
00:37:50,241 --> 00:37:52,827
The Boomerang Nebula,
5,000 light years away
620
00:37:52,965 --> 00:37:57,103
from Earth, is the coldest
place we know of in nature.
621
00:38:00,137 --> 00:38:03,275
It's a star in the late stages
of its life that's shedding
622
00:38:03,413 --> 00:38:06,206
huge plumes of gas.
623
00:38:06,344 --> 00:38:09,517
As this gas expands rapidly
into the void of interstellar
624
00:38:09,655 --> 00:38:13,344
space, it loses energy
quickly, resulting in its
625
00:38:13,482 --> 00:38:19,586
unusually low temperature of
-272 degrees Celsius.
626
00:38:19,724 --> 00:38:22,793
But even this is one
whole degree warmer than
627
00:38:22,931 --> 00:38:25,137
Absolute Zero.
628
00:38:32,620 --> 00:38:35,068
Though we've yet to find
Absolute Zero in the far
629
00:38:35,206 --> 00:38:37,827
reaches of the Universe,
we're trying to create it
630
00:38:37,965 --> 00:38:42,068
ourselves, much
closer to home.
631
00:38:42,206 --> 00:38:45,000
At Imperial College London,
Professor Ed Hinds and his
632
00:38:45,137 --> 00:38:48,379
team are working at the very
limits of the ultra-cold,
633
00:38:48,517 --> 00:38:53,000
within fractions of a
degree of Absolute Zero.
634
00:38:55,689 --> 00:38:58,758
It promises to open up a whole
new world of physics, which
635
00:38:58,896 --> 00:39:01,655
could revolutionize our future.
636
00:39:04,379 --> 00:39:08,000
The stuff they're cooling here
is tiny clouds of molecules.
637
00:39:08,137 --> 00:39:11,034
Chilling them to
Absolute Zero requires two
638
00:39:11,172 --> 00:39:13,517
phases of cooling.
639
00:39:13,655 --> 00:39:17,275
First, using liquid helium,
they take them down to within
640
00:39:17,413 --> 00:39:20,137
4 degrees of Absolute Zero,
641
00:39:20,275 --> 00:39:24,689
but it's these last few
degrees that pose the problem.
642
00:39:26,517 --> 00:39:28,827
Hinds: There are ways
to make helium a bit colder,
643
00:39:28,965 --> 00:39:33,000
but to get to the millionth
of a degree, there is no fluid
644
00:39:33,137 --> 00:39:38,000
that you can use
so instead, we use light.
645
00:39:39,724 --> 00:39:43,206
By scattering the light,
the molecules will
646
00:39:43,344 --> 00:39:45,206
get colder.
647
00:39:49,689 --> 00:39:51,103
Czerski: Even at this
temperature,
648
00:39:51,241 --> 00:39:55,137
the molecules still
have some movement.
649
00:39:55,275 --> 00:39:58,896
Photons in the laser light
collide with the slowly moving
650
00:39:59,034 --> 00:40:02,551
molecules, and in that
instant, what little momentum
651
00:40:02,689 --> 00:40:07,586
they have is
transferred to the photons.
652
00:40:07,724 --> 00:40:10,103
The photons are scattered...
653
00:40:12,344 --> 00:40:17,206
but the molecules slow down
and so get even colder.
654
00:40:21,862 --> 00:40:25,241
By using an array of different
colors of laser light in just
655
00:40:25,379 --> 00:40:28,689
the right order, Ed and his
team can reach temperatures
656
00:40:28,827 --> 00:40:34,068
within a few millionths of
a degree of Absolute Zero.
657
00:40:34,206 --> 00:40:38,241
At these incredibly low
temperatures, materials begin
658
00:40:38,379 --> 00:40:43,862
to behave differently at the
subatomic or "quantum" level.
659
00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:47,137
In this "quantum" state,
they exhibit strange
660
00:40:47,275 --> 00:40:53,413
properties which might lead
to a new type of computer.
661
00:40:53,551 --> 00:40:58,206
A normal computer bit can only
represent a 0 or a 1,
662
00:40:58,344 --> 00:41:01,310
but these quantum
materials can be 0 and 1
663
00:41:01,448 --> 00:41:03,241
at the same time.
664
00:41:05,241 --> 00:41:08,758
Link these multi-tasking bits
together, and they can do vast
665
00:41:08,896 --> 00:41:11,827
numbers of calculations
simultaneously,
666
00:41:11,965 --> 00:41:17,068
far faster than any
conventional computer chip.
667
00:41:17,206 --> 00:41:19,965
Hinds: This opens up
the possibility, of quantum
668
00:41:20,103 --> 00:41:23,517
computing, quantum sensing,
quantum cryptography, these
669
00:41:23,655 --> 00:41:27,413
are all ways of doing useful
things but much better
670
00:41:27,551 --> 00:41:32,034
than can be done with
conventional techniques.
671
00:41:35,931 --> 00:41:38,172
Czerski: The world of
Absolute Zero
672
00:41:38,310 --> 00:41:40,275
is a strange new realm
of physics
673
00:41:40,413 --> 00:41:42,379
and one we're only just
beginning to get to
674
00:41:42,517 --> 00:41:44,827
grips with.
675
00:41:44,965 --> 00:41:47,517
But there's something ironic
about the vast efforts
676
00:41:47,655 --> 00:41:49,448
required to push things
677
00:41:49,586 --> 00:41:52,689
extremely close to
Absolute Zero...
678
00:41:54,689 --> 00:41:57,931
because wait long enough,
billions of years,
679
00:41:58,068 --> 00:42:00,586
and everything will get there.
680
00:42:00,724 --> 00:42:06,275
The universe itself is cold,
and it's getting colder.
681
00:42:09,310 --> 00:42:12,758
In 1964, in a small laboratory
in New Jersey,
682
00:42:12,896 --> 00:42:16,206
astrophysicists Robert
Wilson and Arno Penzias
683
00:42:16,344 --> 00:42:19,241
stumbled upon a discovery that
changed our understanding
684
00:42:19,379 --> 00:42:21,689
of the universe forever...
685
00:42:23,931 --> 00:42:28,172
revealing something profound
about its temperature.
686
00:42:29,931 --> 00:42:34,137
And helping us decipher exactly
what they found is Tim O'Brien,
687
00:42:34,275 --> 00:42:36,931
an astrophysicist at
The University of Manchester
688
00:42:37,068 --> 00:42:41,068
and the Director of the
Jodrell Bank Observatory.
689
00:42:43,275 --> 00:42:45,586
So, at some point during
every undergraduate physicists
690
00:42:45,724 --> 00:42:47,896
degree, they hear the names
Penzias and Wilson.
691
00:42:48,034 --> 00:42:49,586
Tell me what they did.
692
00:42:49,724 --> 00:42:51,413
O'Brien: So these were
these two great characters
693
00:42:51,551 --> 00:42:55,517
that, were working in the
USA in the 1960s.
694
00:42:55,655 --> 00:42:58,517
They built themselves
a remarkable telescope.
695
00:42:58,655 --> 00:43:01,965
It was incredibly well-built
to try and study the outer
696
00:43:02,103 --> 00:43:04,517
regions of the Milky Way,
and they were measuring very
697
00:43:04,655 --> 00:43:07,758
weak signals
coming from space.
698
00:43:07,896 --> 00:43:11,172
But there was this last bit
of noise that they had no idea
699
00:43:11,310 --> 00:43:13,965
where it came from. They
could not get rid of it.
700
00:43:14,103 --> 00:43:15,551
[Faint hissing]
701
00:43:15,689 --> 00:43:17,586
It was a faint hiss, and
that faint hiss came from
702
00:43:17,724 --> 00:43:19,413
everywhere in the sky.
703
00:43:19,551 --> 00:43:21,793
It had the same sort of
strength, the same brightness
704
00:43:21,931 --> 00:43:23,448
of the radio signal
everywhere on the sky.
705
00:43:23,586 --> 00:43:25,310
And they tried
everything. They tried all
706
00:43:25,448 --> 00:43:27,206
kinds of things, didn't they?
- They did try everything.
707
00:43:27,344 --> 00:43:29,758
At one point, they thought it
might be coming from pigeon
708
00:43:29,896 --> 00:43:32,862
droppings in the telescope,
so a big telescope that
709
00:43:33,000 --> 00:43:35,379
the pigeons were sitting in.
Washed it all out--
710
00:43:35,517 --> 00:43:37,172
No, the stuff was still there.
711
00:43:39,655 --> 00:43:42,137
Czerski: There remained only one
possible explanation for this
712
00:43:42,275 --> 00:43:46,413
noise, and it had enormous
implications for our view
713
00:43:46,551 --> 00:43:48,034
of the universe.
714
00:43:48,172 --> 00:43:51,241
This strange
hissing was coming from beyond
715
00:43:51,379 --> 00:43:54,310
our own galaxy.
716
00:43:54,448 --> 00:43:56,034
O'Brien: It's what we
now know, and they didn't know
717
00:43:56,172 --> 00:43:58,103
at the time, is what we
call the Cosmic Microwave
718
00:43:58,241 --> 00:44:01,034
Background, the fading
glow of the Big Bang.
719
00:44:01,172 --> 00:44:02,689
Where was
this coming from?
720
00:44:02,827 --> 00:44:04,103
O'Brien: Yeah, it's coming from
the whole sky,
721
00:44:04,241 --> 00:44:05,724
so it's coming from
everywhere,
722
00:44:05,862 --> 00:44:07,413
and it's actually
the light that was emitted by
723
00:44:07,551 --> 00:44:11,448
the universe about 380,000
years after the Big Bang.
724
00:44:16,275 --> 00:44:18,862
The Cosmic Microwave
Background radiation
725
00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:20,896
is invisible to
the naked eye.
726
00:44:21,034 --> 00:44:23,068
but it fills the universe.
727
00:44:26,137 --> 00:44:28,655
If we could see it, the
entire sky would glow
728
00:44:28,793 --> 00:44:31,344
with a brightness that is
astonishingly uniform
729
00:44:31,482 --> 00:44:33,931
in every direction.
730
00:44:34,068 --> 00:44:36,344
What's remarkable is
that these microwaves
731
00:44:36,482 --> 00:44:38,827
carry information.
732
00:44:38,965 --> 00:44:41,172
They allow us to take
an accurate temperature
733
00:44:41,310 --> 00:44:47,413
of the entire universe without
the use of a thermometer.
734
00:44:47,551 --> 00:44:49,413
A thermometer has a
fundamental limitation,
735
00:44:49,551 --> 00:44:51,517
which is that it has to be
touching the thing that
736
00:44:51,655 --> 00:44:53,310
it's measuring.
737
00:44:53,448 --> 00:44:54,931
And that's not much use if
you're looking at the rest
738
00:44:55,068 --> 00:44:56,931
of the world, or even
the rest of the universe.
739
00:44:57,068 --> 00:45:00,344
But the laws of physics
themselves offer another route
740
00:45:00,482 --> 00:45:02,655
because every single object
in the universe
741
00:45:02,793 --> 00:45:05,655
with a temperature
is radiating some of that
742
00:45:05,793 --> 00:45:08,482
energy away as light,
and every single object has
743
00:45:08,620 --> 00:45:10,448
a temperature.
744
00:45:10,586 --> 00:45:12,310
The reason you can see me now
on the infrared camera is that
745
00:45:12,448 --> 00:45:15,344
I have a temperature and so
I'm glowing in the infrared,
746
00:45:15,482 --> 00:45:18,379
effectively a human
infrared light bulb.
747
00:45:21,793 --> 00:45:24,034
The temperature of an
object determines the exact
748
00:45:24,172 --> 00:45:26,931
wavelengths of the
light it radiates.
749
00:45:27,068 --> 00:45:29,758
And this means there's a
precise relationship between
750
00:45:29,896 --> 00:45:33,241
temperature and color.
751
00:45:33,379 --> 00:45:36,793
So, when an astronomer sees
a star of a certain color,
752
00:45:36,931 --> 00:45:40,379
they know it has a
certain temperature.
753
00:45:40,517 --> 00:45:45,206
The reddest star visible to
the naked eye is Mu Cephei.
754
00:45:45,344 --> 00:45:48,586
The wavelength of red light
that it radiates tells us this
755
00:45:48,724 --> 00:45:55,103
star has a temperature of
around 3200 degrees Celsius.
756
00:45:55,241 --> 00:45:58,448
And this is Spica, a star
that glows a brilliant
757
00:45:58,586 --> 00:46:00,310
bluish-white.
758
00:46:00,448 --> 00:46:03,241
This shorter wavelength
is indicative of a young,
759
00:46:03,379 --> 00:46:06,344
hot star that's burning at a
temperature of around
760
00:46:06,482 --> 00:46:11,793
22000 degrees Celsius.
761
00:46:11,931 --> 00:46:14,758
Travel back the other way
towards longer wavelengths,
762
00:46:14,896 --> 00:46:17,379
and things get cooler.
763
00:46:20,586 --> 00:46:23,862
Eventually, you reach the very
long wavelengths of the
764
00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:26,448
Cosmic Microwave Background.
765
00:46:26,586 --> 00:46:28,896
They're not part of
the visible spectrum,
766
00:46:29,034 --> 00:46:31,551
but the wavelengths of
these microwaves reveal
767
00:46:31,689 --> 00:46:33,482
its temperature,
768
00:46:33,620 --> 00:46:37,241
and that temperature is cold.
769
00:46:37,379 --> 00:46:41,310
Today, the Cosmic Microwave
Background radiation glows
770
00:46:41,448 --> 00:46:46,586
at a temperature of
-270 degrees Celsius,
771
00:46:46,724 --> 00:46:50,896
Only 2.7 degrees warmer
than Absolute Zero.
772
00:46:52,344 --> 00:46:56,310
Away from our nice warm bubble
on planet Earth, the universe
773
00:46:56,448 --> 00:46:58,586
isn't just very empty,
774
00:46:58,724 --> 00:47:02,034
it's very, very cold.
775
00:47:02,172 --> 00:47:06,241
But that's not the end of
our story of temperature.
776
00:47:09,137 --> 00:47:11,551
Because amidst the
vast swathes of cold
777
00:47:11,689 --> 00:47:14,655
and nothingness, we're
starting to find other bubbles
778
00:47:14,793 --> 00:47:17,965
of warmth out there in the
universe...
779
00:47:18,103 --> 00:47:21,310
planets with a temperature
similar to our own,
780
00:47:21,448 --> 00:47:23,965
which means they may have the
right conditions for liquid
781
00:47:24,103 --> 00:47:27,724
water and complex chemistry.
782
00:47:27,862 --> 00:47:30,655
These discoveries are
causing huge excitement among
783
00:47:30,793 --> 00:47:33,827
scientists, because they
offer up the tantalizing
784
00:47:33,965 --> 00:47:38,172
possibility, that maybe,
just maybe,
785
00:47:38,310 --> 00:47:42,000
we might not be alone
in this vast universe.
65308
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