2010 Podcasts
The podcast is presented by Gareth Mitchell, a lecturer on Imperial's MSc Science Communication course. He’s also a longstanding BBC presenter and reporter. Gareth is joined each month by our roving reporters in the Communications Division.
If you have feedback that you'd like to share or ideas for future editions, we'd love to hear from you; please contact Gareth Mitchell.
You can also find the podcasts on most major platforms, including YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify.
Check out other podcasts produced across the College in our podcast directory.
Podcasts 2010
December 21 festive special edition
In the December 21 festive special edition: Schoolchildren send Santa the spud to space, scientists follow a falling star and rock star guitarist Brian May delivers an alternative Queen’s Christmas message.
Download the complete Podcast - 21 December 2010 (29mb)
To download right click and choose 'save target as' and save to your computer.
Or download individual chapters
- Gareth Mitchell and J-P Jones discuss the recent news from around Imperial:
- The Rector talks to the Moon Regan expedition team as they arrive at the snowy South Pole (3.7mb)
- Phil Bland explains how cameras in the Australian outback are catching falling stars (with a little help from local farmers) (5.6mb)
- Student callers from a recent funding campaign reveal their best and worst Christmas presents (2mb)
- Guitarist and alumnus Brian May delivers a Queen Christmas message (and remembers the Imperial student he once loved from afar) (2.5mb)
- J-P Jones watches Imperial’s alternatives to panto with the College’s student playwrights (5mb)
- Alumnus Hilary Gibbard and her class talk about Spudnik2, the potato pupils sent to space (3.1mb)
30 November edition
In the November 30 edition: Professor Geoff Maitland on how to walk through a media storm, and a physics enthusiast reminisces about blowing his garage door off.
Download the complete Podcast - 30 November 2010 (34mb)
To download right click and choose 'save target as' and save to your computer.
Or download individual chapters
- Gareth Mitchell, Colin Smith and Katherine Barnes discuss the recent news from around Imperial:
- Professor Geoff Maitland tells us about providing expert commentary on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (5.2mb)
- Racing Green Endurance’s Alex Schey on the conclusion of the team’s electric supercar adventure (2.8mb)
- How new research could allow you to break into a safe without being seen (1.2mb)
- Guests at Imperial’s Schrödinger lecture reveal what they would do if they were invisible (1.2mb)
- Your life on Mars: Professor Mark Sephton chooses a book, object and companion for a hypothetical trip to Mars (2.7mb)
- More from the Schrödinger lecture as we ask attendees to recall their favourite science experiments (1.7mb)
- In the field: Sam Wong tries out an instrumented treadmill that researchers are using to assess knee and hip injuries, with Anatole Wiik and Lynsey Duffell (5.9mb)
9 November edition
In the November 9 edition: Who Professor Stephen Curry would take with him on a trip to Mars and why there’s an enormous gun in Aeronautics.
Download the complete Podcast - 9 November 2010 (28mb)
To download right click and choose 'save target as' and save to your computer.
Or download individual chapters
- Gareth Mitchell, Colin Smith and Sam Wong discuss the recent news from around Imperial (3.7mb)
- Your life on Mars – Professor Stephen Curry on the book, luxury item and historical guest he would want with him for a stay on the red planet (8mb)
- Two minutes on me – Dr Abigail Woods explains her work looking at the relationship between human health and animal health research since the 19th century (2.5mb)
- In the field – Colin Smith heads into the bowels of Aeronautics to check out a huge green gas gun (pictured) with Dr Lorenzo Iannucci (4.3mb)
September edition
In the September edition: The students bringing power to the people in Rwanda and why your podcast needs you.
Listen to Podcast - September 2010 (26mb)
To download right click and choose 'save target as' and save to your computer.
- 02.10 Undergraduate Christopher Hopper talks about bringing low-cost electricity to rural Rwanda with the e.quinox project
- 08.21 Headl ines from around the Coll ege
- 14:50 Selection of best bits from over three years of the Imperial College London podcast, including interviews with three former Rectors and a test drive in the Imperial flight simulator
- 20.57 Laura Gallagher on plans for a revamped podcast
August edition
In the August edition: Popular Prof reflects on his long career at Imperial and the safety of oil wells, and how a fingerprint can tell you where someone's been.
Listen to Podcast - August 2010 (28mb)
To download right click and choose 'save target as' and save to your computer.
- 01:30 Imperial's Deputy Rector Professor Stephen Richardson, a specialist in oil installation safety, gives his take on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and looks back on his time as a lecturer and an engineer at the College
- 11:50 What climate change means for marmots; and other headlines from around the College
- 14:50 Professor Sergei Kazarian and colleagues discuss what chemical photography can glean from a fingerprint, at the Royal Society's Summer Exhibition
- 21:45 A cross section of life at Imperial at our undergraduate open day
July edition
In the July edition: A quantum of eminent physicist Sir Peter Knight and the event bringing dragons to South Kensington.
Listen to Podcast - July 2010 (28mb)
To download right click and choose 'save target as' and save to your computer.
- 01.45 Professor Sir Peter Knight on why the science of quantum optics never stands still
- 10.37 Headlines from around the Colle g e
- 12.20 Junior Re search Fellow Michael Gastner on the maths of cargo ships and the unsuspecting marine life that travels with them
- 21.00 The BBC’s Evan Davis (above right) on presenting a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style competition for postgraduate students in the Department of Chemistry
June edition
In the June edition: Racing towards an all-electric future in a record-breaking supercar and talking hot stars with a future hot research star on the College’s Junior Research Fellowship scheme.
Listen to Podcast - June 2010 (28mb)
To download right click and choose 'save target as' and save to your computer.
- 01.33 Alex Schey, David Howie and Andy Hadland on the Racing Green Endurance electric supercar
- 08.42 Headlines from around the College
- 11.57 Professor David Phillips on his career exploring chemistry driven by light
- 20.52 Malaria and HIV researcher Deirdre Hollingsworth and astrophysicist Sugata Kaviraj on life and work as Imperial Junior Research Fellows
May edition
In the May edition: Bringing music to your ears courtesy of the College's musical community and how the prospects for nuclear fusion are hotting up
Listen to Podcast - May 2010 (28mb)
To download right click and choose 'save target as' and save to your computer.
- 01.26 Professor Elio Riboli on an EPIC Europe-wide study into reducing people's risk of cancer
- 09.31 Headlines from around the College
- 12.26 Richard Dickins on conducting Imperial's varied musical life
- 21.56 Michael Coppins on nuclear fusion and the potential of heating plasma to 100m degrees
April edition
In the April edition: One of the 100 women who changed the world and the fant astic aviators that you want to swot
Listen to Podcast - April 2010 (29mb)
To download right click and choose 'save target as' and save to your computer.
- 1.27 Holger Krapp on what makes flies such remarkable aviators
- 9.44 Headlines from around the College
- 12.28 Vivette Glover and colleagues on telling children about maternal health at the Big Bang Science Fair
- 20.15 Averil Mansfield, the UK’s first female Professor of Surgery, on her career and being one of 100 women who changed the world
March edition
In the March edition: The morbidly obese people who are missing skinny genes, the scientists turning their ideas into new innovations and the students solving the world’s problems in a model United Nations
Listen to Podcast - March 2010 (26mb)
To download right click and choose 'save target as' and save to your computer.
- 01.34 Dr Robin Walters on the genetic basis of obesity
- 09.26 Headlines from around the College
- 12.13 Delegates at the Technology in Medicine and Surgery conference on transforming their ideas into new technologies
- 20.50 Postgraduate Neave O’Clery on the London International Model United Nations 2010
February edition
In the February edition: The poorly known disease that kills more women in the UK than breast cancer, the photography exhibition that shows 100 visions of 100 Imperial women and the future of solar power
Listen to Podcast - February 2010 (28mb)
To download right click and choose 'save target as' and save to your computer.
- 01.29 Professor Peter Barnes on tackling one of the world’s biggest killers - Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
- 10.07 Headlines from around the College
- 13.01 Exploring the 100 Women: 100 Visions exhibition of inspiring photographs of female scientists at Imperial, with the team behind it
- 22.32 Postgraduate student Jarvist Frost on making more of the Sun’s energy by using Organic Solar Cells
January edition
In the January edition: getting to know Imperial’s new Acting Rector, subverting mosquito sperm storage and why Daniel Defoe was the first science journalist
Listen to Podcast - January 2010 (32mb)
To download right click and choose 'save target as' and save to your computer.
- 01.58 Introducing new Acting Rector Sir Keith O’Nions
- 12.58 Headlines from around the College
- 15.04 Dr Flaminia Catteruccia on tackling malaria by meddling with mosquitoes’ sex lives
- 25.53 Dr Nick Russell on communicating science from Daniel Defoe to the Dana Centre