Microscopic Marvels, Sonic Spectacles and Atom Economies

Join Dr Luke Norman for a captivating journey into the microscopic world as we explore the fascinating subject of electron microscopy and its profound potential for outreach. As a Knowledge Exchange Fellow at the Nanoscale and Microscale Research Centre (nmRC), Luke is passionately committed to public engagement, aiming to shed light not only on the inner workings of materials characterisation techniques but also on how they can deepen our understanding of the world that surrounds us. In this talk, Luke will celebrate a year of the public engagement initiative “Under the Microscope”, in which the public are asked for their imaging suggestions, by showcasing some of the best of the year and asking for your help for more ideas!

Green chemistry represents sustainability at maybe the smallest possible scale - atomic. Chemists use atoms as the building blocks in reactions to design new molecules for materials, medicines, and much more. From finding greener methods to make molecules we already use in society, to designing molecules to reduce our footprint on the planet, sustainable chemistry can have a big impact from a little scale. But the elements on our planet are a finite resource, and can be mismanaged, lost or wasted. This talk will introduce the precious elements unknowingly trapped in junk drawers, along roadsides or floating out to space.

Superoscillations offer a new paradigm in which we can analyse waves, specifically sound waves! Have you ever wanted to play Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, but only have a drum set? Worry not, superoscillations will allow you to perform such a feat with only minor Earth-shattering consequences. Superoscillations allow us to be able to achieve higher frequencies and pitch than classically thought possible due to a specific balance of interference effects. Enjoy a walk through the wacky world of the weird waves that constantly surround us!