The Energetic Universe

What can we learn by smashing particles together at the speed of light? Surprisingly, these tiny collisions can reveal some of the biggest secrets of the universe. Join me on a journey from the smallest particles to the largest cosmic structures, showing how experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider help us understand the earliest moments after the Big Bang. Learn how the machines behind these discoveries — particle accelerators — appear in surprising places in everyday life. You may discover something new about the universe or realise that you already have a particle accelerator at home

Solar flares are dramatic explosions in the outer atmosphere of the Sun. They produce electromagnetic radiation and beams of high-energy charged particles. This can have serious effects on space instrumentation and on power systems and communication on Earth. The first solar flare was observed in 1859. We now know that flares arise from a release of stored magnetic energy through a process known as "magnetic reconnection". But many questions remain unanswered! I will explain how solar flares work and how they are at the root of space weather which affects our technological systems.

Astronomers have been hunting for the colossal power plants of advanced civilisations. In the 1960s, Freeman Dyson and Nikolai Kardashev proposed that truly advanced societies would harvest energy from entire stars and galaxies. We explore the progress of this search: from the 1960s mystery of CTA 102, which inspired the band The Byrds to sing about ET, to the strange flickering of "Tabby’s Star" discovered in 2015. Join us to discover how we look for the amazing power of alien technology.