iSci Fly By

16/05/2022

Our new podcast, iSci Fly By, is a non-geek, non-specialist science and technology show for everyone!

If you are aged between 11 and 111 (and possibly older) and are fascinated by the development of science and technology, the iSci-Fly-By Show is a must-listen.

🎧 TUNE IN: https://bit.ly/3K1jqQs

03/05/2022

Our new podcast, iSci Fly By, is a non-geek, non-specialist science and technology show for everyone!

If you are aged between 11 and 111 (and possibly older) and are fascinated by the development of science and technology, the iSci-Fly-By Show is a must-listen.

Here's the run down of episodes so far:
1) Living in Space – Orbiting Cities within fifty years?
2) Stephen Baxter, sci-fi great – Part 1
3) Stephen Baxter, sci-fi great – Part 2
4) Satellites and Swarms
5) Quantum Computing
6) Nuclear Power – Part 1
7) Nuclear Power – Part 2 - COMING SOON!

Listen to these podcasts at: https://bit.ly/3K1jqQs

Let us know your feedback!

20/04/2022

The hosts of the iSci Fly By Show come from very different generations but they share a love of science, technology, and engineering. Neither believes that these pursuits will necessarily solve humanity's fundamental problems but they are both convinced that they offer the most rewarding possibilities and the most engrossing mysteries for anyone who is fascinated by where we will be going in the next century or so. More to the point, humanity will not solve its urgent environmental and sustainability issues without top-rate scientists, technologists and engineers.

🎧Keith Pye🎧

Thoroughly hooked by Dan Dare's space exploits in the 1950s' Eagle comic, he is the archetypal "layman's layman". During a career that can only be called eclectic he worked on projects like Concorde, Jaguar, and Tornado in the 70s, taught economics and politics at Cambridge in the 80s, researched the space industry in Cornwall in the early 2000s, wrote business and economics books and articles, reported on technological change in various economic and industrial sectors in more recent years, and has never lost his enduring interest in science and technology in all their forms.

Most importantly, he has never been swayed from his belief that science, mathematics, technology, and engineering offer the most incredible futures for young people today and that, only through increased scientific and technological knowledge will we be able to address our existential environmental challenges.

There is just so much to be learned and built – so many exciting and fulfilling futures.

🎧Olivia Bray🎧

Space has always fascinated Olivia. From a very young age she would spend full nights on her driveway studying the stars and meteor showers, and this spurred her to read for a first-class master’s in physics, astrophysics, and astronomy at Lancaster University.

She specialised in gigantic stellar clusters - groups of millions of stars - studying their complex, and utterly mind-boggling, evolutionary paths. From this point, she knew that her appetite for knowledge could never be sated – and that the pursuit of astrophysics and science would be a core part of her life.

Science is ever evolving, ever growing, and it is vital – now more than ever – to encourage the younger generation to pursue such paths, to expand their scientific horizons and to come to understand just how much of our universe we know nothing about. There is so much to discover, and we’ve barely scratched the surface.

More about the show: https://pyetait.com/isci-fly-by

14/04/2022

In Episode 4, "Satellites & Swarms" we talk to Andrew Cawthorne who is SSTL's Director of Earth Observation and Customer Training. He talks about how SSTL got started, some of their major successes and current projects, and a swathe of fascinating topics such as how satellites are powered, what might happen with the new swarms of internet satellites, space debris clearance, and much more. And you won't want to miss what he has to say about their new satellite which will circle the Moon.

🎧Listen: https://pyetait.com/isci-fly-by

30/03/2022

Our new podcast, iSci Fly By, is a non-geek, non-specialist science and technology show for everyone!

If you are aged between 11 and 111 (and possibly older) and are fascinated by the development of science and technology, the iSci-Fly-By Show is a must-listen.

Here's the run down of episodes so far:

1) Living in Space – Orbiting Cities within fifty years?
2) Stephen Baxter, sci-fi great – Part 1
3) Stephen Baxter, sci-fi great – Part 2
4) Satellites and Swarms
5) Quantum Computing
6) Nuclear Power – Part 1

Listen to these podcasts at: https://bit.ly/3K1jqQs

Let us know your feedback!

16/03/2022

In our "Nuclear Power Pt 1" episode of iSci Fly By with Nuclear AMRC, we touch on topics including the new "modular" reactors, the innovations being introduced at the new large scale reactors at Hinckley and Sizewell C, and the incredible facts surrounding underground waste storage. Definitely not one to miss!

Listen here: https://isciflyby.podbean.com/e/episode-6-nuclear-power/

Nuclear power could perhaps win the prize for being the energy source with the worst reputation. It's the one that scares most people but is also the energy source that is least well-understood. Is its bad-rep deserved or could there be a good side to nuclear energy? The answers are – "to an exten...

14/03/2022

💥Episode 6 of iSci Fly By is not now: Nuclear Power - Part 1💥

Nuclear energy could perhaps win the prize for being the power source with the worst reputation. Coal is dirty and kills more people but for some reason we accept it more readily than nuclear. Nuclear energy is the technology that scares people but it is also the energy source that is least well-understood. Is its bad-rep deserved or could there be a good side to nuclear energy?
The answers are – "to an extent" and "yes, emphatically".

Evan Bolle-Jones is a technical lead in the simulation and verification group at the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (Nuclear AMRC) at the University of Sheffield. As such he knows the issues and he puts the strong case for nuclear energy in the UK without fear or favour. He talks about the problems of radiation and how the nuclear industry has dealt with them – indeed it is one of the safest industries in the nation. It's a gripping picture which includes kilometre-deep tunnels and hockey balls.

There are good sides and bad sides to all energy sources but we tend only to see the downsides to nuclear energy. These podcasts give us a chance to balance the books a little.

Listen here: https://isciflyby.podbean.com/e/episode-6-nuclear-power/

Nuclear power could perhaps win the prize for being the energy source with the worst reputation. It's the one that scares most people but is also the energy source that is least well-understood. Is its bad-rep deserved or could there be a good side to nuclear energy? The answers are – "to an exten...

07/03/2022

💥💥NEW EPISODE!! Episode 5 - Quantum Computing💥💥

What are Quantum computers good for? Do they even exist? How do they use superposition and entanglement?

Founded just seven years ago at the University of Cambridge, Cambridge Quantum has scientists working all over the world and is now the world's largest integrated quantum computing company. Our guest today is Dr Mark Jackson, a US-based Quantum Evangelist for the company and a powerful advocate for the future of quantum computing. After a mind-blowing investigation of quantum effects we settled down to explore the many ways in which Quantum Computing is helping a surprisingly wide array of industries to use the technology - pharmaceuticals, finance, chemistry and materials science are among the first.

The speed of advance is incredible and the potential for quantum computing to change our lives in the very near future is huge. Could we ever have a future in which our medical treatments and drugs were uniquely designed and made for individuals? The computing power required for bespoke medical care would be totally impossible using ordinary computers, but with quantum computers the answer is yes, so listen in and be amazed.

🎧Listen: https://isciflyby.podbean.com/e/episode-5-quantum-computing/

What are quantum computers? Do they even exist and what are they used for? What is quantum superposition and entanglement and are they anything more than just science fiction? In this episode we answer these questions by talking with Dr Mark Jackson, a Quantum Evangelist at Cambridge Quantum. The co...

28/02/2022

Episode 4 - Satellites & Swarms

These days satellites are taken for granted. Most people never give a second thought to how their smartphone knows where they are located, how the City of London manages to conduct financial business across the globe, how films are streamed onto their TVs, why we can predict the weather so accurately, and so on. All depends on one or more of the thousands of satellites that now orbit the Earth and a good proportion of those artificial moons are built in the UK – many of them by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd.

Today's guest is Andrew Cawthorne who is SSTL's Director of Earth Observation and Customer Training. He talks about how SSTL got started, some of their major successes and current projects, and a swathe of fascinating topics such as how satellites are powered, what might happen with the new swarms of internet satellites, space debris clearance, and much more. And you won't want to miss what he has to say about their new satellite which will circle the Moon.

🎧Listen: https://isciflyby.podbean.com/e/episode-4-satellites-and-swarms/

22/02/2022

Have you ever considered the idea of living in a colossal space colony holding nigh on two million people and having Earth-type gravity? Such cities in space are actually perfectly possible during the coming century - some could even be built in the next thirty years if the will is there. Mark Hempsell and Stephen Ashworth of the British Interplanetary Society have been involved in engineering and social studies of orbiting cities, and in this episode they take us on a stunning ride through the possibilities of there being over 100 billion people living in space by the end of the twenty-second century.

LISTEN TO Episode 1 – Living in Space: https://isciflyby.podbean.com/e/episode-1-%e2%80%93-living-in-space/

14/02/2022

The hosts of the iSci Fly By Show come from very different generations but they share a love of science, technology, and engineering. Neither believes that these pursuits will necessarily solve humanity's fundamental problems but they are both convinced that they offer the most rewarding possibilities and the most engrossing mysteries for anyone who is fascinated by where we will be going in the next century or so. More to the point, humanity will not solve its urgent environmental and sustainability issues without top-rate scientists, technologists and engineers.

🎧Keith Pye🎧

Thoroughly hooked by Dan Dare's space exploits in the 1950s' Eagle comic, he is the archetypal "layman's layman". During a career that can only be called eclectic he worked on projects like Concorde, Jaguar, and Tornado in the 70s, taught economics and politics at Cambridge in the 80s, researched the space industry in Cornwall in the early 2000s, wrote business and economics books and articles, reported on technological change in various economic and industrial sectors in more recent years, and has never lost his enduring interest in science and technology in all their forms.

Most importantly, he has never been swayed from his belief that science, mathematics, technology, and engineering offer the most incredible futures for young people today and that, only through increased scientific and technological knowledge will we be able to address our existential environmental challenges.

There is just so much to be learned and built – so many exciting and fulfilling futures.

🎧Olivia Bray🎧

Space has always fascinated Olivia. From a very young age she would spend full nights on her driveway studying the stars and meteor showers, and this spurred her to read for a first-class master’s in physics, astrophysics, and astronomy at Lancaster University.

She specialised in gigantic stellar clusters - groups of millions of stars - studying their complex, and utterly mind-boggling, evolutionary paths. From this point, she knew that her appetite for knowledge could never be sated – and that the pursuit of astrophysics and science would be a core part of her life.

Science is ever evolving, ever growing, and it is vital – now more than ever – to encourage the younger generation to pursue such paths, to expand their scientific horizons and to come to understand just how much of our universe we know nothing about. There is so much to discover, and we’ve barely scratched the surface.

More about the show: https://pyetait.com/isci-fly-by

31/01/2022

Episode 3 - Stephen Baxter Part 2

In the second part of this great interview, Stephen Baxter delves deeper into the whole concept of living in space and especially into the social, economic, and political aspects. For example, should we be even thinking of trying to build cities on Mars or to terraform planets like Venus and Mars into Earth-like environments on which to settle billions of people.

We also asked him about a wide range of other issues including the wisdom of using rockets, how sustainability applies to the solar system, and how one governs a huge space city. Stephen is a thinking man's thinker. He introduces us to questions that most of us would never even consider – like the significant advantages to science of being able to take polar ice-cores on Mars, the value of outer space to manufacturing, and even the need for new vocabularies.

Listening to Stephen Baxter should be regulated by law because it is so addictive!!

🎧 https://isciflyby.podbean.com/e/episode-3-living-in-space-with-stephen-baxter-pt2/

In the second part of this great interview, Stephen Baxter delves deeper into the whole concept of living in space and especially into the social, economic, and political aspects. For example, should we be even thinking of trying to build cities on Mars or to terraform planets like Venus and Mars in...

24/01/2022

Podcast Episode 2 – Stephen Baxter Part 1 – Colonies and Aliens

Stephen Baxter is arguably Britain’s greatest living Sci-Fi author. He’s written scores of books in many different genres which have gained him 18 top-rank prizes.

He was selected to write authorised sequels to H G Wells’ famous War of the Worlds and has co-authored with Terry Pratchett and none other than the legendary Arthur C Clark. In Part 1 he talks about working with the great Arthur Clark, about colony ships which might be sent to distant star systems on 400 year journeys, and about the Fermi Paradox.

LISTEN TO Episode 2: https://pyetait.com/isci-fly-by

11/01/2022

EPISODE 1: Living in Space - OUT NOW!

Mark Hempsell, the previous editor of Spaceflight, and Stephen Ashworth, the promoter of ecologically-sound habitats such as Planetopolis, talk to us about the possibilities of billions of people living in space colonies within the next century. The plans are in place and the engineering and science are sound – all that is missing are the will and the colonists.

Want to live somewhere with a view of the universe and, perhaps, of Saturn just outside your window? You, your children and grandchildren could be doing just that.

🎧 https://isciflyby.podbean.com/e/episode-1-%e2%80%93-living-in-space/

09/09/2021

The hosts of the iSci Fly By Show come from very different generations but they share a love of science, technology, and engineering. Neither believes that these pursuits will necessarily solve humanity's fundamental problems but they are both convinced that they offer the most rewarding possibilities and the most engrossing mysteries for anyone who is fascinated by where we will be going in the next century or so. More to the point, humanity will not solve its urgent environmental and sustainability issues without top-rate scientists, technologists and engineers.

🎧Keith Pye🎧

Thoroughly hooked by Dan Dare's space exploits in the 1950s' Eagle comic, he is the archetypal "layman's layman". During a career that can only be called eclectic he worked on projects like Concorde, Jaguar, and Tornado in the 70s, taught economics and politics at Cambridge in the 80s, researched the space industry in Cornwall in the early 2000s, wrote business and economics books and articles, reported on technological change in various economic and industrial sectors in more recent years, and has never lost his enduring interest in science and technology in all their forms.

Most importantly, he has never been swayed from his belief that science, mathematics, technology, and engineering offer the most incredible futures for young people today and that, only through increased scientific and technological knowledge will we be able to address our existential environmental challenges.

There is just so much to be learned and built – so many exciting and fulfilling futures.

🎧Olivia Bray🎧

Space has always fascinated Olivia. From a very young age she would spend full nights on her driveway studying the stars and meteor showers, and this spurred her to read for a first-class master’s in physics, astrophysics, and astronomy at Lancaster University.

She specialised in gigantic stellar clusters - groups of millions of stars - studying their complex, and utterly mind-boggling, evolutionary paths. From this point, she knew that her appetite for knowledge could never be sated – and that the pursuit of astrophysics and science would be a core part of her life.

Science is ever evolving, ever growing, and it is vital – now more than ever – to encourage the younger generation to pursue such paths, to expand their scientific horizons and to come to understand just how much of our universe we know nothing about. There is so much to discover, and we’ve barely scratched the surface.

09/09/2021

📣COMING SOON: iSci Fly By - a podcast on science and technology for everyone.

Hosted by Keith Pye and Olivia Bray, the iSci Fly By is a laid-back look at a wide variety of science and technology topics looking into the medium and long-term future.

It's a thoughtful “fly-by” of the critical science and technology issues of our time – such things as living in space, quantum entanglement, autonomous air taxis, hybrid aircraft, and the vital role played by satellites in our modern world.

We’ll be speaking to the people in the know, getting them to tell us, without jargon, what’s going on, what’s possible, what’s likely, and – perhaps most crucially – why it matters.

They will be available through Buzzsprout and therefore also through a wide circle of other podcast platforms including Apple, Spotify, Google, etc.

Watch this space....!