Post by Mike D on Oct 20, 2011 7:59:51 GMT
I am a UK resident, and am among that curmudgeonly crew who believe that science broadcasting has really gone to the dogs in recent years. It is possible that I am viewing the past in an overly rose-coloured hue, but it has felt as though broadcasting on science in recent times has left science behind in order to appear entertaining.
Thus it was with some measure of surprise and pleasure that I watched a programme on the BBC last night about the recent results that have indicated that neutrinos may have exceeded the speed of light, and found that it was actually well done. It was produced and presented is a logical manner i.e. an introduction of what neutrinos are and why they are so hard to detect, a description of the experiment and the results, a discussion of why things moving at greater than light-speed would totally change the face of science and a further investigation of why the results might have occurred (including experimental error and a speculation about whether the results might be support for string theory). Given that the presenter was Prof Marcus du Sautoy, who is a mathematician and number theorist rather than any kind of physicist, it was (as I have said|) very well and very clearly done.
Incidentally, I was quite impressed with Prof du Sautoy, the current incumbent of the Simonyi professorship. I was also impressed when, looking him up online to find out about his background, he confesses to being an atheist but has stated that as holder of the Simonyi Chair his focus is going to be "very much on the science and less on religion."
Thus it was with some measure of surprise and pleasure that I watched a programme on the BBC last night about the recent results that have indicated that neutrinos may have exceeded the speed of light, and found that it was actually well done. It was produced and presented is a logical manner i.e. an introduction of what neutrinos are and why they are so hard to detect, a description of the experiment and the results, a discussion of why things moving at greater than light-speed would totally change the face of science and a further investigation of why the results might have occurred (including experimental error and a speculation about whether the results might be support for string theory). Given that the presenter was Prof Marcus du Sautoy, who is a mathematician and number theorist rather than any kind of physicist, it was (as I have said|) very well and very clearly done.
Incidentally, I was quite impressed with Prof du Sautoy, the current incumbent of the Simonyi professorship. I was also impressed when, looking him up online to find out about his background, he confesses to being an atheist but has stated that as holder of the Simonyi Chair his focus is going to be "very much on the science and less on religion."