Series · 4 episodes · 7:52
Big ideas in science
Evolution, immunity, relativity and black holes: four ideas that changed how we see life and the universe.
Play from episode 1- 1
1:40How natural selection works
Natural selection in four steps: variation is inherited, more are born than survive, the fittest pass the filter, and deep time draws the tree of life.
- 2
2:02How vaccines train your immune system
A vaccine shows the immune system a harmless piece of a germ. The cell whose lock fits it wakes and divides, and some cells stay behind as memory.
- 3
1:56Why moving clocks run slow
A clock made of light, sent past at 0.6 times light speed, ticks 4 times while ours ticks 5. GPS satellite clocks lose 7 µs a day this way.
- 4
2:14How a black hole forms
A heavy star collapses when its fuel runs out. Squeeze the Sun to 6 km across and escaping it would take more than the speed of light.