Physics is full of captivating stories, from ongoing endeavours to explain the cosmos to ingenious innovations that shape the world around us. In the Physics World Stories podcast, Andrew Glester talks to the people behind some of the most intriguing and inspiring scientific stories. Listen to the podcast to hear from a diverse mix of scientists, engineers, artists and other commentators. Find out more about the stories in this podcast by visiting the Physics World website. If you enjoy what you hear, then also check out the Physics World Weekly podcast, a science-news podcast presented by our award-winning science journalists.
https://physicsworld.com/a/an-orchestral-trip-through-the-moons-of-our-solar-system/
Physics World 30th anniversary podcast series – 30 years of the World Wide Web
On the 30th anniversary of the birth of the World Wide Web at CERN, the Physics World Stories podcast visits the particle-physics lab in Geneva to learn how things developed from an esoteric proposal to something that has changed the world forever.
The Web is for everyone and collectively we hold the power to change it
Tim Berners-LeePhysics World magazine has also recently turned 30 and we have been celebrating with a five-part podcast series exploring key developments in physics. This fifth and final episode revisits the birth of the World Wide Web at CERN in the late 1980s. In March 1989 British physicist turned computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee produced the now-famous document entitled “Information management: a proposal”. Over the past three decades, this modest origin has evolved into a globally connected web of computing systems, transforming the way we live our lives.
Andrew Glester (left) and Web pioneer Jean-François Groff.To mark the occasion, Physics World Stories host Andrew Glester visits CERN to meet some of the scientists who were there in the early years of the Web. Along the way he meets, Jean-François Groff (see left), François Flückiger, Ben Segal and Tim Berners-Lee’s former boss Peggy Rimmer.
You will also hear from Tim Berners-Lee himself, who shares his hopes and fears for the future of the Web. The creator of the Web is amazed by the speed and extent of global change brought about by the Web. But, like the majority of us, he also fears the worrying trend for nefarious activities enabled by the Web, including misinformation and the amplified voices of those who choose to spread hate. “The Web is for everyone and collectively we hold the power to change it,” says Berners-Lee. “It won’t be easy but if we dream a little and work a lot we can get the Web we want.”
The 30th anniversary of the Web is also the theme of the March special issue of Physics World magazine. You can enjoy many of that issue’s articles – along with a host of others – in a special online-only collection. The collection includes a brilliant graphic by Jess Wade, a look at the business impact of the Web, and the latest episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast in which Physics World journalists chew the fat over how on earth we got anything done before the Web came along.
If you enjoy the podcast, then take a listen to the first four podcasts in the 30th anniversary series. Glester began in October by looking at the past and future of particle physics before tackling gravitational waves in November. In January he examined the prospects for nuclear fusion, then in February he looked at how high-temperature superconductivity research has evolved over the past three decades since the phenomenon was first observed. Don’t forget you can also subscribe to Physics World Stories via Apple podcasts or your chosen podcast host.