Bang! Week seven
Jem Stansfield tests out new braking systems that won't burn money and Liz Bonnin looks into the origins of speech by trying to wipe out someone's speech cortex.
Meanwhile, Dallas Campbell takes part in a sea race with Dame Ellen MacArthur to try and explain why British summers are rubbish and Dr Yan Wong explains a common optical illusion.
Find out more
Take the Bang challenge
Trapped in an underground lair. Can you use your science skills to beat the Bang challenges?
From Platform
As the programme comes together, Platform's Robyn Slingsby takes the chance to dabble with science.
From bbc.co.uk
Get all the information on this week's programme - and watch for up to three months after broadcast - on the BBC One website.
Inside the science
The weather boat
Sailing by
Tony Hirst explains how a Twitter tweet led him to discover a map of real-time shipping on the Solent.
The long-range forecast
Tornadoes. Earlier springtimes. Colder winters. What is happening to the Earth's weather?
Be like Fish
Observation and measurement of weather patterns is a challenge in itself, but can the Rough Scientists predict the weather?
From OpenLearn
Blackwater estuary in Essex is the focus for a free OU course sample on managing coastal environments.
From the OU on iTunes U
How can we trust the quality of the air we breathe? Watch our videos exploring air pollution and clean-up.
From the OU on iTunes U
The sea and the land have always had boundary issues. Climate change will make it worse. Environment: habitat and conservation.
Better brakes
Under the chunder...
Nearly all fighter pilots throw up at some point in their training - but why? Explore motion sickness and the science of g-force.
Keanu can-do?
If you needed to get a large bus across a larger gap, could you apply the lessons from Speed?
From the OU on iTunes U
Ice skaters and highland games illustrate the principles of stopping, starting, rotating bodies and angular momentum.
From OpenLearn
The world as we know it depends on motion. But how do we talk about it? Get tips for describing motion.
Gift of the gab
Watch your mouth
Are you all talk, talk, talk? Or do you stumble and mumble? Test your verbal fluency.
Wheel rotation and optical illusions
Getting their wings
Military design has been inspired by the structure of butterfly wings, and their appearance - far from flights of fancy.
From OpenLearn
Artists rely on optical illusions to make us 'see' depth in flat images. It's just one of the tricks of composition.
Lightning
Electric shockers
It's like having the national grid thrown at you. So, how can I survive a lightning strike?
From OpenLearn
Sometimes inspiration comes in the strangest ways. Discover how photocopiers owe their invention to static electricity.
And to really get to inside science...
Why not find out where you might end up after studying science with The Open University
Content last updated: 11/09/2009
