Energy is like children’s toys: often hiding out of sight, but never actually lost

Energy can’t be created or destroyed, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t end up hiding in some surprising places. Aided by Cubism-inflected animation and a clever analogy thought up by Richard Feynman, the chemist and broadcaster Andrea Sella, professor of inorganic chemistry at University College London, explains how scientists can infer the distribution of energy ‘in cunning ways’ without actually observing it.