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In this brief yet expansive science lesson, the UK physicist and science educator Brian Cox explores how ‘each snowflake is a microcosm of the laws of physics’. Narrating over charming paper cut-out animation, Cox details a snowflake’s journey from its birth in the clouds to its final melting place, as well as how Johannes Kepler’s theory about their hexagonal shape would take some four centuries to be proved correct. Connecting the structure of these small ice crystals to that of spiral galaxies, this riveting dive into the natural laws that govern all things great and small will almost surely make you see the humble snowflake anew.
Video by The Royal Society
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Oceans and water
A stunning visualisation explores the intricate circulatory system of our oceans
5 minutes
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History of science
Ideas ‘of pure genius’ – how astronomers have measured the Universe across history
29 minutes
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Computing and artificial intelligence
A future in which ‘artificial scientists’ make discoveries may not be far away
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Biology
Butterflies become unrecognisable landscapes when viewed under electron microscopes
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Metaphysics
What do past, present and future mean to a philosopher of time?
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Engineering
From simple motors to levitating trains – how design shapes innovation
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Film and visual culture
Our world has very different contours when a millimetre is blown up to a full screen
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Physics
Groundbreaking visualisations show how the world of the nucleus gives rise to our own
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Physics
To change the way you see the Moon, view it from the Sun’s perspective
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