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    How pigeon droppings nearly derailed a massive discovery in cosmology

    Great cosmology research requires accounting for an enormous number of variables, everything from nuclear detonations to bird droppings. In this animation from Nature, the American radio astronomer Robert Wilson discusses how a pair of pigeons living in a large antenna frustrated attempts to measure the minimum brightness of the sky. Even once the pigeons were removed, the measurements still weren’t right. The issue, it turned out, was cosmic microwave background radiation left behind by the Big Bang – a discovery that would eventually earn Wilson part of the 1978 Nobel Prize in physics.

    Video by Dog & Rabbit

    19 January 2016
    Illustration of Earth, an astronaut and space with labels “Our Photon” and “Proto Life”. The background is a starry sky.

    videoAstronomy

    Take a 10 billion-year journey with a photon, from a distant supernova to Earth

    3 minutes

    Illustration of a man with grey hair and arms crossed in front of full bookshelves.

    videoCosmology

    Building ‘bigger and better’ has pushed cosmology forward. Can it take it any further?

    7 minutes

    Animated image of a man with glasses firing a laser at a red cell, suggesting battling bacteria or viruses, in a dark background.

    videoPhysics

    How ticking atoms keep ultra-precise time for globe-connecting technologies

    2 minutes

    Abstract depiction of two galaxies, one on the left with spiral arms and bright centre, and one on the right with swirling patterns and luminous core.

    videoPhysics

    There’s a striking link between quantum and astronomic scales. What could it mean?

    5 minutes

    Digital image showing Orion’s Belt constellation now and altered after 4 million years.

    videoAstronomy

    Visualisations explore what the deep future holds for our night sky

    6 minutes

    Illustration of two turquoise beams pointing from the Milky Way galaxy toward another galaxy on a black background.

    videoHistory of science

    How we came to know the size of the Universe – and what mysteries remain

    26 minutes

    An elderly man who is Roger Penrose wearing a tweed jacket and green jumper, gesturing with both hands in a room with shelves of books behind him.

    videoCosmology

    A cyclical, forgetful Universe – Roger Penrose details an astonishing origin hypothesis

    17 minutes

    A woman with brown hair wearing a dark blazer and light-coloured top is speaking, gesturing with her hand. The background is out-of-focus greenery.

    videoCosmology

    Tiny, entangled universes that form or fizzle out – a theory of the quantum multiverse

    11 minutes

    Watercolour-style painting of a man with long hair and glasses in a brown shirt on a muted green background. Left text reads “IN SIGHT Tim Maudlin”.

    videoHistory of ideas

    Was there any before, before the Big Bang?

    6 minutes