Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
Warning: this film features flashing light that could be unsuitable for photosensitive viewers.
The recently released images from the James Webb Space Telescope are dazzling accomplishments of human ingenuity. They’re also processed for maximum awe-inducing effect, with multiple pictures often combined to form one pristine image, and colours recalibrated for the human eye. The experimental short Brilliant Noise (2006) finds beauty in the unvarnished and little-seen imagery of space observation in its rawest form. Composed of gritty black and white videos built from NASA’s open data portal, the film features a compilation of solar-flare activity, complete with the flickering and static that are usually smoothed over in NASA-released public-outreach videos. Stripped down to their essence, these sequences possess a direct and guttural power – like a punk-rock alternative to the refined imagery that abounds in social media feeds.
Directors: Ruth Jarman, Joe Gerhardt
Website: Semiconductor
video
Oceans and water
A stunning visualisation explores the intricate circulatory system of our oceans
5 minutes
video
History of science
Ideas ‘of pure genius’ – how astronomers have measured the Universe across history
29 minutes
video
Making
On the Norwegian coast, a tree is transformed into a boat the old-fashioned way
6 minutes
video
Computing and artificial intelligence
A future in which ‘artificial scientists’ make discoveries may not be far away
9 minutes
video
Biology
Butterflies become unrecognisable landscapes when viewed under electron microscopes
4 minutes
video
Engineering
Can monumental ‘ice stupas’ help remote Himalayan villages survive?
15 minutes
video
Metaphysics
What do past, present and future mean to a philosopher of time?
55 minutes
video
Engineering
From simple motors to levitating trains – how design shapes innovation
24 minutes
video
Film and visual culture
Our world has very different contours when a millimetre is blown up to a full screen
8 minutes