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In Chemical Somnia, the Canadian filmmaker Scott Portingale captures the beauty of chemical reactions in wondrous detail. Using time-lapse and macro photography, even a spot smaller than a square inch on a Petri dish springs to dazzling life, capturing processes of crystalisation, phase change and fluid dynamics at speeds and sizes that the human eye can relish. Portingale sets these visuals to a dramatic string score from the Turkish composer Gorkem Sen – performed on an instrument called a yaybahar, which Sen himself invented. Through their inspired collaboration, the pair craft an otherworldly experience at the intersection of human and hidden scales, and the worlds of art and science.
Director: Scott Portingale
Music: Gorkem Sen
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Thinkers and theories
A rare female scholar of the Roman Empire, Hypatia lived and died as a secular voice
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Architecture
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Subcultures
Drop into London’s eclectic skate scene, where newbies and old-timers find community
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Chemistry
Why do the building blocks of life possess a mysterious symmetry?
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Rituals and celebrations
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Cosmology
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Music
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Rituals and celebrations
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Astronomy
The history of astronomy is a history of conjuring intelligent life where it isn’t
34 minutes