You're about to listen to a BBC podcast and trust me you'll get there in a moment but if you're a comedy fan

I'd really like to tell you a bit about what we do. I'm Julie Mackenzie and I commission comedy

podcast at the BBC. It's a bit of a dream job really. Comedy is a bit of a dream job really.

Comedy is a fantastic joyous thing to do because really you're making people laugh,

making people's days a bit better, helping them process, all manner of things.

But you know, I also know that comedy is really

subjective and everyone has different tastes. So we've got a huge range of comedy on offer from

satire to silly, shocking to soothing, profound to just general pratting about.

So if you fancy a laugh, find your next comedy at BBC Sounds.

This is Discovery from the BBC. I'm Jim El Killelli and in today's program I'm in conversation with a leading scientist about their life and research. Welcome to the life scientific.

When I was a boy, all batteries were single use,

and solar power was an emerging and expensive technology.

The point is, I'm not that old. Now, thanks to rechargeable batteries, we have mobile phones,

laptops, electronic toys, cordless power tools, and solar power is increasingly reducing our reliance on carbon-based fossil fuels.

Studying the chemistry of materials may sound arcane but without a deep understanding of exactly what happens to the materials that are used

we are unlikely to see the technological progress we need. My guest today makes computer models of

materials that have extraordinary properties.

He's a chemist who doesn't wear a lab coat.

And thank to the work he and others are doing, rechargeable batteries are a lot better than they used to be and the cost of making solar cells could drop dramatically

Professor Seyphyl Islam and welcome to the life scientific

Thank you Jim. Thank you for having me a lot of of people, you know, they're very wowed by smart new

technologies, you know, your smartphone, your laptop, whatever, but it's very easy to

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