This TED Talk features physicist Susie Shihi, recorded live at TEDx-Sidney 2018.

In the late 19th century, scientists were trying to solve a mystery.

And they found that if they had a vacuum tube like this one, and applied the high voltage across it.

Something strange happened.

They called them cathode rays.

But the question was, what were they made of? In England, the 19th century physicist J.J. Thompson conducted experiments using magnets and electricity like this.

And he came to an incredible revelation.

These rays were made of negatively charged particles

around 2,000 times lighter than the hydrogen atom,

the smallest thing they knew.

So Thompson had discovered the first subatomic particle,

which we now call electrons.

Now, at the time, this seemed to be a completely impractical discovery.

I mean, Thompson didn't think there were any applications of electrons.

And around his lab in Cambridge, he used to like to propose a toast.

To the electron, may it never be of use to anybody.

He was strongly in favour of doing research out of sheer curiosity

to arrive at a deeper understanding of the world.

And what he found did cause a revolution in science,

but it also caused a second unexpected revolution in technology.

And today, I'd like to make a case for curiosity-driven research,

because without it,

...