Tony Ryan
The Life Scientific
BBC
4.6 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 21 February 2012
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What do miniature solar cells, making clothes that dissolve in the rain and new treatments for motor neurone disease all have in common? Chemistry - according to Professor Tony Ryan of Sheffield University. He develops innovative materials with nanotechnology. In this week's, The Life Scientific, Tony Ryan talks to Jim Al-Khalili and explores issues around the still controversial science of nanotechnology, including how safe it is and how scientists need to learn to talk to the public.
Much of Tony's work involves unlikely collaborations to discover novel ways of solving problems and of communicating science. He argues that chemistry can solve today's global challenges such as supporting the needs of 7 billion people in terms of food and power.
Clothes that absorb a dangerous greenhouse gas and sheets of plastic solar cells are just a few of his ongoing projects. He says chemistry needs to learn how to recycle every atom, whilst still providing all the things that people want - energy, food, electronics, clothing, and drugs.
Producer: Geraldine Fitzgerald.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Once you've wrapped up this podcast, how about trying a very British cult? |
| 0:06.0 | What happens if the person you trust with your future isn't what you think they are? |
| 0:10.0 | I did feel the whole time he was watching me Yeti. I saw a footprint and that really gave me gusmas. |
| 0:16.4 | Or people who knew me. Emme, I remember every secret, every lie. I'm the only one who knows the truth. |
| 0:23.0 | Discover more of our biggest podcast from 2003. |
| 0:27.0 | Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:29.0 | Thank you for downloading The Life Scientific from BBC Radio 4. |
| 0:35.0 | Hello, this week on The Life Scientific, I'm joined in the studio by someone who's prepared to tackle the big issues in science. |
| 0:43.0 | Topics like pollution, the energy crisis, global food supply, |
| 0:48.0 | new ways to treat motorneurone disease and prevent blindness. It's hard to think what all these topics might have in |
| 0:55.5 | common but if you asked my guest professor Tony Ryan of Sheffield University |
| 1:00.4 | he would say chemistry and that if you look at the world through the eyes of a |
| 1:05.6 | chemist there are many different solutions no pun intended are possible he's famous |
| 1:12.1 | for his collaborative approach and as Dean of Science at |
| 1:14.9 | Sheffield, Tony's launched a major project to harness the power of the Sun because he |
| 1:20.1 | says if we can do this, one hour of energy from the sun could meet all our energy |
| 1:26.0 | needs for a year. |
| 1:28.2 | Welcome Tony Project Sunshine amongst your many different projects is the one that encompasses |
| 1:34.4 | solving not only the energy crisis but global food shortages too. |
| 1:40.0 | What makes you want to tackle these huge problems? |
| 1:44.0 | Well as a chemist you have to realize that the big problem we face |
| 1:49.0 | which is 7 billion people now on the surface of the earth has been caused by chemistry. |
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