Niyazi Serdar Sariciftci, a world-renowned expert on photovoltaics, shed light on using organic nanostructures for tapping into solar energy. Speaking at ICTP's colloquium series on April 13, Sariciftci explained how improving organic nanostructures, which act as semiconductors in solar cells, can drastically bring down costs of solar energy conversion. High costs of very pure silicon, the semiconductor currently used to convert solar energy into electricity, have so far limited the...

NOTE: This colloquium was recorded automatically and processed with minimal human intervention.

This lecture summarizes the nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station which was caused by the big earthquake and the subsequent tsunami in Japan, 11 March 2011. The focus is on external and internal events which happened in the plant and the lessons we should learn from this accident. At first, fundamentals of nuclear engineering and BWR systems will be explained for those who are not familiar with the nuclear technology. Based on the basic knowledge, the event sequence of...

This lecture summarizes the nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station which was caused by the big earthquake and the subsequent tsunami in Japan, 11 March 2011. The focus is on external and internal events which happened in the plant and the lessons we should learn from this accident. At first, fundamentals of nuclear engineering and BWR systems will be explained for those who are not familiar with the nuclear technology. Based on the basic knowledge, the event sequence of...

The global scientific landscape is changing rapidly. New scientific powers are emerging, and international collaboration is growing dramatically. In the first part of this talk Professor Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith (Director of Energy Research, Oxford University and President of SESAME Council) reviews these changes as a prelude to discussing attempts to harness global science to address global problems such as climate change, the spread of diseases and the loss of biodiversity. In the second...

NOTE: This colloquium was recorded automatically and processed with minimal human intervention.

Niyazi Serdar Sariciftci, a world-renowned expert on photovoltaics, shed light on using organic nanostructures for tapping into solar energy. Speaking at ICTP's colloquium series on April 13, Sariciftci explained how improving organic nanostructures, which act as semiconductors in solar cells, can drastically bring down costs of solar energy conversion. High costs of very pure silicon, the semiconductor currently used to convert solar energy into electricity, have so far limited the...

Where crust shortens horizontally and thickens, isostatic compensation of the thick crust requires that a mountain range or high plateau form. Yet, mantle lithosphere must also shorten horizontally, and if it thickens, it should provide a weight that maintains the range at a lower elevation than it would be if isostatic compensation resulted only from thickened crust. Being cold and dense, mantle lithosphere (or at least its lower part) should be convectively unstable, and hence should sink...

Where crust shortens horizontally and thickens, isostatic compensation of the thick crust requires that a mountain range or high plateau form. Yet, mantle lithosphere must also shorten horizontally, and if it thickens, it should provide a weight that maintains the range at a lower elevation than it would be if isostatic compensation resulted only from thickened crust. Being cold and dense, mantle lithosphere (or at least its lower part) should be convectively unstable, and hence should sink...

The emergence of patterns is one of the world’s most durable mysteries. Some patterns (clouds, zebra stripes) form in space, while others (the ebb and flow of tides, cardiac rhythms) form in time. Although there is no general theory of pattern formation in systems far from thermodynamic equilibrium, new analysis techniques enable quantitative comparisons of patterns such as the spirals in a frog egg, a fibrillating heart, and an ocean eddy. Insight into pattern formation in diverse systems of...

The emergence of patterns is one of the world’s most durable mysteries. Some patterns (clouds, zebra stripes) form in space, while others (the ebb and flow of tides, cardiac rhythms) form in time. Although there is no general theory of pattern formation in systems far from thermodynamic equilibrium, new analysis techniques enable quantitative comparisons of patterns such as the spirals in a frog egg, a fibrillating heart, and an ocean eddy. Insight into pattern formation in diverse systems of...

The biggest challenge of the 21st century is to provide sufficient food, water, and energy to allow everyone on the planet to live decent lives, in the face of rising population, the threat of climate change, and (sooner or later) declining fossil fuels. In this talk Professor Sir Chris Llewellyn Smith (Director of Energy Research, Oxford University and President of SESAME Council) reviews the nature of the challenge and the portfolio of measures that must be adopted if it is to be met. These...

The living cell and many of its components as well as artificially energized mimics of motility are examples of active soft matter. An understanding of the individual and collective behavior of active particles is one of the grand challenges of nonequilibrium statistical physics, and holds the key to a physical grasp of the mechanics and statistics of living matter. In this colloquium, Professor Ramin Golestanian of Oxford University's Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics examines...