Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology

Author: History Hit August 23, 2023 Duration: 48:58

Nanotechnology may seem like something from a sci-fi movie plot, but it’s a very real thing and has likely affected many areas of your life, whether you realise it, or not.


Nanotechnology looks at dimension and tolerances of less than 100 nanometers. For context, hair follicles or a sheet of paper are 100,000 nanometers thick. So, pretty small…

 

But what is it? How are scientists changing our lives with it? And why was King Charles III famously afraid of it?


Dallas Campbell is joined by nanochemist Suze Kundu to find out more.


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Dallas Campbell guides you through the fascinating and often overlooked backstories of the objects and ideas that shaped our world in Patented: History of Inventions. This isn't just a dry recounting of dates and blueprints; it's a deep dive into the human drama behind innovation. You'll hear about accidental breakthroughs, the forgotten figures whose contributions were sidelined, and the clever-sometimes dubious-marketing that turned an idea into a household name. From questioning the true legacy of figures like Thomas Edison to uncovering the surprising connection between foundational garments and space exploration, each episode unpacks these narratives with a sense of curiosity and wit. Produced by History Hit, the podcast brings in historians, scientists, and specialists to add depth and context, transforming every tale into a compelling detective story. Tune in for a consistently engaging exploration that reveals how luck, persistence, and sheer human ingenuity collide to create the fabric of modern life. The result is a listening experience that changes the way you look at the ordinary world around you, one remarkable story at a time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Patented: History of Inventions
Podcast Episodes
Things vs. Humans: the spiteful behaviour of inanimate objects [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:26
If you can never connect to a printer, if furniture jumps out to stub your toe, if when you do the dishes the water jumps out the sink to soak you - then you are victim of the inanimate malice of things.The belief that a…
First Ever Submarine [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:38
400 years ago on the River Thames a mad genius showed off the world's first submarine. A crowd of thousands including King James watched as Cornelis Drebbel disappeared beneath the murky water, only reemerging after thre…
Inventing Fire: the First Spark of Humanity [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:38
Fire is the unsung hero of human evolution. We could not have turned into the big-brained, deep-thinking animals we are on raw food alone. The moment two million years ago that our forebears first started using fire to c…
Rise and Fall of High Heels [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:32
For most of their history, High Heels were resolutely masculine. The most manly of manly footwear. How did they turn into burning icons of femininity? And now that the heyday of women's high heels is over, what lies ahea…
Sunglasses [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:15
What do all incredibly cool people have in common? They wear Sunglasses. Whether you're Miles Davis or Audrey Hepburn, James Dean or Bob Dylan, your sunglasses are never far away.Who invented sunglasses and who made them…
Deep-Sea Submersibles & the Titan Disaster [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:38
The Titan submersible implosion was a tragic example of marine exploration going wrong. Today Dallas speaks to one of the world's leading marine archaeologists about Titan and the history of deep-sea submersibles leading…
Patriarchy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:40
Why are men in charge? Who invented Patriarchy?Was it chest-thumping primate ancestors? Was it spear-wielding hunter gatherers? Was it at dawn of agriculture and the creation of property? Or was it something more subtle?…
Donald Hebb: Brainwashing in the Cold War [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:25
In 1950, a new word ‘brainwashing’ entered the English language. From the paranoia of the Cold War a new type of Evil Scientist had emerged — the Mind Controller. But was there any truth to the fear?In the 1950s the CIA…
Medieval Swords [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:36
No invention conjures up the 'Old World' as much as the Sword. It's an utterly iconic object that whisks us back to knights in shining armour. But what were Medieval swords really like? Who owned them? And what did they…
Marie Curie [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:05
In a leaky shed in Paris, Marie Curie turned two tons of pitchblende (aka special rocks) into a single test tube of radium chloride - its green glow lighting up the walls. It must have been a magic...if radioactive!...mo…