Michael Frayn on Copenhagen: ‘When I wrote it, I didn’t think it would even be staged’

14 Apr 2026 Chris Sinclair talks to Michael Frayn about a revival of his classic science play Copenhagen, directed by Michael Longhurst Stage success Damien Molony (as Werner Heisenberg), Richard Schiff (Niels Bohr – with cardigan) and Alex Kingston (Margrethe Bohr) in the revival of Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen at the Hampstead Theatre in London. (Courtesy: Marc Brenner) When Werner Heisenberg […]

The Universe’s 100th Birthday: Galactic Fireworks and Little Red Dots

100 years ago this year, Edwin Hubble published the first conclusive evidence that there were galaxies beyond the Milky Way. This lecture, using new results from our latest space telescopes and ground-based instruments, surveyed the diversity of systems that we’ve found since, from giant and beautiful spirals to mysterious Little Red Dots. Extra reading Hubble’s […]

Music of Earth and Space

Since Pythagoras, we have imagined the universe as a vast, resonant instrument—a cosmic harmony waiting to be heard. From Holst’s orchestral visions of the planets to Tuvan throat singing echoing the murmur of rivers, composers have long sought to capture the music of nature and the heavens. Villa-Lobos shaped melodies from landscapes and architecture, just […]

The Shape of Shells: She Sells Self-Similar Spiral Seashells on the Seashore

It is impossible not to marvel at the beauty and regularity of seashells. These intricate forms are crafted by a humble architect—the living mollusc—building them layer by layer. Despite their remarkable diversity, the fundamental geometry of most seashells is governed by simple mathematical rules, resulting in elegant three-dimensional self-similar structures. Beyond this basic framework, molluscs […]

Alien Earths: What Makes Us Special?

Sometime in 2026, we will discover our 10000th exoplanet, a world around a distant star. This population of worlds has proved remarkably diverse, but hasn’t produced any world like our own. We ask whether this is a coincidence, or whether it could be that our own world is special – and how we might investigate […]

Music of Light and Colour

“Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings.” — Kandinsky How do we ‘see’ music, or ‘hear’ images? From Newton’s colour scales assigning tones to the rainbow, artists and composers have long explored the deep connections between sound and vision. Kandinsky’s Compositions and Improvisations; Klee’s polyphonic […]

From Mars with Love: Postcards from 50 Years of Exploring The Red Planet

During the fifty years since the launch of the Viking spacecraft to Mars, our view of the red planet has changed from hostile desert to a world which was once covered in water, and which may just possibly sustain life. Lavishly illustrated with the latest images from the fleet of spacecraft that have explored our […]

Hunting for neutrinos (with MicroBooNE!)

Prof Kirsty Duffy discussed the recent publication from the MicroBooNE project. You can find their latest paper published in Nature here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s4158… Thumbnail photo credits: Photo by Reidar Hahn, Fermilab https://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/our-people/duffy

How Does Mathematics Last? Heritage and Heritage-making in Mathematics

How is mathematical knowledge recorded and preserved across generations? Contrary to the idea that mathematics itself is somehow ‘permanent’, this talk explored heritage-making in mathematics, that is, the people, institutions, and material objects that can give mathematical ideas longevity. It explored the heritage-making found in two very different types of French nineteenth-century libraries: those of […]

Asteroid Adventures

Asteroids were for years considered ‘celestial vermin’ – objects which got in the way of more interesting fodder for astronomers. Now, they are central to our Solar System’s story, the building blocks from which planets are made, and capable of telling us the history of the last five billion years. This lecture considered two missions […]