Episode 2: Quantum Physics + Brain Cancer + Electric Trucks

On today’s episode of the RAZOR Podcast Shini and Emma look at the most cutting edge issues in science today.  

How can something “be” and “not be” at the same time?  To answer this question, Shini went to talk to Winfried Hensinger, a professor of Quantum Technologies at Sussex University. Hensiger is at the forefront of developing quantum computers and does his best to explain what quantum mechanics is [01.52].  Professor Hensinger also shows Shini some of the technology they are using to isolate ions for computing purposes [03.31]. 

The German company Siemens Mobility are testing a system like this on the roads, with electric or hybrid trucks, so they can continually charge their battery as they drive along a highway. In this episode, our reporter Guy Henderson goes to Berlin to speak to the CEO of Siemens’s mobility department about a way that might potentially decarbonise Europe’s transport system [06.51].  Guy also spoke to one Hasso Grunjes from Siemens Mobility about how far away we are from this technology becoming a reality [09.08].

And finally Emma found out how a viral treatment developed by former Soviet scientists could potentially be used to combat brain cancers. Phages or ‘bacteriophages’, to give them their full name,  are a type of virus that infects bacteria. Emma went to speak to Dr Matthew Williams, a consultant oncologist at Imperial College London explained why brain cancers are difficult to treat  and how phages can help to address this issue [12.23]. Emma also talks to Professor Amin Hajitou who is passionate about phage therapy and has been working for 12 years on a cancer treatment using bacteriophages [14.16]. 

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