Bubbles

Helen Czerski is a physicist and oceanographer at University College London. She explains why ocean bubbles are essential for the planet’s wellbeing and describes the difficulties of studying them in the middle of ferocious Atlantic storms.

Constantin Coussios is Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Oxford University. He puts micro-bubbles inside the human body, tracking the tiny nano sized spheres as they make their way through the blood stream. He wants to control the bubbles so they release the cancer drugs encased in them at exactly the right place and right time.

Visual artist Bradley Hart exploits the curious properties of bubbles which make them such powerful metaphors for our digital, pixelated, disjointed times. He injects paint into bubble wrap, to create large-scale works of art.

You can see some of Bradley's bubble wrap art work in the gallery on the right.

Photo c/o Bradley Hart

Helen Czerski proposes a pair of telescopic goggles that let you see into the ocean the way you can see into the sky. You’d see whales and the giant squid and vast puffs of drifting phytoplankton like clouds, showing where the ocean currents were going. You’d see the “weather” of the ocean: it’s all moving around down there, and you’d get a feel for what it’s doing. And – hopefully – the goggles would show us why the ocean really matters for us and help us respect it more. Photo of Plankton by BBC