BBC Four is calling on viewers to help create a gravity map of the UK as it launches a major new TV event exploring the history and science of nature’s most important force.
In The Amazing Science of Gravity, Professor Jim Al-Khalili and a team of physicists and volunteers will conduct a series of experiments and demonstrations to reveal how the laws of physics can tell us where to go in the country to weigh less, and how the rate at which you age is affected by gravity and the speed at which you move about.
The BBC Four programme is accompanied by a special smart phone app called Time Warper, developed by scientists at the University of Surrey which is now available for download. The Surrey University app will show the different rates at which time flows across the country. Users will be able to see just how much their personal clock is affected by Albert Einstein’s theories of special and general relativity, with the results being used to create a special time flow gravity map of Britain to be revealed during the show.
For the documentary, Professor Al-Khalili will visit the LIGO interferometer telescope in Louisiana where gravitational waves predicted by Einstein a century ago, were detected for the very first time earlier this year. Among the classic experiments repeated during the programme, there will also be a studio based demonstration with metal balls, ramps and water clocks to recreate Galileo’s first ever experiments on gravity.
BBC Four Channel Editor Cassian Harrison says: “Exploring the biggest questions in science has always been at the heart of BBC Four and I’m thrilled that we can now directly involve some of our audience in some truly brain-bending investigation. This nationwide social media demo and the experiments featured in the programme will take us right to the forefront of our understanding of the incredible force of gravity – while also telling you how to lose weight and stay young, using nothing but the effects of Relativity.”
Professor Jim Al-Khalili added: “I’m really excited to be a part of this ambitious new programme, in particular the nationwide experiment using a phone app that will allow us to collect as much data as possible and show where in the country people age the fastest or slowest”.
