:00:20. > :00:24.Hello and welcome to The One Show, with Chris Evans. And Alex Jones.
:00:24. > :00:29.Why are you laughing? You are waving or people you don't know!
:00:29. > :00:34.May we congratulate Andy Murray on getting through to the Australian
:00:34. > :00:40.Open final! You can watch it tomorrow on BBC One -- on Sunday on
:00:40. > :00:46.BBC One. In Scotland, you can celebrate with a wee dram this
:00:46. > :00:51.Burns Night. If you are in Wales, today it is Saint Dwynwen's Day.
:00:51. > :00:56.The Welsh Valentine's Day. Do you ever consider what is life? Or the
:00:56. > :01:01.time. What have you come up with? Well, it is a collection of
:01:01. > :01:05.chemical processes that can harness the flow of energy and build
:01:05. > :01:08.molecules. Life persists because one molecule, deoxyribonucleic acid,
:01:08. > :01:18.carries information which gets passed on from generation to
:01:18. > :01:19.
:01:20. > :01:27.generation. That was brilliantly read! Just to check, we brought
:01:27. > :01:33.Professor Brian Cox along. Good evening. Perfect. It was correct?
:01:33. > :01:39.Yes, absolutely. I think I recognised it! Did you write it?
:01:39. > :01:45.Her I think so! Your new show starts on Sunday, The Wonders Of
:01:45. > :01:51.Life. Before we get to that, it is very cold at the moment, some
:01:51. > :01:55.fantastic photographs. How do waterfalls in full flow freeze?
:01:55. > :01:59.is a very difficult question. Water, if you look at the glass, you
:01:59. > :02:04.probably think it is the simplest substance in the universe. We don't
:02:04. > :02:08.understand water, it is incredibly complicated. The molecules stick
:02:08. > :02:13.together in all sorts of different ways. If you cool them down, they
:02:13. > :02:18.stick together in different forms of vice. About 30 different forms
:02:18. > :02:22.of ice. You are seeing one of the most complex substances in the
:02:23. > :02:28.universe behaving in a funny way. Without it, a biology would not
:02:28. > :02:33.work. We think water is a necessary thing for all life, anywhere in the
:02:33. > :02:36.universe, there has to be liquid water because it is so complex.
:02:36. > :02:46.Have you ever said anything approaching that intelligent? I
:02:46. > :02:47.
:02:47. > :02:51.haven't! I am trying to decipher what you said. Last night it was
:02:51. > :02:55.pretty cold. Cavendish in Suffolk was minus ten degrees and it is
:02:55. > :03:00.going to be there or thereabouts this evening. What are the best
:03:00. > :03:09.ways to keep toasty when it is numbingly nippy outside? Here are
:03:10. > :03:14.Favourite tips for keeping warm at night is a roaring fire. I wear
:03:14. > :03:21.layers. I am a size zero underneath all this! Gloves and socks, lots of
:03:21. > :03:26.socks. I have a ones the which has a little had. It has big feet as
:03:26. > :03:34.well. It doesn't have a tale. All the way up. You chasing me around
:03:34. > :03:39.the room! I have a fan heater. It is about keeping warm. I always
:03:39. > :03:43.make sure I feel like toast. Go to the pub and drink some beer. A hot
:03:44. > :03:52.toddy if it is really cold. little glass of milk with a shot of
:03:52. > :03:59.whisky. A bit of rum. A hot-water bottle. Lots of warm food.
:03:59. > :04:04.Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, mash. They put the pounds on, but
:04:04. > :04:10.that is best. The best thing is to have a lot of pets and get them all
:04:10. > :04:19.in their bed with you. However many in the family, however many pets,
:04:19. > :04:24.you can't beat live creatures. Creature comforts! Lovely earmuffs!
:04:24. > :04:29.They do say it is easier to stay warm than get warm. We heard that
:04:29. > :04:33.last week. When I had my market stall, we used to hire three boards
:04:33. > :04:36.to put on the metal frame and then you would pay a fiver for an extra
:04:37. > :04:41.board to stand on. Standing on something other than the earth
:04:41. > :04:50.makes you so much warmer. Why is that? Heat conduction, simple.
:04:50. > :04:55.course! You've made television shows about the universe, the solar
:04:55. > :04:58.system and now you're looking at The Wonders Of Life. Where do you
:04:58. > :05:04.start with the subject this big? The first programme is called what
:05:04. > :05:10.his life? It is a good question. There was a famous physicist,
:05:10. > :05:16.shredding a, who wrote a book about it. He wrote a book called What is
:05:16. > :05:21.life in the 1940s. In the previous series we said the universe tends
:05:21. > :05:25.to fall to bits, everything gets more messy. But life seems to run
:05:25. > :05:30.opposite to that. Human beings are the most complex things we know of
:05:30. > :05:34.in the universe. For solar system is a cloud of gas and dust a 5
:05:34. > :05:39.billion years ago, it collapsed and the Sun and planets formed. 5
:05:39. > :05:41.billion years later you get human beings looking up at the upper
:05:41. > :05:51.limit -- solar system and understanding the universe. How
:05:51. > :05:55.does that happen? How can dust become ask? Can you summit up? --
:05:55. > :06:00.some it up. A we are beginning to be up to answer those questions.
:06:00. > :06:05.When I did biology at school in the 1980s, I had not a good
:06:05. > :06:09.understanding of this stuff. It has been transformed as a subject, some
:06:09. > :06:14.really new ideas about how life began 3.8 million -- 3.8 billion
:06:14. > :06:19.years ago and how it became more complex. It is quite well known now,
:06:19. > :06:25.which it wasn't a few decades ago. Even though you are known for your
:06:25. > :06:30.physics, for his ignited your interest in biology. It did. When I
:06:30. > :06:36.learnt it originally, it was not a precision subject. You talked about
:06:36. > :06:42.fossils and things. Now, with DNA sequencing, you can see our DNA
:06:42. > :06:50.really cheaply and fast, you can start reading the history of life.
:06:50. > :06:54.At the level of molecules in DNA. It is a fascinating story. You say
:06:54. > :06:58.there is scientific reincarnation. There's as much energy now as there
:06:58. > :07:05.was when the Big Bang occurred because it exchanges form? Yes.
:07:05. > :07:09.What are we doing? What are we doing? We are not using energy. We
:07:09. > :07:15.stay the same temperature, we eat the food and we use it for
:07:15. > :07:18.something and then we radiated back as heat. We do something. We
:07:18. > :07:24.maintain this incredibly ordered structure, our brains and our
:07:24. > :07:29.bodies. That is one of the key questions. How do we maintain this?
:07:29. > :07:33.Temporarily, for 80 years or so, if we are lucky, that is the big
:07:33. > :07:40.question. The fact that we know bits of the answer I found
:07:40. > :07:47.fascinating. The trail to promote this series includes a song by Eric
:07:47. > :07:51.Idle called for galaxies on. Did you making? You re wrote it. - of a
:07:51. > :07:56.Galaxy Song. Some facts were wrong. I met him in America and he is
:07:56. > :08:01.interested in physics. He said, you scientists have ruined my song. So
:08:01. > :08:07.much trouble on the internet. He wrote it in the 1980s and he was
:08:07. > :08:16.right when he wrote it. The song is evolving! He said to me, I said,
:08:16. > :08:26.can we re write it? A brilliant trainer. He has a taste of it. --
:08:26. > :08:30.
:08:30. > :08:35.# Just remember you're a tiny little person on a planet. In the
:08:35. > :08:40.universe expanded and immense. # Life began evolving and
:08:40. > :08:46.dissolving and resolving into deep primordial motions by the
:08:46. > :08:51.hydrothermal vents. # Almost 5 billion years ago from
:08:51. > :08:57.out of a collapsing cloud of gas. # Through life which was quite new
:08:57. > :09:03.and eventually led to you Benoni 3.5 billion years or less. -- in
:09:03. > :09:07.only. My director said just have a wander around. Just over there is
:09:07. > :09:17.the pride of lions with young cubs so the mothers are very protective.
:09:17. > :09:17.
:09:17. > :09:22.Just wander around a bit! Wonders of life starts this Sunday at 9pm
:09:22. > :09:28.after the break new series of Top Gear returns. The book is out now.
:09:28. > :09:31.Brian knows a little thing or two about physics. At One Show, we did
:09:31. > :09:35.our toe into the paddling pool of science from time to time and we
:09:35. > :09:39.think the professor will be impressed with his next film.
:09:39. > :09:47.On his 31st birthday, Tim Reddish was diagnosed with a degenerative
:09:47. > :09:51.eye disease. If can you see any of the plate? I couldn't tell you. If
:09:51. > :09:58.you hadn't let me touch it, I couldn't tell you. Within 10 years
:09:58. > :10:02.he was almost completely blind. suffers from a blinding disease
:10:02. > :10:06.that affects approximately one in 4,000 people in the UK. At the back
:10:06. > :10:11.of our eyes we have light-sensitive cells called photo receptors. In
:10:11. > :10:16.this disease, these gradually die and eventually the patient becomes
:10:16. > :10:20.blind. Tim is about to undergo a pioneering procedure which could
:10:20. > :10:26.help him see again. Surgeons will implant a tiny chip to take over
:10:26. > :10:30.from his diseased retina, effectively giving him a bionic eye.
:10:30. > :10:36.We will implant the electronic chip at the back of Tim's I underneath
:10:36. > :10:43.his retina. -- eye. As well as the chip, we also need a power supply
:10:43. > :10:46.to switch it on and we put that and the electronics behind his beer. If
:10:46. > :10:51.this is a computer powering a chip and that is the cable that connects
:10:51. > :10:56.the chip to the eye. The chip is packed with 1,500 electronic photo
:10:56. > :11:01.receptors which will replace the dead cells in Tim's eye. Hopefully
:11:01. > :11:08.I will be able to see some things in more detail. Maybe on the table
:11:08. > :11:14.or be up to see Val's face. Her I'm not sure how I feel! Maybe he sees
:11:14. > :11:19.me as a beautiful 20-year-old! a handful of patients have had the
:11:19. > :11:23.surgery. Technically it is extremely challenging. We have to
:11:23. > :11:26.place the chip in a critical position, probably half a
:11:26. > :11:31.millimetre either side would make a big difference in terms of what the
:11:31. > :11:37.patient's vision would be. We are working very closely to the optic
:11:37. > :11:42.nerve, which we can't touch at. Specialist James ransom performs
:11:42. > :11:46.the first part of the operation. We've been getting ready for the
:11:46. > :11:54.power unit behind the ear. Underneath the scalp muscles, we
:11:54. > :12:00.drilled a recess in the skull for the implant. Once the preparatory
:12:00. > :12:05.work is done, Professor McLaren takes over. I've been making a
:12:05. > :12:10.channel to link back the eye to the side of the head. Now of a power
:12:10. > :12:15.supply and cabling can be fixed in place. Ready for the microchip to
:12:15. > :12:22.be threaded into the back of Tim's eye. But first the secretary will
:12:22. > :12:32.have to be tested to ensure it is working. So far, there's no
:12:32. > :12:34.
:12:34. > :12:39.OK, keeper like this for a moment. -- keep it. At last it starts to
:12:39. > :12:43.work. It will take Professor McClaren nearly four hours to
:12:43. > :12:47.manoeuvre the microchip to the most light-sensitive part of the retina.
:12:47. > :12:52.The next part of the operation is very delicate. You put the chip
:12:52. > :12:56.into the back of the eye. Set exactly under the part of the eye
:12:56. > :13:00.where we do most of our seeing. A tiny spot where the sensitivity is
:13:01. > :13:05.greatest. The chip is finely positioned a millimetre away from
:13:05. > :13:10.the vital optic nerves that should relay the new electronic images to
:13:10. > :13:13.the brain. We finished inside for eye. The chip is in perfect
:13:14. > :13:20.position. It took a long time to get exactly right, but we are very
:13:20. > :13:23.happy. We will be worried until we see it working, obviously. Tim will
:13:24. > :13:28.need to recover from surgery before the implant can be turned on and
:13:28. > :13:32.fine-tuned, but if the operation has worked, he could be seen again
:13:32. > :13:35.been a matter of months. Giving him the ability to make out shapes or
:13:35. > :13:39.see his wife's face is an incredible medical breakthrough.
:13:39. > :13:48.But who knows where this amazing technology could take us in the
:13:48. > :13:52.future? He tin is here at with his wife and Professor McClaren. What
:13:52. > :13:57.difference have you noticed? You had the operation in October.
:13:57. > :14:03.we had the units switched on to see if everything worked in November.
:14:03. > :14:09.There's a bit of trauma we have to settle down, but I've been able to
:14:09. > :14:13.have artificial vision through light perception. Light reflection
:14:13. > :14:18.of different objects and things. The example is that in the
:14:18. > :14:21.laboratory testing, I can pick out objects on the table that I could
:14:21. > :14:28.not see before and even distinguish something that might be a certain
:14:28. > :14:33.shape. At home, I can see light sources through the patio window
:14:33. > :14:39.and the blinds and different things. It helps me orientate, which I
:14:39. > :14:46.could not to. It is early days, but it is quite exciting and it is
:14:46. > :14:52.unbelievable what we can do. Have you seen a changing your man?
:14:52. > :14:58.really! He's always been determined. He has any fast off he will make it
:14:58. > :15:08.work. You said he is as naughty as ever. God, yes! Or do you mean?
:15:08. > :15:18.
:15:18. > :15:27.Will this vision improve the more it gets used? We hope so. Things
:15:27. > :15:33.happen with the chip. It is parts - - part of our studies. What we
:15:33. > :15:39.seeing on the screen? You can see the black and white, grainy image
:15:39. > :15:46.that patients will see. You were quite a reluctant guinea-pig for a
:15:46. > :15:51.bit of a bizarre reason. I have done a lot of great things. It has
:15:51. > :15:55.not stop me doing the things I want to do. I believe the only person
:15:55. > :16:01.who tells me and cannot do something is me. Will it make a
:16:01. > :16:07.difference? Why do I need to do it? After long thought and discussions
:16:07. > :16:12.and research, it is about the future. Young people with my eye
:16:12. > :16:17.condition may have better opportunities in the future. It is
:16:17. > :16:20.about me helping to develop it and giving analytical feed back to help
:16:20. > :16:29.youngsters of the future to have had free more vision than I have
:16:29. > :16:37.had in my life. Are you aware of this operation before you had met
:16:37. > :16:43.Tim? No. In the series, we did virtually a whole programme on best.
:16:44. > :16:50.Every living thing shares the same visual system. Certainly the light
:16:51. > :16:57.sensors. That is what you have replaced. Even algae has this. Also,
:16:57. > :17:06.there seems to be a link between intelligence and vision. About a
:17:06. > :17:11.third of a brain is take -- taken up processing visual information.
:17:11. > :17:17.Where is the common answers to between us and octopus? It was
:17:17. > :17:27.about 600 million years ago when there were no eyes and no brains
:17:27. > :17:30.
:17:30. > :17:35.yet it has eyes which are similar to our cells. He is up to be it! --
:17:35. > :17:37.ourselves. He is too good! Physicists recently provided a
:17:38. > :17:42.complex mathmatical formula to describe how the subject matter of
:17:42. > :17:48.our next film develops. So, can the expert in the room please reveal
:17:48. > :17:57.what we're talking about? Tonight, we are talking about the
:17:57. > :18:02.cauliflower. Its first light on the stunning coastline of Cornwall,
:18:02. > :18:07.perfect harvesting conditions for a traditional vegetable. Mark Twain
:18:07. > :18:14.called the cauliflower nothing but the carried -- cabbage with a
:18:14. > :18:19.college education. I love them. They certainly are not boring.
:18:19. > :18:24.Consider their pedigree. Believed to have been introduced to Europe
:18:24. > :18:28.from Cyprus 2000 years ago, they spread around northern Europe in
:18:28. > :18:37.the 16th century. In the 1970s, French farmers started Brittany
:18:37. > :18:42.Ferries to send their cauliflowers across the Channel. Hardly boring!
:18:42. > :18:46.Why is Cornwall so good for growing cauliflowers? Because of its ideal
:18:47. > :18:51.climate. We always have a lovely warming breeze going over the
:18:51. > :18:58.shores and keeping the cauliflowers frost-free. Are they a big part of
:18:58. > :19:03.the Cornish economy? Yes. It really took off in about 1867 when the
:19:03. > :19:08.Great Western Railway eventually arrived in Penzance. It opened the
:19:08. > :19:14.whole of the UK market to the cauliflower industry. In the 1930s,
:19:14. > :19:21.10 trains a day left Cornwall full of cauliflowers to national markets.
:19:21. > :19:31.At they did fall out of favour when rivals like Munch to came on the
:19:31. > :19:32.
:19:32. > :19:42.scene. -- managed to it. -- mange touts. Today there are still
:19:42. > :19:44.
:19:44. > :19:48.Because the cauliflowers in this crop were not all mature at the
:19:48. > :19:56.same time, the cutters have to be highly experienced at spotting
:19:56. > :20:03.which ones are ready. This one will meet the size that is required for
:20:03. > :20:10.the supermarkets. How long have you been doing this? 45 years. You must
:20:10. > :20:16.be tired! I have a few more years left yet. The farmers grow
:20:16. > :20:22.cauliflowers with care, so let them individually and rush the perfect
:20:22. > :20:29.vegetables to the shops. -- select them individually. I travelled to
:20:29. > :20:33.St Michael's Mount to meet a Michelin-starred chef. I thought it
:20:33. > :20:41.would be quite fun to do a cauliflower where we make a pastry
:20:41. > :20:46.and we'd take it whole. Almost like the salt baked cauliflower. -- we
:20:46. > :20:51.bake. It is cooked whole and it retains a lot of flavour of the
:20:51. > :20:56.inside it. Do you despair when you see people chopping up a
:20:57. > :21:03.cauliflower, leaving it in boiling water for a few weeks to cooked
:21:03. > :21:12.down to a mulch? Yes. I think it does get the used. People
:21:12. > :21:17.misunderstand it. -- are abused. But it insulted water for three,
:21:17. > :21:25.four minutes. It does not need any more than that. The cauliflower can
:21:25. > :21:31.steam bake inside. What else have you got? It is quite simple. Some
:21:31. > :21:36.deep fried cauliflower leaves. I think they are delicious. I am
:21:36. > :21:41.making a cauliflower, cashew nuts and Parmesan pesto. Most people do
:21:41. > :21:46.not realise you can eat the leaves as well. The whole baked
:21:46. > :21:52.cauliflower is full of flavour. Anybody who doubts the versatility
:21:52. > :21:59.of cauliflower needs to try these dishes. If all you have ever had
:21:59. > :22:09.his cauliflower boiled to death, you really do not know what you are
:22:09. > :22:19.missing. You do not. It is buried under celebrated. Or cauliflower
:22:19. > :22:19.
:22:19. > :22:25.tractors are the best in the world. -- all. That film is dedicated to
:22:26. > :22:31.all Colin Flowers, who are watching the film. This is a great way to
:22:31. > :22:38.use up all your leftover cheese. did not know it was leftover
:22:38. > :22:43.cheese! I know he has put some special West Country cheddar in
:22:43. > :22:53.there. The other thing, Dijon mustard. But this being fought in
:22:53. > :22:53.
:22:53. > :23:01.your sauce and its punches it up. - - put a spoonful in your sauce.
:23:01. > :23:07.is superb! I am dressed up to give it a sense of occasion. I am going
:23:07. > :23:16.have to dinner afterwards! This is another kind of cauliflower. Does
:23:16. > :23:23.it not demonstrate the joy of the practical? If you look at different
:23:23. > :23:29.scales. This pattern, the structure, is repeating and repeating. The big
:23:29. > :23:36.one is made up of smaller versions of the big thing and so on. These
:23:36. > :23:41.things go on for ever. They get smaller and smaller. It is like
:23:41. > :23:51.nature's infinity tube. I remember those nights when you used to go to
:23:51. > :23:56.that place. You have a formula for cauliflowers. It is monstrous and
:23:56. > :24:04.complicated. Several gentlemen spent a long time working that out.
:24:04. > :24:13.I think you should just rode the cauliflower. It is a mathematical
:24:13. > :24:18.description of the shape. -- growth a cauliflower. It is a very famous
:24:18. > :24:24.structure. It is a complicated thing that goes on for ever. This
:24:24. > :24:34.is a bit more complicated. anyone find a subject that Brian
:24:34. > :24:34.
:24:34. > :24:40.knows nothing about? I will teach him how to cut grass. You have been
:24:40. > :24:47.cooking today, haven't you? This morning I was taught how to make
:24:47. > :24:56.cauliflower rice. You chop it up, put in tune in, turmeric, salt and
:24:56. > :25:02.pepper, season it, put it in the microwave for four minutes. It is
:25:02. > :25:12.delicious cauliflower rice. That film was made yesterday and you are
:25:12. > :25:19.
:25:19. > :25:25.still wearing the same sweater. How is it? I think it is fantastic
:25:25. > :25:31.that you have a career in television. This is really
:25:31. > :25:37.interesting. I did not measure how much spice I put in. I could not
:25:37. > :25:47.have told. Cauliflower ears and incredible thing. There are lots of
:25:47. > :25:48.
:25:48. > :25:55.things you can do with it. It is very good. Thank you very much. On
:25:55. > :26:01.Monday, we popped into Chris's radio show to help launch the 500
:26:01. > :26:09.words story competition. Nastier, 74,000 children dead. Matt
:26:09. > :26:17.Allwright has been out and about. - - children did. I like reading
:26:17. > :26:23.magical books. It expands my imagination. The one I am reading
:26:23. > :26:32.right now is about dragons. I want to write something like one of the
:26:32. > :26:38.books I have read. It would be amazing. Just how many birds is
:26:39. > :26:48.bide hundred words? If you are typing, about three-quarters of a
:26:49. > :26:50.
:26:50. > :26:56.side of Aat 4. -- many words is 500. I have been to this school to try
:26:56. > :27:03.to inspire this class. I have written the introduction. As he
:27:03. > :27:11.steered in his pyjamas, staring in the mirror, Matt knew that his life
:27:11. > :27:18.would never be the Same Again. This primary school teacher was a judge
:27:18. > :27:27.last year. Any tips? Put pen to paper. Let the ideas spill out of
:27:27. > :27:33.the pen. It used to what it means to write 500 words. -- get used. Do
:27:33. > :27:39.not go over the top. Someone who knows all about successful writing
:27:39. > :27:42.it is this woman. She began writing her book when she was 17 years old.
:27:42. > :27:49.Why do you think that some kids and some people think they cannot write
:27:49. > :27:54.and it is not for them? They are not reader's first. The link
:27:54. > :28:01.between reading and writing is natural. I enjoy reading, why don't
:28:02. > :28:07.I tried to produce my own? In fiction, there is room for
:28:08. > :28:15.imagination. Also direct experience. The best writing is in the detail.
:28:15. > :28:20.There is always something for you to see again. I am back. Remember
:28:20. > :28:26.how the story started. Matt knew that his life would never be the
:28:26. > :28:32.same again. He lifted his head up and stared around him. There were
:28:32. > :28:39.millions and billions of little orange blobs sparing -- staring at
:28:39. > :28:48.him. Surrey, I spilt my new potion on your mirror. There you have it.
:28:48. > :28:53.Some rather bizarre and wonderful stories. All written in just 30
:28:53. > :29:00.minutes. Well done! For all the terms and conditions, go to the
:29:00. > :29:06.Radio 2 website. Thank you so much. You are going to this dinner
:29:06. > :29:15.tonight. What is it? It is the particle Physics Action Group. That
:29:15. > :29:20.is what it is. It is all professions. -- professors. It is