0:00:27 > 0:00:31For years, chemotherapy has been used to treat cancer.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34Drugs that attack cancer cells are injected or swallowed,
0:00:34 > 0:00:38but because they are very toxic they can also cause unpleasant side effects.
0:00:38 > 0:00:43So is there a way that you can use drugs to just target
0:00:43 > 0:00:46the cancer cells, without harming the rest of your body?
0:00:47 > 0:00:51This may not sound like a problem for an engineer, but it is.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55I'm at the Institute Of Bio-medical Engineering at Oxford University
0:00:55 > 0:00:58to meet the creator of a pioneering medical technique.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01Dr Eleanor Stride trained as a mechanical engineer
0:01:01 > 0:01:04before recognising the medical benefits of her work
0:01:04 > 0:01:07and doing a doctorate in ultrasonics.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10One of the big problems with cancer drugs is,
0:01:10 > 0:01:12they're effectively poisonous.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15So when you give them to a patient you're poisoning the entire body.
0:01:15 > 0:01:16The only reason they work is,
0:01:16 > 0:01:19cancer cells are more sensitive than normal cells to those drugs.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22But because they're similar to the other cells in the body,
0:01:22 > 0:01:25it's very difficult to actually get the drug to differentiate.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28What is the overall goal of what you're doing?
0:01:28 > 0:01:31So, what were trying to do is, to develop systems that allow us
0:01:31 > 0:01:34to deliver drugs to specific parts of the body,
0:01:34 > 0:01:37rather than what happens currently, which is a drug is injected
0:01:37 > 0:01:39into the bloodstream and it goes absolutely everywhere.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42We want to target where that drug ends up.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45'Eleanor's drug transportation system starts small.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48'In fact, so small, it's microscopic.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52'She engineers tiny bubbles of gas coated with a clever shell
0:01:52 > 0:01:56'that can survive the sometimes hostile macro-highways of a human bloodstream
0:01:56 > 0:01:59'in order to deliver their life-saving payloads.'
0:02:00 > 0:02:04Because we are engineering the surfaces of these bubbles, the coatings,
0:02:04 > 0:02:05we can put drugs into the bubble.
0:02:05 > 0:02:07And you just inject them? Eat them?
0:02:07 > 0:02:09- We just inject them! - Ah, inject them.- Yep.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13We link the drugs onto the coatings, or actually inside the bubble.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17The drugs then stay in the bubble as they move through the bloodstream.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20'OK, I get the idea. Tiny bubbles carrying chemotherapy drugs
0:02:20 > 0:02:23'travel around the blood vessels. But, how do they know where to go?'
0:02:23 > 0:02:26In addition to putting a drug into the bubble,
0:02:26 > 0:02:28we put magnetic particles.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30And that means that we can move the bubbles around
0:02:30 > 0:02:33using a magnet, that's applied outside the body.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36'Love it! Magnets are such a simple engineering solution
0:02:36 > 0:02:39'to the complex problem of navigation through the body.'
0:02:39 > 0:02:41So if we imagine that this is the human body.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45And the tracks within the cube are like your bloodstream.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49And the little silver ball is our magnetic bubble.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53If you use the magnet, you can guide where the ball is within the body.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56OK. How much smaller is your bloodstream
0:02:56 > 0:02:59and the magnetic bubble that you have?
0:02:59 > 0:03:01So you could say that's about a centimetre.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04The small blood vessels, where we're trying to guide the bubbles to,
0:03:04 > 0:03:06which is what you'd have around a tumour,
0:03:06 > 0:03:08are about 10,000 times smaller than that.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10Oh, my word. And I'm finding this one difficult!
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Is it just one bubble going to it?
0:03:13 > 0:03:16Oh, no. We're injecting probably a few million if not a billion bubbles,
0:03:16 > 0:03:19but compared with the dose of the drug you'd give
0:03:19 > 0:03:22if you gave it to the whole body, it's still absolutely tiny.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26Because we only need a minute proportion of the drugs to get to each cell.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28So this is another advantage of targeting,
0:03:28 > 0:03:29as we don't need to use as much drugs.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33'To make it more of a challenge, the human body isn't transparent,
0:03:33 > 0:03:36'so guiding the bubbles is quite tricky.'
0:03:36 > 0:03:39It's more equivalent to me doing that!
0:03:39 > 0:03:41Right. And I've got to move...
0:03:41 > 0:03:45You now have to get your magnetic micro-bubbles in the right place at the right time.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47Right!
0:03:47 > 0:03:49SHE LAUGHS
0:03:52 > 0:03:55I don't even know! I don't even know where the ball is!
0:03:55 > 0:03:56Oh, it fell!
0:03:56 > 0:03:58We need a method for looking inside the body.
0:03:58 > 0:03:59Yeah, you do!
0:04:01 > 0:04:04'The solution for tracking the bubbles is ultrasound,
0:04:04 > 0:04:09'which works like the echolocation dolphins use to find their prey.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11'Ultrasound is a high-pitched soundwave
0:04:11 > 0:04:13'that can be sent into a human body.
0:04:13 > 0:04:18'Each time it meets a different layer, some of that wave is reflected back.'
0:04:18 > 0:04:23It's those reflections that we use to produce the ultrasound image.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25So how does this help you with your micro-bubbles?
0:04:25 > 0:04:29The great thing about having bubbles is, because they're full of gas,
0:04:29 > 0:04:31it's a very different type of material.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34So the echo they produce is really strong.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36'And because they are strong echoes
0:04:36 > 0:04:38'they stand out from the rest of the body.'
0:04:38 > 0:04:41So I suppose it's a bit like you're sat there waiting,
0:04:41 > 0:04:44and you're waiting for a bubble to go past your area of interest
0:04:44 > 0:04:46and you'll be able to see the bubble because of the gas
0:04:46 > 0:04:49and then you will be attracting it with your magnet
0:04:49 > 0:04:53and you will see that it's arrived, I suppose, at its destination?
0:04:53 > 0:04:56Yep. And the more bubbles that arrive, the brighter the image gets.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59So you can actually work out what sort of concentration of bubbles you have.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02'So once the magnets have the bubbles in position,
0:05:02 > 0:05:06'Eleanor needs a way to burst them to deliver the drug.'
0:05:06 > 0:05:09We increase the energy in the ultrasound beam.
0:05:09 > 0:05:10The bubbles oscillate more violently.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12They break open and we release the drug.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15- A bit like smashing a wine glass with sound?- Yep.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22So what sort of drugs could this deliver?
0:05:22 > 0:05:23In principle, almost any.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25So as drugs are being discovered,
0:05:25 > 0:05:27more than half can't actually be used,
0:05:27 > 0:05:29because they're simply too toxic to inject directly
0:05:29 > 0:05:31into the bloodstream, or to take as a pill.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36- Hang on. Half of the drugs that are designed?- More than half.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38More than half of the drugs that are designed,
0:05:38 > 0:05:41we can't use, because they're basically too poisonous?
0:05:41 > 0:05:42Yep. Exactly.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45So having a technology that allows us to encapsulate those drugs,
0:05:45 > 0:05:50keep them inside a bubble until they've got to the right place, is incredibly valuable.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53So how long do you think it will be before this package of treatment
0:05:53 > 0:05:55ends up as something that we could get in a hospital?
0:05:55 > 0:06:00It takes probably three years to get to a clinical trial stage,
0:06:00 > 0:06:04and then it's another...maybe five. So, overall, 10 to 15 years.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06So in 10 to 15 years' time,
0:06:06 > 0:06:09this could be a treatment in your local hospital.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12The most incredible moment will be seeing this translated
0:06:12 > 0:06:15into the clinic and actually working to help cure disease.
0:06:23 > 0:06:28If you wanted to provide communities in the developing world with electricity, what would you do?
0:06:28 > 0:06:32Give them solar panels? Give them wind turbines?
0:06:32 > 0:06:34Well, the technology certainly exists
0:06:34 > 0:06:36but who's going to fix them when they go wrong?
0:06:39 > 0:06:44It's a problem that's got the attention of mechanical engineering PhD student Jon Sumanik-Leary
0:06:44 > 0:06:46at the University of Sheffield.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50He's trying to prove that you don't have to be a trained engineer
0:06:50 > 0:06:52to harness the power of wind for yourself.
0:06:56 > 0:07:01So say if you were to go to a remote community and build a wind turbine,
0:07:01 > 0:07:03how long do you think it would last without breaking?
0:07:03 > 0:07:07You'd be lucky if it got to the end of the first year without something breaking on it.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09Wind turbines, they really are unreliable things.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12I've been to Nepal, to Nicaragua and to Peru
0:07:12 > 0:07:14to go and study this technology,
0:07:14 > 0:07:17to go and see what kind of impact it's having.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21We visited three wind turbines, all of which were broken.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23So after seeing the situation as it was
0:07:23 > 0:07:26did that give you any ideas in ways you could help?
0:07:26 > 0:07:30Well, it inspired me to continue working with technology
0:07:30 > 0:07:32that you could manufacture locally.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35Jon's concluded the best way to keep wind turbines running
0:07:35 > 0:07:39is to get the people who want them to build them themselves.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42So he's doing research on a kit that anyone can build.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44I think I might give it a whirl.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47- Can I build it?- Absolutely. Anyone can build a wind turbine.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49You're going to have to work a few things out for yourself,
0:07:49 > 0:07:52- but fortunately... - You mean I don't get a booklet?!
0:07:52 > 0:07:54You don't get a booklet, but I don't think
0:07:54 > 0:07:57you'll need that much help. It really is quite simple.
0:07:57 > 0:07:58OK, erm...
0:07:59 > 0:08:01What's the best bit to start with?
0:08:06 > 0:08:09So there's the three holes there, which will match with the three holes there.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12'Despite a lack of instruction booklet,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15'the kit contains the components for a small turbine that,
0:08:15 > 0:08:18'given enough wind, could easily provide energy for lighting,
0:08:18 > 0:08:21'phone charging and a few low-energy appliances.'
0:08:23 > 0:08:28- This isn't really a one-person job, is it?- It is easier with two people.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32And with this one, the more people you have, the better.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35I suppose as well like, because then the more people that have built it,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38the more people take ownership of it, and then if something happens
0:08:38 > 0:08:40to one person, there's other people that know how to fix it.
0:08:40 > 0:08:45Exactly. You want as many people knowing about the technology as possible.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48All wind turbines are designed with one thing in mind -
0:08:48 > 0:08:52to efficiently use magnets and wire to generate electricity.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54This one just does it more simply.
0:08:56 > 0:08:57Nice!
0:08:57 > 0:09:01So we've got a magnet sandwich, with the filling being the coils of wire.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05We're going to spin the coils of wire through the magnetic field
0:09:05 > 0:09:08and generate electricity in the coils of wire.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10By working with simplified turbines,
0:09:10 > 0:09:13Jon's goal is to empower communities to do it themselves.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18It's taken a little over an hour and it's already assembled,
0:09:18 > 0:09:20but, there's a blade missing.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22Well, I'm afraid I've sabotaged it.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25You're going to have to make another one, so just like you would do
0:09:25 > 0:09:28if you were in a remote community in the developing world.
0:09:28 > 0:09:33- Say one of your blades breaks. - Uh-huh?- You would then have to build another one.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37'Some of the components for the kit would need to be made in bulk by a local manufacturer,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40'but the idea is that most are made by hand, by the people building it.'
0:09:42 > 0:09:44Ah, yep, good. Done.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48Plastic is one of the easiest ones to make a small turbine,
0:09:48 > 0:09:50because it's already got this curvature here.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53'Replacing parts that break often needs to be as cheap as possible,
0:09:53 > 0:09:58'as the areas Jon is hoping to help are some of the poorest in the world.'
0:09:58 > 0:10:01The most vital thing that they're using electricity for
0:10:01 > 0:10:04is as a replacement for open-flame kerosene lamps
0:10:04 > 0:10:08so this is essentially a candle made with kerosene, jet fuel.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11Not only is it really dangerous but it's really poor light.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14Having electric light to be able to do homework in the evening
0:10:14 > 0:10:18is one of the biggest benefits of having something better than candles.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21I suppose with electricity you can get the things that can educate you.
0:10:21 > 0:10:26You can communicate with not just the people in your community, but also the rest of the world.
0:10:26 > 0:10:30You can have a better chance of working your way out of poverty because of it.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32Okey-dokey! Blade number three.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35So I just put this on, then I'm done?
0:10:35 > 0:10:38Simple is sometimes just the best type of engineering, isn't it?
0:10:38 > 0:10:40The simpler it is, the less likely it is to break
0:10:40 > 0:10:43and the easier it's going to be to fix when it does.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45'It's time to get my turbine tested.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49'And, thankfully, we don't have to rely on the British weather.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52'The University of Sheffield have a wind tunnel.'
0:10:52 > 0:10:54So now we're in the test section of the tunnel.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57So this is where you put things to do experiments,
0:10:57 > 0:11:00- so the wind comes in this way - Comes IN this way?
0:11:00 > 0:11:03Comes in this way and gets sucked out that way, by the fan.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06- That fan is impressive. - Yeah, it's big!
0:11:06 > 0:11:11'The electricity generated isn't like the stuff that comes out of your plug socket.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14'It has a range of voltages, so it needs to go through a regulator
0:11:14 > 0:11:18'to narrow that range, before it's stored in a special battery.'
0:11:18 > 0:11:21- So we're charging the battery? - We're charging the battery, yeah.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23Press the magic button and start up the wind.
0:11:25 > 0:11:26Go on, go on!
0:11:28 > 0:11:32When we have enough electricity stored, we can test it out
0:11:32 > 0:11:36by playing music from an MP3 player through an amp and speakers.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38Do you reckon we've got enough now?
0:11:38 > 0:11:41- There's only one way to find out, isn't there?- I'm ready for the play!
0:11:41 > 0:11:43So, everything's set up here, yeah?
0:11:43 > 0:11:47Yeah, we're all good to go. You've just got to press the button here.
0:11:47 > 0:11:48DANCE MUSIC PLAYS
0:11:48 > 0:11:50That's amazing!
0:11:50 > 0:11:53So imagine how it would be if you were in a community where
0:11:53 > 0:11:56you've never had electricity before. Imagine how excited you'd be then.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58Yeah, I'm excited!
0:11:58 > 0:12:00I'm excited and I get electricity every day!
0:12:00 > 0:12:03So if it was the first time, that would be amazing.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06So if you can do it here, then it's something that can be replicated
0:12:06 > 0:12:08over in the developing world,
0:12:08 > 0:12:12using only the same basic tools and basic techniques that we use today.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15'If Jon can get a project up and running to supply these kits
0:12:15 > 0:12:18'where they are desperately needed, renewable energy won't just be
0:12:18 > 0:12:21'something remote communities can have,
0:12:21 > 0:12:23'it'll be something they can keep.'
0:12:23 > 0:12:26Well, Jon, I actually never thought I would get to build
0:12:26 > 0:12:29my own wind turbine. So, thank you so much!
0:12:29 > 0:12:30I can't take it home, can I?
0:12:37 > 0:12:41Is it possible to save the lives of thousands of people across the world
0:12:41 > 0:12:45every year, by re-engineering just one household object?
0:12:49 > 0:12:52One of the most common killers of women and children
0:12:52 > 0:12:55in the developing world is an object they can't live without.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57The cooking stove.
0:12:58 > 0:13:04Inhaled fumes from fires used to cook, heat and light cause massive health risks and premature death.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09It's a problem that humanitarian organisations around the world
0:13:09 > 0:13:10are trying to tackle.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14And I've come to the University of Nottingham
0:13:14 > 0:13:18to meet engineering students Samuel McGovern and Astha Desai,
0:13:18 > 0:13:22who are part of a global project close to designing a solution.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29Now, I've heard that you guys are part of a team
0:13:29 > 0:13:32that are working to save thousands of lives. Is that right?
0:13:32 > 0:13:34Yeah, we're part of the Score-Stove team.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37Three billion people in the world cook on an open fire.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39The smoke tends to stay inside their house
0:13:39 > 0:13:41and that's what causes the problem.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43Millions die unnecessarily from inhalation of smoke.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45Why aren't they using chimneys?
0:13:45 > 0:13:47They don't understand the dangers.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50And they've grown up seeing their parents cooking on it.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54They don't have the education and also money.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56A lot of these are social problems.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59Would you consider these to be engineering problems?
0:13:59 > 0:14:04Yeah, because we have to take in all of these factors when the design's made.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07We actually recently did a project in Nepal,
0:14:07 > 0:14:11so we actually went out there to see first-hand what it was like.
0:14:11 > 0:14:17Whatever we do design has to be made for the people that are using it.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20Right now, this project is trying to find a way to increase the use
0:14:20 > 0:14:25of chimneys in developing countries like Bangladesh and Nepal.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29And what they've come up with is the Score Clean Stove.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32Under all those cables and instruments is a prototype cooker
0:14:32 > 0:14:37designed for the needs of the communities they are working with.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39Oh, my word!
0:14:39 > 0:14:42This looks amazing!
0:14:42 > 0:14:44Well, it looks a bit complex here
0:14:44 > 0:14:46but essentially the principles of it is,
0:14:46 > 0:14:48the fuel would go into the bottom,
0:14:48 > 0:14:52the heat produced would be able to heat what they're cooking.
0:14:52 > 0:14:54We also have the chimney problem solved.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56But what's interesting about our design
0:14:56 > 0:14:58is that it produces electricity also.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03- You've got a stove that produces electricity?- Yep.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05That's awesome!
0:15:05 > 0:15:07'And that is the sheer genius of this invention.
0:15:07 > 0:15:12'Offering much-needed electricity to encourage the use of chimneys.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14'Working with a team from Kathmandu University,
0:15:14 > 0:15:19'the project succeeded in building a prototype stove that worked.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22'Heat from the fire generates electricity, and it does this
0:15:22 > 0:15:26'by first creating a sound inside the plastic pipes at the back.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29'I'll demonstrate with the help of Astha and a boiling tube.'
0:15:29 > 0:15:34- And all I've got to do is heat up that metal thing inside the tube, haven't I?- Yep.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37The metallic wire inside is a pot scrubber.
0:15:37 > 0:15:42It's important that all the components are readily available anywhere in the world.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46It's making it hot at the bottom but the top part of that metal bit is still cold.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50- So you've got, sort of, like a temperature gradient, haven't you? - Yeah.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54Different in temperature, and that will make the air wobble
0:15:54 > 0:15:56in a certain way that should make a sound.
0:15:56 > 0:15:57PIPE EMITS HIGH-PITCHED HUM
0:15:57 > 0:15:59Yeah.
0:16:01 > 0:16:02That's awesome!
0:16:04 > 0:16:08- And that's just by having the bottom hot and the top part cold?- Yeah.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12Causing vibrations. And you can hear it now.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15So that's how you get the heat into the sound.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19- And this must be how you get the sound then into the electricity? - Yeah.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22The vibrating air is then used to physically move a magnet
0:16:22 > 0:16:25backwards and forwards between a coil of wire.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28Which is essentially how all generators create electricity.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31And even that doesn't need to be high-tech
0:16:31 > 0:16:36because a speaker has all the right parts, and it's what the stove uses.
0:16:36 > 0:16:42Should I try it? Let's see if I can produce electricity. OK.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44The oscilloscope shows the lovely sound I'm making
0:16:44 > 0:16:46is creating a current.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48That is brilliant!
0:16:48 > 0:16:50'It's a beautifully simple technology
0:16:50 > 0:16:52'that uses easy-to-find components
0:16:52 > 0:16:56'to not only generate electricity, but also solve the problem
0:16:56 > 0:16:59'of indoor air pollution that's killing millions each year.'
0:16:59 > 0:17:03With them being able to have that electricity on tap,
0:17:03 > 0:17:05means that they are more likely to go,
0:17:05 > 0:17:08"Yes, I'll have your stove with the chimney."
0:17:08 > 0:17:10It becomes a really big incentive for them.
0:17:10 > 0:17:12They're more likely to buy the product.
0:17:12 > 0:17:17- How much do you think your stoves are going to sell for?- About £60.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20We're still working on lowering that so it becomes affordable for them.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24This is one of the main engineering challenges that we're facing at the moment.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28For many people in Nepal, an investment of £60 per household
0:17:28 > 0:17:30could represent a massive improvement
0:17:30 > 0:17:33in health and standard of living. But that's just the start of it.
0:17:33 > 0:17:38This technology can be adapted for anywhere in the developing world,
0:17:38 > 0:17:42potentially bringing massive benefits to the lives of the three billion people
0:17:42 > 0:17:45at risk of death from poorly ventilated cook fires.
0:17:56 > 0:17:57If you were a city planner
0:17:57 > 0:18:00and you needed to add a new transport network in one of the most
0:18:00 > 0:18:04densely populated cities in the world, where would you put it?
0:18:04 > 0:18:08The obvious place is to go underground, like the London Tube.
0:18:09 > 0:18:14But what if the city was in a region that was at high risk of serious earthquakes?
0:18:14 > 0:18:16Would you still go underground?
0:18:18 > 0:18:21You'd probably seek professional advice.
0:18:21 > 0:18:27Which would bring you to the door of a geotechnical engineer like Dr Barnali Ghosh.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31With a PhD in seismic planning, Barnali is currently working on
0:18:31 > 0:18:35earthquake-proofing the next phase of Delhi's underground network.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38With the Indian capital massively over-populated
0:18:38 > 0:18:45and choked with traffic, this metro is vital for the country's economy, despite the danger of earthquakes.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48The certainty is that the earthquake will happen.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52The whole concept of earthquake engineering is really about a risk assessment.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55You have to look at if the earthquake did happen.
0:18:55 > 0:19:00What are the risks that will come from that project being in a seismic area?
0:19:02 > 0:19:05Delhi is close to the Himalayan plate boundary,
0:19:05 > 0:19:09an area where two continental tectonic plates are colliding.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14As a result, its 17 million inhabitants regularly experience
0:19:14 > 0:19:18low-magnitude earthquakes, and it's considered at risk from bigger ones.
0:19:23 > 0:19:29Historically, Delhi hasn't had very major magnitude earthquakes.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31The risks are more because of the ground conditions.
0:19:31 > 0:19:36In terms of geotechnical engineering, the ground doesn't have enough strength.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39If there is an earthquake in a very distant area in Delhi,
0:19:39 > 0:19:43ground motions are going to be amplified by 2 to 2.5 times.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47So this is actually an area of big concern for Delhi.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51The ground condition that worries Barnali is a wet, sandy soil
0:19:51 > 0:19:54and she needs to understand how it might behave in an earthquake.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58She's brought me to the geotechnical lab at Cambridge University,
0:19:58 > 0:20:02where Dr Gopal Madabhushi and a team are running experiments
0:20:02 > 0:20:07on sandy soil similar to Delhi's, using an earthquake simulator.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11What we have here this afternoon is a model apartment building,
0:20:11 > 0:20:15which is sitting on wet sand, saturated.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18There'll be important clues in this experiment, which will tell us
0:20:18 > 0:20:20a lot about the behaviour of the ground.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22Can we see it in action, do you think?
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Yes, let's have our first small earthquake.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29'Gopal starts the experiments
0:20:29 > 0:20:32'with an earthquake equivalent to 4.5 on the Richter scale.'
0:20:36 > 0:20:40That's not quite as vigorous as I thought it was going to be.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44In terms of engineering design, anything less than magnitude 5
0:20:44 > 0:20:48is of no consequence, because it's too small for human perception.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50There's just one thing to do.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52Are we going to take it up a bit now?
0:20:52 > 0:20:54Yes, that is what we will do next.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56- Shall we do it?- OK. Here we go.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59'This time it's a magnitude 6.5,
0:20:59 > 0:21:01'which may not be massive in earthquake terms,
0:21:01 > 0:21:03'but is of a realistic size to hit Delhi.'
0:21:06 > 0:21:09What has happened is that the whole building has sunk in.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11If that was like a 10-storey building,
0:21:11 > 0:21:13eight floors would be underground?
0:21:13 > 0:21:16'I find that level of devastation disturbing,
0:21:16 > 0:21:19'but it's exactly what this team wanted to see.'
0:21:19 > 0:21:24I think it's very important for us to create failures at model scale
0:21:24 > 0:21:27so that we can avoid creating them at full scale.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30OK, so that failure was a good failure?
0:21:30 > 0:21:32I think it's a very good failure.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37Understanding the ground, characterising the risk is so very important.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41'Understanding that ground is at the heart of a seismic engineer's training.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44'Before a significant earthquake even hits,
0:21:44 > 0:21:49'Barnali already knows that Delhi faces one of the most dangerous effects an earthquake can cause.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52'It's called liquefaction.'
0:21:52 > 0:21:58Simply speaking the shaking is so fast that the ground just loses its ability to support
0:21:58 > 0:22:02the structure on top of it, and starts behaving like a liquid.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05'We're going to go again and this time they are putting a tunnel in
0:22:05 > 0:22:09'to see what would happen to underground buildings if liquefaction occurred.'
0:22:09 > 0:22:13- OK, you want a strong earthquake? - I do! Yes, please.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17'Because it has air in it, the tube floats to the surface.'
0:22:17 > 0:22:21You can imagine in this situation, if you had an underground structure
0:22:21 > 0:22:24- like a pipeline or something... - Or like a railway.- Exactly.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27It would been busted and come out to the surface.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30It has happened in many earthquakes. What this experiment has shown us
0:22:30 > 0:22:33is the importance of really understanding your ground and
0:22:33 > 0:22:37what an important role geotechnical engineers will play in any project.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44So what are your solutions that you could do?
0:22:44 > 0:22:47There are several solutions which we could apply in our project.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51We could make the ground denser. We can build stone columns.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53All of this works on the same principle,
0:22:53 > 0:22:56that you're just making the ground stiffer.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58The exact solutions Barnali will end up using
0:22:58 > 0:23:01will depend on the very local conditions of the soil.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03So every few hundred metres of tunnel
0:23:03 > 0:23:06will need different ground-stiffening procedures.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08It has to be the right one for what you are trying to do
0:23:08 > 0:23:13and that you will end up with an efficient and safe design.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16'So, with Barnali working on the next phase of the Delhi Metro,
0:23:16 > 0:23:20'it means that quite literally it'll be built on firmer ground.'
0:23:29 > 0:23:32Each year an estimated one billion items of clothing
0:23:32 > 0:23:35are put into landfill in Britain alone.
0:23:35 > 0:23:41The manufacture and shipping of each and every one of those items has a carbon cost on the planet.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45Now, donation and recycling does help, but is it enough?
0:23:45 > 0:23:50Or is there a smarter way that we can reduce the impact clothing waste has on our planet?
0:23:51 > 0:23:55It's a question for Dr Veronika Kapsali at Northumbria University's P3i lab.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59Once a fashion designer, Veronika discovered
0:23:59 > 0:24:03the fabrics she was working with weren't working hard enough.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08And now she's pioneering a brand-new engineering discipline
0:24:08 > 0:24:11that could help reduce the carbon footprint of our clothes.
0:24:13 > 0:24:18What we're quite interested in doing or working on is the idea of trying
0:24:18 > 0:24:25to create material systems, garments that can do more than one function.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29Can carry out more than one task, without necessarily having to
0:24:29 > 0:24:32include lots of different materials and processes.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37'If Veronika can make one fabric do two or more jobs,
0:24:37 > 0:24:40'manufacturing waste would be significantly less
0:24:40 > 0:24:44'for some of our clothing, like the waterproof jacket.'
0:24:44 > 0:24:49So this first layer here is a very tightly-woven nylon material.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52That would prevent any water from coming through.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56On the back of this there's a membrane that's been laminated onto it.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59This is your basic insulating layer.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02Lots of fibres, lots of space, lots of air trapped,
0:25:02 > 0:25:04that's what's keeping you warm.
0:25:04 > 0:25:09And then you have this innermost layer here, which is a polyester.
0:25:09 > 0:25:14Three, four different fabrics in it. A lot of detailing, of cutting,
0:25:14 > 0:25:17a lot of processing that's gone into it.
0:25:17 > 0:25:18It does seem a bit wasteful.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23'To help solve the problems of excessive manufacturing waste,
0:25:23 > 0:25:27'Veronika has turned to the natural world for her inspiration.
0:25:27 > 0:25:32'There's a lot we can learn from millions of years of evolution.'
0:25:32 > 0:25:35So one of my favourites at the moment is the penguin.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39We're doing quite a bit of work on them at the moment.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41Their coats are absolutely amazing.
0:25:41 > 0:25:46They can switch instantly from becoming a highly insulating jacket
0:25:46 > 0:25:52to becoming a wetsuit, effectively, within seconds.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55'The penguin keeps warm by trapping lots of air in its lower feathers,
0:25:55 > 0:25:57'represented by this model.'
0:25:57 > 0:26:00So this would be the high insulation position.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03So when you wanted to dive into the water,
0:26:03 > 0:26:05what happens is that goes flat down like that.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09Imagine if we had garments that could do that.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12Yeah! Winter coat, wetsuit.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15Winter coat, summer coat.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19So you wouldn't necessarily need to have two or three different coats,
0:26:19 > 0:26:21you could just have just one.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26'To help turn her futuristic ideas into our reality,
0:26:26 > 0:26:28'Veronika's lab has just brought in
0:26:28 > 0:26:32'the most futuristic manufacturing tool on the planet.'
0:26:32 > 0:26:34Ah! A 3D printer!
0:26:34 > 0:26:36That's right.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39This is the Ferrari of 3D printers at the moment.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46It builds structures by depositing fine lines
0:26:46 > 0:26:50and those lines can be fractions of millimetres.
0:26:50 > 0:26:51It's super-accurate.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54You can actually work with up to five materials.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58They can all have different melt temperatures, so they can have
0:26:58 > 0:27:00very different properties and processing properties.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04So I suppose with this machine it would be perfectly possible,
0:27:04 > 0:27:08- would it, to make a representation of a penguin feather?- Absolutely.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12We've got several ideas, which we can do that, but I can't tell you!
0:27:14 > 0:27:18'But what she can tell me is how she has used the humble pine cone
0:27:18 > 0:27:20'to make clothing that can switch
0:27:20 > 0:27:23'from keeping me warm to keeping me cool.'
0:27:23 > 0:27:26It all stems from the fact that a pinecone closes up if it gets wet.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30It has this functionality purely because of the way
0:27:30 > 0:27:33the material it's made of is designed.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36It's a two-layer system.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39One layer absorbs moisture more than the other
0:27:39 > 0:27:43so that the layer that absorbs more moisture causes it to curl up.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47And we've interpreted that into a fibre which,
0:27:47 > 0:27:51once you add water to it, it curls up on itself.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54'A fabric made with these fibres will keep you warm,
0:27:54 > 0:27:57'but if you sweat and the fibres get damp, they curl up
0:27:57 > 0:28:01'inside the yarn, creating holes for better air ventilation.'
0:28:01 > 0:28:02We've actually got to the point
0:28:02 > 0:28:06where we've turned it into a commercial material.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09This is made from your material?
0:28:09 > 0:28:11This is made from that material, yes.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14'Designed to keep us either warm or cool when needed,
0:28:14 > 0:28:16'these smarter garments change their structure
0:28:16 > 0:28:18'at an almost invisible level.'
0:28:20 > 0:28:23This one's actually blended with some merino wool.
0:28:23 > 0:28:28Our garment is about 30 times more permeable to air
0:28:28 > 0:28:32than 100% merino wool.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35'Veronika's work is pure engineering.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38'She's identified a problem, found inspiration,
0:28:38 > 0:28:42'and with the help of technology is designing a solution.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46'And with it, our world could become a better place.
0:28:46 > 0:28:47'And that's engineering.'
0:29:02 > 0:29:04Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd