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Material World

Factual: Science & Nature

Science programme reporting on developments across the disciplines

Science programme reporting on developments across the disciplines. Each week, scientists describe their work, conveying the excitement they feel for their research projects

Material World: 04/08/2011

04/08/2011

BBC Radio 4 - Material World, 04/08/2011

50 years since Milgram's obedience experiment, and the science behind magic.

The 50th anniversary of Milgram's experiment that showed how far people will go when obeying orders, the links between science and magic, and why the moon once had a companion.

Quentin Cooper presents his weekly digest of science in and behind the headlines. 

He discusses the famous experiment carried out by Stanley Milgram in 1961 that showed how far people will go when obeying orders with psychologist Professor Alex Haslam of Exeter University. 

Mathematician and stand up comedian Matt Parker and Professor of Computer Science Peter McOwan of Queen Mary University have set up an educational website to reveal how much science and technology is behind magic tricks. They try some of them out on Quentin in the studio. 

The near and far sides of the moon are very different geologically. This observation has puzzled scientists, but now Professor Erik Asphaug from the University of California in Santa Cruz and colleagues have come up with a theory. He explains to Quentin how the earth once had two moons which collided to form the one that now orbits our planet.

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04/08/2011

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