Nature Video

Science in the developing world: What role can science play in the developing world? In this film, Nobel Peace Prize winner José Ramos-Horta and Israeli Nobel laureate Dan Shechtman discuss the issue with young researchers from South Africa, India and the US. Science and politics collide as the group grapple with funding problems, social responsibility and culture. The laureates emphasize that science alone is not enough; researchers must work with industry and government to solve the problems of the developing world.

Fuelling controversy: We are facing a global energy crisis, and scientists are charged with finding alternatives to fossil fuels. In this film, Nobel laureates Steven Chu and Hartmut Michel visit a farm with three young researchers to consider our energy future. They ask whether biofuels can power the planet and, if not, what are the alternatives? The researchers are full of optimism but Chu former US Secretary of Energy brings them back down to earth with the harsh reality of economics, while Michel envisions a future powered by clean electricity.

Trailer: At this summer's Lindau Meeting we focused on pressing world problems and how chemistry can help us to solve them. In four films, laureates and students clash over the future of energy production, grapple with drug development, discuss dwindling supplies of metal catalysts and debate science’s role in the developing world. Get a taste in this trailer.

Betting on the cosmos: Nobel prizewinner Robert Laughlin is passionate about experiments. He challenges the students in this film, and laureate David Gross, to come up with ways to test our big ideas about the Universe. Watch what happens when the two laureates make a bet.

Beyond the classroom: Three young researchers join laureates Harry Kroto and Dudley Herschbach to discuss how science is perceived beyond the classroom. Kroto tells them about a creationist museum in the United States, which brings up the issue of public trust in science.

Is dark matter real? The morning after CERN announces the discovery of the Higgs particle, three young physicists sit down with Nobel prizewinners George Smoot and Martinus Veltman. Veltman is surprisingly cynical about the discovery. Moreover, he contends that there is no such thing as dark matter.

The energy endgame: In the next 100 years or so, we will run out of fossil fuels. In this film, Nobel laureates Mario Molina and Robert Laughlin challenge three young physicists to think seriously about the looming energy crisis and their children's futures.

A golden age? Nobel prizewinner John Mather believes we are in a golden age of astronomy. The young researchers he meets are not convinced. There are too many unanswered questions, they say. For example, what's causing the accelerated expansion of the Universe observed by the other laureate in this film, Brian Schmidt?

Trailer: At this summer's meeting of Nobel laureates at Lindau, we filmed 5 debates on issues that matter to the current generation of physicists. Is dark matter real? How can we solve the looming energy crisis? How is physics perceived by the public? In this trailer, we give you a taste of the discussions and disagreements that emerged. The 5 films will be released between 19 September and 10 October 2012.

Hungry for Knowledge: Oliver Smithies is a toolmaker. He shared the Nobel prize for discoveries that led to the development of knockout mice. Diego Bohorquez uses mouse models to understand how our gut regulates appetite. He has wanted to meet Smithies ever since he moved from his native Ecuador to Duke University in the United States. When the two meet in Lindau they have an instant rapport and soon they're sharing ideas about their research projects and talking about what makes a successful scientific collaboration.

A life in science: Elizabeth Blackburn grew up in Hobart on the Australian island of Tasmania. It was a long journey from there to a Nobel prize and the lab she runs at the University of California in San Francisco. Malaria researcher Clare Smith is also a Hobart girl, and she's trying to decide whether to follow in Blackburn's footsteps and move overseas after she finishes her PhD. Karina Zillner is from Germany. Like Clare, she's in the final stages of a PhD. She's developed a method for analysing sections of repetitive DNA. Karina hopes her technique might be used in Blackburn's lab, where they study telomeres - repetitive sections of DNA that protect the ends of chromosomes.

Bench or Bedside? Camelia-Lucia Cimpianu is trying to decide between a career as a researcher or a practising doctor. In this film, she seeks advice from Nobel Laureate Ferid Murad who faced the same dilemma as a medical student in the 1960s. Murad chose the bench, and he subsequently discovered that a gas called nitric oxide (NO) acts as a signalling molecule in the cardiovascular system. It turns out that NO plays a role in many diseases - and possibly in the head trauma cases that Camelia studies.

Combating cancer: Nobel Laureate Eddie Fischer was born in Shanghai in 1920. Since then, China has emerged as an economic superpower. Now it's becoming a scientific heavyweight too. Tong Qing belongs to the newest generation of Chinese scientists. She decided to study cancer after a family friend became ill with breast cancer. In this film, she tells Fischer about life and research in China today.

The virus catchers: Young researchers Jan Gralton and Sven-Eric Schelhorn are fascinated by the minute world of viruses. They have plenty of questions for Harald zur Hausen who won a Nobel Prize for proving that human papillomaviruses (HPV) can cause cervical cancer. All three are worried by public distrust of the HPV vaccine, which was made possible by zur Hausen's work.

Trailer: Every summer, a special scientific meeting takes place on Lindau Island in Germany. At the 2011 meeting, focused on physiology and medicine, we filmed 5 conversations between Nobel prizewinners and young researchers to find out how they're tackling some of the world's greatest health challenges including cancer, obesity and ageing. The 5 films will be released, one a week, from 15 September to 13 October 2011.