Learn about crystallography through watching

 

Below are listed some interesting video clips, webcasts, television programmes and films that explain crystallography. Click on the large images to download a video file, watch the clip, or be directed to an external website. Click on the smaller images for more information.

A selection of videos from the International Year of Crystallography playlist on YouTube


[Stephen Curry]

Concurso de Cristalización en la Escuela (Andalucia)

The Crystallization Competition in  Schools in Spain aims to introduce the importance of crystallography and its applications to secondary school students. It takes advantage of the natural attraction of the crystallization phenomenon. The competition,  begins with crystallization and crystallography courses for school teachers, and then allows students to learn how to work as scientists in the lab, to enjoy scientific teamwork and present their results as researchers would do in a scientific conference.. It is organized by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Specialized Spanish Group of Crystallography and Crystal Growth (GE3C), and funded by the Spanish Foundation of Science and Technology (FECYT), among other sponsors.

This national edition of the competition, the sixth, is one of the activities of the International Year of Crystallography and has generated enormous interest within the educational community. More than 7,000 students, 286 teachers and 189 schools have taken part.

During April, the best 40 crystallization projects from all over Spain were selected from eight semi-finals that took place in Andalusia, Aragon, Catalonia, Asturias-Galicia-Cantabria, Valencia, Canarias, Madrid and Alcalá de Henares.

This report, broadcast during the Spanish Canal Sur programme Con-Ciencia, shows the event in Andalusia.

Category: Science & Technology. Duration: 7m 59s
Licence: Standard YouTube Licence


The Royal Institution Crystallography Collection


[Ri discourse]

Seeing Things in a Different Light

How X-ray crystallography revealed the structure of everything

X-ray crystallography might seem like an obscure, even unheard of field of research; however structural analysis has played a part in almost every major scientific field since its discovery 100 years ago by William Henry and William Lawrence Bragg.

In this Friday Evening Discourse at the Royal Institution, Professor Stephen Curry charts the discovery and development of this extraordinary technique, starting with a simple explanation of diffraction, moving through the integral work of the Braggs, and ending with the cutting edge uses that X-ray crystallography has found in the modern world.

This film is part of the Crystallography Collection: a series of short films produced by the Ri Channel, with the support of STFC, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the discovery of X-Ray Crystallography by the Braggs.

Published: 2013
Filmed: 2013. Duration: 1h 2m 47s
Credits: Royal Institution

cc_by-nc-sa License: Creative Commons



The Mystery of the Giant Crystals

[Inside the Naica cave]The film El Misterio de los Cristales Gigantes (The Mystery of the Giant Crystals) has been made freely available by Madrid Scientific Films and Triana Sci & Tech with the support of the International Union of Crystallography as an educational contribution to the International Year of Crystallography 2014. Written and presented by Juan Manuel García Ruiz and directed by Javier Trueba, the film tells the story of the scientific investigation into the nature and properties of the giant gypsum crystals found in a silver mine in Mexico in 2000.

Trailer

Follow this link to read more about the project or to donate to the work of Triana Sci & Tech

Streaming HD video

Click on the images below to view the film in high definition in English, Spanish, Italian or French.


[Inside the Naica caves]

The Mystery of the Giant Crystals

The Cave of the Crystals (Cueva de los Cristales) in the Naica Mine, Chihuahua, Mexico, houses some of the largest natural crystals ever found. They are selenite, a form of the mineral gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O). Juan Manuel Garcíia Ruiz and his colleagues investigate the conditions under which these huge crystals have grown over the course of thousands of years. The temperatures in the subterranean caverns are over 50°C, and the caves are filled with water containing a variety of minerals leached from the surrounding rocks.

Duration: 50m 53s

© 2014 Trianatech.com - All rights reserved


[Inside the Naica caves]

El Misterio de los Cristales Gigantes

La Cueva de los Cristales en la mina de Naica, Chihuahua, México, alberga algunos de los más grandes cristales naturales que se han encontrado. Son selenito, una forma del yeso mineral (CaSO4.2H2O). Juan Manuel García Ruiz y sus colegas investigan las condiciones en que estos enormes cristales han crecido a lo largo de miles de años. Las temperaturas en las cavernas subterráneas son más de 50° C, y las cuevas están llenas de agua que contiene una variedad de minerales lixiviados de las rocas circundantes.

Duration: 50m 54s

© 2014 Trianatech.com - All rights reserved


[Inside the Naica caves]

Il Mistero dei Cristalli Giganti

La Grotta dei Cristalli (Cueva de los Cristales) nella miniera di Naica, Chihuahua, Messico, ospita alcuni dei più grandi cristalli naturali mai trovati. Si tratta di cristalli di selenite, una particolare forma di gesso (CaSO4.2H2O). Juan Manuel García Ruiz e i suoi colleghi indagano sulle condizioni in cui questi enormi cristalli sono cresciuti nel corso di migliaia di anni. La temperatura nelle caverne sotterranee è oltre 50° C, e le grotte sono riempite con acqua contenente una varietà di minerali lisciviati dalle rocce circostanti.

Duration: 50m 58s

© 2014 Trianatech.com - All rights reserved


[Inside the Naica caves]

Le Mystère des Cristaux Géants

La Grotte des Cristaux (Cueva de los Cristales) dans la mine de Naica, Chihuahua, Mexique, abrite quelques-uns des plus grands cristaux naturels jamais trouvés. Ils sont sélénite, une forme de gypse minéral (CaSO4.2H2O). Juan Manuel García Ruiz et ses collègues enquêtent sur les conditions dans lesquelles ces énormes cristaux ont grandi au cours de milliers d'années. Les températures dans les cavernes souterraines sont plus de 50° C, et les grottes sont remplis avec de l'eau contenant une variété de minéraux lessivés des roches environnantes.

Duration: 50m 58s

© 2014 Trianatech.com - All rights reserved

Educational videos


[Elena Boldyreva delivering lecture]

Crystals - how and why to study them?

At the Russian Academy of Sciences, school children discover the wonderful world of science in the framework of the "Academic Hour". On 30 October 2013, Professor Elena Boldyreva (Russian Academy of Sciences and Novosibirsk State University) gave a lecture on Crystals - how and why to study them? The lecture is particularly relevant, since 2014 has been officially declared by the UN "International Year of Crystallography".

Category: Science & Technology. Duration: 1h 24 m 53s
Language: Russian
Licence: Standard YouTube Licence

Historical videos


[W. L. Bragg giving Royal Institution Lecture]

Sir Lawrence Bragg on crystals and gems

A series of six outside broadcasts filmed at the Royal Institution in the late 1950s and early 1960s, The Nature of Things was presented by William Lawrence Bragg with the assistance of Bill Coates. This is an extract from Crystals and Gems, the last show in the first series, exploring the properties and molecular structure of crystals.

Coates recalled Bragg once remarking to him: "never talk about science, show it to them", which is what The Nature of Things set out to do. Like the Christmas Lectures, the programmes were structured around a series of demonstrations and were filmed as a lecture in the Ri's theatre. Although the filming took place with an audience of adults, the series was aimed at children and broadcast on children's television. As he states at the end of the series, he hoped it would provoke "deep interest in the science of everyday things".

Broadcast on BBC Television in 1959. Duration: 17m 22s
© The Royal Institution. Credits: The Royal Institution /BBC