Kate Humble
Rough Science (2000)
Season 4
Science challenge series in which a team of five scientists pool their knowledge in order to complete a selection of set tasks.
Released May 26, 2000
Episode 30 min
None+
Genres: Documentary
Keywords: imdb.south-island, imdb.glacier, imdb.franz-josef, imdb.scientist, imdb.new-zealand, imdb.wilderness, imdb.technology + 6 more, imdb.teamwork, imdb.science, imdb.physics, imdb.educational, imdb.chemistry, imdb.biology
Network: BBC Two
Country: United Kingdom
Languages:
English
S4E1 - Rover
Week one's challenges are heavily focused on the "exploration" theme. Jonathan's challenge is to make a rover; a remote controlled vehicle that could explore strange new worlds. Staying with the theme of exploration, Iain and Ellen have to use their geological and botanical skills to search for water in the desert. Assuming they find some water, Kathy and Mike are going to have to find a way of purifying it to make it safe for drinking and they're going to have to make it taste good as well, because at the end of day three Kathy and Mike's purified water will be up against drinking water.
Jan. 6, 2004, midnight
S4E2 - Communication
No space mission can succeed without communication, so our second set of Rough Science space challenges are all based around making contact. Jonathan and Kathy have to come up with a way of communicating that doesn't use sound waves - because in the vacuum of space, there's nothing for them to move through.
It took two years and a million pounds to develop a pen for use in space - one that would work in zero gravity. Ellen and Mike have no money and just three days to come up with their own version.
Iain's challenge is very different. He has to find a way to communicate with aliens!
Jan. 13, 2004, midnight
S4E3 - Spacesuit
Although everyone thinks of space as very cold, in fact, if you stood on the sunny side of the moon, the temperature would be hot enough to boil the blood in your body. Spacesuits are designed to protect astronauts from these extremes of temperature. So for this week's challenge the Rough Scientists have to collectively design a cooling system for their very own spacesuit. And to test it out, at the end of day three, they're going to have to go to Death Valley and do a mock moon walk in their spacesuit - hopefully staying deliciously cool.
They decide that they need to make a portable Rough Science fridge. Ellen creates a copper pipe system that will go from the fridge to the spacesuit, carrying cool water from the fridge to the astronaut. Jonathan devises a pump to keep the water moving through the system.
Kathy suggests that the fridge should use the principle of evaporation - the same principle that cools us when we sweat. She needs to get water evaporating inside the fridge. An
Jan. 20, 2004, midnight
S4E4 - Impact
This week's programme is all about meteorites and asteroids. Not too far from the Rough Science base on the edge of Death Valley is Meteor Crater. Iain, Kathy and Mike have to work out how big the meteor that caused this huge crater must have been.
But it's not just the Earth that gets hit by objects from outer space - the moon is also a target, as evidenced by its heavily cratered surface. So Jonathan and Ellen have to pick a crater on the moon - any crater will do - and measure how big it is. And because they'll be doing their measurements at night, Ellen has to come up with some lights.
The Meteor Crater team decide they have to split their work. Kathy and Iain head off to the crater itself to try and measure its diameter. This is the first essential step if they are to work out how big the meteor was that caused the crater. At the same time, they are hoping to find out more about the meteor in the hope this will give them clues about its size. Meanwhile Mike stays behind to try a
Jan. 27, 2004, midnight
S4E5 - Aerial Surveyor
In Programme One the Rough Scientists had to make a Mars Rover which could explore strange new worlds. This week Kathy and Jonathan have to go one better and design an aerial surveyor that can explore much greater areas by floating above land. Just like the rover challenge, they've been given a tiny camera which will record whatever the aerial surveyor sees. Back on Earth, Mike has a very different challenge. Back in 1970 the crew of Apollo XIII faced certain death when an accident damaged their oxygen tanks. To survive they had to build a carbon dioxide filter - and Mike has to do the same.
In 1872 California experienced one of the biggest earthquakes ever recorded in the United States. Ellen and Iain have to work out where the epicentre of the quake was, and its magnitude.
Kathy and Jonathan decide to make a solar balloon - heated by the power of the sun. Made by sticking black bin bags together, the idea is to hang the camera below it. (An idea, incidentally, that NASA are active
Feb. 3, 2004, midnight
S4E6 - Rocket
Our final set of Rough Science space challenges are all about rockets. Mike, Jonathan and Kathy have to make three different rockets, but there's a catch; they're only allowed to use one thing as a fuel - and that's water!
They've also got to design their rockets to carry a "passenger" - a (raw) egg. And Ellen and Iain have to find a way of returning the egg safely to Earth.
Each of our 3 rocketeers designs a rocket that fits their science background. Jonathan's is the most ambitious - his physics background inspires him to build a steam powered rocket. Kathy - also a physicist - decides to use pressurised water, and Mike takes a chemical approach, using electrolysis to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases, and then recombining them to form an explosive mixture. (Hydrogen and oxygen are what NASA uses to fuel its rockets - but the difference is that NASA uses a liquid fuel which can compress far more energy into a much smaller space.) What develops is a Rough Science space rac
Feb. 10, 2004, midnight
Network: BBC Two
Episode Runtime: 30 min.
Season Runtime: 1020 min.
Released: May 26, 2000
Last Air Date: Dec. 7, 2005, midnight
Status: Ended
Certification: NR
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