Cerdanyola del Vallès, 2nd February 2022 ALBA begins 2022 by launching the podcast Acelerando electrones: six 20-minute chapters in Spanish to discover the Synchrotron, its operation, its applications in a wide range of science fields, as well as other scientific concepts and history of science related to the content. All the content is explained by ALBA staff, scientific and technic experts to show in a didactic way the reality of this singular scientific facility.
Every 3 weeks a new chapter will be published in different audio applications: iVoox, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts, as well as the Youtube channel of the ALBA Synchrotron.
The program combines different types of narrative (interviews, sections about the history of science, dramatized readings, etc.) with the aim of creating an interesting and entertaining product for the general public, not specialized nor interested in scientific topics. Likewise, it also mixes different content typologies, providing a social vision of science, in which not only the experiments are explained but also the people who perform them. The topics covered in these six episodes are:
- Episode 1: What a synchrotron is? The different particle accelerators (including the LHC at CERN in Geneva) are explained as well as the characteristics of synchrotrons such as ALBA and their advantages for science.
- Episode 2: How does an electron accelerator work? This chapter details the operation and physics behind the production of synchrotron light.
- Episode 3: The operation of a large scientific facility, with special focus on the necessary means (human and technical) to operate ALBA accelerators.
- Episode 4: The coronavirus under the synchrotron light. This episode will explore the role that synchrotron light has played in the study against the pandemic.
- Episode 5: A more sustainable future. The search for alternative energies with synchrotron light.
- Episode 6: Being a researcher. This episode will talk about the research job, clarifying concepts and eliminating myths about the functions or possibilities of science.
Acelerando electrones is produced by the ALBA Synchrotron and Cugat Mèdia, radio in Sant Cugat del Vallès and winner of the national award for proximity communication granted by the Catalan Government, with the collaboration of Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología (FECYT), Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spanish Government, through its annual call for grants to promotion scientific, technological and innovation culture.
Acelerando Electrones is produced in collaboration with Cugat Mèdia and with the support of the Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología. The ALBA Synchrotron is part of the of the Unidades de Cultura Científica y de la Innovación (UCC+i) of the FECYT and has received support through the FCT-20-15798 project.
