Margaret Harris

Courtesy: shutterstock/Willyam Bradberry Nature is always more complicated than the models we use to describe it. Ocean waves, for example, are constantly evolving. They grow when wind transfers kinetic energy to the water’s surface. They interact with each other in highly nonlinear ways. And once the wind dies down, their internal viscosity makes them dissipate away to nothing, leaving behind a surface as flat as glass.

Predicting nuclear's next big thing: Charles Oppenheimer of Oppenheimer Energy, Najat Mokhtar of the International Atomic Energy Agency and Vijay Vaitheeswaran of The Economist at the Nuclear Summit in London on 15 April. (Courtesy: Margaret Harris) In scientific terms, fission and fusion are two sides of the same coin. The first produces energy by splitting big atomic nuclei into two or more pieces. The second produces it by combining two or more small nuclei into a larger one.

The physicist and venture capitalist Alexandra Vidyuk is our guest in this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast. She is the chief executive and founding partner of Beyond Earth Ventures, which provides funding and support to early-stage companies in deep-tech sectors including space, robotics and energy.