X-rays have long been used to obtain 2D radiographs in hospitals and more recently at airports. We use X-rays to capture 3D pictures at very high resolutions. Because the images are collected non-destructively we can repeat the process to create 3D movies of processes from the pupation of a chrysalis to the failure of a wind turbine blade. I will explain how we capture these 3D pictures and show how we use them to better understand a wide range of phenomena from how parasites behave in the gut, to how oil pipe lines corrode, from how did the Egyptians make iron beads before we thought they could smelt iron to the behaviour of carbon fibre composites used in aircraft.

Presented by Philip Withers.