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Just back from Rio De Janiero, Brazil, where I did plenty of filming with Professor Poliakoff for the Periodic Table of Videos.

It might be a short while until the videos are edited, but here are some snapshots to give a flavour of the trip.

If you look closely, one of the world's great landmarks is dwarfed by Professor Poliakoff's hair.

Here I am, a bit closer to Cristo Redentor.

The famous statue (and it's miniature cousins) are carved from soapstone. We'll be talking about this in an upcoming video.

A periodic table display at a Rio museum was an important part of our visit - stay tuned for more details.

Professor Rodrigo Souza was our host in Rio - he showed us all the best restaurants!


We also finally go to met Professor Luis Brudna, who does all our Portuguese captions.

Brazil's national cocktail is the Caipirinha. I agreed to drink a few in the name of science!

I joined Professor Poliakoff only for the Rio leg of his trip to Brazil... But fans have been emailing me pics from Sao Paulo and Florianópolis.

It seems everyone wants a snap with The Prof.

A dandelion between two roses!?

Here's a chance to meet The Professor and hear him lecture!

Professor Poliakoff and Dr Samantha Tang (both regulars on periodicvideos.com) will be speaking at the Cheltenham Science Festival.

The lecture's happening at 4.30pm on Saturday June 11 in the Town Hall.

The topic will be one of the professor's great passions - Green Chemistry!

Tickets cost £6 and can be booked at this link.

We're just about to start a new series of videos for Bibldedex.

But first I've created this little montage to remind people of what we've done already - an expert video about every book in the Bible.



Follow Bibledex on Twitter and Facebook.

Clocked a shade under 1,000 miles in the car this weekend on a road trip to Scotland.

Collected all sorts of footage and interviews for various video projects.

Here are a few glimpses to whet the appetite.

Dr Pete Licence just texted me this very moody photo of our "cult hero technician" Neil Barnes.

Neil's more formally attired because he was helping set-up experiments for a professor's inaugural lecture - always a special occasion in a chemistry department.

I don't know if Pete did it on purpose, but the fire extinguisher is a great touch in this photo.


For those unfamiliar with Neil's work, I'd suggest the two videos below...

Most people will know I'm NOT a scientist despite making films about science.

So an email received yesterday was somewhat unexpected.

The Chemical Society of Ethiopia has voted to make me an honorary member.

The association with Ethiopia is through the University of Nottingham's School of Chemistry, with who I make The Periodic Table of Videos.

Both Dr Pete Licence and Prof Martyn Poliakoff have a long tradition of collaboration with Ethiopian scientists.

In 2008 I traveled with Pete to Addis Ababa, where we made a series of films.

It was great fun and enjoyable to meet a range of African scientists.

Their accomplishments are more extraordinary when you hear stories of how they struggle with so few resources.

It can take months to have chemicals delivered to their labs and communication can be slow by modern standards.

I hope to visit Ethiopia again - and perhaps meet more of my new "colleagues" in the Chemical Society of Ethiopia!

Professor Martyn Poliakoff has had exciting news.

He has been nominated to become the next Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society.

In-keeping with tradition, The Professor is the only nominee (so should be elected without fuss).

To the layman this may not seem impressive.

But The Royal Society is one of the world's most prestigious scientific academies.

And Foreign Secretary is one of its top positions, with a remit to build relationships around the world.

It's a part-time role, but The Professor can expect to be extremely busy and will doubtless be racking up many air miles!

The University of Nottingham has agreed to lighten his load in terms of research and teaching.

But don't worry, The Professor has already vowed that The Periodic Table of Videos won't suffer.

I asked him about it in this video, which explains the society and his new role within it:



And here is some extra interview footage: