In November I joined Michael Condron for a visit to Diamond Light, the UK’s synchrotron which is based at Harwell. This is a very powerful machine which works like a giant microscope, speeding up electrons to near light speed to give out a light 10 billion times brighter than the sun. This incredibly powerful light is used by scientists to study all sorts of subjects, from medicines and disease to materials and cutting-edge technology.

We visited on a day when the synchrotron was switched off, so were able to walk right into the chambers where experiments take place.

Once again we were faced with mind-blowing technology on a huge scale.  When accelerated the electrons are moving so fast that they could travel around the world 7.5 times in a second. We are discovering that as well as being the hottest place on earth (at JET in Culham), this area is also home to the brightest light and the highest speed!