Tour the Universe in 60 Seconds

Ever wondered where the Universe came from? Or more importantly, where it's headed? A new series of 60 second animations examines different scientific concepts from the big bang to relativity, from black holes to dark matter. The series also explores the possibility of life beyond Earth and considers why David Bowie is still none the wiser about life on Mars.

The Open University (OU) turns its attention to the stars in the latest series of its popular 60 Second Adventures videos focused on astronomy. The 12 videos, narrated by comedian David Mitchell, pack as much space science as could be crammed into a 60-second video, and are delivered with a trademark animation style and wit.

Millions of viewers have already tuned-in to the 60 Second Adventures series, which covers topics such as philosophy, English language, economics and religion. The new series explains the wonders of the Universe in bite-size chunks; brought to life with fluid animation and rapier wit.

Reader in Cosmology Dr. Stephen Serjeant said: "We've found we can get across genuinely deep scientific concepts in only a minute and still have room for a few jokes. The origin and fate of the Universe, time dilation in relativity, how to make black holes; nothing was too tricky. It's been a delight to work with the production team — the wit of their script writing and animations has been wonderful."

The minute-long videos are available through YouTube, iTunesU and the OU’s free online learning platform OpenLearn. The production was funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council and produced by Angel Eye Media. The animation topics were developed by a team from The Open University’s Science Faculty: Drs Janet Sumner, Stephen Serjeant, Andrew Norton and David Rothery.

About The Open University

The Open University (OU) is the largest academic institution in the UK and a leader in flexible distance learning. Since it began in 1969, OU has taught more than 1.8 million students and has more than 250,000 current students, including over 15,000 overseas.

TOU is a world leader in developing technology to increase access to education on a global scale. Its vast ‘open content portfolio’ includes free study units on OpenLearn, which has had more than 23 million visits, and materials on iTunes U, which has recorded over 56 million downloads. The OU has a 41 year partnership with the BBC which has moved from late-night lectures in the 1970s to prime-time programmes such as Frozen Planet, Bang Goes the Theory, James May’s Big Ideas and The Money Programme.

60 Seconds on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?hl=en&gl=GB&client=mv-google&list=PLhQpDGfX5e7CSp3rm5SDv7D_idfkRzje-&nomobile=1