What's (the) matter? (2014)

This show follows the two main characters, Maike and Lorenzo, on a journey through time and space. In the course of around two hours they visit some of the most important stages in the history of particle physics.

Their journey starts by the Rhine in Bonn, where they meet a caretaker who seems to have been waiting for them. He wants to help them on their mission to understand where mass comes from.

He gives them an old umbrella and once they spin it they are transported to Manchester, England in the year 1911. There Maike and Lorenzo meet Ernest Rutherford and his assistant Hans Geiger. The scientists show them how they discovered the size and structure of an atom.  And they might just have seen how the Geiger got the idea for his Geiger counter.

Once again the caretaker shows up and gives them a new umbrella. This time they end up in Berkeley, California in 1952. Maike and Lorenzo meet professor Lawrence. He and his assistant Jane explain to them how particle accelerators work and why we need them to learn more about particles. During their stay they also learn about all kinds of tiny particles all around us. They even get to hear some anti-matter.