Man-made nanoparticles are far from new, and soot, the oldest and most widespread, is still in our air and our headlines today.

The complex combustion processes that produce the soot in our atmosphere from a variety of sources continue to be studied with the aims of reducing our emissions of these particles, particularly as health professionals have become increasingly aware of the dangers of fine (under 2.5 micrometre diameter) and ultrafine (under 100 nanometres diameter) particles.

While the phase out of petrol and diesel cars will begin in the coming decade, many vehicles will remain on our roads along with many other sources of soot from transport, industry, and within our homes themselves.

In this public lecture Michael Fay, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham, will look at how soot affected us in the past, how it is affecting us today, and how we can gain a better understanding of it.