Akira Yoshino was about nine years old when his teacher gave him a book: Michael Faraday’s A chemical history of a candle. He’s never looked at a candle the same since. ‘There was a TV programme on the other day about candles and how they can only really be used on Earth. What happens when you’re in a zero gravity environment? The flame looks like it’s extinguished (it actually burns almost invisibly at a very slow rate). That fascinated me,’ he says with the broadest smile.