BBC Inside Science

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Climate science and politics Dec 15, 2022

Show notes

As the COP27 environment summit draws to a close we look at some of the issues still to be resolved. BBC Environment correspondents Victoria Gill and Georgina Rannard join us from the meeting.

And we head to the houses of parliament in the company of a group of teenagers who are putting their concerns over climate change to a panel of politicians. Julia Ravey went to meet them.

We hear from author Nick Davidson about how the discoveries of 3 unlikely characters in the 19th century formed the basis of geological science. His book The Greywacke is shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize.

And a scientific analysis of the Winchcombe meteorite gives us some clues as to the possible origins of life on earth. Natasha Stephen from Plymouth University is one of the many scientists who analysed the composition of the rock fragments.

COP27 Dec 08, 2022

Show notes

One key issue on the agenda at the COP27 environment summit in Egypt is how to fund damage from the effects of man made climate change.

Often the effects of climate change are felt the strongest in countries least responsible for creating the emissions. This year we’ve seen a range of extreme weather events including drought and flooding which scientists have attributed to man-made climate change. The idea of providing funding for such human-induced disasters has long been discussed informally at COP summits. Finally the issue is formally on the table. It's fraught with diplomatic difficulties, not least over who should pay and how much.

We discuss some of the issues in getting a solution on this initiative known as ‘Loss and Damage’ with contributions from Josh Gabbatiss from the website Carbon Brief, Rachel Kyte, the Dean of Tufts University, Linnéa Norlander Assistant Professor of human rights and sustainability at the University of Copenhagen and Hyacinthe Niyitegeka, coordinator of the Loss and Damage Coalition.

And we look at methane with Drew Shindell, professor of Climate science at Duke University and Author of the UN Environment Programme’s Global Methane Assessment, who tells us a reduction in methane could give us a quick fix in terms of efforts to stabilise global temperatures.

Monkeypox Dec 01, 2022

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A new study published in the British Medical Journal suggests monkey pox might be passed from person to person before symptoms show. Esther Freeman, Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School and Director of Global Health Dermatology at Massachusetts General Hospital, has been following the current wave of transmission and gives us her analysis of this latest finding,

The COP 27 climate summit kicks off next week. To discuss some of the issues we are joined by Simon Lewis, Professor of global change science at University College London and Swenja Surminski, Professor in Practice at the Grantham Research Institute and a member of the UK's Committee on Climate Change.

Mark Miodownik, the UCL Professor of Materials & Society, tell us the results of his citizen science project looking at composting plastics.

And from the short list for the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize, we hear from Professor Rose Anne Kenny on her book Age Proof: The New Science of Living a Longer and Healthier Life.

Turtle Voices, a Pandemic Retrospective and a Nose-Picking Primate Nov 24, 2022

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New recordings featuring the voices of 53 species of turtle, caecilian and tuatara previously thought to be silent have illuminated the evolutionary origins of vocal communication. Gabriel Jorgevich-Cohen a PhD student at the University of Zurich has travelled the world collecting recordings and summarised his findings in Nature Communications this week. He spoke to BBC science correspondent Georgina Rannard who explains his findings, what they mean, and shows us some of her favourite turtle sounds.

What was it like to advise the government during the height of the pandemic? How soon did experts realise the colossal impact Covid would have? Were mistakes made? The latest in our series of interviews with those shortlisted for the Royal Society Insight Investment Book prize, Vic sat down with co-authors Sir Jeremy Farrar and Anjana Ahuja to talk about their book Spike: the Virus vs the People.

Anne-Claire Fabre Assistant Professor at the University of Bern and Curator of mammals, Natural History Museum Bern turns her scientific curiosity toward a surprising and perhaps perturbing behaviour in one of her research animals as she spoke to us about her paper published in the Journal of Zoology this week. Whilst investigating the Aye Aye, a nocturnal primate with two long thin fingers Anne-Claire witnessed the creature putting them to good use picking its nose and went on to uncover a big gap in our understanding of this icky behaviour.

Presenter Victoria Gill Producer Emily Bird

The BBC at 100 Nov 17, 2022

Show notes

Recorded in front of an audience at Bradford’s National Museum of Science and Media, we’re delving into the next 100 years of broadcasting, examining the science and technology behind what we’ll watch and listen to. And what the seismic technological shifts mean for all of us.

Victoria Gill is joined on stage by four people who give us an audio tour of that media future.

Lewis Pollard the curator television and broadcast at the museum.

Dr Karen Thornton programme leader teaching film and television production at the University of Bradford.

Bill Thompson technology commentator.

Gemma Milne writer and researcher interested in how science and technology impacts all of us. And author of Smoke and Mirrors - how hype obscures the future and how to see past it.

BBC Inside Science is produced in partnership with the Open University

Avian flu Nov 10, 2022

Show notes

Avian or bird flu is normally seasonal, disappearing as migratory birds leave for winter. However a new strain which seems to spread more easily between wild birds and into poultry has led to the deaths of far more birds than usual.

David Steel, Nature Reserve Manager on the Isle of May relates his observations of the effects on seabirds. And Nicola Lewis, Director of the Worldwide Influenza Centre at the Francis Crick Institute tells us why this particular stain is so severe.

Climategate was a strange kind of scandal, based entirely on misinformation pushed by climate change deniers. In his new book Hot air, shortlisted for the Royal Society Insight Investment science book prize, Climate scientist Peter Stott assess the impact of their campaign.

Pong was a very basic video game developed in the 1970s, now Australian researchers have trained human brain cells in a dish to play the game, Dr Brett Kagan from Cortical Labs explains why.

Coronavirus - new variants Nov 03, 2022

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The virus which causes Covid 19 is continuing to evolve, but into several different closely related strains rather than more new variants such as Delta and Omicron. Ravi Gupta, Professor of Clinical Microbiology at Cambridge university gives us his assessment of the current picture, and Jeremy Farrar, Director of the Welcome Trust, comments on global efforts to counter the virus.

The Nobel prizes were awarded this week. Science Journalist Philip Ball looks at the winning discoveries and the scientists behind them.

And shortlisted for the Royal Society Insight Investment Science book prize, we hear from Henry Gee, author of A Very Short History of Life on Earth.

Fracking Science Oct 27, 2022

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The government has lifted a moratorium on fracking imposed in 2019 following a series of small earthquakes caused by exploratory drilling. The British Geological Survey was asked to investigate, we speak to two of the authors of their new report into fracking and earthquakes, seismologist Brian Baptie and Geologist Ed Hough.

We also look at more practical aspects of fracking in the UK with Professor Richard Davies from Newcastle University, asking how to viably extract shale gas in the UK and whether, with concerns over climate change, we should really be contemplating this at all.

The production of Bitcoin consumes as much energy as a medium sized European country. Benjamin Jones from New Mexico university and Larisa Yarovaya from Southampton Business School explain why generation of the cryptocurrency has come to require such huge amounts of energy.

And we hear from Maria Fitzgerald, chair of the panel for the Royal Society book prize on what makes a good science book

Inside Science is produced in partnership with the Open University

Science collaborations – with Russia Oct 20, 2022

Show notes

The sub Arctic boreal forests stretch across the northern hemisphere. They represent a huge carbon sink , but are also vulnerable to climate change. Most of the forest is in Russia and most of what we know about its current state comes from long running international field studies.

The Scott Polar Institute in the UK has been studying these forests for years in collaboration with Moscow university, but this year’s field work has been cancelled. We spoke to Olga Tutubalina and Gareth Rees who have been running the collaboration since the 1990s.

Will the cost of living crisis lead to an increase in food poisoning ? it’s a concern for food researcher Ellen Evans from Cardiff Metropolitan University, in particular the potential for listeria to grow in our fridges if we don’t have the temperature low enough.

And if you like maths how can you get better? Mathematician and Author Simon Singh, tells us about his new global Maths Circles initiative to connect maths enthusiasts around the world.

Is the James Webb Space Telescope too good? Oct 13, 2022

Show notes

The James Webb Space Telescope continues to beam exciting data back to earth from exoplanet systems, galaxies and stars further away than we’ve ever seen before. But what happens to that data when it reaches us? We spoke to Julien De Wit from MIT about how exactly we process the vast amounts of information sent back to us from the telescope and how sometimes our computing systems just can't keep up.

The British Science Festival is taking place in Leicester this week, and diversity and inclusion is one of the top priorities. Many groups are still alarmingly under-represented in STEM including women, Black and Minority Ethnic people Angela Saini and Dr Kate Clancy explain how we got here and just how alienating science can feel. To explore possible solutions we spoke to the incoming president of the British Science Association and CEO of Stemettes Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE, Early career Engineer and Chairperson of Stemette Futures Youth Board Floriane Fidegnon-Edoh and Physicist Dr Jessica Wade who works in public engagement in STEM and advocacy for women in physics.

Finally, are colourful birds more vulnerable? Researcher Dr Rebecca Senior from Durham University takes us through how the pet trade affects bird conservation.

Presenter: Victoria Gill Producers: Emily Bird, Julian Siddle and Harrison Lewis