CrowdScience

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Where does our fat go when we exercise? Feb 24, 2023

Show notes

If, like this week’s Crowdscience listener Lili, you’re an avid gymgoer, you may well have wondered where your fat disappears to when you exercise?

Well, the short answer is that we convert it to energy that powers a whole range of physical processes, from breathing to walking as well as lying down and doing nothing. But the science behind energy expenditure is a little more complicated than that.

Presenter Anand Jagatia pops on an exercise bike to have his metabolism measured, and learns that he may be relying on an entirely different source of fuel as he works up a sweat. But is all that hard work worth the effort it involves? Recent research suggests there's a limit to the number of calories us humans can burn, and that doing physical activity isn’t a sure-fire way to keep trim.

Even hunter-gatherers who walk 13,000 steps a day have the same metabolic rate as the average American. So if working out isn't the best way to lose weight, how about harnessing our own fat to tackle the complications of obesity? It used to be thought brown fat was exclusive to babies (and bears) but we now know adults have some of it too, and it seems to play a vital role in combatting a range of chronic diseases including hypertension and diabetes.

Presenter: Anand Jagatia Producer: Marijke Peters

Are yoga claims bogus claims? Feb 17, 2023

Show notes

Yoga benefits our health in many ways, say the yogis, but which claims are backed up by science? Can yoga actually alleviate depression, fix lower-back pain or even reduce cardiovascular disease?

Presenter Marnie Chesterton gets into her Lotus (position) and finds out first-hand at a class. Whilst in warrior one, she discusses the potential physical and mental health benefits of this ancient art of stretching, balance and movement with her class teacher. Returning from mat to studio, Marnie puts some of those claims to experts around the globe. She investigates the evidence to find out whether health boosting properties are the key to yoga's enduring popularity.

Pannalists: Rajvi Mehta Prof. Holger Cramer Dr Richard Davidson

Presented by Marnie Chesterton Produced by Richard Walker

Who’s afraid of public speaking? Feb 09, 2023

Show notes

Why does the thought of giving a talk to an audience fill so many of us with sheer terror? Marnie Chesterton investigates for listener Nhial, who has seen his fellow students in Morocco become panic stricken at the prospect and wants to know the reason for our anxiety. According to one study, 77 per cent of us share that fear. Marnie finds out about the relationship between stress, our brains and our voices from research associate Dr Maria Dietrich at the University Hospital, Bonn University. She talks to Nhial’s tutor, Professor Taoufik Jaafari, at Hassan II University of Casablanca about the challenges facing his students. And she visits the National Theatre in London to get some expert training from Jeannette Nelson, head of voice, who works with some of the world’s leading actors.

Could there be an evolutionary explanation for the purpose of public speaking? Is it something we actually need to be good at? Marnie asks evolutionary psychologist Professor Robin Dunbar at Oxford University and gets some surprising answers. She meets psychologist Dr Preethi Premkumar at London South Bank University, who has developed virtual reality therapy with colleagues at Nottingham Trent University, and tries out the treatment herself.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Jo Glanville

How bad is our noise problem? Feb 03, 2023

Show notes

We generate a huge amount of noise, whether it’s our rumbling roads, pumping parties, or talkative tourists. And the topic of noise also generates a lot of questions from our listeners. In this episode we explore three of them, with the help of acoustic scientist Kurt Fristrup and neuropsychologist Catherine Loveday.

Listener Dominique finds it hard to experience even one minute of a natural soundscape without some intrusion of human-made noise. He wonders how noise pollution is affecting both the natural world and us humans. We discuss just how noisy our modern world is, and visit a National Park in California to hear how they’re encouraging more peace and quiet there.

Meanwhile Michelle, having witnessed her husband wince in pain at the sound of squeaking takeaway boxes, asks why certain noises are particularly unpleasant or even painful to some people.

And finally, Jennifer has a sonic mystery for us to solve: why does the time of day make such a difference to the distant noises reaching her remote home?

With contributions from Professor Catherine Loveday, Dr Kurt Fristrup and Mia Monroe.

Additional audio courtesy of the U.S. National Park Service/Patrick Myers, Dominique Laloux, Boise State University/Jesse Barber, and KCSU/Asher Korn

Presenter: Anand Jagatia Producer: Cathy Edwards Studio Managers: Bob Nettles and Jackie Margerum

Where does the sand in a desert come from? Jan 27, 2023

Show notes

From Lawrence of Arabia to Star Wars via tales of intrepid adventurers traversing lonely sand-swept landscapes, deserts have always had a powerful pull on the popular imagination. But if a desert is full of sand, where did all that sand come from in the first place? That is what CrowdScience listener Andy wants to know, so presenter Caroline Steel heads off into the dunes to find out.

She begins by finding out what a desert is anyway and whether it is always sandy, as well as tracing the flow of material across the huge, ever-shifting sand seas of the Sahara.

From deserts fed by sand from mountains thousands of kilometres away, to dunes migrating across the entire continent of Africa, Caroline discovers how sand has just the right properties to be carried along by the wind. She also explores how the sand in every desert has a unique fingerprint, and finds out how fish bones in the Sahara tell the story of its lush, green past.

Contributors: Dr Jo Nield, University of Southampton Dr Andreas Baas, Kings College London Dr Andrea Zerboni, University of Milan

Presented by Caroline Steel Produced by Ben Motley for the BBC World Service

(Photo: The Sahara desert near Timbuktu, Mali Credit: Jeff Overs)

Why do we get jealous? Jan 20, 2023

Show notes

When falling in love or fancying someone, one emotion can dominate over the rest: jealousy. Some may try to play it cool and act aloof, but seeing - or even thinking - of a romantic partner engaging with others can lead people to act completely out of character. The green-eyed monster can hijack thoughts for days to weeks on end, making us spend precious energy ruminating on situations that may never arise. So why is it that humans feel jealousy? Do people experience this emotion differently? And are there ways to stop it?

CrowdScience presenter Caroline Steel sets about answering these questions from listener Odile in France, who has struggled with all-consuming jealousy in some romantic relationships. She hears about a kind of monkey that gets jealous of its own reflection from Professor Karen Bales at University California Davis. A trip to ZSL London Zoo sees more monkeys, but these are more bothered about protecting the vital friendships which aid their survival. Dr Alex Mielke from the University of St Andrews explains how these interactions can give us an insight into why jealousy exists.

Some of us get more jealous than others and are more likely to act out of character when the green-eyed monster takes hold. Caroline completes a detailed questionnaire to see how jealous she really is, and gets advice from Julia in South Africa, who is in a polygamous marriage and has had to handle romantic jealousy. The nature-nurture balance of jealousy is untangled by geneticist Dr Laura Wesseldijk from Amsterdam UMC (who reveals some surprising information about the first author on her research paper…) and psychologist Dr Johan Ahlen from the Karolinska Institute rounds off the programme by discussing what the future of jealousy management could look like for those who struggle.

Presenter: Caroline Steel Producer: Julia Ravey

What happens to insects in the winter? Jan 13, 2023

Show notes

When CrowdScience listener Eric spotted a few gnats flying around on a milder day in mid-winter it really surprised him - Eric had assumed they just died out with the colder weather. It got him wondering where the insects had come from, how they had survived the previous cold snap and what the implications of climate change might be for insect over-wintering behaviour? So he asked CrowdScience to do some bug investigation.

CrowdScience presenter Marnie Chesterton takes up the challenge and heads out into the British countryside – currently teeming with buzzes and eight legged tiny beasties - to learn about the quite amazing array of tactics these small creatures use to survive the arduous days of cold.

She hears how some insects change their chemical structure to enhance their frost resistance whist others hanker down in warmer microclimates or rely on their community and food stocks to keep them warm.

But cold isn’t the only climatic change insects have to endure, in the tropics the seasons tend to fluctuate more around wet and dry so what happens then? Marnie talks with a Kenyan aquatic insect expert who describes how mosquitoes utilise the rains and shares his worry climate change could have a big impact on insect populations.

Contributors: Dr Erica McAlister – Entomologist and Senior Curator, Natural History Museum, Dr Adam Hart – Entomologist and Professor of Science Communication - University of Gloucestershire Fran Haidon – Beekeeper Laban Njoroge – Entomologist, head of the Invertebrate Zoology – Museum of Kenya Dr Natalia Li – Biochemist

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Melanie Brown

[Image: Butterfly in winter resting on snow covered branch. Credit: Getty Images]

How do you balance on a bicycle? Jan 06, 2023

Show notes

ow do we stay up when we ride a bicycle? Lots of us can do it without even thinking about it, but probably very few of us can say exactly HOW we do it. Well, CrowdScience listener Arif and his children Maryam and Mohammed from India want to understand what’s going on in our heads when go for a cycle, and how we learn to do it in the first place.

Presenter Marnie Chesterton is on the case, tracking down a neuroscientist studying how our brains and bodies work together to keep us balanced whether we’re walking or trying to ride a bicycle. She learns about the quirks of bicycle engineering from researchers in the Netherlands who are part of a lab entirely devoted to answering this question. In the process falling off of some unusual bicycles and uncovering the surprising truth that physics might not yet have a proper answer. And we peer deeper into our brains to find out why some memories last longer than others, whether some people can learn quicker than others and the best way to learn a new skill.

Presented by Marnie Chesterton and Produced by Emily Bird for the BBC World Service.

Featuring: Kathleen Cullen, Johns Hopkins University, USA Jason Moore, University of Technology Delft, The Netherlands Lara Boyd, University of British Columbia, Canada Rado Dukalski, University of Technology Delft, The Netherlands Josie and Freesia, Pedal Power

[Image: Family riding bikes. Credit: Getty Images]

Bullying Parrots and Glacial Cocktails Dec 30, 2022

Show notes

Over the past 12 months, CrowdScience has travelled the world, from arctic glacierscapes to equatorial deserts, to answer listeners’ science queries. Sometimes, the team come across tales that don’t quite fit with the quest in hand, but still draw a laugh, or a gasp. In this show, Marnie Chesterton revisits those stories, with members of the CrowdScience crew.

Alex the Parrot was a smart bird, with an impressive vocabulary and the ability to count and do basic maths. He was also intimidating and mean to a younger parrot, Griffin, who didn’t have the same grasp of the English language. Scientist Irene Pepperberg shares the consequence of this work-place bullying. 

Take a tour of the disaster room at ICPAC, the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) based in Nairobi, Kenya. It’s a new building where scientists keep watch for weird new weather and passes that information to 11 East African countries. Viola Otieno is an Earth Observation (EO) Expert and she explained how they track everything from cyclones to clouds of desert locust.

Malcolm MacCallum is curator of the Anatomical Museum at Edinburgh University in Scotland, which holds a collection of death masks and skull casts used by the Edinburgh Phrenological Society. Phrenology was a pseudoscience, popular in the 1820s, where individuals attempted to elucidate peoples’ proclivities and personalities by the shape of their heads. We see what the phrenologists had to say about Sir Isaac Newton and the “worst pirate” John Tardy.

While recording on Greenland’s icesheet, the CrowdScience team were told by Professor Jason Box about “party ice.” 40,000 year old glacial ice is a superior garnish for your cocktail than normal freezer ice, apparently. This starts a quest for the perfect Arctic cocktail.

Presented by Marnie Chesterton 

Produced by Marnie Chesterton, featuring producers Florian Bohr, Sam Baker and Ben Motley 

(Photo:)

Why are my parents so annoying? Dec 23, 2022

Show notes

Does your mum’s singing make you cringe with embarrassment? Do your dad’s jokes make you want to scream - and not with laughter? Or maybe you are the parent driving your offspring round the bend with rules and curfews?

If so, you are not alone. CrowdScience listener Ilixo, age 11, has been wondering why it is that our parents become so annoying as we become teenagers. Is it something that is changing in his brain or are they actually becoming more annoying as they age? Presenter Marnie Chesterton consults our assembled panel of experts to discuss conflict between parents and their offspring. Developmental psychologist Liane Alampay, from the Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines, describes how the teenage experience varies around the world. Child and educational psychologist Laverne Antrobus in London says the teenage quest for independence is a normal - and necessary - developmental stage for becoming an adult. And Jennifer Lansford, a Research Professor at Duke University who studies parenting and child development, offers insights into the role peers play. Do not despair! - the panel offers tips for how to keep the peace - whether you’re an argumentative adolescent or a provoking parent.

Producer: Lorna Stewart

(Photo: Teenager putting fingers in ear while parent tries to talk to them. Credit: Getty Images)