Episodes (233)

• Buzz kill

  

  Buzz kill

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  Published: 15 Mar 2018 Duration: 32:13

  As spring and Brexit loom, Adam Rutherford examines what stance the UK might take on neonicotinoids. The pesticide has been shown to harm bee populations by many scientific studies. Now, the largest report of its kind has put pressure on th... Read more →
  As spring and Brexit loom, Adam Rutherford examines what stance the UK might take on neonicotinoids. The pesticide has been shown to harm bee populations by many scientific studies. Now, the largest report of its kind has put pressure on th... Read more →

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• Russian Spy Poisoning

  

  Russian Spy Poisoning

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  Published: 8 Mar 2018 Duration: 31:18

  A former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter Yulia are in a serious condition after being exposed to a nerve agent on Sunday. The first police officer to attend the scene also remains in hospital. It is being treated as 'a major i... Read more →
  A former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter Yulia are in a serious condition after being exposed to a nerve agent on Sunday. The first police officer to attend the scene also remains in hospital. It is being treated as 'a major i... Read more →

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• Weird Weather?

  

  Weird Weather?

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  Published: 1 Mar 2018 Duration: 33:02

  With many parts of the country seeing large snowfalls we ask what's driving our current weather? What factors need to be in place to create snowfalls, and how do these differ from sleet or frozen rain? And we address the impact of climate c... Read more →
  With many parts of the country seeing large snowfalls we ask what's driving our current weather? What factors need to be in place to create snowfalls, and how do these differ from sleet or frozen rain? And we address the impact of climate c... Read more →

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• Science after Brexit

  

  Science after Brexit

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  Published: 22 Feb 2018 Duration: 30:00

  The UK is one of the largest recipients of research funding in the EU. Marnie Chesterton discusses what the future of UK science funding will look like with MP Norman Lamb, who chairs the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, a... Read more →
  The UK is one of the largest recipients of research funding in the EU. Marnie Chesterton discusses what the future of UK science funding will look like with MP Norman Lamb, who chairs the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, a... Read more →

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• 15/02/2018

  

  15/02/2018

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  Published: 15 Feb 2018 Duration: 29:55

  Sulphur belched out of vessels' smokestacks is a serious health problem for coastal communities around the world. Four hundred thousand premature deaths from lung cancer and cardiovascular disease and around 14 million childhood asthma case... Read more →
  Sulphur belched out of vessels' smokestacks is a serious health problem for coastal communities around the world. Four hundred thousand premature deaths from lung cancer and cardiovascular disease and around 14 million childhood asthma case... Read more →

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• Democracy in Space

  

  Democracy in Space

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  Published: 8 Feb 2018 Duration: 28:46

  This week a US based billionaire launched a giant space rocket and sent a car vaguely in the direction of Mars. As a space mission it was to say the least unconventional, and for those involved in promoting space science it presents a quand... Read more →
  This week a US based billionaire launched a giant space rocket and sent a car vaguely in the direction of Mars. As a space mission it was to say the least unconventional, and for those involved in promoting space science it presents a quand... Read more →

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• Scientists on Trial

  

  Scientists on Trial

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  Published: 1 Feb 2018 Duration: 32:54

  In 2016 there was an attempted coup in Turkey. This led to many people who the government saw as opposition figures being sacked from their jobs and in some cases held without trial. They include prominent intellectuals, medics and scientis... Read more →
  In 2016 there was an attempted coup in Turkey. This led to many people who the government saw as opposition figures being sacked from their jobs and in some cases held without trial. They include prominent intellectuals, medics and scientis... Read more →

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• Did typhoid kill the Aztecs, DNA stored in Bitcoin, Glow-in-the-dark plants and levitating humans

  

  Did typhoid kill the Aztecs, DNA stored in Bitcoin, Glow-in-the-dark plants and levitating humans

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  Published: 25 Jan 2018 Duration: 28:39

  What killed the Aztecs? In some areas of the Americas, as many as 95% of the indigenous population died of diseases brought in by the discoverers of the New World. Pandemics hit the population who had little immunity to diseases carried by ... Read more →
  What killed the Aztecs? In some areas of the Americas, as many as 95% of the indigenous population died of diseases brought in by the discoverers of the New World. Pandemics hit the population who had little immunity to diseases carried by ... Read more →

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• African swine fever, Oil spill update, CRISPR gene editing, Rat eradication in New Zealand, Chimp kin recognition

  

  African swine fever, Oil spill update, CRISPR gene editing, Rat eradication in New Zealand, Chimp kin recognition

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  Published: 18 Jan 2018 Duration: 28:26

  African Swine fever is deadly to pigs and is spreading west from Russia across Europe. The virus that causes it is very resilient and can stick around on clothing, hay and in infected pork products for as long as 150 days. Biosecurity is cr... Read more →
  African Swine fever is deadly to pigs and is spreading west from Russia across Europe. The virus that causes it is very resilient and can stick around on clothing, hay and in infected pork products for as long as 150 days. Biosecurity is cr... Read more →

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• Tabby's Star, Space 2018, Mosquito sounds, C diff and food additive link

  

  Tabby's Star, Space 2018, Mosquito sounds, C diff and food additive link

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  Published: 4 Jan 2018 Duration: 32:42

  Adam Rutherford talks to astronomer Tabetha Boyajian at Louisiana State University about the wierd star that's perplexed astronomers since its discovery two years ago. KIC 8462852 has the unique habit of intermittently and sometimes dramati... Read more →
  Adam Rutherford talks to astronomer Tabetha Boyajian at Louisiana State University about the wierd star that's perplexed astronomers since its discovery two years ago. KIC 8462852 has the unique habit of intermittently and sometimes dramati... Read more →

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• Ancient DNA and Human Evolution

  

  Ancient DNA and Human Evolution

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  Published: 28 Dec 2017 Duration: 34:14

  Twenty years ago, a revolution in the study of human evolution began. A team in Leipzig in Germany successfully extracted DNA from the bones of a Neanderthal man who died about 40,000 years ago. Thirteen years later, the same group unveiled... Read more →
  Twenty years ago, a revolution in the study of human evolution began. A team in Leipzig in Germany successfully extracted DNA from the bones of a Neanderthal man who died about 40,000 years ago. Thirteen years later, the same group unveiled... Read more →

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• Antisense RNA therapy, Fossils vs Trump, Printing mini-kidneys, Electric eel power

  

  Antisense RNA therapy, Fossils vs Trump, Printing mini-kidneys, Electric eel power

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  Published: 21 Dec 2017 Duration: 29:02

  Promising results from a small clinical trial of Huntingdon's disease patients have led to RNA-directed therapy such as antisense RNA being hailed as possibly a turning point in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Adam Rutherford d... Read more →
  Promising results from a small clinical trial of Huntingdon's disease patients have led to RNA-directed therapy such as antisense RNA being hailed as possibly a turning point in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Adam Rutherford d... Read more →

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• The Future of Coral Reefs, Little Foot, Arthur C Clarke

  

  The Future of Coral Reefs, Little Foot, Arthur C Clarke

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  Published: 14 Dec 2017 Duration: 34:34

  Oxford is hosting the European Coral Reef Symposium this week. Climate change is seen as the number one threat to the future of coral reefs. Adam talks to Morgan Pratchett of James Cook University about the two recent coral bleaching events... Read more →
  Oxford is hosting the European Coral Reef Symposium this week. Climate change is seen as the number one threat to the future of coral reefs. Adam talks to Morgan Pratchett of James Cook University about the two recent coral bleaching events... Read more →

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• Trophy hunting, Gene drives, Nuclear lightning, Peregrine falcons and drones

  

  Trophy hunting, Gene drives, Nuclear lightning, Peregrine falcons and drones

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  Published: 7 Dec 2017 Duration: 31:05

  Trophy hunters are always after the lion with the largest darkest name and the stag with the most impressive antlers. Research by Rob Knell at Queen Mary University of London finds that removing a small proportion of these top males can dri... Read more →
  Trophy hunters are always after the lion with the largest darkest name and the stag with the most impressive antlers. Research by Rob Knell at Queen Mary University of London finds that removing a small proportion of these top males can dri... Read more →

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• Prehistoric Strong Women, Semi-synthetic Life, Listener Feedback, Artificial Superintelligence

  

  Prehistoric Strong Women, Semi-synthetic Life, Listener Feedback, Artificial Superintelligence

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  Published: 30 Nov 2017 Duration: 38:35

  More than 5,000 years of heavy agricultural labour by women can be read from the bones found in ancient cemeteries from the Neolithic to Iron Age times. Cambridge University anthropologist Alison Macintosh compared the arm bone dimensions a... Read more →
  More than 5,000 years of heavy agricultural labour by women can be read from the bones found in ancient cemeteries from the Neolithic to Iron Age times. Cambridge University anthropologist Alison Macintosh compared the arm bone dimensions a... Read more →

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• Interstellar visitor, Svante Paabo, Synthetic biology, Plight of the Axolotl

  

  Interstellar visitor, Svante Paabo, Synthetic biology, Plight of the Axolotl

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  Published: 23 Nov 2017 Duration: 34:23

  On 19th October, a mysterious object sped through our solar system. It was first spotted by astronomers with a telescope in Hawaii. Its trajectory and speed told of its interstellar origins. It is the first body to be detected from outside ... Read more →
  On 19th October, a mysterious object sped through our solar system. It was first spotted by astronomers with a telescope in Hawaii. Its trajectory and speed told of its interstellar origins. It is the first body to be detected from outside ... Read more →

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• Can we forecast earthquakes?, Britain's space race rocket Skylark, Francis Galton

  

  Can we forecast earthquakes?, Britain's space race rocket Skylark, Francis Galton

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  Published: 16 Nov 2017 Duration: 36:12

  What might the length of the day have to do with the likelihood of destructive earthquakes around the world? According to Professors Rebecca Bendick and Roger Bilham, there's a correlation between changes in the rate at which the Earth rota... Read more →
  What might the length of the day have to do with the likelihood of destructive earthquakes around the world? According to Professors Rebecca Bendick and Roger Bilham, there's a correlation between changes in the rate at which the Earth rota... Read more →

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• Boy gets New Skin, The York Gospels, Stephen Hawking's Thesis

  

  Boy gets New Skin, The York Gospels, Stephen Hawking's Thesis

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  Published: 9 Nov 2017 Duration: 32:54

  Researchers in Italy and Germany have saved the life of a boy with a life threatening genetic skin disease, using a combination of stem cell and gene therapy. 7 year old Hassan had lost 60% of his protective epidermis because of the conditi... Read more →
  Researchers in Italy and Germany have saved the life of a boy with a life threatening genetic skin disease, using a combination of stem cell and gene therapy. 7 year old Hassan had lost 60% of his protective epidermis because of the conditi... Read more →

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• Climate Change and Health; Moth Snow Storm Feedback; Whale Brain Evolution; Pharoah's Serpent

  

  Climate Change and Health; Moth Snow Storm Feedback; Whale Brain Evolution; Pharoah's Serpent

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  Published: 2 Nov 2017 Duration: 34:27

  Adam Rutherford talks to researchers on a major global study that aimed to quantify how climate change has already damaged the health of millions of people. Hugh Montgomery is the co-chair of the Lancet Countdown report and says that climat... Read more →
  Adam Rutherford talks to researchers on a major global study that aimed to quantify how climate change has already damaged the health of millions of people. Hugh Montgomery is the co-chair of the Lancet Countdown report and says that climat... Read more →

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• Insects disappearing, DNA Biosensor, Dog faces, Bandit dinosaur

  

  Insects disappearing, DNA Biosensor, Dog faces, Bandit dinosaur

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  Published: 26 Oct 2017 Duration: 33:46

  The total biomass of flying insects in the environment has decreased by 75% in the last quarter of a century. That's the conclusion of research published at the end of last week in the journal PLOS One. The discovery, made in Germany, has s... Read more →
  The total biomass of flying insects in the environment has decreased by 75% in the last quarter of a century. That's the conclusion of research published at the end of last week in the journal PLOS One. The discovery, made in Germany, has s... Read more →

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