BBC Inside Science podcast | Listen online for free

Available Episodes

5 of 610

How can we reduce the impact of plastic on the environment?
Next month world leaders will again gather to focus on dealing with our global plastic problem. So this week we’re looking for solutions. Marnie Chesterton hears from Professor of Sustainable Chemical Engineering at the University of Sheffield, Rachael Rothman on how we can engineer safer, more environmentally friendly plastics. And at the other end of the plastic spectrum, she hears about the clean up operation after the world’s biggest ocean spill of nurdles – tiny plastic pellets which are used to make plastic products. Investigative environmental journalist Leana Hosea brings the results of her investigation into the clean up after the X-Press Pearl container ship caught fire and sank 4 years ago.Mark Miodownik, University College London Professor of Materials & Society returns to the studio with the results of a citizen science project to try to get more data on potty training. It aims to encourage parents to get toddlers out of nappies earlier.And Penny Sarchet, managing editor at New Scientist brings her pick of this week’s newest scientific discoveries.Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Clare Salisbury and Dan Welsh Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
--------
28:14
--------
28:14
How do you turn facial expressions into music?
A microscopic water flea that could help monitor our waterways for pollution, turning both quantum circuits and facial expressions into music, and how animals use vibrations to sense the world around them.These are some of the cutting edge research projects being presented at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition in London. Victoria Gill is joined by Caroline Steel for a special episode from the exhibition, meeting the researchers showcasing their work and getting hands on with the science on display.We speak to Daisy Shearer from the National Quantum Computing Centre, PhD student Clelia Altomonte from King's College London, Dr Beth Mortimer from the University of Oxford who leads its Animal Vibration Lab (the multisensory experience was developed and narrated by Dr Alice Morrell), Dr Katie Reilly from the University of Birmingham, the CEO of the charity Drake Music, Sally Currie, and the designer of the PhotoSYNTH accessible musical instrument, Zenon Olenski.
--------
27:40
--------
27:40
What happens when you bomb a uranium enrichment site?
All eyes have been on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities this week. The targets of an attack on Saturday by the United States. Marnie Chesterton asks Professor Simon Middleburgh, nuclear materials scientist at the Nuclear Futures Institute at Bangor University what the impact could have been.As the first images are revealed from the world’s most powerful optical telescope, Professor Chris Lintott brings us news of how you can get involved in scouring the depths of the universe. Caroline Steel brings us the science news that has scientists excited this week, and Marnie visits the first new dinosaur to go on show at London’s Natural History Museum for more than a decade.Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Dan Welsh, Jonathan Blackwell & Clare Salisbury Editor: Glyn Tansley Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
--------
28:03
--------
28:03
Are trees the answer to solving climate change?
As a new warning is released by scientists that trying to offset our carbon emissions by planting trees alone won’t work, we investigate the role the Earth’s forests are playing in the fight against climate change.Marnie Chesterton is joined by Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth System Science at University College London, to help answer our top five questions about trees and CO2. We also speak to science writer and New York Times columnist Carl Zimmer about his new book ‘Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe’, and what it tells us about what we’re breathing into our lungs each day. After we reported on the plight of some of our UK wild bird species earlier this year, many listeners got in touch wanting to know more about one species in particular: house sparrows. To look at why their numbers have been declining so sharply, and what we might be able to do about it, we hear from Imperial College London’s Dr Julia Schroeder, who has been studying the birds for 15 years.And Marnie is joined in the studio by Lizzie Gibney, Senior Reporter at Nature, to explore some of the fascinating research from around the world in this week’s science journals.Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Clare Salisbury, Dan Welsh and Jonathan Blackwell Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
--------
28:22
--------
28:22
What science is the UK government funding?
How do you plan for the scientific discoveries of the future? That’s the question Chancellor Rachel Reeves had to try to answer with this week’s Spending Review. She allocated more than 22 billion pounds a year by 2029/30 for research and development which was described as a boost for science. Robin Bisson, UK News Editor for news website Research Professional News, and Dr Alicia Greated, Executive Director at the charity Campaign for Science and Engineering in the UK, explain where the money will go.As the UN’s Ocean Conference continues in Nice, France, we get the latest developments from Science and Climate Correspondent Esme Stallard, before diving into a kelp forest in our own UK waters with reporter Graihagh Jackson. It’s hoped that encouraging the seaweed could help sequester carbon dioxide. We hear about the dinosaur discovery that’s rewriting the evolutionary story of the Tyrannosaurus Rex with University of Calgary palaeontologists Professor Darla Zelenitsky and Jared Voris.And journalist Caroline Steel is in the studio with her round up of science stories straight from the researcher’s labs.
--------
28:13
--------
28:13