Avsnitt
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The highly pathogenic strain of bird flu, H5N1, has arrived on the continent. Australian bird specialist Megan Dewar, from the Federation University of Australia, has led a mission aboard the research ship the Australis.
Science in Action remembers physicist Peter Higgs 60 years after his Nobel prize winning theory of the Higgs particle.
The unfolding scandal of manipulated data behind claims of incredible room-temperature superconductivity. Science writer Dan Garisto has seen the details in a Rochester University internal investigation.
And the alga – single-celled seaweed – with superpowers. As well as capturing carbon from CO2 in the atmosphere, like other plants, this one can directly capture nitrogen too, essential for life, but which few organisms can do for themselves. We hear from the marine scientist who has revealed this evolutionary trick.
Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Jonathan Blackwell Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
(Image: KAPPA-FLU team selecting skua carcasses for post-mortem examination. Credit: Ben Wallis)
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A powerful earthquake hit Taiwan on Wednesday morning, but thanks to the country’s early warning system and engineering-preparedness, there was little destruction and few deaths. Seismologist Ross Stein, CEO of earthquake consultancy Temblor, Inc., shares his analysis. The highly pathogenic bird flu H5N1 has been detected in cattle in the US and in a cattle handler in Texas. To learn more about this special animal-to-human transmission, Roland speaks to virologist Richard Webby of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Tennessee and Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals. French Space Institute Supaero in Toulouse is collaborating with Japan’s space agency JAXA to send and land a rover on Phobos, one of Mars’ tiny moons. Roland travels to the University of Toulouse to learn more about building this wheeled Rover from Supaero’s Naomi Murdoch.
Transitioning to a clean energy future requires mining materials like rare earth minerals, but how will this impact our environment? Jessi Junker of the ecology charity ReWild explains her research and concerns for great apes as mining for these materials expands in Africa.
Presenter: Roland Pease Producers: Roland Pease, Ella Hubber, Jonathan Blackwell Researcher: Imaan Moin Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
(Photo: Damaged building caused by the earthquake in Hualien on April 4, 2024. Credit: SAM YEH/AFP via Getty Images)
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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3000 light years from Earth, a white dwarf star called T Coronae Borealis is on the brink of a “once-in-a-lifetime” explosion. Astrophysicist Bradley Schaefer is enthusiastic about the bright star set to appear in the night sky in the coming months.
Professor Irving Weissman has been researching ways to restore youth using mouse models for decades. He has sewn old and young mice together to join their circulatory systems and has found that giving old mice blood from younger mice reverses some signs of ageing. In his group’s paper, the use of an antibody-based therapy has been shown to restore a declining immune system in ageing mice. Not quite the fountain of youth but potentially a key step in halting many age-related diseases. Roland gets the details from Irving and first-author Dr Jason Ross.
And, in the small town of Cabrières in Southern France, producer Ella Hubber goes on the hunt for some 480-million-year-old fossils with part-time fossil prospectors Eric and Sylvie Monceret. Their latest excavation site is a gold mine of rare, soft-bodied fossils from the period during a time when this part of France was underwater. And at the South Pole.
Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber
(Photo: Illustration of the northern springtime constellations of Lyra, Hercules, Corona Borealis, and Bootes. Credit: Alan Dyer/Stocktrek Images)
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The last great "out of Arica" movement of our ancestors swept out of the northeast of the continent 74,000 years ago. Archaeologist John Kappelman of the University of Texas brings us an update to this complex tale in the form of animal carcasses.
We take a trip to Oxford to meet some of postgraduate researcher Ally Morton-Hayward's archive of preserved brains. Not only is Ally shining a light on these underappreciated brains, she is also using them to unlock a rich treasure-trove of information about our ancestors and how they were preserved.
How do you develop and promote a vaccine against a widespread but neglected parasite? Maria Elena Bottazzi from Baylor College of Medicine is in India promoting their latest development in creating a hookworm vaccine that works against these life-limiting childhood parasites.
And, is the Chandra X-Ray Observatory at risk? In a decision that has shocked astronomers, the functioning telescope is on the chopping block because of NASA budget cuts. We hear from Belinda Wilkes of Bristol University about Chandra’s impressive history and why it should keep going.
Presenter/producer: Roland Pease Researcher: Katie Tomsett Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
(Image: Sunset in savannah of Africa. Credit: Anton Petrus via Getty Images)
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After a twelve-month set of climate records driven by global warming it is time to take stock of how we’re impacting the planet as a species.
Coral biologist Kate Quigley, of the Minderoo Foundation and James Cook University, dives into the 8th mass bleaching event at the Great Barrier Reef. We explore how deadly heat stress continues to threaten this underwater paradise and induce mass sickness in the corals that call it home. Heading onto land we reunite with Mike Flannigan, Professor of Fire Science at Thompson Rivers University, after a record-breaking Canadian forest fire season in 2023 we ask if conditions are set for a repeat.
And what about the human cost of these climbing temperatures? In the future 800 million outdoor workers in the tropics may be exposed to intolerable heat stress. However, Yuta Masuda, director of science at the Paul G Allen Family Foundation, advises that options for individual action may be limited for workers to protect themselves.
One of the driving forces behind a record year of global warming is the now waning El Niño system. With its counterpart, La Niña, due to pick up in 2024, we ask NOAA oceanographer Mike McPhaden what to expect from this transition and if we are headed for a turbulent hurricane season. Presenter/producer: Roland Pease Researcher: Katie Tomsett Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
(Photo: The McDougall Creek wildfire burns in the hills West Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, on 17 August, 2023. Credit: Darren Hull/ AFP)
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Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope think they have seen the glow from the first generation of stars after the Big Bang. Newton Kavli Fellow Hannah Übler discusses.
The Anthropocene is meant to mean the latest geological era in which humanity is shaping the rocks and environment of our planet. But an unexpected vote by a commission has declined the idea of making this an official definition. Roland hears from one of its leading proponents, geologist Jan Zalasiewicz, about what happened and why it matters.
And, new research indicates that bumblebees can show each other how to solve puzzles too complex for them to learn on their own. Professor Lars Chittka put these clever insects to the test and found that they could learn through social interaction. How exactly did the experiment work, and what does this mean for our understanding of social insects? Reporter Hannah Fisher visits the bee lab at Queen Mary University in London.
Plus, the subterranean South American snake, or rather snake-like amphibian, that feeds its hatchlings milk from specially evolved glands. Brazilian biologist Carlos Jared explains more about this species’ nurturing behaviour.
Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Roland Pease Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
(Photo: A portion of the GOODS-North field of galaxies, highlighting the galaxy GN-z11, which is seen at a time just 430 million years after the Big Bang. Credit: Nasa/ESA/CSA/B. Robertson (UC Santa Cruz), B. Johnson (CfA), S. Tacchella (Cambridge), M. Rieke (University of Arizona), D. Eisenstein (CfA))
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The All of Us Research Program is undergoing the herculean task of gathering genomic data from over one million people living in the United States, from widely different backgrounds, in the hopes of accelerating health care research. However, within the scientific community many, including Ewan Birney, deputy director general of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, are concerned that the way some of this data has been framed in a recent paper could reinforce racist beliefs. We also learn about the program and hear a response to the criticism from Josh Denny, the CEO of the All of Us Research Program.
Over the past two years, a deadly version of bird flu, H5N1, has been spreading around the globe, killing hundreds of thousands of birds and mammals in the process. Isolated from the rest of the world, animals in Antarctica have been safe from the virus so far. But, virologist Antonio Alcamí, who is located on the continents Spanish base, confirms that bird flu has reached them, infecting Antarctic skua seabirds.
And, on a less serious note, can the smell of a female cause premature death? Maybe in mice. Researcher Mike Garratt goes over the intriguing results in his new mouse study.
Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
(Image: Colorful diverse crowd in modern collage. Credit: Dedraw Studio via Getty Images)
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A monumental Covid vaccine safety study of 99 million vaccinated people confirms just how rare adverse effects are and combats growing vaccine misinformation. Co-director of the Global Vaccine Data Helen Network goes through the results of this massive study.
This week, Science in Action is bringing you not one, but two extraordinary astronomical discoveries. First, Webb Fellow Olivia Jones on the star hidden in the heart of only supernova visible from Earth. Second, astrophysicist Samuel Lai on what is possibly the brightest object in our universe – a whopping 500tn times brighter than our sun – a star eating quasar.
And Roland chats with biologist Charlotte Houldcroft who was one of the first to blow the whistle on an absurd, AI generated image which somehow made it through the peer review process.
Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
(Image: A health worker injects a man with a shot of the Inavac vaccine for Covid-19. Credit: BAY ISMOYO/AFP via Getty Images)
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High-profile climate scientist Michael Mann has been embroiled in a 12-year battle against conservative commentators who claimed his data was fraudulent. Last week, he was awarded $1m in a defamation lawsuit. Michael joins Science in Action to discuss the case and the impact it may have.
Also, this week, Karyn Rode from the US Geological Survey has been using cameras on collars to track polar bear movement and diet. She tells Roland how the data reveals the devastating effect of sea ice loss on the bears.
Widescale blackouts in Africa, known as loadshedding, are getting worse. Chemist and winner of The Royal Society Rising Star Africa Prize 2023, Wade Peterson, has an innovative chemical solution to the problem.
And using a forest to detect the most violent astrophysical sources in our universe? Physicist Steven Prohira thinks it’s possible.
Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
(Image: Dr. Michael E. Mann is seen outside of the H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse on February 5, 2024 in Washington, DC. Credit: Pete Kiehart for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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Should CERN be spending $17 billion on a new atom smasher whilst we face, climate change, the most pressing crisis of our time? Materials-turned environmental scientist Mark Miodownik and CERN physicist Kate Shaw debate the issue.
One of the issues Mark argues more people should be tackling are the climate change driven forest fires which recently ravaged Chile and killed more than 100 people. Chilean climate scientist Raul Cordero discusses the factors which led to the devastating fires.
And Nasa physicist and oceanographer Susanne Craig explains their freshly launched satellite PACE, which hopes to get a better picture of our changing oceans and use this information to tackle climate change. A quest Nasa manages to achieve whilst also trying to answer the big questions about our universe.
Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
(Photo: Firefighters work at the Botanical Garden after a forest fire in Viña del Mar, Chile, 4 February, 2024. Credit: Javier Torres/AFP)
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Starting upbeat this week, engineer Teddy Tzanetos, team lead of NASA’s Ingenuity mission, talks on the Mars-based helicopter which defied all expectations. Our big story this week is on the scientific papers and research databases which contain the DNA profile of thousands of people from persecuted ethnic minorities in China. This data is often collected in association with security forces. Computational biologist and campaigner Yves Moreau now leads the call for scrutiny and the retraction of these papers and databases, which lack evidence of free and informed consent. We often cover the ever-growing threat of bird flu to mammalian populations on Science in Action. But how does the virus make the successful leap from bird to mammal cells? Virologist Wendy Barclay discusses the potential tricks the virus uses to adapt and grow.
And, finally, zoologist Sam Fabian has been trying to answer the question everyone thinks they already know: why are moths attracted to artificial light?
Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
(Image: Protest in Urumqi in China's far west Xinjiang province on July 7, 2009. Credit: PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Molecular biologist Prof Jason Chin tells us about his research into accelerated evolution and how it could help create new substances to be used in medicine, chemistry and more.
In South America, palaeogeneticist Dr Verena Schuenemann has been extracting genetic material from human remains to find out more about treponemal diseases, which include syphilis, yaws and bejel.
And moving across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, volcanologist Professor Timothy Druitt has discovered new evidence of a massive volcano that erupted beneath the sea near Santorini around 500,000 years ago.
Staying in the Mediterranean, we speak to Professor Rachel Flecker, co-chief scientist on Expedition 401 of the International Ocean Discovery Program. She and her team are drilling down into the seabed to establish how the Gibraltar Strait has altered over time. As well as influencing the Mediterranean's salinity, this changing movement of water has impacted the entire planet's oceans and climate.
Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
(Image Credit: Thomas Ronge)
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African swine fever has now reached Southeast Asia.This part of the world has high diversity in wild pigs, some of which are endemic to their native islands. In Borneo, pigs are a hugely important food source for indigenous populations, and are a vital prey species for many big cats. In some regions, the pig populations have now dropped by 90 to 100 per cent due to swine fever. Conservationist Dr Erik Meijaard explains what this could mean for Borneo.
Sticking with diseases, the World Mosquito Program breeds mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia. Why? Because mosquitoes infected with this bacteria are unable to become carriers of dengue, Zika and other mosquito-borne diseases. Dr Scott O'Neill of the World Mosquito Program talks about their latest research and the massive mosquito factory they're building in Brazil this year.
Finally this week, Dr Nitzan Gonen discusses her new study, where mouse testes organoids have been grown in the lab. She tells us about the potential applications for this research.
Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
(Photo: Bornean bearded pig. Credit: Sylvain Cordier/Getty Images)
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The James Webb Space Telescope has revealed the clearest ever view of the stunning Cassiopeia A supernova, complete with a weird feature called 'the green monster'. Professor Dan Milisavljevic, an astronomer at Purdue University, tells us all about his research into this space-based beauty.
Professor Tamara Davis from the University of Queensland has been turning her eye to far more distant supernovas, and explains how they have given us new insight into the Universe's expansion.
Moving on to human history, William Barrie from the University of Cambridge tells us about a new study that explores the reason for high levels of multiple sclerosis in northern Europe.
And going further back in time, researcher Ethan Mooney has studied a sample of fossilised skin, which may be the oldest ever discovered.
Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Editor: Martin Smith Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
(Photo: Cassiopeia A Supernova. Credit: Nasa, ESA, CSA, STScI, Danny Milisavljevic, Purdue University, Ilse De Looze, UGent, Tea Temim, Princeton University)
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In this episode of Science in Action, we find out that tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death in South Africa.
After visiting a clinic dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of TB, Roland Pease meets researcher Professor Grant Theron at Stellenbosch University, who explains why the disease is still so prevalent.
Next we hear from Professor Novel Chegou and his student Candice Snyders, also based at Stellenbosch University. They are researching biomarkers to diagnose tuberculosis and have already successfully developed a rapid finger-prick test to identify TB.
Roland then chats to vaccine researcher Professor Thomas Scriba at the University of Cape Town, who reveals more about the current landscape of TB vaccination.
Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Editor: Martin Smith Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
(Photo: Frontline healthcare workers wear a protective mask and tb mask to prevent the spread of airborne disease. Credit: stockstudioX/Getty Images)
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In this special episode of Science in Action, Roland Pease travels to South Africa to gain a deeper understanding of human origins.
Along the way, he speaks to ichnologist Charles Helm and national parks ecologist Mike Fabricius, who take him to a special – and extremely windy – location, where early human footprints are permanently preserved in the rock. At the University of Cape Town, Roland speaks to Rieneke Weij and Georgina Luti. They are studying the geochemistry of rocks that existed in caves alongside our ancient relatives.
Across the city, in the Iziko South African Museum, Wendy Black and Amy Sephton discuss the ways in which we think about our deep past and how we can decolonise the human story.
Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Editor: Martin Smith Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth (Image: Human fossilized footprint in hardened mud or clay. Credit: Waltkopp/Getty Images)
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This week, the Reykjanes volcano in Iceland has erupted, following weeks of seismic activity. Edward Wayne Marshall, from the University of Iceland, brings us the latest science about the volcano.
Also this week, the UK's 40-year-old JET fusion facility has been switched off. Roland Pease went along to watch.
Fusion facilities are trying to create clean energy by replicating the processes in the Sun. And the Sun itself is currently approaching solar maximum, which means we may get to enjoy more spectacular auroras but could also experience widespread radio blackouts. Solar physicist Dibyendu Nandi, from the Centre of Excellence in Space Sciences in Kolkata, tells us more.
And in the outer reaches of our Solar System, the iconic Voyager 1 craft has started sending back nonsense data. William Kurth, who has worked on Voyager since its launch in 1977, reveals his personal and scientific connection to the mission.
Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
(Image: Volcano Erupts On Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula. Credit: Micah Garen/Getty Images)
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An international team of researchers led by the University of Cambridge’s Prof Stephen O’Rahilly have discovered that sensitivity to the hormone GDF15 may cause severe morning sickness during pregnancy. Dr Marlena Fejzo, who took part in the study, tells us more.
Back in September, the OSIRIS-REx craft dropped a sample from the asteroid Bennu into the Utah desert. Now, scientists around the world have started studying the dust fragments in earnest. We join Dr Ashley King from the Natural History Museum in London and beamline scientist Dr Sharif Ahmed as they embark on their research.
Professor Scott Fendorf, from the University of Stanford, reveals that wildfire smoke contains heavy metals, which may be why it’s so damaging to our health.
Dr Junjie Yao from Duke University has worked on a new 'sono-ink'. This ink can be used to 3D print structures within the body, which can be used to mend tissues, bones and organs.
Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
(Photo: Young pregnant woman, 35 years old, feeling sick on a toilet. Credit: Getty Images)
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The burning of fossil fuels releases the greenhouse gas CO2. Many countries at COP28 have expressed an interest in using carbon capture technology to permanently capture and store this CO2. Climate and energy expert Dr Richard Black tells us more about this technology and how helpful it is in the fight against climate change.
Sticking with COP28, Dr Manjana Milkoreit, from the University of Oslo, contributed to this week’s Global Tipping Points report, which revealed the Earth could be racing toward a set of critical thresholds that will put the Earth into a new state.
Dr Joyce Kimutai is also at COP28. Originally from Kenya, she’s the lead author of a new paper from World Weather Attribution. The paper found that climate change has made deadly rainfall in East Africa up to two times more intense.
And finally, this week Professor Dany Azar published a paper in Current Biology that not only identified the oldest fossilised mosquito, but also found that it was a male with blood-sucking mouthparts – a trait only seen in female mosquitoes today.
Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
(Image: TBC. Credit: TBC / Getty Images)
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This week, the RRS Sir David Attenborough arrived in Antarctica to start its first full season of science in the polar region. Dr Nadine Johnston reveals more about the mission and the research they’ll be carrying out.
Next up, medical geneticist Professor Shahida Moosa and her student Jessica Jane Cormick are working to help diagnose and treat rare diseases. They explain why better genetic databases for Africans are urgently needed.
We also hear from Simon Evans of the Carbon Brief, who has just completed an analysis that found the responsibility for climate change dramatically shifts once historical rule and colonialism are taken into account.
Finally, a new study has revealed that emissions from coal-fired power plants have led to the deaths of nearly half a million Americans in the last 20 years. Professor Cory Zigler, from the University of Texas at Austin, tells us more.
Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth Sounds provided by: Nadine Johnston and Katherine Turner from BAS and the University of Southampton
(Image: A general view of the RRS David Attenborough vessel on October 28, 2021 in Greenwich, England. Credit: Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
- Visa fler
