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Podcast: Discovery

BBC World Service
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Explorations in the world of science.
    BBC World Serviceadded an audiobook to the bookshelfPodcast: Discovery2 days ago
    Hannah Fry explores two tales of data and discovery.A young researcher gains access to a secretive data set and discovers a system causing harm to the very people it is supposed to help. One day a student makes a discovery which, if true, could shake the intellectual foundations of a global movement, and undermine politicians around the world.Producer: Lauren Armstrong Carter
    BBC World Serviceadded an audiobook to the bookshelfPodcast: Discovery6 days ago
    Millions of women around the world experience the menopause each year; it’s an important milestone, which marks the end of their reproductive years.But every individual's experience of it is personal and unique. In some cultures, there's a stigma about this life stage – it's viewed with trepidation and as something to be dreaded. In other cultures, it's considered to be a fresh start - a time of greater freedom when women no longer have to worry about their menstrual cycles.In this edition, recorded at Northern Ireland Science Festival in Belfast, Claudia Hammond and her expert panel take a global look at the science of the menopause and debunk some myths along the way.As Claudia and her guests navigate their way through the menopause maze, they look at the most recent academic research in this area. They also discuss the physical and psychological symptoms, the lifestyle changes women can make and the different treatments available, including Hormone Replacement Therapy.Claudia also speaks to the American biological anthropologist who has dedicated an impressive 35 years of her life to studying the average age of the menopause in different countries - and finds out how hot flushes vary in different cultures. She also speaks to a doctor who is working hard to make women’s health less of a taboo subject in the community where she works. And she hears from a Professor of Reproductive Science who is setting up the UK's first menopause school.Producer: Sarah Parfitt
    Co-ordinator: Siobhan Maguire
    Editor: Holly Squire
    Sound engineers: Andrew Saunderson and Bill Maul
    Mix engineer: Bob NettlesImage used with permission of the Northern Ireland Science Festival
    BBC World Serviceadded an audiobook to the bookshelfPodcast: Discovery9 days ago
    Hannah Fry explores two more tales of data and discovery.Gossip and rumour are plaguing a tile manufacturing company. The chatter is pulling morale to new lows, and amid it all, a question hangs in the air: who is spreading it? Can the science of networks find out? And, what is the secret to ageing well? One man believes he may have found the beginnings of an answer, and it is hiding in a convent.Produced by: Ilan Goodman and Lauren Armstrong Carter
    BBC World Serviceadded an audiobook to the bookshelfPodcast: Discovery16 days ago
    Hannah Fry explores two tales of data and discovery.Do orangutans - or humans - experience a midlife crisis? Hidden deep in the data, two economists have found a surprising pattern: happiness is U shaped. And, John Carter has a terrible choice to make. One path offers glory, the other to death. His decision hinges on one graph, but can it help him take the right road?Produced by: Ilan Goodman and Lauren Armstrong Carter
    BBC World Serviceadded an audiobook to the bookshelfPodcast: Discovery23 days ago
    Hannah Fry explores two tales of data and discovery.Two couples are brought together by a tragedy and a tatty piece of paper, which reveals a serial murderer hiding in plain sight. And, across the world in Singapore, a metro system is misbehaving wildly. The rail engineers and company officials are flummoxed. Can data save the day? Produced by: Ilan Goodman and Lauren Armstrong Carter
    BBC World Serviceadded an audiobook to the bookshelfPodcast: Discoverylast month
    In a few specific years across the 20th Century, the proportion of boys born mysteriously spiked. We follow one researcher’s obsessive quest to find out why. And next, a tale of science and skulduggery. Michael Mann was a respected climate scientist, unknown outside of a small academic circle, until he produced a graph that shocked the world and changed his life forever. Hannah Fry explores two tales of data and discovery. Producer: Ilan Goodman
    BBC World Serviceadded an audiobook to the bookshelfPodcast: Discoverylast month
    Humans have a long-held fascination with the idea of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a dystopian threat: from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, through to the Terminator movies. But somehow, we still often think of this technology as 'futuristic': whereas in fact, it's already woven into the fabric of our daily lives, from facial recognition software to translator apps. And if we get too caught up in the entertaining sci-fi narrative around AI and the potential threat from machines, there's a more pressing danger that we overlook real and present concerns - from deep fakes to electoral disinformation. That's why Michael Wooldridge is determined to demystify AI and explain how it can improve our lives, in a whole host of different ways. A Professor of Computer Science at the University of Oxford, and the Director of Foundational AI Research at the Alan Turing Institute, Mike believes the most common fears around this technology are "misplaced". In a special 300th edition of The Life Scientific, recorded in front of an audience at London's Royal Institution (RI), Mike tells Jim Al-Khalili how he will use this year's prestigious RI Christmas Lectures to lift the lid on modern AI technology and discuss how far it could go in future. Mike also reminiscences about the days when sending an email was a thrilling novelty, discusses why people love talking to him about the Terminator at parties, and is even challenged to think up a novel future use of AI by ChatGPT... Presenter: Jim Al-Khalili
    Producer: Lucy Taylor
    Audio editor: Sophie Ormiston
    Production co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris
    BBC World Serviceadded an audiobook to the bookshelfPodcast: Discoverylast month
    How do you solve a problem like CO2? As the curtain closes on the world’s most important climate summit, we talk to a scientist who was at COP 28 and is working to solve our carbon dioxide problem. Professor Mercedes Maroto-Valer thinks saving the planet is still Mission Possible - but key to success is turning excess of the climate-busting gas, carbon dioxide, into something useful. And as Director of the Research Centre for Carbon Solutions at Heriot-Watt University and the UK’s Decarbonisation Champion, she has lots of innovative ideas on how to do this. She also has a great climate-themed suggestion for what you should say when someone asks your age… Presenter: Jim Al-Khalili
    Producer: Gerry Holt
    Audio editor: Sophie Ormiston
    Production Co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris
    BBC World Serviceadded an audiobook to the bookshelfPodcast: Discovery2 months ago
    The Life Scientific zooms in to explore the intricate atomic make-up of metal alloys, with complex crystalline arrangements that can literally make or break structures integral to our everyday lives. Professor Sir Harry Bhadeshia is Professor of Metallurgy at Queen Mary University of London and Emeritus Tata Steel Professor of Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge. He’s been described as a ‘steel innovator’ – developing multiple new alloys with a host of real-world applications, from rail tracks to military armour. Harry’s prolific work in the field has earned him widespread recognition and a Knighthood; but it's not always been an easy ride... From his childhood in Kenya and an enforced move to the UK as a teenager, to the years standing up to those seeking to discredit the new path he was forging in steel research - Jim Al-Khalili discovers that Harry's achievements have required significant determination, as well as hard work. Presenter: Jim Al-Khalili
    Producer: Lucy Taylor
    Audio editor: Sophie Ormiston
    Production Co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris
    BBC World Serviceadded an audiobook to the bookshelfPodcast: Discovery2 months ago
    “Big data” and “data science” are terms we hear more and more these days. The idea that we can use these vast amounts of information to understand and analyse phenomena, and find solutions to problems, is gaining prominence, both in business and academia. Cathie Sudlow, Professor of Neurology and Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, has been at the forefront of enabling health-related research using ever-increasing datasets. She tells presenter Jim Al-Khalili why this type of research matters and how the COVID-19 pandemic changed attitudes towards data in healthcare. Over the course of her career, Cathie has held a variety of roles at different organisations, and she is currently Chief Scientist and Deputy Director at Health Data Research UK. She believes that there is no room for prima donnas in science, and wants her field to be open and collaborative, to have the most impact on patients’ lives.Presenter: Jim Al-Khalili
    Producer: Florian Bohr
    Production Co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris
    BBC World Serviceadded an audiobook to the bookshelfPodcast: Discovery2 months ago
    Professor Jim Al-Khalili meets one of Britain's greatest physicists, Sir Michael Berry. His work uncovers 'the arcane in the mundane', revealing the science that underpins phenomena in the world around us such as rainbows, and through his popular science lectures he joyfully explains the role of quantum mechanics in phones, computers and the technology that shapes the modern world. He is famed for the 'Berry phase' which is a key concept in quantum mechanics and one Sir Michael likes to explain through an analogy of holding a cat upside down and dropping it, or parallel parking a car.Presenter: Jim Al-Khalili
    Studio Producer: Tom Bonnett
    Audio Editor: Gerry Holt
    Production Co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris
    BBC World Serviceadded an audiobook to the bookshelfPodcast: Discovery2 months ago
    People around the world are living longer and, on the whole, having fewer children. What does this mean for future populations? Sarah Harper CBE, Professor in Gerontology at the University of Oxford, tells presenter Jim Al-Khalili how it could affect pensions, why it might mean we work for longer, and discusses the ways modern life is changing global attitudes to when we have children, and whether we have them at all. Fertility and ageing have been Sarah's life's work and she tells her story of giving up a career in the media to carry out in-depth research, and going on to study population change in the UK and China, setting up the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing and later becoming a Scientific Advisor to UK Government.Presenter: Jim Al-Khalili
    Producer: Tom Bonnett
    Production Co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris
    BBC World Serviceadded an audiobook to the bookshelfPodcast: Discovery3 months ago
    Our primate cousins fascinate us, with their uncanny similarities to us. And studying other apes and monkeys also helps us figure out the evolutionary puzzle of what makes us uniquely human. Sarah Blaffer Hrdy’s work brings a female perspective to this puzzle, correcting sexist stereotypes like the aggressive, philandering male and the coy, passive female. Sarah is Professor Emerita of Anthropology at the University of California, Davis, and studies female primate behaviour to create a richer picture of our evolutionary history, as well as what it means to be a woman or a parent today. Her overarching aim is to understand the human condition, a goal she initially planned to pursue by writing novels. Instead, she found her way into science: her groundbreaking study of infanticide among langur monkeys in northern India overturned assumptions about these monkeys’ murderous motivations. Later in her career, she looked into reproductive and parenting strategies across species. We humans are primed by evolution, she believes, to need a lot of support raising our children. And that’s a concern she found reflected in her own life, juggling family commitments with her career ambitions as a field researcher, teacher, and science writer.
    BBC World Serviceadded an audiobook to the bookshelfPodcast: Discovery3 months ago
    The Life Scientific returns with a special episode from the USA; Princeton, New Jersey, to be precise. Here, the Institute for Advanced Study has hosted some of the greatest scientific minds of our time - Einstein was one of its first Professors, J. Robert Oppenheimer its longest-serving director - and today's guest counts among them. Edward Witten is Professor Emeritus at the Institute and the physicist behind M-Theory, a leading contender for what is commonly referred to as ‘the theory of everything’, uniting quantum mechanics and Einstein’s theory of gravity. He talks to Jim Al-Khalili about a career that’s spanned some of the most exciting periods in modern theoretical physics - and about one particular problem that's both obsessed and eluded him since his days as a student… Produced by Lucy Taylor
    BBC World Serviceadded an audiobook to the bookshelfPodcast: Discovery3 months ago
    Exercise in older age is high on the agenda, but the idea that with age comes bags of time and a desire to ‘get out there’ isn’t true for a lot of us. How do you juggle exercise around caring for partners, grandchildren or staying in work? What if you haven’t exercised for years? What can your body take, and how has it changed with age? James Gallagher hears how octogenarian athlete ‘Irongran’ keeps going, he explores the mental and physical barriers that stop us exercising and he finds out what he might feel like in 40 years as he pulls on an ageing suit.(Photo: Elderly man going for a run. Credit: Charday Penn / Getty Images)
    BBC World Serviceadded an audiobook to the bookshelfPodcast: Discovery3 months ago
    How many hours do you spend sitting down per day? Six? Maybe eight? Or 10? Between commuting, working and relaxing, sitting can soon add up to hours and hours. James Gallagher delves into the science to find out exactly how much sitting is too much; when does it become worrying for our health? James visits a lab to explore what prolonged sitting does to the body and he’ll find out whether there’s anything you can do to offset the effects of sitting a lot. We’ll hear about the origins of sitting research - and just because we like to explore every angle on a topic, we’ll hear all about why standing too much can also be a worry.(Photo: Woman sitting at desk in office. Credit: Richard Drury / Getty Images)
    BBC World Serviceadded an audiobook to the bookshelfPodcast: Discovery3 months ago
    A look at the evidence that links the health of our mouths with the rest of our bodies.
    BBC World Serviceadded an audiobook to the bookshelfPodcast: Discovery4 months ago
    Adam Hart investigates the fastest land animal in the world – the cheetah! Built for high-speed chases, these spotted cats are slender, with semi-retractable claws for good grip and a flexible spine plus a long tail for balance and manoeuvrability. Cheetahs rely on speed over brute strength when hunting – and can make tight, quick turns to shift course in fast pursuit of their prey. But with shrinking populations cheetahs are classified as vulnerable – so what’s being done in terms of conservation and are these projects having any success?Adam hears how cheetahs differ from lions and leopards and learns about their relationships with other predators. He looks at their unique adaptions and behaviours, as well as the different approaches that conservationists are undertaking to try and reverse the population decline. And we also hear about the re-introduction of cheetahs to India. Contributors:Professor Sarah Durant is from the Zoological Society of London and is project leader of the Africa Range-Wide Cheetah Conservation Initiative.Vincent van der Merwe is director of The Metapopulation Initiative and is cheetah metapopulation coordinator for Southern Africa and India.Presenter: Professor Adam Hart
    Producer: Jonathan Blackwell
    Editor: Holly Squire
    Production Coordinator: Jonathan Harris
    Studio Manager: Andrew Garratt(Photo: Cheetah, Credit: Paul & Paveena Mckenzie via Getty Images)
    BBC World Serviceadded an audiobook to the bookshelfPodcast: Discovery4 months ago
    Adam Hart investigates a frenzied and voracious fish from South America – the piranha! Said to be able to strip their prey to the bone in mere minutes, there are plenty of gruesome tales about the bubbling bloodbaths that occur when shoals of these hardy fish feed in the freshwaters across South America - from up in Venezuela in the Orinoco River, to the Amazon and down to the Paraná River in Argentina. What role did former United States President Theodore Roosevelt have in creating the piranha’s fearsome reputation? And is this reputation misguided? Adam hears what piranhas are really like, both in the wild and in captivity. He learns about how these fish hunt, the impact that humans are having on them and tries to establish if they really are as bloodthirsty as we’ve been led to believe. Contributors: Marcelo Ândrade is a professor at the Federal University of Maranhão in Brazil. He researches the environments that piranha live in and their behaviour, as well as plastic ingestion by piranhas. Hannah Thomas is the aquarium team manager at Chester Zoo in the UK where they care for 40 red-bellied piranhas. Presenter: Professor Adam Hart
    Producer: Jonathan Blackwell
    Editor: Holly Squire
    Production Coordinator: Jonathan Harris
    Studio Manager: Neva Missirian (Photo: Red-Bellied Piranha, Credit: Ed Reschke via Getty Images)
    BBC World Serviceadded an audiobook to the bookshelfPodcast: Discovery4 months ago
    Adam Hart investigates the most famous and feared predator in all the ocean – the great white shark! With rows of large, serrated teeth, it’s often thought of as a ferocious man-eater and was the villain of the film Jaws – which frightened a generation of beachgoers. This star of the silver screen may be the subject of fascination and fright for many, but is it really the ultimate predator of the ocean as Hollywood has led us to believe?Adam hears what it’s like to see these sharks up-close and in person for the very first time. He learns more about how great whites detect and hunt their prey, as well as the challenges they’ve been facing due to another ocean predator.

    Contributors:Dr Alison Towner is a postdoctoral researcher at Rhodes University in South Africa. She has a PhD in white shark ecology and has been studying the displacement of great whites due to orcas (killer whales) in South Africa.Professor Gavin Naylor is Director of the Florida Program for Shark Research. He is a biologist who has specialised in evolutionary and population genetics, focusing on sharks.Presenter: Professor Adam Hart
    Producer: Jonathan Blackwell
    Editor: Holly Squire

    (Photo: Great White Shark, Credit: Todd Winner/Stocktrek Images via Getty Images)
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