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BBC Radio 4

A weekly show exploring science, its mysteries, and the debates it sparks.

BBC Inside Science

This week, renewables overtake coal as the world’s biggest source of electricity. China is leading the renewable charge despite its global reputation as a coal burning polluter. Zulfiqar Khan, Visiting Professor at Bournemouth University and Tsinghua University in Beijing and Furong Li, Professor in the department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Bath explain what China is getting right and what UK science can learn.

The 2025 Nobel Prize winners have just been announced. The prize for physics has been awarded “for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit.” But what does that mean? Science journalist and author Phil Ball explains how the winning quantum engineering experiments in the 1980s laid the groundwork for devise used in today’s quantum computers.

Comedian Josie Long finds escapism in extinct megafauna. She speaks to Marnie Chesterton about her new stand up tour ‘Now is the Time of Monsters’. And Managing Editor for the new Scientist Penny Sarchet brings us her pick of the week’s most important new scientific discoveries. 

To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producer: Clare Salisbury
Content Producer: Ella Hubber
Assistant Producer: Jonathan Blackwell
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

What can the UK learn from China on renewable energy?

Scientists in the US have, for the first time, made early-stage human embryos by manipulating DNA taken from people's skin cells and then fertilising them with sperm. It’s hoped the technique could overcome infertility due to old age or disease. 

Marnie Chesterton is joined by Dr Geraldine Jowett from the University of Cambridge and Emily Jackson from the London School of Economics to discuss the science behind the research, and the ethical and legal issues it could raise. 

We also look back at the life of the pioneering primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall, who died this week at the age of 91. Marnie is joined by one of the scientists she helped to inspire - the biologist Joyce Poole - to reflect on the huge legacy she leaves behind. 

As the European Union discusses the possibility of setting up a Europe-wide ‘drone wall’ to protect against Russian airspace incursions, we discuss the rapid advancements in drone technology with journalist and author of the book ‘Swarm Troopers: How Small Drones Will Conquer The World’, David Hambling. 

And Marnie is joined by journalist Caroline Steel to look through a range of this week’s most intriguing scientific breakthroughs. 

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton 
Producers: Clare Salisbury, Ella Hubber, Dan Welsh, Jonathan Blackwell, Tim Dodd 
Editor: Martin Smith 
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

Are embryos made from skin cells the future of fertility treatment?

What do we know about the causes of autism? Laura Andreae, Professor of Developmental Neuroscience at King’s College London explains the science. It’s after President Trump made unproven claims the condition is linked to taking paracetamol in pregnancy.

Tim O’Brien, Professor of Astrophysics at The University of Manchester and Associate Director of Jodrell Bank Centre, explains why NASA is planning to send a crew of astronauts around the moon for the first time in 50 years.

Tim Minshall, inaugural Dr John C. Taylor Professor of Innovation at the University of Cambridge dives into the mysterious world of manufacturing. His book ‘Your Life is Manufactured’ is shortlisted for the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize 2025. And we hear from Dave Sexton, conservationist on the Isle of Mull, and his search for one unusual bird.

If you want to test your climate change knowledge, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University to take the quiz.

The science behind autism

Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis broke the sport’s world record again this week at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. It’s the 14th consecutive time he’s broken the record.

Professor of Sports Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University, Steve Haake, joins Victoria Gill to discuss this monumental feat of athleticism, and to explain the role physics and engineering play in Duplantis’s unprecedented success.

The actor, comedian and scientist Nick Mohammed explains why he and his fellow judges selected ‘Ends of the Earth’ by Professor Neil Shubin as one of this year’s finalists in the Royal Society Trivedi Book Prize. We also hear from the book’s author about what it’s like doing science at the farthest reaches of the planet.

Neuroscientist Professor James Ainge from the University of St Andrews tells us how he has been mapping our internal mileage clock.

And the author and mathematician Dr Katie Steckles brings us the brand new maths and science shaping our world this week.

To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk, search for BBC Inside Science, and follow the links to The Open University.

Presenter: Victoria Gill
Producers: Clare Salisbury, Dan Welsh, Jonathan Blackwell and Tim Dodd
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

What’s the highest a human could possibly pole vault?

News broke this week that rocks picked up by NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars may have found chemical signatures left by living organisms. 

With the search for life on the red planet capturing our imaginations for decades, Victoria Gill is joined by science journalist Jonathan Amos to look at what we know about the history of life on Mars, and what could be different about this discovery.

As commemorations take place this week for the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we hear about the project helping to protect birds in New York from the effects of a giant annual light display in memory of the victims of the tragedy.

Dr Andrew Farnsworth, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, tells us how they’re working with the organisers of the Tribute in Light memorial to help save the lives of a wide range of birds.

Victoria is joined by managing editor of the New Scientist, Penny Sarchet, to look through this week’s most exciting scientific discoveries.

And in our series profiling the six books shortlisted for this year’s Royal Society Trivedi Book Prize, we speak to neuroscientist and clinical neurologist Professor Masud Husain about his book Our Brains, Our Selves, and what his encounters with patients reveal about how our brains make up who we are.

Presenter: Victoria Gill
Producers: Clare Salisbury, Dan Welsh, Jonathan Blackwell, Tim Dodd
Editor: Martin Smith

Could we have evidence of life on Mars?

Sweet, caffeinated energy drinks are in the headlines again as the UK Government says it wants to ban under 16s from buying them. Some can contain the equivalent caffeine as 2 to 4 espressos. James Betts, Professor of Metabolic Physiology at the University of Bath, explains the science behind how caffeine affects the bodies of adults and children. 

Earthquake scientist Dr Judith Hubbard from Cornell University in the US explains what we are learning from the magnitude 6 earthquake which hit Afghanistan this week. Professor Dan Levitin is a neuroscientist, cognitive psychologist, musician, and the third author shortlisted for the 2025 Royal Society Trivedi Book Prize. In his book ‘Music as Medicine’ he explores whether music can be harnessed to heal us. And BBC science journalist Caroline Steel brings her selection of brand new research.

To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producers: Dan Welsh, Jonathan Blackwell, Lucy Davis, Tim Dodd, Clare Salisbury
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

What does caffeine do to our bodies?

Summer heatwaves and missed bin collections have created panic in the press that rat numbers in the UK are increasing. We ask Steve Belmain, Professor of Ecology at the Natural Resources Institute at the University of Greenwich for the science. 

This summer Wales became the first country in the UK to ban plastic in wet wipes, with the other nations pledging they will do the same. Over the past few weeks there’s been work to remove a giant mound of them, known as ‘Wet Wipe Island’ on the Thames in west London. Marnie Chesterton has been to find out how they got there and what damage they could be doing to the river’s ecosystem.

Professor Sadiah Quereshi, Chair in Modern British History at the University of Manchester explains why we should see the extinction of species as a modern, and often political phenomenon. Her book Vanished: An Unnatural History of Extinction is the second book we’re featuring from the shortlist for the 2025 Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize.

And Lizzie Gibney, senior physics reporter at Nature brings us a round up of the news causing a stir in science circles this week.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producers: Ella Hubber, Jonathan Blackwell and Clare Salisbury
Editor: Ilan Goodman
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

Does warm weather mean more rats in UK towns and cities?

As new research looks at the financial and environmental case for solar panels in space, we explore how likely the technology could be to power our future energy needs back on Earth. 

Marnie Chesterton hears from the author of a new study into the topic, Dr Wei He from King’s College London, and is joined by Professor Henry Snaith from Oxford University to look at the future of solar panel technology.

We also hear from conservation scientist Adam Hart about his views on whether allowing trophy hunting could actually help to protect threatened species in the long term.

Marnie also speaks to the author of one of the books shortlisted for the annual Royal Society Trivedi Book Prize, Simon Parkin. His book, The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad, explores the story of the botanists working at the world’s first seed bank during World War Two, and the extraordinary lengths they went to to protect the specimens they were keeping. We also hear from one of the judges of the awards, the crime writer Val McDermid.

And science journalist Caroline Steel joins us to highlights the week’s most fascinating new pieces of research.

Could solar panels in space be the energy source of the future?

What are you wearing today? What processes, chemical and otherwise, have gone into creating the garments in your wardrobe? And how might they be improved, honed, transformed in the future?

Professor of Materials & Society at UCL, Mark Miodownik, Dr Jane Wood, Lecturer at the University of Manchester and expert in textile technology, and materials scientist, writer and presenter Dr Anna Ploszajaki join Marnie Chesterton to take a closer look at possibly the most familiar materials we own, our clothes.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producers: Clare Salisbury and Lyndon Jones
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

What will we be wearing in the future?

US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr announced plans this week to cancel $500 million dollars of funding for mRNA vaccine development. The research was focusing on trying to counter viruses that cause diseases such as the flu and Covid-19.

Marnie Chesterton is joined by Professor Anne Willis, Director of the MRC Toxicology Unit at the University of Cambridge, to explore the claims made by The US Department of Health and Human Services that the technology “poses more risks than benefits”, and to look at the evidence behind the vaccines.

We also visit the most powerful computer the UK has ever seen at the University of Bristol, and explore how the Isambard-AI supercomputer is being used to carry out groundbreaking new research.

After last week’s call for our listeners to pay homage to the satirical songwriter and mathematician Tom Lehrer, who died at the age of 97, we hear a range of your brilliant musical tributes.

And Marnie is joined by journalist Caroline Steel to explore the week’s fascinating scientific discoveries.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producers: Clare Salisbury, Dan Welsh, Jonathan Blackwell
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

What’s the evidence for vaccines?

A year after the first SARS-Cov2 sequences were received in the vaccine labs, Dr Alex Lathbridge and guests look into ongoing development and what next year's booster shots might be like. 

Prof Robin Shattock's team at Imperial College are still working on their vaccine technology - called 'Self Amplifying RNA' or saRNA. A little bit behind their well financed corporate colleagues, this week they announced that instead of pressing ahead with a phase III trial, they will instead look to developing possible boosters and alternative targets just in case more and more serious mutations happen. But as Prof Anna Blakney explains from her lab at University of British Columbia, the possibilities of saRNA don't stop with coronaviruses.

Researchers in the journal PNAS report this week a new theory as to when and where dogs were first domesticated by humans, and suggest that they accompanied the first humans across the Bering straight into America. Inside Science's Geoff Marsh has a sniff around.

And Dr Dean D'Souza from Anglia Ruskin University describes in Science Advances work he has done looking at certain kinds of development in children who grow up in bilingual households. His work suggests a slightly faster and keener observation of detailed changes in visual cues, and that this seems to be a trait that survives into adulthood. 

Presented by Alex Lathbridge

Produced by Alex Mansfield

Made in Association with The Open University

Next Gen Covid Vaccines; Man's Oldest Bestest Friend; Bilingual Brain Development

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