Science In Action

A black hole just discovered in our Milky Way galaxy, weighing 33 times the mass of the Sun, and dating back to near the time of the Big Bang, gives new clues to the origins of this dark astronomical mysteries. And dancing with a Sun-like star in our galactic neighbourhood, it offers a great opportunity for astronomers to take a detailed look in coming years, as astronomer Professor Gerry Gilmore of Cambridge University tells the programme.

Presenter Roland Pease has headed to the lab of Professor Ludovic Orlando in Toulouse, France where they are extracting ancient DNA from horses as part of a project called ?Horsepower? - to reveal how our prehistoric ancestors tamed and domesticated these powerful animals (long after cattle and sheep) and in the process helped shape the extraordinary history of the first states of China and Mongolia. And a deep look into the mechanisms of addiction ? showing how drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, hijack the neuronal pathways that had evolved to drive our innate needs such as eating and drinking. Roland hears from psychiatrist Eric J. Nestler of the Friedman Brain Institute at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, how this could one day improve addiction treatments.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Jonathan Blackwell Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

(Image: An artist's impression shows the orbits of the most massive stellar black hole in our galaxy, dubbed Gaia BH3, and a companion star. Credit: European Southern Observatory via Reuters)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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))

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

This month, Brazil has seen some of its highest recorded temperatures. The country?s Pantanal wetlands, the largest tropical wetlands in the world, have been scorched by wildfires. The region is home to vibrant wildlife, including jaguars, anacondas and various birds.

Professor Letícia Couto Garcia, leader of the Intervention Ecology Lab at Mato Grosso Federal University in the South, Brazil, talks about some of the challenges she?s experienced.

Staying with extreme temperatures, Dr Robert Rohde of the independent non-profit, Berkeley Earth, reveals what the recently recorded excess of 2°C means.

This week, we learned that an extremely energetic particle had been detected. Dr Toshihiro Fujii of Osaka Municipal University tells us how he first made the discovery after trawling through some data. We then hear from Dr Yvette Cendes, an astronomer who specialises in high-energy physics, to find out more about the origins of this particle.

Finally, Science in Action visits the South African Astronomical Observatory, to learn about the projects that could bring more diverse voices to our understanding of the night sky.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth (Image: Firefighters tackle forest fires in the Pantanal wetland near Porto Jofre, Mato Grosso State, Brazil, on November 13, 2023. Credit: ROGERIO FLORENTINO/AFP via Getty Images)

Increased tremors have been felt in Iceland, and concerns about an impending eruption have led to the evacuation of the town of Grindavik. Geophysicist Dr Freysteinn Sigmundsson reveals more about the events and whether this area of Iceland may be entering a new period of volcanic activity that could span centuries.

Also, Google DeepMind?s new GraphCast system could revolutionise weather forecasting. Rémi Lam from Google DeepMind and Dr Matthew Chantry from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts explain how it works.

Beyond warming our planet, climate change can have wide-ranging, unexpected impacts on people and the environment. Dr Christopher Trisos from the University of Cape Town has the lowdown.

Finally, recreating ancient seawater in the laboratory has given Dr Rosalie Tostevin, a geochemist from the University of Cape Town, additional information about the metals used by early microbes.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

(Image: Emergency services worker walking near a crack cutting across the main road in Grindavik, southwestern Iceland following earthquakes. Credit: KJARTAN TORBJOERNSSON/AFP via Getty Images)

This week we're out in the wild and noisy spaces in and around Cape Town, South Africa.

Ichnologist Charles Helm takes Roland on a bumpy ride in Walker Bay Nature Reserve to hunt for fossilised animal tracks, with a few brilliant surprises.

Producer Ella Hubber visits the SANCCOB seabird rehabilitation centre to speak to researcher Katta Ludynia about what challenges the African penguin faces. We also hear about the ever-present threat of bird flu from SANCCOB vet David Roberts.

And, in the beauty of Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Tess Gridley and her team from the African Bioacoustics Community are collecting the sounds of South Africa's diverse bird populations for the public and future conservation efforts.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Content Producer: Rema Mukena Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth (Image: Roland records Ichnologist Charles Helm at Walker Bay Nature Reserve. Credit: Ella Hubber)

Category 5 hurricane Otis, which devastated Acapulco, was supercharged by global warming; hurricane expert Kerry Emanual tells Science in Action.

Also, Brazilian ecologist Erika Berenguer has witnessed the destruction caused by the prolonged drought in Amazonia, where the rivers are drying up and the forest is burning.

And, climate scientists now say there is less time than previously thought to avoid further dangerous warming. Two climate scientists, Chris Smith and Norman Loeb, break the bad news - that the climate is more sensitive to greenhouse gases than forecasts have used.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Editor: Martin Smith Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

(Photo: A woman sits amongst the damage after Hurricane Otis. Credit: Silvana Flores/Getty Images)

Fear that the highly infectious variant of avian influenza, H5N1, would reach the Antarctic region and put isolated bird populations at risk has finally come to fruition as the first birds on Bird Island in the Atlantic Ocean have come down with the devastating illness. Science manager of the island, Ashley Bennison, explains the situation. Then, from one extreme climate to another - mummified mice have been found on the summit of volcanoes across the Andes, raising questions as to the capacity for vertebrates to survive in extreme conditions.

Kevin Langergraber has been studying the Ngogo chimpanzee community in Uganda for over 20 years. Now, Kevin and colleague Brian Wood tell us how this group are experiencing something thought to be unique amongst humans (and some whales): menopause.

And, how geophysicist Amir Kahn used seismic activity on Mars to understand what the core of our neighbouring planet is made of.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

(Image: Wandering Albatross, Diomeda exulans, displaying at Cape Alexandra above Bird Sound and Bird Island in background South Georgia. Credit: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Accelerating seismic tremors are raising concerns for the thousands of people living atop a volcanic hot spot close to Naples, Italy. Volcanologist Alessandro Pino has been keeping a watchful eye on the developing situation.

We stay in Naples where, almost 2000 years ago, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried Pompeii, including thousands of scrolls turned to charcoal by the immense heat. This hasn?t stopped people from trying to read the scrolls, destroying hundreds in the process. Now, computer scientist Brent Seales has deployed AI and papyrologists worldwide to decipher the burnt text.

And from ancient scrolls to rainforest soundscapes, ecologist Zuzana Bu?ivalová has also been using AI to untangle the vast array of life heard in forests, old and new, as a tool to measure biodiversity.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

(Image: A view of the fumaroles Pisciarelli in Agnano quarter of the Campi Flegrei, a volcano near Naples. Credit: Salvatore Laporta/KONTROLAB/LightRocket/Getty Images)

Lying atop a network of fault lines, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet, Afghanistan is prone to earthquakes. However, the Herat area has not seen an event for almost 1000 years. As such, it was the least likely area to experience the series of devastating earthquakes and aftershocks which are reported to have killed thousands this week. Afghani seismologist Zekaria Shnizai discusses the factors which led to the disaster.

After a couple of delays, NASA?s Psyche mission is due to launch this Friday. It will map Psyche, a metal-rich asteroid orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. Project leader Lindy Elkins-Tanton's excitement for the project is infectious.

And can deep learning help us predict the next pandemic? Computational Biologist Debora Marks? new tool, Evescape, can predict the most likely mutations a virus will gain under pressure. This could be a game changer.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

(Image: An Afghan man sits amid the rubble after a massive 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes the city of Herat. Credit: Esmatullah Habibian / Getty Images)

The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weismann for their contributions to developing the fundamentals that led to life saving mRNA vaccines. Although funding and support were not always assured on their road to the Nobel, Katalin Karikó tells Roland she used these setbacks to drive her towards success.

On the other side of the coin, allegations of scientific misconduct over bold room temperature superconductivity claims. Earlier this year, eleven authors submitted a paper to Nature. Now, eight of them are calling for a retraction. Science journalist Dan Garisto covers the story.

Also this week, NASA Ames researcher Jacob Kegerreis details how Saturn got its rings. Hint: It?s a smashing story.

And, what is the most fear inducing sound in the world? Lions roaring? Gunshots? According to mammals in South Africa it is the human voice. Fear-ecologist Liana Zanette explains.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

(Image: Katalin Karikó. Credit: Mark Makela / Getty Images)

What did a 465-million-year-old trilobite eat for dinner? And how can we possibly know? Archaeologist Per Ahlberg has used x-ray to peer into the guts of one ancient scuttling creature and worked out what it what was munching on in its final moments.

From life in ancient earth rocks to potential life in space rocks, mineralogist and astrobiologist Bob Hazen has been training AI to spot signatures of life on Earth. He now hopes to use this tool on space samples.

We also ask experimental particle physicist Jeffrey Hangst how antimatter, the last mystery of the universe, responds to gravity - was Einstein's theory of general relativity right?

And the antiviral Covid medication, Molnupiravir, may be causing the virus to mutate. Theo Sanderson discusses how he figured this out and how concerned we should be.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Editor: Martin Smith Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

(Image: Fig. 1: Bohemolichas incola (Barrande, 1872). Credit: Kraft et al)

Storm Daniel devastated the city of Derna in Libya after heavy rainfall broke a dam, causing extreme flooding downstream. The World Weather Attribution (WWA) reports that severe flooding in Libya and across the Mediterranean has been made more likely and more intense due to human induced climate change. WWA scientist Friederike Otto gets into the report.

Back in 2020, NASA?s OSIRIS-REx scooped up rock and dust samples from asteroid Bennu and on Sunday September 24th, 2023 the sample capsule will finally be released 100,000 kilometres above Earth, delivering it to the Great Salk Lake Desert. OSIRIS REx engineer Anjani Polit tells us about the nail-biting return.

Also this week, Dr Peter Hotez warns us about the dangerous and rapid rise of anti-science sentiment in the United States. It?s all in his new book "The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science".

And the remnants of what is thought to be the oldest wooden structure have been found in Zambia. Professor of Archaeology Lawrence Barham talks about the simple structure made by our ancestors almost 500,000 years ago.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

(Image: Building collapsed and surrounded by rubble following floods in Derna. Credit: RICARDO GARCIA VILANOVA / Getty Images)

Earlier this week the deadly Mediterranean cyclone, Storm Daniel, swept through the small city of Derna in Libya, collapsing a 50-year-old dam in its wake, and triggering devastating floods which have killed over 5000 people. We speak to atmospheric scientist, Stavros Dafis, about the cyclone?s characteristics and to civil and structural engineer, Lis Bowman, about the dam collapse. Unsurprisingly, it all comes back to climate change.

Far, far from Earth, the James Webb Space Telescope has set its site on the atmosphere of exoplanet K2-18b where the presence of methane and carbon dioxide offer the tantalising possibility of an extraterrestrial Ocean. Astrophysicist Nikku Madhusudhan discusses his exciting results.

And an even less expected presence in space: the ancient remains of our ancestors. Archaeologist Lee Berger has come under fire after sending precious bone samples on a Virgin Galactic space flight. South African archaeologist, Robyn Pickering, expresses the frustration that is on everyone?s mind.

Also expressing their anger, two young climate protesters recently stormed the stage during an orchestral performance at a Swiss music festival. But, to everyone?s surprise, conductor Vladimir Jurowski allowed them to speak to his audience. We hear from the Renovate Switzerland protestors, Anthony and Selina, on their unlikely experience.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

(Image: Collapsing buildings and flooded land in the aftermath of the Derna floods. Credit: Anadolu Agency / Getty Images)

In September 2012 Arctic sea ice melted to its minimum ever recorded and the German research ice breaker, Polarstern, ventured deep into the region North of Russia to record findings. It?s now retracing its steps, over a decade later, to observe how things have progressed. Autun Purser and Antje Boethius describe the journey and the importance of documenting developments in the face of climate change.

Some 75 million individuals are believed to live with Long Covid and, in order to treat the plethora of symptoms presented by patients, researchers continue to search for the root source of the condition in the hope of better prescribing broad therapeutics. Akiko Iwasaki, Professor of Immunobiology at Yale University, updates Roland on the working hypotheses.

And one year on from the Hunga Tonga eruption, where a shockwave circled the globe four times, researchers have been able to calculate the speed of the currents in the southern Pacific Ocean. BBC correspondent Jon Amos caught up with Michael Clare to hear how other South Pacific Islands can learn from the most explosive volcanic eruption in 100 years.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Harrison Lewis

Global sea levels are rising more than 3mm per year under current climate conditions. At this rate we are due to hit an alarming 7mm rise per year by the end of the century. If this is not slowed, it could lead to the drowning of essential coastal ecosystems like mangroves and lagoons, professor of environmental science Neil Saintilan tells Science in Action.

The seas are also heating up. We?ve covered the devastating effect of marine heatwaves on vibrant sea life like coral reefs before. But what about the less glamourous bottom-dwelling fish? Ecologist Alexa Fredston has found that they may be more robust than we think.

Also this week, bird virus expert Michelle Wille tells us about the imminent threat of bird flu spreading from South America to Antarctica where hundreds of thousands of sea birds are at risk.

And from one south pole to another, we have an update on how India?s mission on the lunar south pole is going with Lunar and Planetary Institute scientist David Kring.

Image Credit: Marie Hickman

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Editor: Richard Collings

Advances in brain-computer interfaces have allowed patients with paralysis to communicate faster, more accurately and more expressively with direct brain to speech translation. Co-author of an exciting new paper in the field, bioengineer Alex Silva, tells Science in Action about his team?s work with patient Ann.

The world has been following the Indian and Russian race to land on the lunar south pole. Producer Ella Hubber gives a timeline of the events leading up to that historic landing.

Also this week, a new prediction model allows us to better prepare for future extreme weather events. But is this worst-case scenario model scaremongering? Roland talks to author Erich Fischer about the projections. And virologist Connor Bamford talks detecting bird flu in wastewater for betting monitoring.

Image Credit: Noah Berger

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Editor: Richard Collings

Hawaii is still reeling from the devastating fires that consumed Lahaina on the island of Maui last week. Professor of Meteorology from the University of Hawaii, Kevin Hamiliton, joins Science in Action to discuss the factors that make these events more likely across the Hawaiian Islands. Amongst these is climate change.

Also this week we discuss the concerning reports of a sudden spike in methane levels in the Arctic with Xin Lan of the US National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration.

A few weeks ago, we devoted a whole programme to the exciting research on human embryo models made from stem cells. Whilst representing an incredible step for medical research, these raise serious ethical questions. A team of biologists and embryologists have put together a proposal on how to move forward with this ethical quandary, Embryologist Nicolas Rivron tells us more.

And we address the incredible claim of the room temperature super conductor, LK-99, with sceptical materials scientist Michael Fuhrer.

Photo: The Maui town of Lahaina after being destroyed by wildfires Credit: Getty Images

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Editor: Richard Collings

ProMED is one of the most useful scientific tools you?ve never heard of. It?s a global surveillance system of infectious disease outbreaks which is available, for free, to researchers and the public alike. But ISID, the society which runs the platform, claim they have run out of money to support ProMED and will be switching to a subscription service, against the wishes of both users and staff. ProMED editor Marjorie Pollak tells Science in Action about the vital service ProMED has played in pandemic monitoring ? including the very first COVID outbreaks - and ISID boss Linda MacKinnon considers what?s next for the platform.

From wildfires in Europe to droughts in Africa, we have covered every kind of environmental disaster across most of the globe in the space of the past few weeks. To complete the distressing bucket list of climate extremes, we?re talking to sea ice expert Caroline Holmes on the concerning forecast for Antarctica.

Despite these terrestrial challenges, NASA is still trying to defend Earth against nearby objects which might hit us from space. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) was launched at the asteroid Dimorphos back in in November 2021 and, a few weeks ago, the Hubble space telescope observed a swarm of boulders shed by Dimorphos post-impact. Some UK newspapers are concerned about their trajectory, but astronomer Dave Jewitt is here to calm us all down.

Photo: Disinfection Work At Wuhan Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market Credit: China News Service

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Editor: Richard Collings

Science in Action returns to H5N1, the fast spreading strain of bird flu which has caused devastation in the sky, sea, and land over the last few months, with no end in sight.

Roland visits Skomer Island and the coast of Wales where sea bird colonies are threatened and hundreds of guillemots have washed ashore dead, struck down by bird flu.

We also hear of outbreaks on Finnish fur farms where controversial plans are in progress for culls of wild birds, of mysterious infections of domestic cats in Poland, and bird flu causing brain swelling in grey seals.

Plus, we get an update on efforts to vaccinate condors in California against the disease.

Photo: Dead Guillemot Credit: BBC

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber

A large system of ocean currents known as the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) has been making headlines this week as a new paper predicts its imminent collapse. This could have devastating consequences for the climate. But not all climate scientist and oceanographers are convinced by the results. Stefan Rahmstorf and Eleanor Frajka-Williams debate the contentious paper.

In more positive news, huge steps have been made in the field of gene therapy. Stefano Rivella and Hamideh Parhiz tell us about their incredible mRNA delivery technology which could take much of the cost and risk out of treating debilitating disorders

And as wildfires continue to blaze around the world, reporter Melanie Brown discovers how experts study the physics of these blazes from the Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Editor: Richard Collings

For the third year running, Iceland?s Reykjanes peninsula is experiencing another spectacular volcanic eruption. Volcanologist Evgenia Ilyinskaya has been out in Iceland witnessing the sight and getting samples of the noxious fumes.

Across the rest of the Northern Hemisphere heat domes persist, bringing extreme weather ranging from wildfires to tornadoes. We keep on seeing that this year ?is the warmest in 120,000 years?. But what does that mean? Two paleoclimatologists, Bette Otto-Bliesner and Jessica Tierney tell us more.

And we?re going deep. Deep into the brain that is, with a newly-developed probe which is finer than a baby?s hair. Dr Anqi Zhang of Stanford University explains her delicate technology.

Finally, new research suggests that SARS-CoV-2 could have arisen in the wild no more than four years ago, a mishmash of other viral genomes. Bioinformatician Jonathan Pekar discusses his new paper.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Editor: Richard Collings

(Photo: Dr. Evgenia Ilyinskaya Credit: @EIlyinskaya)

As extreme heat returns to much of the world we hear the impact of last year?s heatwaves in Europe, where 62,000 people are estimated to have died. Joan Ballester, Associate Research Professor at Barcelona Institute for Global Health, discusses the figures from his latest paper and his concerns for the future.

This week the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favour of middle-distance runner and Olympic champion Caster Semenya in a case related to testosterone levels in female athletes. Marnie Chesterton speaks to developmental biologist Dr Emma Hilton about what causes differences in sexual development and the impact they can have.

Also, Kew Gardens is going digital. Millions of specimens are being made available to the world for the first time in an enormous digitisation project. Ella Hubber goes behind the scenes at Kew to see some of the precious specimens.

Finally, the Indonesian government has banned a group of foreign scientists from conducting conservation research. Bill Laurance, Research Professor at James Cook University, talks to Science in Action about keeping politics out of conservation science.

Image credit: Getty Images

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber

Record-breaking global temperatures are accelerating Greenland ice melt at an alarming rate. Professor of glaciology Alun Hubbard has witnessed the melt first hand. He tells us how the ice sheet is being destabilised and what this could mean on a human level.

Also, how safe are Japanese plans to dispose of nuclear waste from the Fukushima accident? We get reassurance from molecular pathology expert, Professor Gerry Thomas.

And last week was a big one for cosmology news. We catch up on science behind the gravitational hum that permeates the Universe with astrophysicist with Dr Chiara Mingarelli. And we hear about the traces of ghostly neutrinos within our Galaxy from the principal investigator of the world?s largest neutrino detector, Professor Francis Halzen.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber

(Photo: Meltwater forming on top of the Russell Glacier, Greenland)

We have entered a ?permacrisis?, an extended period of instability and insecurity, fuelled not only by natural disasters but pandemics, climate change and war.

This week, Science in Action is at the Royal Society as they host the All European Academies assembly on the importance of research in crises. Roland speaks to international experts on how research contributes to responding to and preparing for the multiple and entangled crises of our time.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Editor: Richard Collings Production co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris

(Photo: A man wearing a protective face mask walks past an illustration of a virus in Oldham, 3 August 2020 Credits: Phil Noble/Reuters)

Over the last week, news of ?synthetic human embryos? has made headlines around the world. Science in Action is getting to the bottom of the sensational story.

We talk to two of the researchers who have made the embryo models from stem cells in their labs; Professor Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz from the University of Cambridge and California Institute of Technology, and Professor Jacob Hanna from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. They tell us how they made the embryo models, what their aims are, and their own ethical considerations.

The scientific community is excited, but not surprised, by the breaking research. We hear how Dr Andreia Bernardo, group leader at Imperial College London, could use these structures in her future research.

Finally, Director of the Reproductive Sociology Research Group at Cambridge University, Professor Sarah Franklin, and Professor of Law at Stanford University, Hank Greely, tackle the legal and ethical constraints on this kind of work, and why it is important for understanding the health of mothers and babies.

Photo Credit: Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz Lab

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber

As Pacific Ocean temperatures rise, a major El Niño is looming. Experts from the European Centre for Medium range Weather Forecasting, Magdalena Balmaseda and Tim Stockdale, join us to discuss how it is heating up the world and if it could herald in a new period of climate uncertainty.

Last month, Roland stayed up all night to watch the spectacular explosion of supernova 2023ixf. Now, Dr Charlie Kilpatrick, a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University, has identified the star that blew up 21 million lightyears away. A similar star in our galaxy, the exceptionally bright Betelgeuse, has been acting strangely. Dr Andrea Dupree, a senior astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard and Smithsonian, has been trying to figure out what is going on. Is this iconic star about to pop?

And from ageing stars to ageing flies, researchers have published a cell-by-cell map of fruit flies throughout the life of the short lived creatures, showing how they change. Steve Quake, professor of bioengineering and professor of applied physics at Stanford University, tells us what this means for us.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber

(Image: Illustration of the world map showing areas of rising temperatures. Credit: ClimateReanalyzer.org)

The origin of all complex life has been traced back 1.6 billion years as new molecular fossil records have discovered the fatty stains that our ancient single celled ancestors have left behind. Jochen Brocks, Professor of Geobiology at Australian National University, discusses the significance of these unique biological signatures.

One billion years later, to a mere 462 million years ago, life on Earth was experiencing a boom of new species but we have very few fossil records to understand this era. Now, palaeontologists Dr Joe Botting and Dr Lucy Muir have found the most abundant deposit of soft bodied fossils from this time in a tiny Welsh quarry.

Next, to the relatively recent past, 350,000 years ago, where remains found in a South African cave suggest that an extinct species of human, Homo Naledi, buried their dead. But Mike Petraglia, Professor of Human Evolution and Prehistory at the Max Planck Institute, doubts these claims.

And in the modern day, the fungi which have colonised our soil for millions of years are still helping us clean up the atmosphere. Professor of Plant-Soil Processes at the University of Sheffield, Katie Field, tells us about the astounding amount of carbon captured by the fungus beneath our feet.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber

(Image: Artist?s imagination of an assemblage of primordial eukaryotic organisms of the ?Protosterol Biota? inhabiting a bacterial mat on the ocean floor. Credit: Orchestrated in MidJourney by TA 2023)

The California Condor has been brought back from the brink of extinction by dedicated conservation efforts over the past 30 years. Now, this critically endangered species is the latest victim of the H5N1 bird flu which is racing round the world. California Condor co-ordinator Ashleigh Blackford and wildlife veterinarian Dr Samantha Gibbs from the US Fish and Wildlife Service discuss their last-ditch efforts to vaccinate the birds against H5N1.

Huge 40,000 km plumes of water ice have been imaged erupting from Saturn?s moon Enceladus. Dr Sara Faggi, a postdoctoral Researcher in the Solar System Division at Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center, dives into this incredible new observation from the James Webb Space Telescope.

Dr Pierre Galand from France?s Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls has been part of a two-and-a-half-year expedition to sample the microorganisms in coral reefs across the world. His new research shows that this tiny life is much more diverse than previously understood and may be essential to life of the coral reefs. And, much deeper in the Ocean, researchers estimate that there are over 5000 unnamed species in the world?s largest mineral exploration region, the Clarion-Clipperton Zone. Muriel Rabone, data and sample co-ordinator, and Dr Adrian Glover, merit researcher, both from the Natural History Museum in London, talk to Roland about this region of stunning biodiversity and the hope to protect it.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Editor: Richard Collings

(Photo: An adult and juvenile California condor. Credit: Loi Nguyen)

A star in the nearby Pinwheel Galaxy has exploded spectacularly into a supernova, dubbed SN 2023ixf. It is the brightest in a decade and it has got astronomers around the world into a frenzy. Science in Action hears from both amateur and professional astronomers alike as they scramble to collect exciting new images and data.

Back on the ground, we hear from the Professor of Climate Change and Earth System Science at the University of Exeter, Tim Lenton about his new paper highlighting how rising global temperatures could push human populations from their homes.

Contributors: Dan Milisavljevic, Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University. Dr Jane Clark, Trustee of the Cardiff Astronomical Society Bronco Oostermeyer, amateur astronomer Raffaella Margutti, Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley Erez Zimmerman, Astrophysics PhD student, Weizmann institute of science Professor Avishay Gal-Yam, Head of Experimental Astrophisics Group, Weizmann institute of science Professor Tim Lenton, Director of the Global Systems Institute and Chair in Climate Change and Earth System Science at the University of Exeter

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber

(Image: Supernova SN 2023ixf. Credit: Dr Jane Clark and The Cardiff Astronomical Society)

Over the past few weeks, wildfires have scorched over 1,800 square miles of land across North West America and are still going strong. Dr Mike Flannigan, professor at the Department of Renewable Resources at the University of Alberta, talks to Roland about the weather patterns and record-breaking heat causing the devastating flames.

On the other side of the world, in Zambia, Dr Edgar Simulundu has been finding out why some humans attract mosquitoes more than others, and how we can use this to tackle the malaria epidemic.

Also this week, Professor Novel Chegou, lead investigator at Stellenbosch University Immunology Research Group, has been awarded the 2022 Africa Prize for his innovative method for quickly diagnosing tuberculosis. And we visit the Royal Society for a very different reason. Roland checks in on the ?Ukraine's Recovery: Rebuilding with Research? conference, and the discussion to use evidence based approaches for rebuilding after war.

Contributors:

Dr Mike Flannigan, Department of Renewable Resources at the University of Alberta Professor Novel Chegou Novel Chegou, lead investigator at Stellenbosch University Immunology Research Group Dr Edgar Simulundu, Senior Lecturer at the University of Zambia Uliana Avtonomova, Secretary General, Fund of the President of Ukraine for Education, Science, and Sports Olena Sotnyk, lawyer and former member of the Ukrainian parliament Dr Vesna Najdanovic, Energy and Bioproduct Research Institute

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber

In 2003, an incredible scientific milestone was achieved as the first human genome completed sequencing. For 20 years, this genome has been used as a reference by researchers for comparison to all other DNA sequences. Now, the Human Pangenome Reference Consortium is addressing the lack of genetic diversity starting with 47 new reference genomes. Members of the consortium, Dr Karen Miga, assistant professor, UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute and Dr Benedict Paten, associate professor, UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, join Roland to discuss the first stages of the project. For the first time the public will have access to thousands of documents from the Royal Society?s historical collections following their digitisation. Science correspondent Vic Gill visits the vaults to see some of these pieces of history first hand. We are also taking a trip 30km above the Earth, to the stratosphere, where Daniel Bowman, principal scientist from Sandia National Laboratories, is using solar powered balloons to listen to the mysterious sounds of our planet. Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber

(Image Illustration of the globe. Credit: Darryl Leja, NHGRI)