BBC Inside Science

Professor and presenter, Chris Lintott, talks about his new book Our Accidental Universe; a tour of chance encounters and human error in pursuit of asteroids, pulsars, radio waves, new stars and alien life. Even with incredible technological developments, the major astronomical events of the past century are largely down to plain ol? good luck; discovered not, as you might assume, by careful experiment, but as surprises when we have been looking for something else entirely. For instance, the most promising habitat for life beyond Earth turns out to be Saturn's tiny moon Enceladus, whose oceans were revealed when NASA's Cassini probe did a drive-by and, we get the most from the Hubble Space Telescope by pointing it at absolutely nothing!

A new company has launched which aims to mine Helium-3 on the moon to sell on Earth. This rare isotope is used for supercooling quantum computers and some scientists dream of using it in nuclear fusion as a new source of renewable energy. But is this ambition realistic and, if so, could it be within reach anytime soon? Planetary scientist Sara Russell of the Natural History Museum explains all.

There are many moons in our solar systems, but one of the strangest is Titan; the largest moon of the Saturn system. It gets colder than 100 degrees Celsius and has a thick atmosphere that creates weather. But its biggest mystery is the enormous, coffee-coloured dunes that cover a large part of its surface. Where did they come from? Planetary scientist Bill Bottke has a cunning theory.

In our universe, some stars are twins. They originate from the same molecular clouds and should be identical, but some pairs are not as similar as you?d expect. Marnie speaks to astrophysicist Yuan-Sen Ting about his new paper which illuminates how this difference might occur. His theory is that one of the stars, perhaps the evil twin, has been busy eating up vulnerable planets...? Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Louise Orchard, Florian Bohr and Imaan Moin Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth?

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

The world?s oldest fossilised forest was uncovered in Somerset last week. We head to palaeobotanist, Dr Christopher Berry?s, lab at Cardiff University to learn about these cladoxylopsids. They lived 390 million years ago and although they are not the ancestors of today?s trees, they reveal some extraordinary evolutionary secrets.

Also, Marnie speaks to Dr Chris Thorogood of the University of Oxford Botanic Gardens?about his new book Pathless Forest: The Quest to Save the World?s Largest Flowers. Called ?Rafflesia? plants and found in the remotest parts of South East Asia, their flowers burst from the rain forest floor the size of pumpkins and are critically endangered. Chris talks of his world of extreme fieldwork and hair-raising expeditions, braving leeches, lizards and lethal forest swamps, to discover the rarest of rare blooms.

Plus, the Wildlife Trust?s Making Friends with Molluscs campaign starts today, and I?m sure many gardeners will declare this an impossible task! We visit some allotments in Bristol to find out how people are managing slug and snail populations. And chat to Brian Eversham from the Trust of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, who explains why these garden creatures should be considered our friends, not foes.

And finally, Dr Stewart Husband from last week?s programme returns to answer more of your burning questions about your tap water.

A recent study on how to get rid of microplastics in water sparked presenter Marnie Chesterton?s curiosity. When she turns on the tap in her kitchen each day, what comes out is drinkable, clean water. But where did it come from, and what?s in it? Dr Stewart Husband from Sheffield University answers this and more, including listener questions from around the UK. Is water sterile? Should I use a filter? And why does my water smell like chlorine?

Also, 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.

And finally, more than 20 million years ago, our branch of the tree of life lost its tail. At that point in time, apes split from another animal group, monkeys. Now, geneticist Dr Bo Xia at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard thinks he may have found the specific mutation that took our tails. Marnie speaks with evolutionary biologist Dr Tom Stubbs from the Open University about why being tail-less could be beneficial. What would a hypothetical parallel universe look like where humans roam the earth, tails intact? And what would these tails look like?

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Louise Orchard, Florian Bohr, Jonathan Blackwell, Imaan Moin Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth?

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

Switzerland has submitted a proposal to create a United Nations expert group on solar geoengineering to inform governments and stakeholders. The idea was discussed at the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, this week. Professor Aarti Gupta shares how, after tense negotiations, the different member states could not agree, and the proposal was withdrawn. Why is solar geoengineering a controversial issue? How would dimming the sun even work? And should we consider it a genuine option in our fight against climate change? Dr Pete Irvine and Professor Joanna Haigh join presenter Marnie Chesterton in the studio to discuss.

Animal welfare charities have been celebrating a ban on donkey skin trade, agreed to this month by 55 African countries. This will make it illegal to slaughter donkeys for their skin across the continent, where around two thirds of the world?s 53 million donkeys live. Victoria Gill tells Marnie that the demand for the animals' skins is fuelled by the popularity of an ancient Chinese medicine called Ejiao, believed to have health-enhancing and youth-preserving properties and traditionally made from donkey hides.

Lastly, Dr Jess Wade, physicist and science communicator at Imperial College London, discusses Breaking Through: My Life in Science. It?s the memoir of Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Dr Katalin Karikó, whose passion and dedication to mRNA research led to the development of the life-changing COVID mRNA vaccines.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Florian Bohr, Louise Orchard Assistant Producer: Imaan Moin Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

Professor Ben Garrod guest presents.

As a new 'meaty rice' is created and Fortnum & Mason launch a scotch egg made with cultivated meat that they hope to have on sale as early as next year, we investigate the world of laboratory-grown meat.

Mark Post made the first ever synthetic meat in 2012 to the tune of £200,000. He tells us how these lab-grown meats are made and how, he thinks, they could play an important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and feeding a growing population. Jenny Kleeman, author of Sex, Robots and Vegan Meat, is more sceptical, citing concerns over food security and if the public really want to eat this stuff.

A stingray called Charlotte has become pregnant, despite there being no other stingrays in her tank at the Aquarium & Shark Lab in North Carolina. Marine biologist Dr Helen Scales considers how this may have happened.

And cosmic minerologist Sara Russell from the Natural History Museum tells us how astronomers tracked and found a particularly unusual asteroid entering Earth?s atmosphere and what we might learn from it.?

Presenter: Professor Ben Garrod Producers: Hannah Robins, Florian Bohr, Alice Lipscombe-Southwell and Jonathan Blackwell Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth?

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

The Gulf Stream, also known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), is essential to stable global climate, and the reason we have moderate temperatures in Northern Europe. Now, a new modelling study suggests that this circulation could, at some point, be at a tipping point and collapse. We hear from one of the minds behind the model, post-doctoral researcher René van Westen from Utrecht University. But how likely is it that this will actually happen in the real world? Presenter Victoria Gill speaks to Jonathan Bamber who cautions that a gulf stream collapse is not imminent, and that it may just weaken slowly over time. Every summer in the Hudson Bay, on the Eastern side of Arctic Canada, the sea ice melts and the region?s polar bears head inland. But that ice-free season is getting longer, depriving the bears of that frozen platform that they use to pounce on their favourite prey ? seals. So what do the bears do all summer? Research Wildlife Biologist Karyn Rode shares how she and her colleagues put a collar with video cameras on 20 polar bears, and what it revealed about their lives.

Is CERN finally going to get a gigantic new particle accelerator? Almost exactly one decade ago, Roland Pease reported from Switzerland about the very first meeting about the successor of the Large Hadron Collider which was used to discover the Higgs Boson. Now there?s an update to the story. Roland is back to tell Vic how far along CERN is with their plans, and how much more time and money it will take to build the Future Circular Collider.

Lovers of certain famous, creamy French cheeses could be in for a bit of a shock. Camembert and Brie are facing extinction as we know them! The Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Paris has stated that, over the last 100 years, the food and farming industry has placed too much pressure on the production of these types of cheeses. Now, the fungus traditionally used to grow the famous, fluffy white rinds has been cloned to a point where the lack of diversity in its genetic makeup means it can no longer be reproduced. Turophiles must learn to appreciate more diversity of tastes, colours and textures to protect the cheeses? future.

Presenter: Victoria Gill Producers: Florian Bohr, Louise Orchard, Alice Lipscombe-Southwell? Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth?

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

As part of the Vesuvius Challenge, computer scientists have used machine learning to successfully reveal 2,000 characters from the Herculaneum scrolls. These artefacts were charred to a crisp following the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. Papyrologist Federica Nicolardi has been translating the writings, and tells us what exactly has been deciphered.

Following this week?s launch of NASA?s PACE satellite, NASA scientist Dr Susanne Craig tells us how the mission will be giving our planet a health check.

Bird flu is still an issue. This month, scientists have reported that hundreds of penguin chicks have died from the virus in the Falklands. Meanwhile, in Argentina, avian flu has killed huge numbers of elephant seal pups. Professor Wendy Barclay, a virologist from Imperial College London, tells us more about the virus and how it can jump between species.

Sunday 11th February is International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Physicist Dr Jess Wade, who has written hundreds of Wikipedia biographies of women and underrepresented scientists, reveals one of her favourite scientists that people haven?t heard of.

Presenter: Victoria Gill Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Florian Bohr, Louise Orchard Assistant Producer: Jonathan Blackwell Researcher: Imaan Moin Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth?

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

Are cyborgs now reality? Elon Musk certainly thinks so. His company, Neuralink, has successfully implanted one of its wireless brain chips in a human. Although billed as a breakthrough, they?re not the first to do it. In fact, similar devices have already been implanted, all with the aim of connecting our brains to computers with the aim of tackling complex neurological conditions. Joining Inside Science is neuroscientist and author, Dean Burnett. In this episode, Dean helps to break down the technology behind the brain-computer interface and digs into the ethical implications.

Plus, game changing smart technology gets a run out as Rugby Union?s Six Nations Championship kicks-off. This year, all players will be wearing ?Smart Mouth Guards.? These are intelligent gum shields containing miniature gyroscopes, accelerometers and Bluetooth, which provide - with incredible accuracy - a measure of the magnitude and frequency of forces experienced by players. An athlete making their international debut in this competition could have their entire collision history mapped from now until retirement, providing invaluable information for training and treatments. Crucial not only for elite squads, but ultimately for community and schools rugby where the technology will eventually land, leading to a safer game.

And finally, it turns out that we can actually understand chickens even if we?ve never met them before! After assessing a group of around 200 volunteers, a team at the University of Queensland has discovered that humans with no experience of chickens at all, could understand the birds? calls of satisfaction, or frustration. The research has serious implications for what?s known as precision farming, an area of livestock farming with little, to no, human interaction that requires automated systems of welfare detection using sound recognition.

Presenter: Victoria Gill Producers: Louise Orchard, Florian Bohr, Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth?

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

Hydrogen has long been touted as a potential wonder gas that could play a significant role in our race to net zero. Now, planning permission has been granted for the UK?s largest production hub of its kind, and one of the most advanced in the world. Located in Cheshire, it bills itself as a vital piece of Northwest England?s mission to help manufacturers in the region decarbonise their processes and support UK jobs. We speak to chemical engineer and the plant?s site manager, Richard Holden, and we also catch up with Mark Miodownik, Professor of Materials and Society at University College London, about hydrogen and our future energy economy.

Almost 25 years ago, Dr Marc Lammers stumbled across a mystery. The humpback whale singing he was recording via an underwater microphone near the shore was quieter during the day than at night. But he wasn?t able to answer why. Many years later, a PhD student, Anke Kuegler, joined his research team and took on the task of uncovering what was really going on. Using multiple ways of listening to and tracking the whales, she found out that the singing humpbacks were moving off-shore during the day, and closer to shore at night. Part of the mystery was solved, but it raised an even bigger question: what is driving this behaviour?

Plus, a recent study has shown that terrestrial hermit crabs around the world are using non-organic materials, like plastic bottle caps, as their homes. Professor Marta Szulkin and her team at the University of Warsaw looked through social media photographs and videos (known as iEcology, or Internet Ecology) to find evidence for this new behaviour. Marta has theories about why the crabs are doing this, but it will take many years of research to uncover the long-term effects on hermit crab populations and their evolutionary trajectory. And, resident materials expert, Mark Miodownik, chats to Viv about what we can, and cannot, solve about the global plastic emergency.

Presenter: Victoria Gill Producers: Florian Bohr, Louise Orchard Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth?

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

As lava consumes homes on the Reykjavik Peninsula in Iceland, evacuated communities have been witnessing eruptions shifting and intensifying. We take a look at the latest science that?s helping teams on the ground accurately predict where the danger is coming from, helping people to stay safe. Our go-to volcanologist, Dr Evgenia Ilyinskaya, and her colleague, Professor Andrew Hooper, from the University of Leeds tell presenter Victoria about these new technological advancements, and ask the crucial question: are we entering a new millennium of volcanic activity in Iceland?

When looking at clear ocean water, you might assume that, aside from fish and some algae, there isn?t much living in it. But Prof Carlos Duarte knows it is full of life. In fact, his new study shows just how many different microbes ? bacteria, viruses & fungi ? live in all parts of our ocean. He and his team at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia have created the largest ocean genome catalogue to date. Prof Mark Blaxter from the Wellcome Sanger Institute joins us to discuss this new study, the benefits of hypothesis-free science, and why he believes cataloguing the code of life of all the species on earth is an important endeavour.

And, lastly, an old dinosaur fossil in New Mexico has been re-examined. What was believed to be of the infamous Tyrannosaurus rex may have been a different species all along. But not all palaeontologists agree. How do scientists even tell a dinosaur species from a fossil? Prof Stephen Brusatte tells Vic that it?s all about comparing bones.

Presenter: Victoria Gill Producers: Florian Bohr, Louise Orchard, Hannah Robbins Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth?

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

When Lois Pryce arrived at her boat in Berkshire, the area was already completely flooded. The only way to get to it was via a small pontoon. She is one of many across the UK that have been affected by the current floods, and is very familiar with the flood warning system accessible to the public. But how exactly does this system work? What information is taken into account? Marnie Chesterton speaks to Dr Linda Speight about flood forecasting, and the delicate balance of when to send out flood alerts and warnings. Plus, a supersized spacecraft is launching this October. Europa Clipper will assess whether the most intriguing of Jupiter?s 95 moons is habitable, meaning, could it support life? The evidence is tantalising. Jenny Kempmeir, Science Systems Engineer at NASA?s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, tells us why Europa might be the second body in our solar system on which life could exist.

And, if you?ve been procrastinating over the housework ? or should we say, mousework? - take a leaf out of a little rodent?s book. Apparently, mice do like to keep things clean, but a video that went viral this week seemingly takes this idea to another level entirely! You may well have seen the footage of a Welsh mouse gathering up objects in a shed and placing them neatly inside a box, night after night. It?s certainly very cute - Tidy Mouse carrying out its mousekeeping..but what?s the scientific explanation behind this curious behaviour?

Finally, how do exercise and video games affect cognitive performance? Professor Adrian Owen is launching a new experiment to find out and he needs your help.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Louise Orchard, Florian Bohr, Hannah Robbins Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth?

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

2024 is an exciting year for lunar exploration. For Inside Science this week Marnie Chesterton investigates the planned missions to the Moon over the next twelve months.

It?s been more than fifty years since the last manned mission to the Moon was completed. But that?s about to change with NASA?s upcoming Artemis II mission. This will not only be the first manned lunar flyby of the Moon since 1972, but also the first mission to have a woman and person of colour on board. Reid Wiseman, Commander of the Artemis II manned mission explains more about the mission and even lets us into a few secrets about what culinary delights await astronauts in space.

But it?s not just NASA going to the Moon in 2024. China?s Chang?e 6 mission is lifting off in May, aiming to collect samples of rock from the far side of the moon. Quentin Parker, Director of the Laboratory for Space Research at the University of Hong Kong has a unique insight into China?s mission and has been following progress.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Hannah Fisher Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth?

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

Marnie Chesterton & Victoria Gill embark on a science-themed version of the classic Christmas song ?The 12 Days of Christmas? in this festive edition of BBC Inside Science.

Twelve of the biggest moments of the year in science include discussion about a very special treefrog discovered in the Ecuadorian Andes. We also hear about two new promising drugs for Alzheimer?s disease.

An astronomer and visualisation scientist tells us about three new sonifications of space data.

There?s more on the discovery of a 476,000 year-old wooden structure found earlier this year in Zambia and how it has changed archaeologists' understanding of ancient human life.

The year has also seen 5,000 new species discovered in a deep ocean abyssal plain. Saturn has 62 new moons and is now the planet with the most moons in our solar system.

A report was published deeming 75% of UK rivers as posing a risk to human health. We gathered together experts from Natural Resources Wales, Cardiff University, Bangor University and the Wye and Usk Foundation who discussed why the help from citizen science is essential for their work.

And a new record has been set which is really worrying scientists - the highest average global ocean surface temperature, which reached 20.98 degrees centigrade.

Other notable moments from the year include: a Japanese twelve-legged robot, eighteen video-calling parrots, proposals for the 10km long Einstein telescope and the theory behind why one player in every football team views the world slightly differently.

To help us along the journey the BBC?s Radio Drama Company put all the science together into a brand-new rendition of the well-known 12 days of Christmas song.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton & Victoria Gill Producer: Hannah Fisher Assistant Producer: Emily Bird Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth?

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

We?re on board the RSS Sir David Attenborough for the vessel?s first big science season in the Antarctic, since it launched in 2020. It?s crewed by scientists involved in Project Biopole, a 5-year mission attempting to better understand carbon cycle at the poles. Nadine Johnston, a microbiologist with the British Antarctic Survey, joins Inside Science to talk about her work on copepods; zooplankton that build up huge fat reserves over the spring and summer months, then hibernate at 3000m during winter, taking carbon with them which is then locked-up in the deep ocean for up to 600yrs! Her research is a world first in the Southern Ocean and could help improve global carbon modelling of the earth system.

Staying in the South Pole, neuroscientist John-Antoine Libourel, talks about his latest research into the surprising sleeping habits of chinstrap penguins.

And after weeks of intense earthquake activity, the volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula of south-west Iceland has erupted. Dr Evgenia Ilyinskaya, our go-to volcanologist, provides an update. Plus, a nod to the festive season, as composer and AI artist, LJ Rich, explains why Christmas music makes us feel all fuzzy.

Presenter: Victoria Gill Producers: Hannah Robins, Harrison Lewis & Louise Orchard Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth? ?

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

COP 28, the largest climate summit in history, has drawn to a close. Marnie Chesterton examines some of the main stories to emerge from this lengthy conference.

The way we look after our oceans, measures needed to ensure food security and an agreement to transition away from fossil fuel dependence were some of the big themes of the summit.

The BBC?s climate reporter Georgina Rannard takes us through the final agreement.

We hear from Glada Lahn, senior research fellow at international affairs think-tank Chatham House, who explains how we might one day wean ourselves off so-called ?brown energy?.

Farming is also a source of greenhouse gases. Growing, processing and packaging food account for a third of all?greenhouse gas emissions. How we feed the 8.1 billion of us on the planet continues to be a contentious issue. Casper Chater from Royal Botanic Gardens Kew explains what we can do to adapt our existing crops to cope with more frequent flood and drought events.

Oceans are warming, losing oxygen and acidifying. Sea levels are rising. We speak to Ko Barrett, a senior climate advisor at the US's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, about the role oceans have played so far in helping us mitigate the worse effects of climate change. And we meet Mervina Paueli, a 25-year-old Tuvaluan negotiator, whose small archipelago in the South Pacific is on the frontline.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Louise Orchard, Hannah Robins and Harrison Lewis Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth?

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

Vagrant birds are those that appear in locations where they are not usually found. They might have been blown off course by a storm or have been affected by changing weather patterns due to climate change. Although a treat for birders, these visitors can also have a big impact on their new environments as Victoria Gill finds out when she heads to Burton Mere Wetlands on the Dee Estuary with Dr Alexander Lees, reader in biodiversity at Manchester Metropolitan University.

As former Prime Minister Boris Johnson gives his testimony, we hear the latest from the UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry with BBC Health Reporter Jim Reed.

A new study reveals that, contrary to a commonly-held view, the brain does not have the ability to rewire itself to compensate for the loss of, for example sight, an amputation or stroke. This is despite what most scientists believe and teach. Moreover, the assumption that it has this ability has led to all manner of erroneous treatments for amputees, stroke victims and other conditions, the study suggests.

We?re joined by the study?s authors, Professor John Krakauer from Johns Hopkins University and Professor Tamar Making of the University of Cambridge. We?ll also hear from one of Tamar?s key case studies, Kirsty Mason, an amputee from the age of 18 who advanced the scientists? experiments exponentially.

? Presenter: Victoria Gill Producers: Hannah Robins and Louise Orchard Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth?

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

Tunnels have been the focus of much attention this week as the war in Gaza continues and 41 workers were rescued in India, after 17 days trapped underground. Forensic geoscientists Jamie Pringle and Ruth Morgan explain the science behind identifying what?s beneath the surface, from above ground, and how you might work out what a tunnel is being used for.

This winter, the Northern Lights are going to be the most spectacular they?ve been in twenty years. With the aurora borealis already appearing as far south as Stonehenge, Katie Herlingshaw, a space physicsist from the University Centre in Svalbard, explains what?s happening.

The Conference of the Parties, or COP28, begins in Dubai. BBC?s Georgina Rannard gives us the rundown of which countries are the best and worst for sticking to climate goals and assesses the UK?s own standing after Rishi Sunak rowed back on key climate commitments earlier this year.??

The UK Covid-19 Inquiry hears from some of the most important ministers this week as key government ministers give evidence. BBC Health Reporter Jim Reed gives us the update.

Presenter:??Marnie Chesterton Producers: Hannah Robins, Louise Orchard and Hannah Fisher Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

Key scientific witnesses including former Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance and Chief Medical Officer for England Chris Whitty are called to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry. The BBC?s Jim Reed brings us his three key moments from the evidence heard over the past few days that have been dubbed ?science week?.

NASA has managed to let loose a tool kit in the Earth?s orbit -- and you can even see it in the night sky with binoculars. Lucinda King explains how this is possible and if space junk is getting out of control.

The United Nations has warned we?re heading towards 3 degrees warming and another Conference of the Parties, known as COP, is about to take place. The BBC?s Georgina Rannard reminds us there is still hope for our planet to curb global warming.

The winner of the 2023 Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize was announced on Wednesday night. It?s Ed Yong for his book ?An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us?. Marnie Chesterton was at the ceremony and nabbed Ed as well as Chair of the Judges Alain Goriely to find out what made this book the winner.

Presenter:??Marnie Chesterton Producers: Harrison Lewis, Hannah Robins and Louise Orchard Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

An underground river of magma and thousands of tremors have been observed across the Reykjanes peninsula in Iceland. We speak to the scientists monitoring the Fagradalsfjall volcano who explain how this might be ushering in a new era of huge volcanic activity in the country.

Sir Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England and Sir Patrick Vallance, former Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK government are due to appear at the Covid-19 Inquiry next week. It?s the next stage of the public inquiry that began proceedings in July last year. Now it?s focussing on the key questions surrounding how science and the scientific community informed government strategy before, during and after the pandemic. BBC Health Reporter Jim Reed has been attending the inquiry and explains what we know from the evidence that?s been given so far ? and what to expect next week.

David Quammen discusses his book ?Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus?. It's a thriller-style narrative revealing how scientists responded to the coronavirus pandemic. It?s our final shortlisted book for the Royal Society Science Book Prize. The winner will be announced next week.

Presenter:??Victoria Gill Producers: Hannah Robins, Harrison Lewis, Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Editor: Richard Collings ?? Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

Professor Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in Bangladesh, has died. He was instrumental in pushing for a loss and damages fund for vulnerable countries affected by climate change. Last year?s COP27 climate conference made a pledge to set up this fund. But, as yet, there is not one in place. Marnie Chesterton speaks to BBC climate reporter Esme Stallard about Professor Huq?s legacy, and where the money will come from for a loss and damages fund.

We also hear about an unusual snail that?s looking for love, with the help of matchmaking academic Dr Angus Davison. He?s hoping to find a suitor for the mollusc. Marnie talks to Lev Parikian, author of Taking Flight: The Evolutionary Story of Life on the Wing, which has been shortlisted for this year?s Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize.

Geneticist, Professor Giles Yeo, who recently cycled from Land?s End to John O?Groats with two glucose monitors attached to his arms, gives us an update on his research. He wanted to find out how diet and exercise affected his body?s sugar levels.

Presenter:??Marnie Chesterton Producers: Hannah Robins, Harrison Lewis and Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

Long abandoned metal mines are having a huge impact on rivers across the UK. BBC Inside Science reporter Patrick Hughes visits Cwmystwyth in Wales, where he finds lead, zinc and cadmium seeping into waterways. It?s the costly legacy left after hundreds of years of mining.

Roma Agrawal breaks down our modern world into seven essential basic inventions in her book Nuts and Bolts which has been shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize. She talks to Marnie about the surprising history behind some of these inventions.?

And, as a cryogenic tank of bull semen is stolen from a farm in County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, it got us thinking: how can selective breeding help reduce carbon and methane emissions from cattle? Professor Eileen Wall from Scotland?s Rural College tells us more.

Presenter:??Marnie Chesterton Producers: Harrison Lewis, Hannah Robins and Patrick Hughes Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

BBC Inside Science is produced in Cardiff by BBC Wales and West in collaboration with the Open University.

PFAS chemicals, also known as forever chemicals, don?t break down in the environment. They can accumulate in the body and are found to have an array of harmful effects on human health.

A major mapping project has revealed worryingly high levels of PFAS across thousands of sites in the UK. Experts are concerned that not enough is being done to reduce these chemicals from drinking water. They?re urging the government to re-evaluate current regulation. This week we dive into the properties of these chemicals: how dangerous are they and what can be done to protect public health? Professor Crispin Halsall, an environmental chemist from Lancaster University, tells us more.

As charges are brought against four people for stealing and selling on US$1 million of dinosaur bones, we find out about the illegal ? and legal ? trade in fossils from palaeontologist Professor Steve Brusatte.

New research has discovered the Moon is 40 million years older than we previously thought. Professor Sara Russell, a cosmic mineralogist and planetary scientist from the Natural History Museum, tells us more.

And is there something we can we learn from animals about how to age better? Nicklas Brendborg discusses his book, Jellyfish Age Backwards: Nature?s Secrets to Longevity, which has been shortlisted for the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize.

Presenter:??Victoria Gill Producers: Hannah Robins, Harrison Lewis and Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

White phosphorous is an incendiary material and if it were to be used in any built-up civilian areas, the practice would violate international law. We find out what makes white phosphorus so dangerous, and we ask how easy is it to identify? Andrea Sella, professor of chemistry at University College London, grants access to his laboratory and conducts an experiment with this highly flammable and volatile substance.

Whole words and phrases from crushed and carbonised scrolls can be read for the first time in almost two thousand years. The documents, uncovered from Herculaneum, an ancient Roman town close to Pompeii which was buried under volcanic ash, have been made legible thanks to 3D scans and artificial intelligence. Dr. Federica Nicolardi, a papyrologist at the University of Naples, tells us more about this exciting discovery.

Kate Zernike discusses her book The Exceptions, which tells the story of a group of 16 women who used their scientific know-how to inspire radical change. It?s been shortlisted for this year?s Royal Society Science Book Prize.

And finally, this month marks exactly a year since beavers became a protected species in England. BBC Inside Science goes to Devon in search of these charismatic animals and we ask what effect they have been having on the countryside.

Presenter:??Victoria Gill Producers: Hannah Robins, Harrison Lewis, Alice Lipscombe-Southwell and Patrick Hughes Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

A paper recently published in the journal Nature claimed that assembly theory could help explain and quantify selection and evolution. But what exactly is assembly theory? In this episode Marnie Chesterton speaks to science writer Philip Ball and zoologist and writer Professor Matthew Cobb. They dig into the science behind this tricky concept and figure out why it makes people so angry.

A sample recovered by NASA from the Bennu asteroid hurtled back to earth recently. This week we saw what?s been retrieved from 200 million miles away. Studies on the dust and rock are just getting underway. Professor Tom Zega, one of the mission scientists, reveals why this sample will be important for many years to come.

We also hear from Ed Yong who has been shortlisted for the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize. He tells us about his book, An Immense World, where he encourages us to think beyond the confines of our fleshy bodies.

People experience the world in many different ways. It all comes down to perception. We speak to Professor Fiona Macpherson who, along with neuroscientist Professor Anil Seth, are co-leads of The Perception Census which aims to document the differences. Fiona reveals how this could help shine a light on consciousness and what it means to be human. The census closes at the end of the month and everyone?s welcome. You can take part here: https://perceptioncensus.dreamachine.world

? Presenter:??Marnie Chesterton Producers: Harrison Lewis and Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

Under the mighty radio Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank, Victoria Gill brings together some of the UK?s leading experts who were visiting the recent ?bluedot? science and music festival. They discussed the ongoing hunt for extraterrestrial life.

We hear from Karen Olsson-Francis, a microbiologist who focuses on the tiny living things that have managed to occupy Earth's most hostile environments. Her research is helping shape space missions that are looking for evidence of life elsewhere in our solar system.

Also on the panel is Libby Jackson, head of space exploration at the UK Space Agency, who specialises in preparing humans for the extremes of interplanetary travel.

Finally, we hear from Tim O'Brien, associate director of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics. He?s explored parts of the Universe that no human can travel to by making the most of the radio telescopes based at Jodrell Bank.

Get the latest ?inside? scoop on how the UK is assisting with the search for life beyond Earth.

Presenter:??Victoria Gill Producers:??Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Harrison Lewis Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

In this week?s episode Victoria Gill speaks to Nida al-Fulaij, conservation research manager at the People?s Trust for Endangered Species, about the UK?s new State of Nature report. Climate change, habitat loss and intensive agricultural practices have been blamed for the decline in species. But all is not lost. Victoria pays a visit to an eco-friendly farm and finds out how innovative agricultural practices can boost wildlife in the UK?s fields.

We?re kicking off our series of programmes covering The Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize. Chair of the judges is Alain Goriely, Professor of Mathematical Modelling at the University of Oxford. He gives us a rundown of this year?s shortlisted entries.

This week, scientists at CERN in Switzerland announced they have observed how antimatter behaves in the presence of gravity. Particle physicist Jeffrey Hangst, who led the Alpha experiment, tells us why this is a big deal.

We also have the latest on OSIRIS-REx mission, the first NASA mission to return a sample of an asteroid to Earth. The capsule parachuted down into the Utah desert this week. It contained a precious cargo of rock and dust samples taken from an asteroid named Bennu. Jon Amos, the BBC?s science correspondent is in Utah and witnessed the return. He tells Victoria all about it.

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

Presenter:??Victoria Gill Producers: Hannah Robins, Harrison Lewis, Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Editor: Richard Collings ?? Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gave a hastily arranged press conference this week in which he confirmed he would be rowing back on some previously made government commitments regarding net zero - the point at which we remove as much carbon from the atmosphere as we put in.

The reaction has been mixed, ranging from endorsements from fellow politicians in the Conservative Party to criticism from opposition parties and environmental groups. The business community is also split. So why has Mr Sunak changed his policies on climate change - and why now? Gaia Vince speaks to Ian Dunt, editor of politics.co.uk We hear about an astonishing finding by archaeologists who have discovered expertly manufactured interlocking wooden structural parts that are half a million years old. What do they tell us about our early human ancestors in Africa? Gaia speaks to Professor of Archaeology Laurence Barham and Professor of Geography Geoff Duller about their extraordinary discovery. Approximately two billion tonnes of dust is lifted into the Earth?s atmosphere each year and it is both dangerous to human life and essential to the oxidisation of our oceans and rivers. We relentlessly attempt to rid our homes of dust but it always seems to come back. Why do we hardly ever discuss dust? A new book by Jay Owens, ?Dust: The Modern World in a Trillion Particles? does just that. Jay talks to Gaia about why we should we be as fascinated as she is by tiny airborne particles.

As we emit CO2 into the atmosphere, a significant amount - around a third - is taken in by the oceans. With growing interest in carbon removal interventions, ocean scientist Dr David T. Ho tells Gaia about undertaking an exciting experiment. Listen to this bonus content in the podcast. Presenter: Gaia Vince Producers: Laura Northedge and Emily Bird Research: Patrick Hughes

Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

Editor: Richard Collings

In 2015 the UN adopted 17 sustainable development goals aiming to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure people everywhere enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. Ahead of a summit next week in New York marking the half way point, presenter Gaia Vince speaks to Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in Bangladesh, and Olive Heffernan, a science author and journalist focused on oceans and climate to find out how the world is doing.

In July, a new chair was elected to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. Professor Jim Skea is a leading figure in the global push to decarbonise, adapt and innovate our way to net zero, and previously led Scotland?s Just Transition Commission. He speaks to Gaia about his new role and the importance of the IPCC.

And this week we mark the death of renowned embryologist Professor Sir Ian Wilmut, who led the team that created Dolly the sheep in 1996. Gaia is joined by Roger Highfield, Science Director of the Science Museum Group, to discuss the scientific and cultural impact of the world?s first cloned mammal from an adult animal cell.

Presenter: Gaia Vince Producers: Laura Northedge, Hannah Robins, Alice Lipscombe-Southwell and Emily Bird. Research: Patrick Hughes

Humans have introduced more than 37,000 alien species to places they do not naturally occur. A report launched this week by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services revealed the shocking extent of the damage. Gaia Vince speaks to one of the report?s chairs, Helen Roy.

Also this week, the UK has now rejoined Horizon Europe, the EU?s £85bn flagship research funding programme. Gaia caught up with the Royal Society?s vice-president Linda Partridge to find out what this means.

Early this week, the Indian space agency, ISRO, launched its solar mission to study space weather. But in addition, its lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, also powered down. Gaia speaks to Mahesh Anand, a planetary scientist at the Open University, to find out more about India?s space ambitions.

Meanwhile, here on Earth, many of us have been sweltering in heatwave conditions and communicating weather dangers have become a key focus for forecasters. Helen Roberts, the Met Office?s first ever sociometeorologist, explores how cognitive biases affect our responses to warnings.

Presenter: Gaia Vince Producers: Hannah Robins, Laura Northedge, Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Research: Patrick Hughes Editor: Martin Smith

Extreme weather is forcing communities to leave their homes and it's becoming a bigger and bigger issue. What can we do about it? In this edition of BBC Inside Science, Gaia Vince and her guests discuss what climate displacement means for people all over the world. We hear from Diwigdi Valiente, a member of the Guna Yala people of the San Blas Islands in Panama, where whole communities have already begun to evacuate. Closer to home the experts consider the impact of rising sea levels on British coastal communities.

Guests are:

Richard Betts, head of climate impacts at the UK Met Office and a professor at the University of Exeter;

Lucy Easthope, professor in practice of risk and hazard at the University of Durham and a leading adviser on emergency planning and disaster recovery;

Professor Guillermo Rein, an expert in fire science at Imperial College London; and

Michael Szoenyi, head of flood resilience at Zurich Insurance. He explains why climate change has become such an important factor for business and individuals planning for the future ? and why it?s essential we don?t leave big decisions about where we should live to the last minute. Presenter: Gaia Vince Producer: Clem Hitchcock Content Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Editor: Richard Collings

River health has captured the public imagination, particularly as overspills from sewers have been getting more attention in the media. But the condition of a river is so much more complicated than what flows into it from our water treatment systems. Agriculture, roads, how we use our drains, what we buy and even the medicines and drugs we take can all have an impact on our rivers and the plants and animals that call them home.

So how are UK rivers doing? And what needs to happen to help those waterways that are drowning in pollution?

Joining the BBC's Marnie Chesterton on stage at Green Man Festival in Wales to discuss all this is:

Dave Johnston, team leader of environmental reporting at Natural Resources Wales, whose responsibility it is to monitor Welsh rivers.

Joanne Cable, head of organisms and environment division at Cardiff University, whose focus is on biodiversity and what we at home can do to support our rivers.

Simon Evans, chief executive of The Wye and Usk Foundation, who runs citizen science projects to support these two rivers local to the festival.

Christian Dunn, wetland biologist at Bangor University, who is keen to explain the power of wetlands and has also done some surprising research into the river near Glastonbury Festival.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Harrison Lewis and Hannah Robins Research: Liam Collins-Jones Studio Managers: Mike Cox and Duncan Hannant Editor: Richard Collings

Two plucky spacecraft, one Russian and one Indian, are currently blasting towards the Moon?s South Pole. Both Russia?s Luna-25 and India?s Chandrayaan-3 are due to touch down next week. They?re heading to that particular region of the Moon in order to hunt for water, the presence of which could have huge implications for our further exploration of the Solar System. Victoria Gill talks to Dr Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford, to find out more.

Victoria then heads to the Lake District to witness the release of water voles into the ecosystem.

Next up, Professor Lewis Griffin, a computer scientist from University College London, tells us how bad we are at distinguishing between real and deepfake voices. He then reveals what implications this might have for scams.

Finally, Dr Helen Pilcher tells us all about the intriguing ways that animals can bend time. You can find out more in her book, How Nature Keeps Time.

Presenter: Victoria Gill Producer: Hannah Robins Content producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Research: Patrick Hughes Editor: Richard Collings

After decades of exploitation, time is running out for the Amazon rainforest. Eight South American nations came together this week for the first time in 14 years in an attempt to draw up a plan for a more sustainable future.

The BBC?s South America correspondent Katy Watson sends us an update on the summit from Belém, Brazil.

We also hear from Brazilian scientist Joice Ferreira who tells us why the Amazon is so important for the entire planet.

Next up Victoria Gill finds out more about how British Sign Language is adding key scientific concepts to its dictionary in order to open up science communication to a broader community of people. There are still many words and phrases that have not yet been ?signed?.

Now did you know that the inhalers used by asthmatics emit a tiny amount of greenhouse gas with every puff? Victoria speaks to Dr Veena Aggarwal, a GP registrar and former member of Greener NHS, about whether the government?s new plan for environmentally friendly inhalers will help.

Finally Victoria catches up with palaeoanthropologist Lee Berger. He?s written a book that tells a harrowing tale about his trip into a labyrinth of underground tunnels to find out more about an ancient human-like creature called Homo naledi.

Presenter: Victoria Gill Producers: Hannah Robins and Harrison Lewis Content producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Research: Patrick Hughes Editor: Richard Collings

This week the UK government announced that around 100 new oil and gas licences for the North Sea will be issued. At the same time the Prime Minister said the government would back two new carbon capture and storage plants, one in Aberdeenshire and one in the Humber. Victoria Gill speaks to Angela Knight, former chief executive of Energy UK, about what this decision means for the UK?s aim of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. She then discovers more about the capabilities of carbon capture and storage from Paul Fennell, a professor of clean energy at Imperial College London.

Next Victoria travels to the sunnier shores of Spain where orcas have been ramming fishing boats. She speaks to one of the sailors who witnessed an attack. To find out more about the orcas? behaviour, she interviews Dr Luke Rendell, a whale and dolphin expert from the University of St Andrews.

We then move to Skomer, off the coast of West Wales. This important seabird colony has recently recorded an avian flu outbreak. Reporter Roland Pease speaks to Lisa Morgan from the Wildlife Trust for South and West Wales.

To finish the show Dr Stuart Farrimond is back with the final instalment of his science of gardening series.

Presenter: Victoria Gill Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Hannah Robins Research: Patrick Hughes Editor: Richard Collings

We're in the heart of summer in Europe, where extreme heat has spiralled into out-of-control wildfires across the Mediterranean, leading thousands to flee their homes.

Previously on Inside Science we've looked at how and why temperatures are soaring across the globe. Now we're homing in on one of the most visible effects of that.

First, BBC climate and science reporter Georgina Rannard paints a picture of the link between these fires and climate change.

Next up we hear from Professor Stefan Doerr, director of the Centre for Wildfire Research at Swansea University, on whether Europe is prepared for a future where these blazes are more frequent and intense.

Another effect of climate change you might have heard about this week is the potential collapse of the Gulf Stream. Georgina explains why leading researchers have reservations about the science behind that claim.

We investigate a sometimes overlooked and under-reported source of pollution: particles from vehicle tyres. Dr Marc Masen from Imperial College London tells us about the impact they?re having on our health.

And pollution from tyres is affecting flora and fauna too. Dr Paul Donald, senior researcher at Birdlife International, explains how vehicles on our roads have impacted wildlife in the environment.

Finally, from four wheels to two wheels! Geneticist and body weight scientist Dr Giles Yeo is cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats with two glucose monitors on his arm. He tells us what he's hoping to learn.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Hannah Fisher Content producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Research: Patrick Hughes Editor: Richard Collings

This week China hit a record high temperature, a scorching 52.2°C, while Death Valley in California measured 53.9°C. Elsewhere, Europe has been battling searing heat and raging wildfires.

In previous editions of Inside Science we?ve explored the effects of heat on our health. This week we?ve zoomed out to get a wider perspective on the impacts of soaring temperatures.

First up, Rebecca Tobi from the Food Foundation reveals how this weather will impact the range of foods we are used to seeing on supermarket shelves.

Next we hear from Hayley Fowler, professor of climate change impacts at Newcastle University. She explains how the jet stream ? which plays a large role in the UK?s weather ? is affecting extreme weather patterns.

Another country experiencing particularly extreme weather at the moment is China. BBC correspondent in Hong Kong, Danny Vincent, tells us how record temperatures could have wide-ranging effects beyond China?s borders.

Changing heat patterns could even unlock new habitats for wildlife. Jo Lines, professor of malaria and vector biology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, says that we need to be aware of mosquito-borne diseases that could take hold in Europe.

Then it?s off to Reading University, where reporter Harrison Lewis chats to meteorologist Dr Rob Thompson and senior researcher Dr Natalie Harvey, to find out more about how weather balloons can help with storm forecasting.

Finally, we?re heading back to Trowbridge, near Bath, where Dr Stuart Farrimond explains exactly how our gardens can help in the battle against climate change. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Harrison Lewis Content producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Assistant producer: Robbie Wojciechowski Editor: Richard Collings

The Threads social media app launched on 5th July. Instagram users were able to sign up with just a few clicks. It joins a plethora of other social media apps like Snapchat, Twitter and TikTok, all of which are readily accessible on our phones.

With all these apps at our fingertips, it?s never been easier for us to discover new people to follow, keep in touch with our friends and stay up to date with the latest news about our favourite celebrities. But Professor Devi Sridhar, the chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, is concerned about the harmful effect that all these apps could potentially be having on the health of young people. She talks to Marnie Chesterton about why they should be better regulated in order to protect our children. Marnie is then joined by Professor Andrew Przybylski from the University of Oxford who says that more studies need to be carried out.

Next up we find out more about phages ? ?good? viruses that infect and destroy bacteria and could hold the key to fighting disease. Tom Ireland, author of a new book, The Good Virus, tells Marnie about the history of phages and their potentially exciting 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 speaks to developmental biologist Dr Emma Hilton about what causes differences in sexual development and the impact they can have.

We also hear from Dr Stuart Farrimond who explains how the microclimates in your garden can affect the plants you can grow.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Harrison Lewis Content producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Assistant producer: Robbie Wojciechowski Editor: Richard Collings

A rocket launch, super-massive black holes and ghost particles! This past week?s scientific findings are testament to how hard-at-work cosmologists and physicists have been seeking out the fundamental building blocks of our universe and the rules that govern it.

Professor of Cosmology at UCL, Andrew Pontzen, joins Marnie Chesterton to discuss the lot of them. Euclid took to the stars on Saturday, carrying a wide-angle space telescope that promises the opportunity to create a far larger and accurate 3D map of the universe to anything ever seen before. Gravitational waves detected by the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOgrav) provide insight into the role black holes play in galaxy formation. And neutrinos recorded in the remote ices of Antarctica have been detected from the centre of our Milky Way.

Dr Stuart Farrimond also joins us for the next few weeks with his pitch on the science of gardening. He?ll be digging up facts and tips that will help make the most out of summer blooms. This week Stu unearths how the pH of your soil could be hindering the flowerbeds.

And visit a Welsh quarry with reporter Ella Hubber to hear how a mere 462 million years ago new species were exploding onto the scene. Palaeontologists Dr Joe Botting and Dr Lucy Muir stumbled across the most abundant and rare deposit of soft bodied fossils on record, scoring an archaeological jackpot!

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Harrison Lewis Content producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Assistant producer: Robbie Wojciechowski Editor: Richard Collings

Last summer saw intense heatwaves across the world. And already this year, global air, surface and sea temperatures have hit the highest levels on record. China, India and the US are currently experiencing heatwaves. In June, the UK?s Met Office released a health warning because of the high temperatures.

In this episode Gaia Vince investigates what causes heatwaves and how hotter weather impacts our health. She finds out how we can prepare ourselves as the temperatures rise.

Gaia is joined by Peter Stott at the Met Office Centre for Climate Prediction, who reveals more about the forecast and what causes heatwaves.

She also speaks to Bob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate and the Environment, who gives us the lowdown on the UK?s heat health warning system and says what the future could look like if we continue to miss climate targets.

In addition, Dann Mitchell, professor of climate science at the University of Bristol, discusses the health impacts of extreme heat.

Guillermo Rein, professor of fire science at Imperial College London, explains what sparks wildfires and how they spread.

Elsewhere, Germany has launched a high-tech heat health warning system to warn people when the temperatures are rocketing. Gaia speaks to Andreas Matzarakis, from Albert Ludwig University in Freiburg, who developed the system.

Presenter: Gaia Vince Producer: Harrison Lewis Content Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Assistant Producer: Robbie Wojciechowski Editor: Richard Collings

Scientists, conservationists and other researchers are using audio soundscapes in innovative ways to record the natural world in rich detail and help develop strategies to preserve it.

Gaia Vince visits the Dear Earth exhibition at London?s Southbank Centre where she interacts with the ?Tell It To The Birds? artwork by Jenny Kendler. This piece transforms spoken word into birdsong, which Jenny hopes will help raise awareness of threatened species. She is joined by Dr Patricia Brekke from the Zoological Society of London who reveals more about the threats faced by birds.

We then visit the Knepp Estate to meet ecologist Penny Green, who reveals more about the value of audio for her work.

Gaia then speaks to Dr Alice Eldridge, an acoustics expert from the University of Sussex, who has spearheaded the Wilding Radio project at the Knepp Estate in Sussex. She was curious to find out whether the sounds in the environment would change following the introduction of beavers to the estate. In collaboration with arts cooperative Soundcamp, she built high-quality, solar-powered equipment to continuously broadcast the soundscape from above and below the water.

While we can record animals which we currently share the world with, what about those that have been lost forever? Cheryl Tipp, the British Library?s curator of wildlife and environmental sounds, looks after the library?s audio collection of more than 250,000 species and habitat recordings. She shares the heartbreaking tale of a now-extinct bird and explains why sound is such a valuable resource.

Finally, Dr Tim Lamont, a marine biologist from Lancaster University, tells us why a degraded coral reef sounds different from a healthy one. He explains how broadcasting the sounds of a healthy reef can help attract more marine wildlife to an area.

Presenter: Gaia Vince Producer: Hannah Fisher Content Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Editor: Richard Collings

On Tuesday, the United Nations reported that the breach of the Nova Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River in Ukraine will impact heavily on global food security, causing a rise in food prices and leaving many without access to clean drinking water.

Nine days after the disaster Gaia looks to the future alongside Kira Rudyk, Ukrainian MP who is also leader of the opposition party Golos and Laura Wellesley, senior research fellow in the Environment and Society Programme at Chatham House.

Earlier this week the three-year inquiry into COVID began, seeking ?to examine the UK?s response to and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and learn lessons for the future.? Eyes are on the inquiry from many angles. Inside Science looks at what scientists hope to contribute and learn from it, with author and broadcaster Philip Ball.

Also, a spike in North Atlantic sea temperatures has sparked concern among scientists. Richard Betts, head of climate impacts at the Met Office, talks through the factors that have coincided to form the anomaly.

Presenter: Gaia Vince Producer: Harrison Lewis Assistant producer: Robbie Wojciechowski Editor: Richard Collings

For World Ocean Day, Gaia Vince finds out how the planet?s seas could help us to generate clean power, capture CO2 and feed the world.

Gaia is joined in the studio by science journalist and marine biologist Olive Heffernan. She dives into the controversy regarding the potential of mining in deep oceans and discusses whether the seas could become the location for Industrial Revolution 2.0.

We?re used to seeing seaweed wrapped around our sushi rolls but it?s so much more than that. As well as being a tasty addition to what we eat, seaweed plays a vital role in absorbing CO2. Gaia speaks to Vincent Doumeizel, a senior adviser on oceans to the UN Global Compact; he?s also the food programme director at the UK-based charity Lloyd?s Register Foundation. He?s confident that seaweed could enable us to sustainably feed a growing global population in the coming decades.

Phytoplankton ? microscopic species of algae that exist on the surface of the sea ? also absorb huge amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. Sir David King, founder and chair of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group and former chief scientific adviser to the UK Government has the radical idea that artificial whale poo could boost phytoplankton growth, leading to an increase in fish stocks and, consequently, improved biodiversity in the oceans. He tells Gaia about his project and the potential it has for carbon capture.

When we think of energy generation from the oceans, we tend to think of offshore technology such as wind turbines. But what about generating electricity using the water itself? Gaia speaks to Eco Wave Power?s Inna Braverman who reveals how her project harnesses the power of the waves by attaching to existing coastal structures such as piers and jetties, to provide a source of clean, renewable energy.

Presenter: Gaia Vince Producer: Hannah Fisher Content Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Editor: Richard Collings

In the headlines this week eminent tech experts and public figures signed an open letter that read ?Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.?

One of the signatories was Geoffrey Hinton, the so-called ?godfather of AI?. He?s become so concerned about the risks associated with artificial intelligence that he recently decided to quit his job at Google, where he had worked for more than a decade.

But are these concerns justified, or is it overblown scaremongering? And should we start prepping for a Terminator-style takeover? To get the answers, presenter Gareth Mitchell is joined by computational linguist Prof Emily M. Bender from the University of Washington along with Dr Stephen Cave, Director at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (CFI).

Next up, we hear from Prof Carl Sayer at UCL, along with Dr Cicely Marshall and Dr Matthew Wilkinson from the University of Cambridge, to dig into the science behind wildflower meadows and whether they can boost biodiversity and even help ease climate change.

Finally, have you heard about Balto the sled dog? He was part of a life-saving mission in the 1920s and now he has the chance to be a hero once more. His DNA has been studied by the Zoonomia project, which is using databases of genomes from hundreds of mammals to build a better picture of evolution. This data could then be used help identify those animals that are at the greatest risk of extinction.

Presenter: Gareth Mitchell Producer: Harrison Lewis Content Producers: Ella Hubber and Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Editor: Richard Collings

This week, we hear from the University of Florida?s Dr David Duffy. He heads up a team of researchers who are studying sea turtles. In order to track the animals and their diseases, the scientists devised a method of collecting fragments of DNA from tanks at the university?s turtle hospital, as well as from sand and water in the local environment. While they found plenty of turtle DNA, they were surprised to uncover large amounts of high-quality human eDNA. Duffy tells us all about the study and his surprising findings, but also highlights the ethical problems this could raise. We are then joined by Dr Matt Clark from the Natural History Museum, and Sir Jonathan Montgomery from University College London, to discuss the ins and outs of eDNA ? how it can be beneficial for conservation, forensics and healthcare, but could also be problematic from a privacy perspective.

Muriel Rabone and Dr Adrian Glover from the Natural History Museum have compiled an extensive checklist of all the species present in the remote Clarion-Clipperton Zone, which is an area twice the size of India, five kilometres deep in the Pacific Ocean. While you might expect this part of the sea to be devoid of life, the organisms that live there are surprisingly diverse, and we still know little about them. But the region is also chock-full of in-demand rare-earth metals.

And we are joined by Dr Katie King to talk over some of her favourite science stories of the week, followed up by Helen Keen, who gets the kettle on to reveal more about the surprising physics behind a cup of coffee. Milk and two sugars for us, please.

Presenter: Gareth Mitchell Producer: Hannah Fisher Content Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell

The Royal Society is the oldest scientific academy in the world. Since being established in 1660, it has painstakingly archived thousands of papers, letters, manuscripts and illustrations from some of science?s most enquiring minds.

In this episode, Victoria Gill takes a trip to the society to pore over some of the most intriguing artefacts within its vaults. While there, she finds out more about the formation of the Royal Society and how science has been shaped over the centuries. Along the way, she considers the role of women in science, and asks whether their contributions have been historically overlooked.

She is joined by the Royal Society?s Louisiane Ferlier and Keith Moore, along with Prof Uta Frith, a Royal Society Fellow and psychologist, and Dr Stephen Webster, a senior lecturer in science communication at Imperial College London.

As part of its Science in the Making project, the Royal Society is currently digitising all of its collections, for everyone to browse through and enjoy. You can find out more on the Royal Society website.

Presenter: Victoria Gill Producers: Harrison Lewis, Hannah Fisher Content Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell

Natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and hurricanes all have the power to cause deadly destruction. One event can lead to another, causing a chain reaction of devastation that can take years to rebuild from.

But do all natural events have to turn into a disaster? Is there anything we can do to mitigate their impacts? Gaia Vince speaks to Anastasios Sextos, Professor of Earthquake Engineering at the University of Bristol to find out how we can engineer buildings to withstand earthquakes, and Bruce Malamud, Executive Director of the Institute of Hazard Risk and Resilience at Durham University, to learn how we can build models to forecast the risk of a natural disaster occurring.

Lucy Easthope is a leading advisor on emergency planning and disaster recovery and a Professor in Hazard and Risk at Durham University. She joins Gaia in the studio to discuss her experience of being one of the first responders to disasters and how in fact, the way they unfold is more predictable than we might think. Ilan Kelman, Professor of Disasters and Health at UCL, also joins them to discuss the importance of social resilience, long-term planning and effective alert communication in managing and mitigating the aftermath of these events.

Presenter: Gaia Vince Producer: Hannah Fisher

In 2020, the UK government committed to protecting at least 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030.

Step seven years into the future with Gaia. The UK has achieved its biodiversity goal, but what does wild Britain look like?

Richard Benwell, CEO of wildlife and Countryside Link, Meredith Whitten, a researcher and urban environment planner at LSE, Hugo Tagholm, CEO of Oceana and George Monbiot, an environmental writer whose book Regenesis explores sustainable agriculture, describe this radical new world.

Presenter: Gaia Vince Producer: Harrison Lewis

James Watson and Francis Crick, who detailed the double-helix structure of DNA in 1953, are perhaps two of the most iconic scientists of the 20th Century. Yet the story of how they made their incredible discovery is perhaps equally famous, with a notorious narrative suggesting that they only identified the structure after taking the work of Rosalind Franklin and using it without her permission.

Now, 70 years after the discovery of DNA?s structure, it is perhaps time to rewrite the tale.

New evidence has now been unearthed, in the form of an overlooked news article and an unpublished letter, that shows that Franklin was truly an equal contributor to the discovery, and Watson and Crick were not as malicious as previously assumed.

Together with Matthew Cobb of the University of Manchester, Nathaniel Comfort from Johns Hopkins University, and Angela Creager of Princeton University, Gaia Vince discusses this tantalising tale and finds out more about how this discovery could bring a whole new twist to the story of DNA.

Presenter: Gaia Vince Producer: Harrison Lewis Assistant Producer: Jonathan Blackwell

Whilst the globe struggles to shift to green sustainable energy sources, one industry has its sights set solely on the stars. Space X just launched the biggest rocket the world?s ever seen, and it won?t be their last even if it did end its test flight with a bang. As we enter a new golden age of space travel, Vic asks Associate Professor in Physical Geography Dr Eloise Marais if we are paying enough attention to the environmental impacts posed by a rapidly growing space industry.

Have viruses, bacteria, and microorganisms influenced humanity more than we know? Author of new book, Pathogenesis: How Germs Made History, Dr Jonathan Kennedy discusses how germs and disease have shaped human evolution, history and culture and what we can learn from the COVID pandemic.

And from unconventional life in space to psychoactive spinning apes, Vic and BBC Climate Reporter Georgina Rannard bring you the best scientific stories from the past couple of weeks.

Presenter: Victoria Gill Producer: Harrison Lewis Content Producer: Ella Hubber BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

When was the last time you had to use your negotiating skills? Did you walk away satisfied?

This week junior doctors are half way through their 4 day walkout, with senior NHS figures suggesting the cancellation of between 250,000 and 350,000 appointments/operations. Victoria Gill is preparing to debate her way through the science of disagreement and identify what qualities make for the perfect negotiator.

Associate Professor Sunny Lee, Deputy Director of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion at University College London helps guide Victoria through the basic building blocks that help resolve conflict, with expert commentary from Camilla Born peeking behind the curtain of COP26, and finally negotiating with elephants? Dr Josh Plotnik at City University of New York suggests that some animals may be actively seeking out conflict with humans.

Presenter: Victoria Gill Producer: Harrison Lewis