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BBC Radio 4


A weekly programme that illuminates the mysteries and challenges the controversies behind the science that's changing our world.


BBC Inside Science

Next month world leaders will again gather to focus on dealing with our global plastic problem. So this week we’re looking for solutions. Marnie Chesterton hears from Professor of Sustainable Chemical Engineering at the University of Sheffield, Rachael Rothman on how we can engineer safer, more environmentally friendly plastics. 

And at the other end of the plastic spectrum, she hears about the clean up operation after the world’s biggest ocean spill of nurdles – tiny plastic pellets which are used to make plastic products. Investigative environmental journalist Leana Hosea brings the results of her investigation into the clean up after the X-Press Pearl container ship caught fire and sank 4 years ago.

Mark Miodownik, University College London Professor of Materials & Society returns to the studio with the results of a citizen science project to try to get more data on potty training. It aims to encourage parents to get toddlers out of nappies earlier.

And Penny Sarchet, managing editor at New Scientist brings her pick of this week’s newest scientific discoveries.

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

How can we reduce the impact of plastic on the environment?

A microscopic water flea that could help monitor our waterways for pollution, turning both quantum circuits and facial expressions into music, and how animals use vibrations to sense the world around them.

These are some of the cutting edge research projects being presented at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition in London. 

Victoria Gill is joined by Caroline Steel for a special episode from the exhibition, meeting the researchers showcasing their work and getting hands on with the science on display.

We speak to Daisy Shearer from the National Quantum Computing Centre, PhD student Clelia Altomonte from King's College London, Dr Beth Mortimer from the University of Oxford who leads its Animal Vibration Lab (the multisensory experience was developed and narrated by Dr Alice Morrell), Dr Katie Reilly from the University of Birmingham, the CEO of the charity Drake Music, Sally Currie, and the designer of the PhotoSYNTH accessible musical instrument, Zenon Olenski.

How do you turn facial expressions into music?

All eyes have been on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities this week. The targets of an attack on Saturday by the United States. Marnie Chesterton asks Professor Simon Middleburgh, nuclear materials scientist at the Nuclear Futures Institute at Bangor University what the impact could have been.

As the first images are revealed from the world’s most powerful optical telescope, Professor Chris Lintott brings us news of how you can get involved in scouring the depths of the universe. Caroline Steel brings us the science news that has scientists excited this week, and Marnie visits the first new dinosaur to go on show at London’s Natural History Museum for more than a decade.

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

What happens when you bomb a uranium enrichment site?

As a new warning is released by scientists that trying to offset our carbon emissions by planting trees alone won’t work, we investigate the role the Earth’s forests are playing in the fight against climate change.

Marnie Chesterton is joined by Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth System Science at University College London, to help answer our top five questions about trees and CO2. 

We also speak to science writer and New York Times columnist Carl Zimmer about his new book ‘Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe’, and what it tells us about what we’re breathing into our lungs each day. 

After we reported on the plight of some of our UK wild bird species earlier this year, many listeners got in touch wanting to know more about one species in particular: house sparrows. To look at why their numbers have been declining so sharply, and what we might be able to do about it, we hear from Imperial College London’s Dr Julia Schroeder, who has been studying the birds for 15 years.

And Marnie is joined in the studio by Lizzie Gibney, Senior Reporter at Nature, to explore some of the fascinating research from around the world in this week’s science journals.

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

Are trees the answer to solving climate change?

How do you plan for the scientific discoveries of the future? That’s the question Chancellor Rachel Reeves had to try to answer with this week’s Spending Review. She allocated more than 22 billion pounds a year by 2029/30 for research and development which was described as a boost for science. Robin Bisson, UK News Editor for news website Research Professional News, and Dr Alicia Greated, Executive Director at the charity Campaign for Science and Engineering in the UK, explain where the money will go.

As the UN’s Ocean Conference continues in Nice, France, we get the latest developments from Science and Climate Correspondent Esme Stallard, before diving into a kelp forest in our own UK waters with reporter Graihagh Jackson. It’s hoped that encouraging the seaweed could help sequester carbon dioxide. 

We hear about the dinosaur discovery that’s rewriting the evolutionary story of the Tyrannosaurus Rex with University of Calgary palaeontologists Professor Darla Zelenitsky and Jared Voris.

And journalist Caroline Steel is in the studio with her round up of science stories straight from the researcher’s labs.

What science is the UK government funding?

More than 2,000 marine scientists have come together at the One Ocean Science Congress in Nice, France. It is a gathering that will bring marine experts from all over the world together to share the latest discoveries about the health of our seas and oceans. 

It is an issue at the centre of the world’s attention, because from 9th June, leaders and negotiators from 200 countries will arrive in Nice for the crucial United Nations Conference on the Oceans (UNOC3). 

Presenter Victoria Gill is joined by Murray Roberts, Professor of Marine Biology at the University of Edinburgh to find out what is at stake when leaders come together to work out a global plan to save our oceans from multiple threats, including climate change, pollution and overfishing. 

Professor Amanda Vincent from the University of British Columbia in Canada joins the Inside Science team to reveal her insights into the destruction caused by the controversial fishing practice of bottom trawling, which she explains is devastating marine life. 

Victoria also joins a team of acoustic marine scientists on their research boat the “We Explore” off the coast of Nice to listen for whales and dolphins under the surface. Their sound recordings reveal how animals of different species eavesdrop on each other and how to stop boat noise from drowning out whale communication. 

We also meet a team from a charity in Plymouth that is helping people who are living with poor mental health by prescribing ocean-based activities. Freyja Thomson-Alberts from the organisation the Ocean Conservation Trust explains why the ocean is central to our physical and mental wellbeing.

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

Can science save our oceans?

We’ve been rummaging through the Inside Science mailbox to pick out a selection of the intriguing science questions you’ve been sending in, and assembled an expert panel to try to answer them. 

Marnie Chesterton is joined by Penny Sarchet, managing editor of New Scientist, Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth System Science at University College London, and Catherine Heymans, Astronomer Royal for Scotland and Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Edinburgh, to get to the bottom of your scientific mysteries.

Why is the moon sterile when the earth is so full of life? Are new organisms going to evolve to eat microplastics? And did Nikola Tesla really find a way of creating free electricity?

Listen in as we try to uncover the answers.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton 
Producers: Dan Welsh & Debbie Kilbride 
Editor: Martin Smith 
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

Your science questions answered

The World Health Organisation has agreed a treaty looking at tackling the issue of future pandemics. It’s hoped it will help to avoid some of the disorganisation and competition for resources like vaccines and personal protective equipment that were seen during the Covid-19 outbreak. 

Victoria Gill speaks to global health journalist Andrew Green from the World Health Assembly in Geneva to ask if this will help to make the world a safer, fairer place.

Marnie Chesterton visits Kew Gardens in London to speak to some of the artists and scientists behind a new installation that’s digitally recreated one of the site’s most famous trees.

As it’s announced the iconic American children’s TV programme Sesame Street is moving to Netflix, Victoria speaks to the programme’s scientific advisor and Associate Professor of Elementary and Environmental Education at the University of Rhode Island, Sara Sweetman, about exactly how the likes of Elmo, Big Bird and the Cookie Monster go about informing young people about science.

And Caroline Steel joins Victoria in the studio to look through the most fascinating highlights from the world’s scientific discoveries this week. 

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

Does the pandemic agreement make the world safer?

40 years ago scientists in Antarctica discovered a hole in the Ozone layer. The world acted quickly, phasing out harmful CFCs or chlorofluorocarbons. Evidence suggests the hole has been getting smaller. But in 2025, there are new pollutants threatening to slow progress. Eloise Marais is Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Air Quality at University College London and tells Victoria Gill about her work monitoring the impact of space travel on the Ozone layer.

It's the first day of the traditional ‘bathing season’ when wild swim spots are regularly tested throughout the UK summer. Victoria asks Professor of Environmental Microbiology and Health at Lancaster University, Roger Pickup to break down the science behind our water quality classifications. And May also means wildflowers. Dr Sarah Scott is pollinator ecologist and toxicologist at Cambridge university. She has a warning that planted in the wrong place, wildflowers could be harming bumble bees.

Gareth Mitchell, broadcaster and lecturer in science communication at Imperial College London is in the Inside Science studio to bring Victoria new scientific findings which will shape our future.

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

Will the Hole in the Ozone Layer Close?

It’s often said we know more about the surface of the Moon than we do about the Earth’s deep sea, and a new study is backing that up. Research from the Ocean Discovery League says just 0.001% of the world’s deep seafloor has ever been seen by humans.

We speak to lead author and deep sea explorer Dr Katy Croff Bell and marine biologist Dr Anna Gebruk from the University of Edinburgh, to ask whether we should be making more effort to investigate our oceans.

As events take place to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, presenter Victoria Gill also speaks to Professor David Edgerton from King’s College London to discuss what impact the Second World War had on scientific research and innovation.

We’re also joined by Penny Sarchet, managing editor at New Scientist, to look through some of the top science stories you might have missed this week. 

And as David Attenborough celebrates his 99th birthday with the release of his latest film Ocean, we take a trip through the archives to hear some of his finest moments from more than 70 years of broadcasting.

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

The mysteries of the ocean floor

The UK's first satellite launch faced several delays in 2022, but Virgin Orbit's Cosmic Girl is prepped for imminent take off. BBC science correspondent Jonathan Amos has been following the activity in Newquay and, alongside Melissa Thorpe head of Spaceport Cornwall, describes the potential this launch has to promote and bolster the UK's space industry.

Is laziness a particularly human trait? Apparently not according to Dr Daniella Rabaiotti from the Zoological Society of London. Her research shows many animals engage in behaviour akin to laziness even within groups where others might be very active. There’s evidence for this from animals as diverse as wolves, frogs and pheasants. Dani says it’s a factor worth considering in animal behaviour studies, simply are we biased towards the more active and outgoing animals as they are the ones we tend to see? 

Victoria Gill speaks to the founder and CEO of Nature Metrics Dr Cat Bruce and Katie Critchlow about the tools they use to help companies measure biodiversity at their worksites. From taking water or soil samples it’s possible to detect the DNA of a multitude of organisms from large animals down to microbes. The technique should help map the biodiversity of a given area and inform decisions on development and conservation. 

BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University

The UK's first satellite launch

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