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BBC World Service

Discovery

Doyne Farmer is something of a rebel. Back in the seventies, when he was a student, he walked into a casino in Las Vegas, sat down at a roulette table and beat the house. To anyone watching the wheel spin and the ball clatter to its final resting place, his choice of number would’ve looked like a lucky guess. But knowing the physics of the game and armed with the world’s first wearable computer, which he’d designed, a seemingly random win was actually somewhat predictable.

Doyne is an American scientist and entrepreneur who pioneered many of the fields that define the scientific agenda of our time, from chaos theory and complex systems to wearable computing. He uses big data and evermore powerful computers to apply complex systems science to the economy, to better predict our future. Much like roulette, economics can appear random but, with the right tools and understanding, it is anything but.

Now Director of the Complexity Economics Programme at the Institute for New Economic Thinking at Oxford, Doyne says there’s a real need to act, to use these powers of prediction to help resolve one of the most pressing questions of our time - how best to prevent climate change.

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Beth Eastwood
Reversion for World Service by Minnie Harrop

The Life Scientific: Doyne Farmer

Elephants are the largest living land mammal and today our planet is home to three species: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant.

But a hundred thousand years ago, in the chilly depths of the Ice Age, multiple species of elephant roamed the earth: from dog-sized dwarf elephants to towering woolly mammoths.

These gentle giants' evolutionary story and its parallels with that of humankind has long fascinated Dr Tori Herridge, a senior lecturer in evolutionary biology at the University of Sheffield, where - as a seasoned science broadcaster - she's also responsible for their Masters course in Science Communication.

Tori has spent much of her life studying fossil elephants and the sites where they were excavated; trying to establish facts behind relics that are far beyond the reach of Radio Carbon Dating. To date she's discovered dwarf mammoths on Mediterranean islands, retraced the groundbreaking Greek expedition of a female palaeontologist in the early 1900s, and even held an ancient woolly mammoth’s liver. (Verdict: stinky.)

But as she tells Professor Jim Al-Khalili, this passion for fossil-hunting is not just about understanding the past: this information is what will help us protect present-day elephants and the world around them for future generations.

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced for BBC Studios by Lucy Taylor
Reversion for World Service by Minnie Harrop

The Life Scientific: Tori Herridge

What does it take to earn the nickname, ‘The Leonardo da Vinci of heart surgery’?

That's the moniker given to today's guest - a man who pioneered high-profile and often controversial procedures, but also helped drive huge medical progress; carrying out around 2,000 heart transplants and 400 dual heart-lung transplants during his 60-year career.

Sir Magdi Yacoub is Emeritus Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Imperial College London, and Director of Research at Harefield Hospital’s Magdi Yacoub Institute.
Inspired by a surgeon father and impacted by the tragic early death of his aunt from a heart condition, his medical career includes various surgical firsts alongside numerous research projects, to further our understanding of and ability to treat heart disease. He headed up the teams that discovered it is possible to reverse heart failure, and that successfully grew part of a human heart valve from stem cells for the first time.

But it hasn't always been plain sailing. At times, his work – such as early, unsuccessful transplant attempts, or using a baboon as a life-support system for a baby – attracted serious public criticism.

Speaking to Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Sir Magdi reflects on the highs and lows of his cardio career, and offers his advice to the next generation of surgeons and researchers hoping to make their mark in heart medicine.

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Lucy Taylor
Reversion for World Service by Minnie Harrop

The Life Scientific: Sir Magdi Yacoub

Claudia de Rham has rather an unusual relationship with gravity.

While she has spent her career exploring its fundamental nature, much of her free time has involved trying to defy it - from scuba diving in the Indian Ocean to piloting small aircraft over the Canadian waterfalls. Her ultimate ambition was to escape gravity’s clutches altogether and become an astronaut, a dream that was snatched away by an unlikely twist of fate.

However, Claudia has no regrets - and says defying gravity for much of her life has helped her to truly understand it.

As Professor of theoretical physics at Imperial College London, she now grapples with deep mathematics, where the fields of particle physics, gravity and cosmology intersect, on a quest to understand how the universe really works. She is a pioneer of the theory of massive gravity, a theory which could take us beyond even Einstein’s theory of relativity and shed light on why the universe is expanding at an ever-increasing rate.

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced for BBC Studios by Beth Eastwood
Reversion for World Service by Minnie Harrop

The Life Scientific: Claudia de Rham

When you think of Artificial Intelligence, does it inspire confidence, or concern?

Although it's now generally accepted that this technology will play a major role in our future, a lot of conversations around AI and machine learning come back to the argument over us losing control and robots taking over.

Happily, Neil Lawrence has a more optimistic view of the power of AI, and how we might navigate the potential pitfalls. Neil is the DeepMind Professor of Machine Learning at the University of Cambridge, and over the course of his career has been involved in deploying AI and machine learning in both academic and commercial scenarios, with a stint at Amazon as well as working across fields as varied as movie animation, Formula 1 strategy, and medical research.

Speaking with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Neil says ultimately his efforts are all about making a difference to our everyday lives - and that we need to learn how to embrace AI, albeit with a healthy dollop of scepticism; not least when it comes to how our data is used, and the power of 'the digital oligarchy'...

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced for BBC Studios by Lucy Taylor
Reversion for World Service by Minnie Harrop

The Life Scientific: Neil Lawrence

A frozen, white world at the far-reaches of the globe, where you're surrounded by snow and silence, might sound rather appealing. Factor in temperatures that drop to -57°C and a few of us might be put off - but for glaciologist Liz Morris, that's very much her happy place.

Liz is an Emeritus Associate at the University of Cambridge’s Scott Polar Research Institute, and was among the first British women scientists to work on the planet’s coldest continent, Antarctica. Over the course of her career, Liz has gathered vital data on polar ice sheets and how they’re affected by climate change. She's also made numerous research trips across the Greenland Ice Shelf, and has a glacier named after her in Antarctica.

In conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Liz discusses her fascination with glaciers and ice - and explains her unwavering determination to break into what was once a heavily male-dominated field.

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced for BBC Studios by Lucy Taylor
Reversion for World Service by Minnie Harrop

The Life Scientific: Liz Morris

Welcome to a world where medicine meets politics: a space that brings together scientific research, government wrangling, public push-back and healthcare conspiracies…

Dr Anthony Fauci was the Director of America’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for nearly four decades, during which time he not only helped study, treat and prevent viruses such as HIV/AIDS and Covid-19; he also advised seven US Presidents, from Ronald Regan through to Joe Biden.

Along the way, Tony Fauci's picked up a public profile and taken a fair amount of flack; not least because of his complicated relationship with President Donald Trump. But he's also made great strides in medical research and policy, from working with activists who initially challenged him on the government response to HIV/AIDS - to spearheading the USA's PEPFAR project to share vital medication with developing nations.

In a candid conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Tony discusses his childhood in Brooklyn, the dark early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and lessons from the Covid-19.

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced for BBC Studios by Lucy Taylor
Reversion for World Service by Minnie Harrop

The Life Scientific: Anthony Fauci

Investigating an insect known for eating its prey alive – including, at times, its own species - the praying mantis! With bulging eyes and a triangular head, this predator uses it specially adapted front legs to trap its prey. 

Able to predate animals of a size much larger than themselves, including birds, lizards and even fish, presenter Adam Hart hears about their cultural significance to human populations all around the world, as well as addressing their reputation for sexual cannibalism. We also hear about their biomaterial qualities and potential importance in agriculture, and also look into a parasitic relationship the praying mantis has with a worm in South America which has given them the name ‘the mother of snakes’.

Contributors:

Dr. Julio Rivera, entomologist and researcher at the Université de Montréal in Canada and research associate at the Montréal Insectarium.

Dr. Bianca Greyvenstein, postdoctoral fellow at North-West University in Potchefstroom and an expert in the praying mantises of South Africa.

Presenter: Professor Adam Hart
Producer: Jonathan Blackwell

(Photo: Praying Mantis, Credit: Paul Starosta via Getty Images)

Tooth and Claw: Praying Mantises

Investigating an elusive big cat known for its excellent tree climbing abilities - the leopard! This master of camouflage is found from the south of Africa to the far east of Asia – a spotted predator that stalks and ambushes its prey!

Presenter Adam Hart will investigate their relationships with tigers and lions, as well as learning about a recent discovery that leopards each have their own unique roar. He’ll also discuss the future of the Arabian leopard and the potential for a reintroduction to Saudi Arabia, and find out about the role of synthetic fur capes known as ‘Heritage Furs’ in leopard conservation. 

Contributors:

Dr. Gareth Mann, who is based in South Africa, is Leopard Program Director for Panthera, the global wild cat conservation organisation.

Dr. Charlotte Searle, postdoctoral researcher and conservationist based in Tanzania, who is associated with the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at the University of Oxford.

Presenter: Professor Adam Hart
Producer: Jonathan Blackwell

Photo: Leopard in tree
Credit: Valentin Wolf via Getty Images

Tooth and Claw: Leopards

On this episode of The Evidence, Claudia Hammond discusses all things hydration with a panel of experts. Where do our hydration guidelines come from? How do we determine the perfect amount of water we should drink? What are the issues with water access that people and populations face aroud the globe? And how will climate change affect the amount of water we need, and our access to it. In front of a live audience at the Wellcome Collection in London, Claudia discusses these questions and more with Neil Turner, nephrologist and professor emeritus at Edinburhg University, Yael Velleman, Director of Policy and Innovation at Unlimit Health, working at the intersection of water access, sanitation, and disease; and Anthony Acciavatti, an associate professor at Yale Architecture School and creator of the exhibtion Groundwater Earth: The World Before and After The Tubewell.

The Thirst for Water

Until 2020 developing a new drug took at least 15 years. Scientists by and large competed with each other, were somewhat secretive about their research and only shared their data once publication was secured. And the public and the press had no interest in the various early phases of clinical trials. An incremental scientific step possibly on the road to somewhere was simply not newsworthy. Face masks were the preserves of hypochondriacs in the Far East, with no scientific evidence base for their use.

Now the findings of research are published as soon as they are ready. Often they are being openly discussed in social media before they have been peer reviewed. The speed of research, collaboration between science and industry, and public perception of science are areas that have undergone incredible and likely permanent change. 

Devi Sridhar, Professor of Global Health at Edinburgh University hears from scientists in a variety of fields, whose working lives and practices have been affected, in some cases revolutionised by the pandemic.

How Covid changed science, part 1

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