
An in-depth look at the most significant ideas, discoveries and trends in science, from the smallest microbe to the furthest corner of space. Podcast weekly on Mondays.
Mon, 20 May 13
Duration:
27 mins
This week’s Discovery makes a voyage into the ocean’s mysterious depths. The BBC’s science news editor David Shukman joins a team of scientists sending a robot submarine 5000 metres into an undiscovered realm of volcanic activity and strange creatures new to science. But just as we begin to explore the sea’s last great secrets, could they be under threat from a new global industry – deep sea mining?
Mon, 13 May 13
Duration:
27 mins
After Sandy: Angela Saini reports from New York where scientists, engineers and State officials have gathered to debate how best to protect against super storms
Mon, 6 May 13
Duration:
27 mins
Geoff Watts investigates why we cry, and the peculiar purpose of our tears. Why do we produce tears in response to strong emotion and is there an evolutionary advantage to crying?
Mon, 29 Apr 13
Duration:
27 mins
Kevin Fong concludes his grand tour of the planet Mars, in search of water. Some of the most spectacular Martian landscapes were carved by vast and violent quantities of water in the planet’s past. The Tolkienesque terrain of Iani Chaos created when gigantic fountains of water burst of the Martian surface. Kevin also talks to scientists on the current Curiosity Mars rover mission about water in the deep history of Gale Crater and its central mountain Mount Sharp. The journey concludes with gullies on cliffs and craters, suggesting that water still gushes on the surface of Mars today. Could this mean that life exists on the Red Planet today?
Mon, 22 Apr 13
Duration:
27 mins
The planet Mars boasts the most dramatic landscapes in our solar system. Kevin Fong embarks on a grand tour around the planet with scientists, artists and writers who know its special places intimately- through their probes, roving robots and imaginations. This first part of the journey includes Mars’ gargantuan volcanoes, an extreme version of Earth’s Grand Canyon and the cratered Southern Highlands where future explorers might find safety from the Red Planet’s deadly radiation environment.
Mon, 15 Apr 13
Duration:
27 mins
Jim Al-Khalili talks to Noel Sharkey about psychology and robots; and why he thinks artificial intelligence is a dangerous dream.
Mon, 8 Apr 13
Duration:
27 mins
In Discovery this week psychologist Professor Annette Karmiloff-Smith talks to Jim Al-Khalili about her Life Scientific. For over forty years she’s been researching brain development and how babies and children learn. She’ll be talking about her controversial response to guidance from the American Academy of Paediatrics, that parents should discourage TV viewing in children under 2. She says that if the subject matter is chosen well, a TV screen can be better for a baby than a book.
Mon, 1 Apr 13
Duration:
27 mins
Like football, science is an international endeavour complete with its own stars and prima donnas. Alok Jha investigates what it takes to make a winning team.
Mon, 25 Mar 13
Duration:
50 mins
Gareth Mitchell at the BBC Science Africa Festival in Uganda looks at space research - a growth area for science in Africa
Mon, 18 Mar 13
Duration:
18 mins
Could eating less help us live longer? Peter Bowes investigates.
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