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THE MATERIAL WORLD
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MISSED A PROGRAMME?
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PROGRAMME INFO |
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Quentin Cooper reports on developments across the sciences. Each week scientists describe their work, conveying the excitement they feel for their research projects.
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Contact Material World |
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LISTEN AGAIN 30 min |
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PRESENTER |
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"For me science isn't a subject, it's a perspective. There are fascinating scientific aspects to everything from ancient history to the latest gadgets, outer space to interior decorating; and each week on The Material World we try to reflect the excitement, ideas, uncertainties, collisions and collaborations as science continues its never-ending voyage into the unknown".
Quentin Cooper |
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PROGRAMME DETAILS |
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| Coral Reef |
Cold Water Coral
Coral reefs are the rainforests of the sea, associated with exotic locations and warm, well-lit waters.
But few people realise that Britain has its own cold-water coral reefs, among them the Darwin Mounds, off the northwest coast of Scotland.
We know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the sea-bed and vast areas of ocean-floor remain unmapped.
Marine biologists Dr Jason Hall-Spencer and Dr Murray Roberts join Quentin Cooper to discuss the mysterious Darwin Mounds and why, less than a decade after its discovery, deep sea fishing threatens its fragile ecosystem.
Active Hearing
Ears that hum whistle and pop loud enough for other people to make out are a rare genetic disorder, but everybody's ears produce some noise.
Listen to the sound of a healthy ear (mp3 file)
It's generated by tiny hair cells in the ear as they boost and filter sounds we hear so that that the brain can interpret them.
Only in the past thirty years have scientists begun to understand how this process works and now, new research is suggesting ways of reversing otherwise permanent deafness.
Quentin Cooper talks to David Kemp - the scientist who first introduced these ideas to a sceptical world, and Andy Forge - who's hoping they might lead to a genetic cure for hearing loss.
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RELATED LINKS
BBC - Darwin mounds win protection
BBC - Trawling destroys reef
Scottish Association for Marine Science - Coral news
UCL Centre for Auditory Research (Professor Kemp and Forge)
Newborn Hearing Screening Programme
How the ear works
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