Unexpected Elements

2021 the year of variants


Listen Later

In our first programme of the year, we gathered a group of scientific experts directly involved in analysing the structure and impact of the SARS- Cov-2 coronavirus. There were concerns over the emergence of two new variants, Alfa and Beta, especially whether these variants might spread more quickly or outmanoeuvre the suite of new vaccines that were about to be rolled out.

And now with Omicron, the same questions are being asked about this variant’s ability to spread and overcome our defences.

We’ve invited the same scientists back to give us their assessment of our journey with Covid 19 over the past year and discuss their findings on Omicron.

Featuring:

Ravi Gupta Professor of Clinical Microbiology at the University of Cambridge
Tulio De Oliveria Professor on Bioinformatics, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Dr. Allie Greaney From the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Washington School of Medicine
And Professor Jeremy Luban from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Should you wash your eggs? Well, believe it or not, there is quite an international debate about this question from CrowdScience listener Susan. In Canada, where Susan grew up, commercially sold eggs are washed before they reach stores, whereas in the UK where she is now living they are not. So what is best to avoid contamination?

It’s one of a number of egg-themed questions that CrowdScience tries to crack in this episode. One of our presenters, Marnie Chesterton, heads over to Susan’s home in London to cook some eggs and explore other egg cooking questions from our listeners, such as what is the science behind frying an egg without it sticking to the pan and why are some boiled eggs harder to shell than others?

Meanwhile, this episode’s other presenter, Anand Jagatia, explores questions about eggs after they have hatched. He investigates a case of curious chicken behaviour sent in by listener Laurie, as well as working out how a cuckoo knows it’s a cuckoo when it’s been raised in another bird’s nest.

Featuring: Dr. Vincent Guyonnet, Dr. Valérie Lechevalier, Dr. Siobhan Abeyesinghe and Dr. Ros Gloag

(Image:Getty Images)

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Unexpected ElementsBy BBC World Service

  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5

4.5

333 ratings


More shows like Unexpected Elements

View all
Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,722 Listeners

More or Less by BBC Radio 4

More or Less

881 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,040 Listeners

In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,463 Listeners

The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

The Documentary Podcast

1,806 Listeners

6 Minute English by BBC Radio

6 Minute English

1,818 Listeners

Learning English Conversations by BBC Radio

Learning English Conversations

1,065 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

1,931 Listeners

The Naked Scientists Podcast by The Naked Scientists

The Naked Scientists Podcast

615 Listeners

Nature Podcast by Springer Nature Limited

Nature Podcast

762 Listeners

Ask the Naked Scientists by Dr Chris Smith

Ask the Naked Scientists

77 Listeners

Discovery by BBC World Service

Discovery

960 Listeners

BBC Inside Science by BBC Radio 4

BBC Inside Science

435 Listeners

Science Weekly by The Guardian

Science Weekly

419 Listeners

Science Magazine Podcast by Science Magazine

Science Magazine Podcast

826 Listeners

Curious Cases by BBC Radio 4

Curious Cases

832 Listeners

The Inquiry by BBC World Service

The Inquiry

734 Listeners

The Life Scientific by BBC Radio 4

The Life Scientific

247 Listeners

Science In Action by BBC World Service

Science In Action

351 Listeners

CrowdScience by BBC World Service

CrowdScience

479 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,186 Listeners

Americast by BBC News

Americast

756 Listeners

The world, the universe and us by New Scientist

The world, the universe and us

111 Listeners

Cyber Hack by BBC World Service

Cyber Hack

1,628 Listeners