BBC Inside Science

Blow to the LHC "bump", Crow intelligence, Robot mudskippers, Royal Society book prize


Listen Later

New results have squashed the hope that the hints of a new particle detected by the Large Hadron Collider would confirm the existence of something extremely exotic, such as a new Higgs, or even the theoretical Graviton. Instead, the intriguing data 'bump' turns out to be nothing more than a statistical fluctuation. Physicist Jonathan Butterworth of UCL discusses whether this false alarm affects the LHC's chances of finding something else.

Crows, ravens and other members of the bird family we call Corvids are well known to have sophisticated skills in tool use and problem solving. Research out this week reports ravens bending wire to help forage for their food. But what constitutes intelligence in bird brains? Adam Rutherford visits the Tower of London where ravens have been permanent residents since the 16th Century, and so quite a good spot for scientists to go and put bird brains to the test. He meets Sophie Hamnett and Nathan Emery from Queen Mary, University of London.

Animals evolved in the seas, but by about 400 million years ago, some fishy creatures had evolved to begin walking on terra firma. Nowadays we look at creatures like mudskippers, that can swim and wade, to see how those first crawlers might have crept up the beach. A new study has gone one step further: Jonathan Webb went to Georgia Tech in Atlanta to meet the robot mudskippers.

We're profiling each of the shortlisted books for the Royal Society book prize this year, and this week it is the turn of oncologist Siddartha Muhkerjee. He has turned his attention to trying to understand the root of all cancers, and the mental health issues his own family endure. His new book, The Gene, details the central concept in inheritance.

Producer Adrian Washbourne.

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

BBC Inside ScienceBy BBC Radio 4

  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4

4.4

276 ratings


More shows like BBC Inside Science

View all
In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,389 Listeners

From Our Own Correspondent by BBC Radio 4

From Our Own Correspondent

381 Listeners

The Naked Scientists Podcast by The Naked Scientists

The Naked Scientists Podcast

604 Listeners

Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,902 Listeners

Science Weekly by The Guardian

Science Weekly

399 Listeners

5 Live Science Podcast by BBC Radio 5 Live

5 Live Science Podcast

110 Listeners

Business Daily by BBC World Service

Business Daily

538 Listeners

Science In Action by BBC World Service

Science In Action

344 Listeners

Inside Health by BBC Radio 4

Inside Health

85 Listeners

More or Less: Behind the Stats by BBC Radio 4

More or Less: Behind the Stats

899 Listeners

Discovery by BBC World Service

Discovery

953 Listeners

World Business Report by BBC World Service

World Business Report

286 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

1,925 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,080 Listeners

In Our Time: Science by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Science

721 Listeners

The Life Scientific by BBC Radio 4

The Life Scientific

248 Listeners

Unexpected Elements by BBC World Service

Unexpected Elements

355 Listeners

Curious Cases by BBC Radio 4

Curious Cases

824 Listeners

CrowdScience by BBC World Service

CrowdScience

480 Listeners

Newscast by BBC News

Newscast

674 Listeners

Evil Genius with Russell Kane by BBC Sounds

Evil Genius with Russell Kane

377 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

2,977 Listeners

The world, the universe and us by New Scientist

The world, the universe and us

113 Listeners

Sport's Strangest Crimes by BBC Radio 5 Live

Sport's Strangest Crimes

70 Listeners

Uncanny by BBC Radio 4

Uncanny

756 Listeners

Dua Lipa: At Your Service by BBC Sounds

Dua Lipa: At Your Service

1,005 Listeners

Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley by BBC Radio 4

Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley

539 Listeners

Powerplay by BBC Radio 5 Live

Powerplay

5 Listeners

Believe in Magic by BBC Sounds

Believe in Magic

612 Listeners

Uncharted with Hannah Fry by BBC Radio 4

Uncharted with Hannah Fry

118 Listeners

The Global Story by BBC World Service

The Global Story

169 Listeners

Miss Me? by BBC Sounds

Miss Me?

278 Listeners

The History Podcast by BBC Radio 4

The History Podcast

26 Listeners