September 19, 2016

Could we send our litter into space?

27 minutes

Two spacey cases today for doctors Rutherford and Fry to investigate, both sent in to BBC Future via Facebook.

The Stellar Dustbin

'Can we shoot garbage into the sun?' asks Elisabeth Hill. The doctors embark on an astronomical thought experiment to see how much it would cost to throw Hannah's daily rubbish into our stellar dustbin. From space elevators to solar sails, they explore the various options that could be used to send litter to the Sun. Featuring space scientist Lucie Green and astrophysicist Andrew Pontzen.

A Study in Spheres

Another stellar question comes from Brian Passineau who wonders: 'why everything in space tends to be circular or spherical?'

Hannah gazes at Jupiter at The Royal Observatory, Greenwich with public astronomer, Dr Marek Kukula. Science writer, Philip Ball, explains how the astronomical obsession with celestial spheres came to an untidy end. And, physicist Dr Helen Czerski helps Adam on his quest to find the perfect natural sphere.

If you have any everyday mysteries for the team to investigate using the power of science, please email: [email protected]

Producer: Michelle Martin

Image: A spiral galaxy, Credit: Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

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