CrowdScience

Welcome to Part 1 of CrowdScience’s year-end extravaganza! It’s an extra-festive episode this week. For those who celebrate it, Christmas is the perfect time to pause and look back at the year just gone. Here on CrowdScience we’ve had a great 2023: we answered dozens of listener questions, ranging from climbing plants and ostriches to panic attacks and the weight of the internet.

This week presenter Anand Jagatia magically appears with a Santa’s sack full of special features. We’re catching up with some of our favourite guests from the past year and answering some of the extra questions that we never got the chance to cover.

First up we hear from presenter Tim Clare who we first heard in the episode “Why do some people have panic attacks?” He takes Anand through his new book – it's about board games: why we play them, how they’ve existed throughout history and what he’s learned about himself in the process of writing it.

Then it’s time for a bonus question. The CrowdScience team often get questions about noise pollution. One listener got in touch to ask whether the transition to electric vehicles will reduce this noise. Acoustic scientist Kurt Fristrup and epidemiologist Erica Walker give their perspectives on this question, and how sound and noise can sometimes be very different things. CrowdScience listener Marie - who originally starred in an episode about why she doesn’t have any sense of time - returns. Since the programme she has been speaking to psychologists about her problem and tells Anand what more she’s learnt.

We received another bonus question after a show in 2023 about AI: why can’t artificial intelligence be designed to explain it’s decisions? Producer Phil returns to data scientist Briana Brownell from the original episode to ask her why AI decision making is so very complex.

Finally, as it’s the season for holiday music, we’re asking what makes the genre so distinctive? Composer Jane Watkins - who originally created the sound of a panic attack for a CrowdScience episode - brings in her musical keyboard to demonstrate what makes a Christmas song so specifically ‘a Christmas song’.

It’s all topped-off with the premiere of a happy and heart-warming song performed by the CrowdScience Christmas Choir – a little gift for our loyal listeners.

Presenter: Anand Jagatia

Featuring:

Tim Clare, author/poet/podcaster

Seeds are crucial to human existence – we eat them, we grow them and then we eat what they become. But what is a seed and how come it can sit there doing nothing for ages and then suddenly, when the conditions are right, burst into a plant?

That’s what CrowdScience listener Anke has been wondering. She runs an aquaponic salad farm near Stockholm in Sweden and she germinates thousands of seeds every week. With a bit of moisture and light, seeds that have been dormant for months can become leafy greens in just a few weeks. So are seeds alive, are they on some kind of life support, or is something else going on?

Presenter Caroline Steel sets off to Sweden to meet Anke, before heading for the Nordgen seed bank near Malmö. There she discovers how seeds being stored for future generations are tested for viability, and wonders what’s going on inside a seed that allows it to remain asleep before suddenly coming to life. How does a seed decide that the time is right?

We hear about one of the world’s longest running science experiments - a real-life treasure hunt that takes place every twenty years in Michigan, USA. Plant biologists tramp through the snow looking for bottles of seeds that were buried nearly a century and a half ago. Once found they try to germinate them. What superpowers does a seed need to be able to last that long?

Caroline also meets the woman who tried to grow date seeds that had been discarded at the palace of Herod the Great 2000 years ago, and ended up with previously extinct trees that produce delicious fruit. Surely a seed can’t have been alive for that long. Or can it?

Contributors:

Anke Johanna van Lenteren, Johannas Stadsodlingar, Sweden

Presenter: Caroline Steel

(Photo: Hands holding spinach seeds. Credit: Vince Streano / Getty Images)

If, like this week’s Crowdscience listener Lili, you enjoy working out in the gym, you may have wondered where your fat disappears to when you exercise?

The short answer is that we convert it to energy that powers a whole range of physical processes - from breathing to walking as well as lying down and doing nothing. But the science behind energy expenditure is a little more complicated than that.

Presenter Anand Jagatia jumps on an exercise bike to have his metabolism measured and learns that he may be relying on an entirely different source of fuel as he works up a sweat.

Is all that hard work worth the effort it involves? Recent research suggests there is a limit to the number of calories humans can burn and that engaging in physical activity is not always a sure-fire way to keep trim.

So if working out is not the best way to lose weight, how about harnessing our own fat to tackle the complications of obesity? It used to be thought brown fat was exclusive to babies (and bears) but we now know adults have some of it too. Anand discovers that it appears to play a vital role in combatting a range of chronic diseases including hypertension and diabetes.

Presenter: Anand Jagatia

(Photo: Person squeezing their tummy. Credit: Getty Images)

*Warning* This episode includes references to suicide.

When listener Ben heard about a Kenyan “starvation cult” in the news, he wondered whether the members of this group had been brainwashed. Is it possible to control someone’s mind?

In this episode presenter Caroline Steel learns how easily people can be influenced. She hears what it’s like to be part of a cult, and gets to the bottom of a decades-long debate: does brainwashing exist? And, if so, how does it work?

Presenter: Caroline Steel

Featuring:

Anthony Pratkanis, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz

(Image: Washing a brain. Credit: Cemile Bingol / Getty Images).

CrowdScience listener Michael wants to know whether the brain responds differently if we listen to books instead of reading them. Do we retain information in the same way? And is there a difference between fiction and non-fiction?

Anand Jagatia finds out whether curling up with a good book is better than putting on his headphones. She is speaks to Prof Fatma Deniz from the Technical University of Berlin; Prof Naomi Baron from American University, Washington DC; Prof Patrick Nunn from the University of Sunshine Coast, Queensland and The Guesthouse Storytellers.

Presenter: Anand Jagatia

(Photo: Senior man wearing headphones listening to an audiobook. Credit: pixdeluxe/Getty Images)

Lying is something all humans do. We find it in every culture around the world. It’s in the world of work, in our relationships and online. It’s all pervasive and hard to escape.

Our question this week is from listener Anthony from Cambodia. He asked us to find out why we lie, and wants to know how conscious we are of the lies that we tell?

CrowdScience’s Caroline Steel is in the hot seat, on a journey where she will attempt to untangle the complex story behind lying.

It’s a subject scientists and psychologists have been studying for a long time. It’s also something writers, philosophers and theologists have been interpreting for thousands of years. But we’re only now really starting to get to grips with how it works as a human behaviour.

There are lies in our folklore, lies in the media and also lies in everyday conversation. It’s something we’ve all had to learn to navigate at some point in our lives. In this episode the CrowdScience team unravels the mysteries surrounding the behaviour and the art of lying.

Our journey will take us to meet the world’s ‘second best liar’, an award she picked up at West Virginia’s Liar Contest. We’ll also meet a comedian who’s proud of the down-to-earth plain honesty of Dutch people.

An academic who has studied thousands of children’s brains will explain when we first start learning to lie. And we’ll hear about new research using magnetic resonance imaging, commonly known as MRI scans, which is helping to show how the more we actually lie, the less our brain reacts telling us not to.

Caroline looks at how lying changes from culture to culture. Do we really all lie? And do we lie in the same way?

The surprising and intriguing answer is found in how early it develops in us as a human behaviour.

Contributors:

Prof Kang Lee, Professor in Applied Psychology and Human Development at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto

Presenter: Caroline Steel

(Photo: Young Businessman Interviews for new job. Credit: Andrew Rich/ Getty Images)

Our planet is quickly approaching 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). Scientists say we might cross this milestone in just six years. Listener Julian wants to know what life will look like on the other side of that threshold.

With the help of climate scientists, the BBC’s Anand Jagatia dives into the worlds of virtual climate models. From heatwaves to higher humidity indices to extreme precipitation and drought, he gets a picture of what's to come.

We also venture to places that are warming both faster and more slowly than the global average.

In a remote village in Alaska residents are already dealing with life-changing permafrost thaw and ground that's melting beneath their feet. Permafrost expert Sue Natali tells us what this unexpected thawing ground means for the planet as it releases carbon and methane we weren't necessarily counting on.

In Indian cities, temperatures were already high, but they're not rising as quickly as climate scientists had initially predicted. We hear why this is and why it might be a big problem in the not- too-distant future.

Anand also speaks to television series writer Dorothy Fortenberry about how science informed plotlines in her new show Extrapolations.

This episode is not just about what climate change will bring -- but what it will feel like.

Presenter: Anand Jagatia

Featuring:

Dorothy Fortenberry, Extrapolations, Apple TV

“You are what you eat” is a well-known saying. But is it really true? That’s what we explore in this week’s CrowdScience thanks to a question from listener Claire from Australia.

We each have trillions of tiny microbes and bacteria inside our bodies, living in our mouths, skin, ears and even in our eyes. Each community of microbes and bacteria is known as a microbiome. The most populous of these is in our gut, with hundreds of trillions of organisms and bacteria helping digest the food we eat.

Our gut microbiome is affected by lots of things but mainly by our diet. With our gut microbiome forming such a massive part of our insides, people have long suspected that what we eat impacts how we feel.

Presenter Caroline Steel investigates. She speaks to a professor of Psychiatry, Jane Foster, to find out how interconnected our microbiome and our brain really are. Professor Foster also explains the different ways in which our microbiome and brain communicate.

Do we really know what role diet plays in mental health? Consultant psychiatrist Professor David Veale provides more detail. And at a café with a rather interesting menu, Caroline samples some of the food available as occupational therapist Joel Oliver explains how important food can be as part of mental health treatment.

This begs the question: if our microbiome really does influence our mental health, can we harness the power of microbes to potentially find new treatments to help our mental health? Dr Najaf Amin tells us about her research identifying the link between specific microbes and depression.

Producer: Hannah Fisher

(Photo: Young hipster man eating salad. Credit: Tara Moore / Getty Images)

Why are some animals cute, cuddly, adorable – and some are slimy, creepy and downright weird? This edition of Crowdscience, recorded in front of a live audience, comes to you directly from the world-famous Green Man Festival in Bannau Brycheiniog National Park in Cymru (Wales). The programme recording was powered entirely by hydrogen.

Our inbox has been bursting at the seams with questions about creepy crawlies, deep sea beasties, cheeky monkeys, endangered species and animals of all shapes and sizes. So, we rounded up a panel of experts to get some answers!

Surrounded by 25,000 people trudging merrily through the mud, pelted with torrential rain, underscored by the warm hum of revelry, the BBC’s Marnie Chesterton speaks with Dr David Jones from the Natural History Museum, an expert on creepy crawlies and someone who spends a considerable amount of time thinking about earthworms, ants, and termites. Also joining us is Jess Savage, a researcher from the Institute of Zoology in London who’s an expert on ocean-dwelling animals and the impact of plastic pollution. Finally, we have Simon Watt, a biologist, comedian and founder of the Ugly Animal Preservation Society.

Join us for this very special edition of Crowdscience, in partnership with Green Man Festival, where we bring the experts closer to you than ever before.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton

(Photo: Marnie and guests. Credit: Jonathan Harris)

Salmon are one of the world’s most popular fish. And - in terms of the size of the industry - they’re also the world’s most valuable. They provide crucial proteins and fatty acids to many people’s diets. But like other species of fish, their production is undergoing a historic change. Plenty of salmon is still caught from the wild, but the majority is now farmed off the coasts of countries like Norway or Chile. With global demand on the rise, listener Jodie from Australia wants to know: which is healthier, farmed salmon or wild?

CrowdScience’s Marnie Chesterton is on the case! Her first stop: a remote loch in the west of Scotland, where salmon company Mowi rears thousands of the fish in big, open-water nets. Marnie takes the chance to see for herself what salmon farming actually looks like. She then speaks to aquaculture nutritionist Stefanie Colombo, who researches the nutrient content of different types of salmon. Stefanie breaks down the health positives and negatives of each, as well as what causes some of these differences.

Crucially, farmed salmon will vary in nutrition depending on where you are in the world. Jodie, the listener who asked this week’s question, is from Australia so her fish will most likely come from Tasmania. Chemist Christian Narkowicz has been conducting chemical tests on the salmon there - he tells Marnie what he’s found.

When we ask which type of salmon is healthier, it’s also important to consider the issue of environmental health. Eilís Lawlor is an economist and the author of a report on externalities and unintended consequences of the global salmon industry. She and Marnie discuss problems of overfishing and environmental pollution.

It’s also necessary to understand where wild salmon comes from. Marissa Wilson, director of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council, explains her average day out at sea and talks about some of the consequences of industrial offshore fishing.

Finally, we ask if there’s a way to improve farmed salmon by moving it onto land? That’s Yonathan Zohar’s mission. In the basement of the Institute for Marine and Environmental Technology in Baltimore, USA, he keeps several tanks of salmon in artificial seawater, using bacteria to dispose of the waste. Is this where salmon farming is headed? Or is the future more complex?

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton

(Photo: Atlantic Salmon jumping out of the water. Credit: Kevin Wells / Getty Images)