Science In Action

This week, the RRS Sir David Attenborough arrived in Antarctica to start its first full season of science in the polar region. Dr Nadine Johnston reveals more about the mission and the research they’ll be carrying out.

Next up, medical geneticist Professor Shahida Moosa and her student Jessica Jane Cormick are working to help diagnose and treat rare diseases. They explain why better genetic databases for Africans are urgently needed.

We also hear from Simon Evans of the Carbon Brief, who has just completed an analysis that found the responsibility for climate change dramatically shifts once historical rule and colonialism are taken into account.

Finally, a new study has revealed that emissions from coal-fired power plants have led to the deaths of nearly half a million Americans in the last 20 years. Professor Cory Zigler, from the University of Texas at Austin, tells us more.

Presenter: Roland Pease

(Image: A general view of the RRS David Attenborough vessel on October 28, 2021 in Greenwich, England. Credit: Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

This month, Brazil has seen some of its highest recorded temperatures. The country’s Pantanal wetlands, the largest tropical wetlands in the world, have been scorched by wildfires. The region is home to vibrant wildlife, including jaguars, anacondas and various birds.

Professor Letícia Couto Garcia, leader of the Intervention Ecology Lab at Mato Grosso Federal University in the South, Brazil, talks about some of the challenges she’s experienced.

Staying with extreme temperatures, Dr Robert Rohde of the independent non-profit, Berkeley Earth, reveals what the recently recorded excess of 2°C means.

This week, we learned that an extremely energetic particle had been detected. Dr Toshihiro Fujii of Osaka Municipal University tells us how he first made the discovery after trawling through some data. We then hear from Dr Yvette Cendes, an astronomer who specialises in high-energy physics, to find out more about the origins of this particle.

Finally, Science in Action visits the South African Astronomical Observatory, to learn about the projects that could bring more diverse voices to our understanding of the night sky.

Presenter: Roland Pease

Increased tremors have been felt in Iceland, and concerns about an impending eruption have led to the evacuation of the town of Grindavik. Geophysicist Dr Freysteinn Sigmundsson reveals more about the events and whether this area of Iceland may be entering a new period of volcanic activity that could span centuries.

Also, Google DeepMind’s new GraphCast system could revolutionise weather forecasting. Rémi Lam from Google DeepMind and Dr Matthew Chantry from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts explain how it works.

Beyond warming our planet, climate change can have wide-ranging, unexpected impacts on people and the environment. Dr Christopher Trisos from the University of Cape Town has the lowdown.

Finally, recreating ancient seawater in the laboratory has given Dr Rosalie Tostevin, a geochemist from the University of Cape Town, additional information about the metals used by early microbes.

Presenter: Roland Pease

(Image: Emergency services worker walking near a crack cutting across the main road in Grindavik, southwestern Iceland following earthquakes. Credit: KJARTAN TORBJOERNSSON/AFP via Getty Images)

This week we're out in the wild and noisy spaces in and around Cape Town, South Africa.

Ichnologist Charles Helm takes Roland on a bumpy ride in Walker Bay Nature Reserve to hunt for fossilised animal tracks, with a few brilliant surprises.

Producer Ella Hubber visits the SANCCOB seabird rehabilitation centre to speak to researcher Katta Ludynia about what challenges the African penguin faces. We also hear about the ever-present threat of bird flu from SANCCOB vet David Roberts.

And, in the beauty of Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Tess Gridley and her team from the African Bioacoustics Community are collecting the sounds of South Africa's diverse bird populations for the public and future conservation efforts.

Presenter: Roland Pease

Category 5 hurricane Otis, which devastated Acapulco, was supercharged by global warming; hurricane expert Kerry Emanual tells Science in Action.

Also, Brazilian ecologist Erika Berenguer has witnessed the destruction caused by the prolonged drought in Amazonia, where the rivers are drying up and the forest is burning.

And, climate scientists now say there is less time than previously thought to avoid further dangerous warming. Two climate scientists, Chris Smith and Norman Loeb, break the bad news - that the climate is more sensitive to greenhouse gases than forecasts have used.

Presenter: Roland Pease

(Photo: A woman sits amongst the damage after Hurricane Otis. Credit: Silvana Flores/Getty Images)

Fear that the highly infectious variant of avian influenza, H5N1, would reach the Antarctic region and put isolated bird populations at risk has finally come to fruition as the first birds on Bird Island in the Atlantic Ocean have come down with the devastating illness. Science manager of the island, Ashley Bennison, explains the situation.

Kevin Langergraber has been studying the Ngogo chimpanzee community in Uganda for over 20 years. Now, Kevin and colleague Brian Wood tell us how this group are experiencing something thought to be unique amongst humans (and some whales): menopause.

And, how geophysicist Amir Kahn used seismic activity on Mars to understand what the core of our neighbouring planet is made of.

Presenter: Roland Pease

(Image: Wandering Albatross, Diomeda exulans, displaying at Cape Alexandra above Bird Sound and Bird Island in background South Georgia. Credit: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Accelerating seismic tremors are raising concerns for the thousands of people living atop a volcanic hot spot close to Naples, Italy. Volcanologist Alessandro Pino has been keeping a watchful eye on the developing situation.

We stay in Naples where, almost 2000 years ago, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried Pompeii, including thousands of scrolls turned to charcoal by the immense heat. This hasn’t stopped people from trying to read the scrolls, destroying hundreds in the process. Now, computer scientist Brent Seales has deployed AI and papyrologists worldwide to decipher the burnt text.

And from ancient scrolls to rainforest soundscapes, ecologist Zuzana Buřivalová has also been using AI to untangle the vast array of life heard in forests, old and new, as a tool to measure biodiversity.

Presenter: Roland Pease

(Image: A view of the fumaroles Pisciarelli in Agnano quarter of the Campi Flegrei, a volcano near Naples. Credit: Salvatore Laporta/KONTROLAB/LightRocket/Getty Images)

Lying atop a network of fault lines, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet, Afghanistan is prone to earthquakes. However, the Herat area has not seen an event for almost 1000 years. As such, it was the least likely area to experience the series of devastating earthquakes and aftershocks which are reported to have killed thousands this week. Afghani seismologist Zekaria Shnizai discusses the factors which led to the disaster.

After a couple of delays, NASA’s Psyche mission is due to launch this Friday. It will map Psyche, a metal-rich asteroid orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. Project leader Lindy Elkins-Tanton's excitement for the project is infectious.

And can deep learning help us predict the next pandemic? Computational Biologist Debora Marks’ new tool, Evescape, can predict the most likely mutations a virus will gain under pressure. This could be a game changer.

Presenter: Roland Pease

(Image: An Afghan man sits amid the rubble after a massive 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes the city of Herat. Credit: Esmatullah Habibian / Getty Images)

The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weismann for their contributions to developing the fundamentals that led to life saving mRNA vaccines. Although funding and support were not always assured on their road to the Nobel, Katalin Karikó tells Roland she used these setbacks to drive her towards success.

On the other side of the coin, allegations of scientific misconduct over bold room temperature superconductivity claims. Earlier this year, eleven authors submitted a paper to Nature. Now, eight of them are calling for a retraction. Science journalist Dan Garisto covers the story.

Also this week, NASA Ames researcher Jacob Kegerreis details how Saturn got its rings. Hint: It’s a smashing story.

And, what is the most fear inducing sound in the world? Lions roaring? Gunshots? According to mammals in South Africa it is the human voice. Fear-ecologist Liana Zanette explains.

(Image: Katalin Karikó. Credit: Mark Makela / Getty Images)

What did a 465-million-year-old trilobite eat for dinner? And how can we possibly know? Archaeologist Per Ahlberg has used x-ray to peer into the guts of one ancient scuttling creature and worked out what it what was munching on in its final moments.

From life in ancient earth rocks to potential life in space rocks, mineralogist and astrobiologist Bob Hazen has been training AI to spot signatures of life on Earth. He now hopes to use this tool on space samples.

We also ask experimental particle physicist Jeffrey Hangst how antimatter, the last mystery of the universe, responds to gravity - was Einstein's theory of general relativity right?

And the antiviral Covid medication, Molnupiravir, may be causing the virus to mutate. Theo Sanderson discusses how he figured this out and how concerned we should be.

Presenter: Roland Pease

(Image: Fig. 1: Bohemolichas incola (Barrande, 1872). Credit: Kraft et al)