BBC Inside Science

Where next World Wide Web? Space rocks and worms


Listen Later

30 years ago Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web as a way to let physicists share their papers and data on a distributed network. It's changed a lot since then and not all for the better. Dominant technology companies monopolise our data and many, including Berners-Lee are worried about the growth of state sponsored hacking, misinformation and scamming. One solution is to re-decentralise the web, giving us more control of our information and what is done with it, but at what cost? Founder and director of Redecentralize.org, Irina Bolychevsky and technology guru Bill Thompson discuss the future.

BBC Space Correspondent Jonathan Amos has news on some space rocks this week. Ultima and Thule, make up a bi-lobe comet out in the far reaches of the Solar System in the Kuiper Belt. Ultima-Thule was visited by the New Horizons mission in January. More data is being analysed and giving scientists insight into how these two planetary building blocks collided and merged and also on how it got its strange flattened shape. Another rock seems to be a rubble pile. The asteroid Ryugu is currently hosting the Japanese Space Agency's Hayabusa 2 spacecraft and landers. Jonathan explains to Gareth what stage the missions' audacious sample collect and return is now at. And there's a shock discovery by spacecraft OSIRIS-REx from asteroid Bennu. The NASA spacecraft analysing the asteroid has observed it shooting out plumes of dust that surround it in a dusty haze. It's a phenomenon never seen in an asteroid before.

Back down on Earth and under the surface of the earth are the earthworms. As any savvy gardener will know, earthworms make a big difference to the health of soil and plants. What isn’t as well understood is how changes to the soil - like climate change and the intensification of agricultural practices - have impacted on the all-important worm population. In fact, scientists don’t even know what’s down there, wriggling underneath the surface. To find out, farmers recently undertook to the first worm survey in the UK. Finding that 42% of fields had very few or completely lacked key types of earthworm, the results suggest that over-cultivation has led to poor soil health in significant amounts of farmland.

Producer: Fiona Roberts

...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

7,898 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

720 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

2,972 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

755 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

604 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