http://www.bbc.co.uk An in-depth look at the most significant ideas, discoveries and trends in science, from the smallest microbe to the furthest corner of space. Podcast weekly on Mondays. Science en Wed, 08 May 2013 15:46:50 +0200 Mon, 13 Apr 2026 22:00:00 +0200 30 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss iono.fm 2.5.3.0 2013 no Weekly feeds@iono.fm (Feed Manager) https://cdn.iono.fm/files/p4/logo_4_20250908_202335_1400.jpeg http://www.bbc.co.uk An in-depth look at the most significant ideas, discoveries and trends in science, from the smallest microbe to the furthest corner of space. BBC episodic BBC bbc@iono.fm false GB https://iono.fm/e/1732924 https://iono.fm/e/1732924 Science Mon, 26 Oct 2026 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Gillian Forrester 0 0 BBC full 28:13 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1730376 https://iono.fm/e/1730376 Science Mon, 19 Oct 2026 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: David Canter 0 0 BBC full 27:41 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1727459 https://iono.fm/e/1727459
Edith is a leading expert in epigenetics: put simply, the science around how our bodies can turn particular genes on or off without actually altering our DNA. She’s spent her career studying the mechanisms that make us who we are and transforming our understanding of how X chromosomes are expressed; notably, how female cells turn off the spare X chromosome.

Talking to Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Edith discusses her journey from a shy and introverted youngster to the cutting edge of European science - including her latest role as Director of London’s prestigious Francis Crick Institute. ]]> Science Mon, 12 Oct 2026 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Edith Heard 0 0 BBC full 27:42 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1725115 https://iono.fm/e/1725115
If you’re physicist Ginger Kerrick, you go on to help run the missions instead.

After failing the medical of her astronaut application process, Ginger went on to become Nasa’s first non-astronaut CAPCOM and its first Hispanic female Flight Director. Across a remarkable three-decade career, she helped train the International Space Station’s first long-term crew, logged thousands of hours in Mission Control, and shaped future missions to the moon and Mars. All with her trademark determination and resilience – qualities forged through life experiences that might have derailed someone else entirely.

In conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Ginger reveals the highs and lows of life at Nasa, and discusses the future of human spaceflight: from the potential of AI, to missions to Mars. ]]> Science Mon, 05 Oct 2026 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Ginger Kerrick 0 0 BBC full 27:42 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1722418 https://iono.fm/e/1722418 Science Mon, 28 Sep 2026 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Ocean Within Us 0 0 BBC full 28:29 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1720324 https://iono.fm/e/1720324
An ant becomes infected by a fungus which takes over its nervous system, turning the ant into a vehicle for the fungus’s reproduction and killing the ant in the process. It sounds like science fiction, but it's happening in rainforests around the world.

It's a parasitic relationship that has inspired the TV series The Last of Us, but it also reveals a great deal about control, autonomy and the interconnectedness of the natural world.

With:
Merlin Sheldrake, mycologist and writer
Philip Ball, science writer
Mark Brown, director of the University Museum of Zoology at Cambridge University
Nura Sidarus, Lecturer in Psychology at Royal Holloway, University of London
Lore Lixenberg, mezzo-soprano and sound artist, and
Jason Singh, sound artist and composer. Jason's recordings and compositions feature throughout this documentary.

Zombie Ant Fungus: The chemistry of Control is a show created and produced by Bridget Nicholls, and written and directed by Wade McCollum who also performs in the show and composed its music. The original production premiered as a Pestival commission at the Royal Institution of Great Britain.

Presenter: Bridget Nicholls
Producer: Eliane Glaser ]]> Science Mon, 21 Sep 2026 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Art of Being a Zombie Ant Fungus 0 0 BBC full 29:46 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1717700 https://iono.fm/e/1717700
Dr Ella Hubber and journalist Katie Silver explore how consumer products marketed to women are frequently developed without fully understanding their needs. Along with expert insight, they look at everything from footwear based on male anatomy to menstrual products tested with unrealistic methods, revealing how these decisions can affect comfort, performance and even health.

As awareness grows, they also ask what change can look like and whether everyday products can finally reflect women’s real needs.

Presenter/producer: Ella Hubber
Assistant Producer: Scarlett Victoria
Researcher: Elliott Prince
Editor: Ilan Goodman ]]> Science Mon, 14 Sep 2026 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 Women Not Included: Consumer Products 0 0 BBC full 27:43 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1715284 https://iono.fm/e/1715284
Through expert insight, Dr Ella Hubber and journalist Candice Bailey uncover how gaps in research can lead to higher complication rates in women, why the “one-size-fits-all” design method falls short, and how even the operating theatre can fail women.

As awareness grows, they also ask what change can look like and whether the tools used in healthcare can finally serve every body.[EH1.1]

Presenter/producer: Ella Hubber
Researcher: Elliott Prince
Editor: Ilan Goodman ]]> Science Mon, 07 Sep 2026 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 Women Not Included: Medical Devices 0 0 BBC full 28:04 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1712876 https://iono.fm/e/1712876
As awareness grows, they also ask what change can look like. Better training, better regulation, and the technologies shaping our future working fairly for everyone.

Presenter/producer: Ella Hubber
Researcher: Elliott Prince
Editor: Ilan Goodman ]]> Science Mon, 31 Aug 2026 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 Women not included: Artificial Intelligence 0 0 BBC full 28:28 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1710500 https://iono.fm/e/1710500
Along with journalist Chhavi Sachdev, Dr Ella Hubber explores how urban design often fails to reflect the realities of women’s lives. They unpack issues like why women spend longer queuing for toilets, how safety concerns shape the way women move through cities, and why transport systems built around linear commutes fail those juggling care, work and home.

As awareness grows, they also ask what change can look like. More inclusive planning, policies shaped by lived experience, and cities finally designed to work for everyone.

Presenter/producer: Ella Hubber
Researcher: Elliott Prince
Editor: Ilan Goodman ]]> Science Mon, 24 Aug 2026 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 Women Not Included: Urban Planning 0 0 BBC full 28:58 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1708014 https://iono.fm/e/1708014
As awareness grows, they also ask what change can look like and if, through better data, and more women’s input, safety equipment can protect us all equally.

Presenter/Producer: Ella Hubber
Researcher: Elliott Prince
Editor: Ilan Goodman ]]> Science Mon, 17 Aug 2026 21:55:00 +0200 0 0 Women Not Included: Safety Equipment 0 0 BBC full 26:29 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1705621 https://iono.fm/e/1705621
Through expert interviews, they examine how women were historically excluded from clinical trials, why biological differences matter in how drugs work, and how this has led to higher rates of side effects. The story reveals how gaps in research continue to shape women’s healthcare today.
As awareness grows, they also ask what change can look like. More representative trials, pharmaceutical companies held accountable, and medicine finally built for everyone.

Presenter/Producer: Ella Hubber
Researcher: Elliott Prince
Editor: Ilan Goodman ]]> Science Mon, 10 Aug 2026 21:55:00 +0200 0 0 Women Not Included: Drugs and Clinical Trials 0 0 BBC full 26:30 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1688417 https://iono.fm/e/1688417
Antibiotics have saved countless lives, but alongside them, there is another unlikely sounding ally in this fight: viruses, so small that they can attack and kill the bacteria causing these devastating infections. They are called bacteriophages, or phages for short. There are more of them than any other commonly occurring natural entity on the planet. And we could be about to see doctors using them on very ill patients in the UK. The thing is scientists have studied bacteriophages for nearly a century. They are used routinely in other countries, and science journalist Marnie Chesterton, who has been following this story for nearly a decade, asks why, suddenly, is phage all the rage? ]]> Science Mon, 22 Jun 2026 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 The friendly virus 0 0 BBC full 26:28 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1686308 https://iono.fm/e/1686308
That is the satisfying story of Dr Dean Lomax. Dean grew up in Doncaster with a passion for fossils but after failing various school exams, was told by teachers that he'd never make it as a palaeontologist. Undeterred by leaving school with no qualifications, Dean sold his childhood Star Wars collection to fund a fossil-hunting trip to America that changed his life - after which a chance discovery led to him publishing his first ever scientific paper at the age of just 20.

Today, he’s an expert on ichthyosaurs - the massive marine reptiles that once inhabited our seas - and has discovered and named several new species, written books for both adults and children, and brought the prehistoric world to life on TV. Talking to Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Dean discusses dinosaurs as a 'gateway science', discovering the Rutland Sea Dragon and the importance of cutting out noise from nay-sayers to follow your dreams... ]]> Science Mon, 15 Jun 2026 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Dean Lomax 0 0 BBC full 27:07 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1686031 https://iono.fm/e/1686031 Science Mon, 08 Jun 2026 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Helen Hastie 0 0 BBC full 27:49 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1681684 https://iono.fm/e/1681684 Science Mon, 01 Jun 2026 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Seth Berkley 0 0 BBC full 27:40 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1679416 https://iono.fm/e/1679416
Hiranya is Professor of Astrophysics 1909, the prestigious Chair at the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge University. Over her career she’s been one of the pioneers of a revolution in astronomy, bridging fundamental physics with the observational data coming back from space, to establish the first evidence-based standard model for the origin, evolution and fate of the universe. The endeavour has transformed the field from the ‘wild west’ of physics to the modern era of precision cosmology.

Ironically, it was another movie, of sorts, Carl Sagan’s documentary series ‘Cosmos’, that first sparked Hiranya’s interest in the universe as a young girl. Always keen to inspire women to follow in her footsteps and choose careers in science, if this interview were a live show she’d have reserved the front row for schoolgirls. ]]> Science Mon, 25 May 2026 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Hiranya Peiris 0 0 BBC full 26:30 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1677117 https://iono.fm/e/1677117 Science Mon, 18 May 2026 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Washington Yotto Ochieng 0 0 BBC full 26:30 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1674753 https://iono.fm/e/1674753 Science Mon, 11 May 2026 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Lucy Carpenter 0 0 BBC full 26:28 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1672367 https://iono.fm/e/1672367 Science Mon, 04 May 2026 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Jens Juul Holst 0 0 BBC full 26:29 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1670195 https://iono.fm/e/1670195
Jim Ashworth-Beaumont is an orthotist and prosthetist who spent years helping people adapt to life with artificial limbs and musculoskeletal supports, before a near-fatal accident left him relying on both.

This twist of fate might have derailed many - but Jim drew on reserves of resilience and determination forged long before his accident; initially in the army, then by returning to education to earn the qualifications he missed out on as a youngster. He put himself through night school before earning a place to study Prosthetics and Orthotics at the University of Strathclyde. Later, while working at London’s Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Jim completed a Master’s in Neurorehabilitation, and a PhD in Health Studies – driven by a fascination with how the human body adapts under pressure.

But in 2020, while training for a triathlon, Jim was involved in a catastrophic cycling accident that nearly killed him - and cost him an arm.
He tells Jim Al-Khalili how the incident gave him a whole new insight into his patients’ experience and made him more determined than ever to achieve his goals.

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Lucy Taylor ]]> Science Mon, 27 Apr 2026 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Jim Ashworth-Beaumont 0 0 BBC full 26:29 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1667946 https://iono.fm/e/1667946
So begins a truly extraordinary scientific paper, and an equally extraordinary story.

“Death Squared: The Explosive Growth and Demise of a Mouse Population.” was published in 1973 by John Calhoun, and it detailed his increasingly bizarre research into the psychological effects of overcrowding. Over two decades he built a series of ‘rodent utopias’, where he could keep a population of rats or mice, meet all their basic food and shelter needs, but mess around with population levels. He wanted to see how they responded to having to live, cheek-by-tiny-jowl, with far more other rats than they were used to. And it wasn’t pretty. Social orders melted into chaos, rodents fought indiscriminately, or shut themselves away at the top of the enclosure. Mating orders collapsed, population numbers tanked, and eventually, every single rat was dead.

His work came at a prescient time. In the 60s and 70s, the exponentially expanding human population was a hot-button topic, and ‘population panic’ was in full swing. Alongside the expansion of cities, creeping urban sprawl, rising city-centre crime rates and 'urban sinks', there grew a concern that human living conditions were about to take an interminable dive. How would we live, with so many of us on earth? Calhoun’s work was leapt on by the press and public as a dire prediction of our own coming collapse. His rodent utopias became a subject of great interest among architects and city planners, psychologists and sociologists, and anyone fascinated by the human condition. But has his work been misunderstood?

50 years on, what lessons can we take from the work of a ground-breaking but often misunderstood scientist, in the face of a human population now exceeding 8 billion. Emily Knight explores his extraordinary work, its implications for humanity, and the possibility of a human utopia, that might not look anything like you expect.

Presented and Produced by Emily Knight in Cardiff ]]> Science Mon, 20 Apr 2026 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 Inside Universe 25 0 0 BBC full 26:30 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1665560 https://iono.fm/e/1665560
Headlined ‘Evidence of dark oxygen production at the abyssal seafloor’, scientists told how they had discovered oxygen being made two and a half miles down, at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

Their claim centred on small polymetallic nodules on the seafloor, and the key question - could these lumps of metal somehow be making oxygen in complete darkness?

It was an extraordinary finding that, if proven, could overturn hundreds of years of scientific knowledge about how this crucial ingredient for life is made. It prompted global headlines and split scientists.

But a year and a half on, are we any closer to knowing the answer... Is dark oxygen really possible?

BBC News science correspondent Victoria Gill investigates for BBC Radio 4, and finds so much more than a scientific anomaly.

Dark Breath is the story of a scientific controversy played out in real time. A row about science that became personal. And a discovery that crashed headlong into the debate about whether we should mine metals from the deep sea.

What does the story tell us about the messy and human scientific process? And what bearing does it have on the decision to exploit some of the last untouched parts of our planet?

Presenter: Victoria Gill
Producer: Gerry Holt
Editor: Ilan Goodman ]]> Science Mon, 13 Apr 2026 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 Dark Breath 0 0 BBC full 26:28 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1663276 https://iono.fm/e/1663276
In this three part series for Discovery, reporter Roland Pease traces how we reached this point, uncovers the forces driving resistance ever faster, and meets the scientists racing to outpace evolving superbugs before our lifesaving medicines fail for good.

Episode 3 - Failed market. A successful new antibiotic must not only treat bacteria that resist existing therapies, it must be kept in reserve for only the hardest cases lest new kinds of resistance evolve, and yet it must pay back the developers' investment. No wonder several leading antibiotic companies have failed financially in the past 8 years. Is there a way to make antibiotic development pay? ]]> Science Mon, 06 Apr 2026 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 Superbugs: Resistance Rising Part 3 0 0 BBC full 29:22 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1661543 https://iono.fm/e/1661543
In this three part series for Discovery, reporter Roland Pease traces how we reached this point, uncovers the forces driving resistance ever faster, and meets the scientists racing to outpace evolving superbugs before our lifesaving medicines fail for good.

Episode 2 - The chemists' challenge. With all the low-hanging fruit in the antibiotic search space gone, chemists are having to work harder and be cleverer to top up the antibiotic pipeline. The chances of finding even one successful compound in a working life are low, but can new approaches like AI or genetics make the difference? ]]> Science Mon, 30 Mar 2026 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 Superbugs: Resistance Rising Part 2 0 0 BBC full 26:28 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1659278 https://iono.fm/e/1659278
In this three part series for Discovery, reporter Roland Pease traces how we reached this point, uncovers the forces driving resistance ever faster, and meets the scientists racing to outpace evolving superbugs before our lifesaving medicines fail for good.

Episode 1 - The rise of resistance since the discovery of penicillin, its consequences for patients, and how bacteria are getting widening the treatment gap. ]]> Science Mon, 23 Mar 2026 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 Superbugs: Resistance Rising Part 1 0 0 BBC full 29:33 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1656163 https://iono.fm/e/1656163 Science Mon, 16 Mar 2026 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Jehane Ragai 0 0 BBC full 26:29 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1654070 https://iono.fm/e/1654070 Science Mon, 09 Mar 2026 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Tony Juniper 0 0 BBC full 27:45 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1651543 https://iono.fm/e/1651543
One scientist who’s done more than most to rectify this is Professor Pierre Friedlingstein. He’s a prominent climate scientist and Chair in Mathematical Modelling of the Climate System at Exeter University. His models have transformed our understanding of climate change, revealing a complex dynamical system with carbon at its centre, cycling between the atmosphere, oceans and land, to directly influence the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Pierre is actively involved in assessing the state of our climate through the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and, as director of the Global Carbon Budget, estimates the remaining amount of carbon dioxide that can be emitted before we breach our global climate targets. It’s the ultimate test of effective climate action and the latest annual update will be released at COP.

Pierre explains how we can all play our part to reduce carbon emissions, and he practises what he preaches - he won’t be flying to COP this year so as to minimise his own carbon footprint. ]]> Science Mon, 02 Mar 2026 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Pierre Friedlingstein 0 0 BBC full 27:44 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1649100 https://iono.fm/e/1649100 This merging of the senses is known as synaesthesia, and it’s the rich research world of neuropsychologist Professor Julia Simner. Julia runs the Multisense lab at the University of Sussex and has pioneered research into understanding how special brains process our sensory world in special ways. In the studio she tests Jim to see if he might be a synaesthete or have aphantasia, which is the inability to view images in the mind’s eye. The results are surprising.
Julia’s discovered links to autism, and to different personality types, as well as a number of previously unknown sensory differences.
She describes her career and her life as a series of swerves, or sliding door moments, that have led her to study the subject and the people she’s passionate about. She says that the more she looks for these unusual traits in us the more she finds. ]]> Science Mon, 23 Feb 2026 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Julia Simner 0 0 BBC full 27:43 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1646811 https://iono.fm/e/1646811 Science Mon, 16 Feb 2026 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Caroline Smith 0 0 BBC full 28:22 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1644169 https://iono.fm/e/1644169 Science Mon, 09 Feb 2026 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: AP De Silva 0 0 BBC full 26:29 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1642593 https://iono.fm/e/1642593 Science Mon, 02 Feb 2026 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Eleanor Schofield 0 0 BBC full 27:44 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1639045 https://iono.fm/e/1639045
Professor Sir Peter Knight is a British pioneer in the realms of quantum optics and quantum information science. During his three decades as a researcher at Imperial College London, he has advanced our understanding of the physics which underpins how quantum computers work.

Quantum optics was a new field of physics at the start of Peter Knight’s career in the early 1970s and he tells Jim Al-Khalili about the excitement and opportunities for a young scientist at the birth of a new scientific discipline. He also talks about the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme. Since his retirement in 2010, Peter Knight has been the driving force behind this £1 billion government-funded endeavour which has positioned the UK as a world leader in the development and commercialisation of quantum computing and other revolutionary quantum inventions. ]]> Science Mon, 26 Jan 2026 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Peter Knight 0 0 BBC full 26:29 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1636530 https://iono.fm/e/1636530
Twenty years on, we discuss the enduring lessons from the Hurricane Katrina disaster of 2005, hearing from Lieutenant General Russel Honoré who led the military relief effort, and Roland speaks to Jill Trepanier, hurricane climatologist from Louisiana State University.

We also hear about the mouth of the Mississippi River, known as the Bird's Foot Delta, south of New Orleans. Carol Wilson, assistant professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at Louisiana State University, tells us how important these wetlands are as storm protections, yet they’re under threat from sea level rise and lack of sediment.

Roland takes a look at fifty-thousand-year-old Antarctic ice whilst speaking to Ed Brook, Professor at Oregon State University and director of COLDEX (Center for Oldest Ice Exploration), whose team is searching for ice which is potentially ten million years old. And he speaks to Allison Chartrand, assistant research scientist at the University of Maryland and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, who has been working to reveal the hidden landscapes of Greenland under the ice.

And Bob Hazen, scientist at the Carnegie Science Earth & Planets Laboratory, takes us back to the origins of life on Earth. He is investigating rocks which could be over four billion years old and may contain molecular fragments of ancient life.

Presenter: Roland Pease
Producer: Jonathan Blackwell ]]> Science Mon, 19 Jan 2026 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 Frontiers of Earth Science 0 0 BBC full 26:28 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1634276 https://iono.fm/e/1634276 Science Mon, 12 Jan 2026 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 Frontiers of Space Science 0 0 BBC full 26:28 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1632158 https://iono.fm/e/1632158
To find out, presenter Marnie Chesterton travels to the birthplace of quantum theory: the remote, windswept island of Helgoland. Here, a century ago, a young scientist called Werner Heisenberg made a leap of understanding that laid the foundations of quantum mechanics, and changed the world.

To mark a century of quantum, leading physicists from across the globe have gathered on Helgoland for a conference, and Marnie joins them with an unconventional plan. She’s allowed to ask them JUST ONE QUESTION, in the hope it can get to the heart of what this strange and difficult subject is really about: “What IS quantum?”

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producer: Anand Jagatia
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jazz George ]]> Science Mon, 05 Jan 2026 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 What is Quantum? 0 0 BBC full 27:06 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1631183 https://iono.fm/e/1631183 Science Mon, 29 Dec 2025 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: George Church 0 0 BBC full 26:28 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1630605 https://iono.fm/e/1630605 Science Mon, 22 Dec 2025 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Gareth Collett 0 0 BBC full 26:29 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1628949 https://iono.fm/e/1628949 Science Mon, 15 Dec 2025 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Sonia Gandhi 0 0 BBC full 26:28 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1626749 https://iono.fm/e/1626749
For Mark O’Shea, close encounters with the world’s most rare and deadly snakes are not only his profession, but his passion.
Mark is a Professor of Herpetology - the area of zoology focusing on reptiles and amphibians - at the University of Wolverhampton.

After dropping out of college in his teens, Mark's life could have taken a very different direction; but prompted by a fascination with reptiles that started with a childhood trip to the zoo, he's gone on to have a career spanning research, international expeditions and broadcasting. He's also worked with international medical teams, studying deadly species and helping to generate antidotes for some of the world’s deadliest venoms.

In conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Mark reveals the challenges around generating antivenom for countries that need it, the pros and cons of keeping snakes as pets, and what you need to know if you ever get bitten...

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Lucy Taylor ]]> Science Mon, 08 Dec 2025 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Mark O'Shea 0 0 BBC full 26:29 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1624440 https://iono.fm/e/1624440
For those with foreign accent syndrome, this is their reality. Patients who develop this rare speech disorder start speaking in a brand new accent that they often have no connection to.

So how does losing the voice you’ve known your entire life shape, or break, your identity?

Presenter Ella Hubber speaks to Althia Bryden, who developed foreign accent syndrome last year, and Sarah Colwill, who has lived with the condition for the past 15 years. They share the deep impact it has had on their identity and connection to those around them.

And to understand what is happening in the brain to cause this complete change in accent, and whether it’s really even an accent at all, Ella speaks to professor Nicholas Miller, who has been unpicking the mystery of foreign accent syndrome for decades. And professor Stefanie Keulen shares that there are actually multiple types of the condition.

Even though foreign accent syndrome is rare, it is found around the world, can affect anyone, and highlights just how deeply our voices influence all aspects of our lives.

Presenter: Ella Hubber
Producers: Sophie Ormiston, Ella Hubber
Assistant Producer: Minnie Harrop
Editor: Martin Smith ]]> Science Mon, 01 Dec 2025 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 Different Voices 0 0 BBC full 26:28 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1621799 https://iono.fm/e/1621799
We start with a business of ferrets (yes, that is their collective noun) at the National Ferret School in Derbyshire, who have swapped rabbit holes and trouser legs for drain-clearing, re-wiring, and laying fibre optic cables. Ferret Trainer James McKay demonstrates why they're perfect for the job, as he casually folds one trainee into a tight pretzel.

Simon visits the HQ of 'Medical Detection Dogs', a training facility in Milton Keynes where dogs are being trained to sniff the tell-tale signs of a host of diseases. You may have heard of their 'cancer dogs', but it goes much further: epilepsy, malaria, Parkinson's, even Covid-19. Dr Claire Guest explains.

Can technology keep up? Maybe. Although we have no real idea exactly HOW dogs do what they do, AI may be on the cusp of solving this puzzle for us. Simon speaks to Dr Andreas Mershin from start-up Realnose, which is developing “electronic noses".

Finally, Simon meets some real heroes. 'HeroRats', to be precise. Not the same species that haunts our sewers, these are African Giant Pouched Rats, and their job as landmine detection specialists is saving lives across Thailand, Mozambique, Cambodia and Zimbabwe. Dr Cynthia Fast from UCLA trains them for the job.

Presented by Simon Watt, and produced in Cardiff by Emily Knight ]]> Science Mon, 24 Nov 2025 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Animal Employment Agency 0 0 BBC full 26:28 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1619180 https://iono.fm/e/1619180
Journalist Jenny Kleeman gains rare access to a surgical training course at Brighton and Sussex Medical School which uses these "fresh" donor bodies. She talks to the people who work with them every day and the surgeons who have come to be trained to find out how they feel about the people who have given the ultimate gift and if we still need real human cadavers in medical education.

Presenter: Jenny Kleeman
Producer: Ella Hubber ]]> Science Mon, 17 Nov 2025 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 Bodies 0 0 BBC full 28:17 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1616761 https://iono.fm/e/1616761
Kevin is a consultant anaesthetist and professor of public engagement and innovation at University College London. He’s worked on the front line in hospitals, dealing with major incidents and helping shape policy; but he's also stayed true to his childhood passion for space, working on multiple projects with NASA and even going through the astronaut application process himself. As if that wasn’t enough, he’s also become a well-known figure in science broadcasting through his various radio and TV shows.

Speaking to Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Kevin admits it hasn't always been an easy path – but his passion for both space and medicine have got him through. And today, he's channelling his energies into ensuring we protect the NHS's most precious commodity: its staff.

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Lucy Taylor
Revised for World Service by Minnie Harrop ]]> Science Mon, 10 Nov 2025 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Kevin Fong 0 0 BBC full 26:30 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1614307 https://iono.fm/e/1614307
However, chemical reactions are far from perfect. They're often inefficient and their waste products can be harmful to the environment. Getting to grips with what goes on at the scale of individual atoms has long been a sticking point.

Dame Pratibha Gai has spent much of her career pioneering novel microscopes to bring this seemingly inaccessible atomic world into sharp focus. Now Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at York University, her microscope, known as the environmental transmission electron microscope, is housed in labs around the world. It allows scientists, like herself, to observe chemical reactions in real-time, in exquisite atomic detail, and tinker with them to create products that are not only better for all of us, but also the environment.

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Beth Eastwood
Revised for World Service by Minnie Harrop ]]> Science Mon, 03 Nov 2025 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Dame Pratibha Gai 0 0 BBC full 27:27 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1611856 https://iono.fm/e/1611856 Comedy has proved an unexpectedly succesful way to engage people with science - as today's guest knows first-hand.

Astrophysicist Catherine Heymans is a Professor at the University of Edinburgh and the current Astronomer Royal for Scotland. She’s spent her career studying dark matter and dark energy: the mysterious ingredients that make up an estimated 95% of our cosmos, but which we still know surprisingly little about. Using increasingly powerful telescopes, both on earth and in space, Catherine has spent years building detailed maps of dark matter - even to the extent of capturing rare images of this mysterious cosmic component.

On top of her research achievements, she's committed to making science accessible to all; not least by taking an astronomy-themed comedy show to the Edinburgh Festival and beyond.

In conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Catherine talks about her passion for sharing the joys of astrophysics - and reveals how health challenges over the last few years have forced her to readdress her career, her ambitions and even her sense of self...

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Lucy Taylor
Revised for World Service by Minnie Harrop ]]> Science Mon, 27 Oct 2025 23:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Catherine Heymans 0 0 BBC full 28:18 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1609480 https://iono.fm/e/1609480
Over the course of a colourful career, Tim's work has taken him all over the world: including researching wolves in Yellowstone National Park, little fish called guppies in the rivers of Trinidad and silvereye birds on Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef. Using complicated mathematical models he builds up a picture of ecosystems seeking to explain how predators impact both evolution and ecosystems. And finally, more than thirty years after he vowed to write the book that would explain everything we know about science, he's done just that.

In conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Tim talks about his journey from youthful ambition to science demystifier.

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Geraldine Fitzgerald
Revised for World Service by Minnie Harrop ]]> Science Mon, 20 Oct 2025 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Tim Coulson 0 0 BBC full 27:41 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1607059 https://iono.fm/e/1607059
If that isolating thought makes you feel slightly panicked, don't worry: this programme also contains wine!

Brian Schmidt is a Distinguished Professor of Astrophysics at the Australian National University, known for his work on supernovae: massive explosions that take place when stars come to the ends of their lives. They are among the most energetic events in the universe and incredibly difficult to find; but that’s what his High-Z Supernova Search Team did, identifying enough of these rare and distant explosions to measure just how fast they were moving away from us.

This led them to the realisation that, contrary to long-held belief in cosmology, the expansion of the universe was speeding up; a discovery which earned Brian a share of the 2011 Nobel Prize for Physics. As if that wasn't enough, he's gone on to discover one of the earliest stars in the universe; run a university; and become a winemaker, at his very own vineyard just outside Canberra.

In a conversation spanning the genius phraseology of writer Douglas Adams, the importance of pisco sours, and the similarities between astronomy and viticulture, Brian tells Professor Jim Al-Khalili how his supernovae breakthrough paved the way for a revolution in astronomy - and where the field needs to go next...

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced for BBC Studios by Lucy Taylor
Revised for World Service by Minnie Harrop ]]> Science Mon, 13 Oct 2025 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Brian Schmidt 0 0 BBC full 27:40 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1604649 https://iono.fm/e/1604649
Jane shot to fame when she appeared on the cover of National Geographic magazine in 1963 and appeared in a documentary film directed by Orson Welles. Her ground breaking observations introduced us to the social and emotional lives of wild chimpanzees and changed our view of what it is to be human. Images of her younger self play-wrestling with baby chimps make Jane feel slightly apprehensive now but at the time she didn’t give it a second thought. However, she did take care to protect her young son. Seeing distressing footage of chimps who were living in captivity, she gave up fieldwork to become an activist, working to liberate chimpanzees that were being used for medical research or sold for meat or as pets, and setting up chimp sanctuaries for animals that were no longer able to live in the wild. For the last thirty years, she has campaigned gently but relentlessly to protect wild animals and wild places, touring the world and performing on stage in front of huge audiences. Her global youth programme, Roots and Shoots has inspired and empowered millions of people to understand and respect nature, leading some to call her ‘the mother Theresa of the environment’. A label she dislikes.

Producer: Anna Buckley ]]> Science Mon, 06 Oct 2025 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Jane Goodall 0 0 BBC full 26:28 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1602260 https://iono.fm/e/1602260
Quite a lot, it turns out - not only about the individual, but also their broader lives and communities; and these are the stories unearthed by Jacqueline McKinley, a Principal Osteoarchaeologist with Wessex Archaeology.

During her career, Jackie has analysed thousands of ancient burial sites across the British Isles, bringing to life the old traditions around death via often cremated human remains. She's also assisted criminal investigators with forensic analysis, and contributed to some of the UK's best-loved archaeological TV shows.
And one thing she’s absolutely clear about: far from being macabre, osteoarchaeology is more about the living, than the dead...

In conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Jackie talks about the stories we can derive from skeletal remains, how western attitudes to death have gone through a major recent shift, and why she's kept some of her late father's bones.

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced for BBC Studios by Lucy Taylor
Reversion for World Service by Minnie Harrop ]]> Science Mon, 29 Sep 2025 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Jacqueline McKinley 0 0 BBC full 26:28 Discovery https://iono.fm/e/1599921 https://iono.fm/e/1599921
Professor Jonathan Shepherd not only recognised the link between public violence and emergency hospital admissions, he actually did something about it.

As a senior lecturer in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in the early 1980s, Jonathan started looking into this trend - and his research revealed that most violent assaults resulting in emergency hospital treatment are not reported to police.

As a result, he devised the ‘Cardiff Model for Violence Prevention’: a programme where hospitals share data about admissions relating to violent attacks with local authorities. He also went on to study various aspects of violent assault and deliver evidence-based solutions - from alcohol restrictions in hotspots, to less breakable beer glasses in pubs.

The impacts have been significant, delivering reductions in hospital admissions and in violent attacks recorded by police; not only in Cardiff, but in cities around the world where the model is used. Today, as an Emeritus Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Cardiff University - where he’s also Director of their Crime, Security and Intelligence Innovation Institute - Jonathan continues to bring together the medical sector with local authorities, finding practical ways to make cities and their residents safer.

But his career, straddling the worlds of practise, science and policy, is an unusual one; here he talks to Professor Jim Al-Khalili about what drove him to make a difference.

Presentedby Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Lucy Taylor
Reversion for World Service by Minnie Harrop ]]> Science Mon, 22 Sep 2025 22:00:00 +0200 0 0 The Life Scientific: Jonathan Shepherd 0 0 BBC full 26:29 Discovery