Podcast appearances and mentions of marnie chesterton

On the banks of the St Lawrence River in Quebec stands a 100-year-old lighthouse. While initially built to help boats navigate one of Canada's most difficult waterways, the Point-de-Père site now also holds a different responsibility: it is a key reference for measuring sea levels around the entire North America continent. But this is all set to change. With the development of new satellite technology, the tricky task of measuring sea levels is being updated - which could mean mountains around North America get brand new official heights. In this episode we revisit a question from CrowdScience listener Beth, who wondered about the elevation signs she saw scattered along a mountainous road, indicating how high above sea level she was. As sea levels rise, will all the elevation signs need repainting? And how do you measure sea level, anyway? The height of an enormous pile of rock like Ben Nevis, or Mount Everest feels unchangeable. But we measure them relative to the nearest patch of sea, which is where our story becomes complicated. Unlike water in a bath, sea level is not equal around the world. In fact, nothing on earth - not the sea, the shore or the mountains - is stable or constant, so the question of what you measure from and to becomes incredibly tricky. But that hasn't stopped scientists risking life and fingers to use an ever-evolving array of technologies to find answers. Join host Marnie Chesterton as she dives into the mechanics of the latest sea level technology, and how it could make a big difference to understanding our unpredictable world. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Julia Ravey and Marnie Chesterton Editor: Cathy Edwards Production Co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano and Jana Holesworth Studio Manager: Emma Harth(Image: Elevation Sign Post, Rocky Mountain National Park. Credit: Stephanie Beverungen via Getty Images.)

Some of our biggest achievements happen in the first years of our lives. Taking our first steps, picking up a complex language from scratch, and forming relationships with some of the most important people we'll ever meet. But when we try to remember this period of great change, we often draw a blank.After losing his Dad aged four, CrowdScience listener Colin has grappled with this. Why can't he recall memories of such a monumental figure in his life, yet superficial relationships from his teens remain crystal clear in his mind? Colin takes presenter Marnie Chesterton to visit some of the significant locations of his childhood, places he would have spent many hours with his late father; and he recounts his earliest memories.On this trip down memory lane, Marnie discovers the psychological mechanisms behind our lack of early childhood memories. Sarah Power from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development discusses the evolution of our memory systems, detecting false memories from real ones, and her world-first study exploring how infants form memories in real time. Elaine Reese from the University of Otago digs into the relationship between environment and culture when our earliest experiences solidify into memories. And Tomás Ryan, neuroscientist at Trinity College Dublin, reveals fascinating new insights from animal studies that hint that these memories could still be lurking inside our heads... Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Julia Ravey Content Editor: Cathy Edwards Production Co-ordinators: Ishmael Soriano & Josie Hardy Technical Producer: Emma Harth(Photo: Marnie Chesterton and CrowdScience listener, Colin, on the swings in Belfast.)

How will science shape up in 2025? Marnie Chesterton is joined by a panel of science watchers to discuss what we can expect from the year ahead. We'll talk big science, small science - and the plain cool. What will science do for us in the coming year? On the Inside Science panel, we have: - Tom Whipple, science editor of The Times - Shaoni Bhattacharya, former acting science editor of The Observer & freelance editor at Research Professional News - Penny Sarchet, commissioning editor at New Scientist Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Gerry Holt Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth  To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.

Why do we laugh more when we're with others? Are humans the only animals that laugh? Does ‘laughter yoga' actually do anything? We're delving into the neurobiology, evolutionary history, and health effects of a good old chuckle.Live from the Hay Festival Winter Weekend, Marnie Chesterton is joined by laughter expert and neuroscientist, Professor Sophie Scott, and an expert in making people laugh, comedian Miles Jupp, in this side-splitting panel show.Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Ella Hubber Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.

It's that time of the year when many of us are at home with friends and family, losing track of time, eating leftovers, and, of course, playing games. This festive season, we look at the science of games and, of course, play some ourselves. It's presenter Marnie Chesterton versus producer Florian Bohr at Marnie's kitchen table.... Who will win the Inside Science games special?Irving Finkel from the British Museum tells Marnie about the Royal Game of Ur, one of the most ancient board games which is strikingly similar to more modern examples of race games. Also, why we play games with author and neuroscientist Kelly Clancy, and why we struggle to comprehend the randomness of dice with author Tim Clare. To finish it off, mathematician Marcus du Sautory explains the geometry behind the game Dobble and leaves listeners with a Christmas puzzle: Can you figure out the symbols on the two missing Dobble cards? If you think you've found the solution, please email insidescience@bbc.co.ukPresenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Florian Bohr Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth    To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.

Carbon footprints are a measure of how much we each contribute to the greenhouse gases that warm the Earth's atmosphere. The global average of carbon dioxide emissions is nearly 5 tonnes per person per year, although it can be triple that in certain countries. But one CrowdScience listener in Ghana is wondering about the bigger picture. After all, humans aren't the only species on this planet. So which other animal has the biggest carbon footprint? CrowdScience presenters Caroline Steel and Marnie Chesterton are on the case, examining and arguing over the animal that deserves the top spot for this title. Caroline, a vegan, points to the cow as the top contender, since the livestock sector produces 14.5% of total greenhouse gas emissions, and cows, whether as meat or dairy animals, are responsible for the majority of that. The team look at initiatives around the world to be more efficient with each animal out there. But maybe it's time to put another sector in the spotlight? Pets. We love our dogs and cats but do their meat-based diets win them a place on the podium? From most loved to most detested, we look at the role that key pests play in upsetting the carbon budget. Could a small beetle with a large appetite for greenery be an unusual winner, thanks to the trees these pests destroy over their lifetimes? Is the biggest offender a carbon footprint, hoofprint, pawprint, or clawprint? Presenters: Caroline Steel and Marnie Chesterton Producer: Marnie Chesterton Editor: Cathy Edwards Production co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano Technical producers: Sarah Hockley and Donald MacDonald

In the past stout beer has been touted for its supposed health benefits. Is there any truth to those claims - and what happens if you take the alcohol out?CrowdScience listener Aengus pondered these questions down at the pub, after noticing most of his friends were drinking non-alcoholic beers. He wondered how the non-alcoholic stuff is made – what's taken out and what's added in – and whether the final product is better for you than the alcoholic version.It's a question that takes us to Belgium, home to the experimental brewery of a global drinks company which takes the growing market for alcohol-free beer very seriously. David De Schutter, head of research and development, shows host Marnie Chesterton how to take alcohol out of beer without spoiling the flavour.We also find our way to a yeast lab in Leuven, Belgium where Kevin Verstrepen and his team have found another way to make alcohol-free beer with the help of industrious microbes: yeast varieties that brew beer without producing any alcohol in the first place. And how do they compare to the alcoholic versions? We discuss the importance of aromas in our perception of beer's taste.So should listener Aengus stick to non-alcoholic stout? We speak to scientist Tim Stockwell about the health drawbacks of alcohol, even in moderation. And gut microbiome researcher Cláudia Marques fills us in on her delicious pilot study, which looked at the effects of both non-alcoholic and alcoholic beers on our digestive tract. Along the way, Marnie taste-tests what's on the market, and asks the experts why this particular grocery shelf has become so much bigger and more flavourful in recent years.Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Sam Baker Editor: Cathy Edwards Production co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano Technical producers: Giles Aspen, Andrew Garratt and Donald MacDonald(Image: Close-up of waitress holding craft beer at bar, Brazil Credit: FG Trade via Getty Images)

Do you find your bearings quickly or are you easily disorientated? Do your friends trust you with the directions in a new city? Finding our way in the physical world, whether that is around a building or a city, is an important everyday capability, one that has been integral to human survival. This week CrowdScience listener David wants to know whether some people are ‘naturally' better at navigating, so presenter Marnie Chesterton sets her compass and journeys into the human brain. Accompanied by psychologists and neuroscientists Marnie learns how humans perceive their environment, recall routes and orientate themselves in unfamiliar spaces. We ask are some navigational strategies better than others? Professor Hugo Spiers from UCL shares his latest lab for researching navigation and tells us that the country you live in might be a good predictor of your navigation skills. But is our navigational ability down to biology or experience, and can we improve it? With much of our modern map use being delegated to smartphones, Marnie explores, with Prof Veronique Bohbot what an over-reliance on GPS technology might do to our brain health. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Melanie Brown(Photo: Man standing on rural road holding up a road map, head obscured by map. Credit: Noel Hendrickson/Getty Images)

Maybe you have a deep, booming voice. Or perhaps it's light and mellifluous. Some people's voices are honey-smooth while others are as rough as gravel. But why does your voice sound the way it does? CrowdScience listener Hannah in Berlin is training as a teacher and will be using her voice a lot in the classroom in future. She wants to understand more about it: how can she improve the quality of her voice and protect it? And what factors - physical, genetic and environmental - determine the sound of your voice in the first place? Together with presenter Marnie Chesterton, Hannah pays a visit to speech tutor Prof Viola Schmidt at the Ernst Busch University for the Performing Arts in Berlin. Viola and actor Aurelius give us a masterclass in just what your voice can do, as they throw words and sounds to each other across the rehearsal room at a dizzying pace. And Viola gives Hannah a few top tips on using her voice clearly and authentically in the classroom. Hannah's isn't the only voice-related question in this episode. Peter from the Kingdom of Eswatini thinks people there speak more loudly than in other countries, and wonders why. To answer Peter's question we turn to Prof Caleb Everett from the University of Miami. The jury's out on whether people in some countries really do turn up the volume, but Caleb shares evidence of a link between the climate of a particular region and the sound of its native language. And finally, listener Jonathan has an unusual question for Marnie. When listening to CrowdScience, he can't tell whether he's hearing Marnie or fellow presenter Caroline Steel. This got him wondering whether it's common for two people to sound very similar. Marnie gives Caroline a call, and together they set out to discover if your voice really is unique to you. Caroline tracks down a forensic speech scientist - Dr Jess Wormald from the University of York in the UK – while Marnie speaks to Dr Melanie Weirich from the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena in Germany. And both experts agree that Jonathan may be onto something!Presenter: Marnie Chesterton with Caroline Steel Producer: Jeremy Grange Editor: Cathy Edwards Production co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano Studio Manager: Donald MacDonald

On this weekend ahead of the US election, we clock the importance of so-called swing states – and swing into action looking into not politics, but the science of swings.We examine how a pendulum swung by French physicist Foucault demonstrated that the earth is spinning, and hear about how the gibbon became the king of swingers – and what current-day elite climbers can learn from them. We also hear from educator Francis Mavhunga at the University of Eswatini who has regularly used swings in his physics classes, and now shows a new generation of teachers how to integrate children's lived experiences into the classroom.Plus, how science has revealed new secrets about the ancient silk road, and what your brain can see when your eyes can't. And, just to swing back to the beginning, presenter Marnie Chesterton digs into the archives to find out if science and tech can provide a foolproof voting system, and how astronauts vote.Presenter: Marnie Chesterton with Chhavi Sachdev and Godfred Boafo Producer: Harrison Lewis with Florian Bohr, Julia Ravey, Dan Welsh and Imaan Moin Sound Engineer: Gareth Tyrrell

Did you know the iconic yellow smiley face was first designed in 1963? However, its creator, Harvey Ball, soon worried that the symbol had become over-commercialised. To counter this, he introduced World Smile Day in 1999, celebrated on the first Friday of October, as a way to encourage acts of kindness and spread smiles.In the spirit of making you smile, the Unexpected Elements team has gathered science stories that bring them joy—each with a twist, of course.Children across cultures have invented secret languages to confuse their parents—and there's science behind it. The human face can produce 19 different types of smiles. And let's not forget the Brazilian scientist who not only pioneered species classification but also became a key figure in the country's suffragette movement.Meanwhile, Marnie Chesterton introduces us to the ever-cheerful Professor Andrea Sella from University College London, whose humour never fails to brighten her day. Together, they explore the role of humour in science and its importance in engaging both audiences and students.Plus, we'll dive into the science of vocal fingerprints, meet a man who physically couldn't smile, and hear about a global update to cyber security regulations that just might make you grin.Happy Friday!Presenters: Marnie Chesterton with Andrada Fiscutean and Camilla Mota Producers: Harrison Lewis with Jonathan Blackwell, Elizabeth Barsotti, and Anna Charalambou.

This week the panel take a look at their favourites of the newer Olympic sports as Paris 2024 gets underway. Surfing will happen in Tahiti this year, but could it ever be held on Titan, in orbit around Saturn? Obviously very unlikely, but not for the reasons you might expect. No vertebrate on earth can rock-climb like a gecko. Can nanomaterials come to our aid? And Amy Pope, Principal Lecturer of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University helps us understand the physics challenges the B-boys and girls are maybe subconsciously putting themselves through as Break Dancing makes its Olympic debut. Also, climate change unearths some of our oldest fossils in Brazil, being scared of long words, and designing cities to be cooler. Presented by Marnie Chesterton, with Philistiah Mwatee and Camilla Mota.Produced by Alex Mansfield with Harrison Lewis, Dan Welsh and Noa Dowling.

How do you think about the internet? What does the word conjure up? Maybe a cloud? Or the flashing router in the corner of your front room? Or this magic power that connects over 5 billion people on all the continents of this planet? We might not think of it at all, beyond whether we can connect our phones to it.Another chance to hear one of our favourite episodes, inspired by a question from CrowdScience listener Simon: how much does the internet weigh? First of all, this means deciding what counts as the internet. If it is purely the electrons that form those TikTok videos and cat memes, then you might be surprised to hear that you could easily lift the internet with your little finger. But presenters Caroline Steel and Marnie Chesterton argue that there might be more, which sends them on a journey.They meet Andrew Blum, the author of the book Tubes – Behind the Scenes at the Internet, about his journey to trace the physical internet. And enlist vital help from cable-loving analyst Lane Burdette at TeleGeography, who maps the internet.To find those cables under the oceans, they travel to Porthcurno, once an uninhabited valley in rural Cornwall, now home to the Museum of Global Communications thanks to its status as a hub in the modern map of worldwide communications. With the museum's Susan Heritage-Tilley, they compare original telegraph cables and modern fibre optics.The team also head to a remote Canadian post office, so correspondent Meral Jamal can intercept folk picking up their satellite internet receivers, and ask to weigh them. A seemingly innocuous question becomes the quest for everything that connects us... and its weight!Producer: Marnie Chesterton Presenters: Marnie Chesterton & Caroline Steel Editors: Richard Collings & Cathy Edwards Production Coordinators: Jonathan Harris & Ishmael Soriano Studio Manager: Donald MacDonald(Image: Blue scales with computer coding terms. Credit: Alengo via Getty Images)

How has China reached the top spot of scientific research so quickly? Science editor of The Economist, Ainslie Johnstone, gives us the CCPs grand, broad plans whilst Nature's Asia and Pacific editor, Gemma Conroy, digs into the specifics of China's future particle collider. Also, Gene Kirtsky, who has been studying cicadas for 50 years, discusses the spectacle of the millions of insects which have been emerging across the USA this summer. And Unexpected Elements' Marnie Chesterton gets close and personal with the stinkiest plant in the world at Kew Garden in London. Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth(Image: Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory Under Construction. Credit: VCG / Getty Images.)

It's often said that fine wine gets better with time, and this week's oenophile listener Jeremy has a cellar full of dust-covered bottles. He is curious whether chemistry can account for the range of flavours that develop as wine matures, but also wonders why some of it tastes like vinegar if you leave it too long? We head off to the Bordeaux region of France, where vines were planted almost 2,000 years ago. Here, winemakers are joining forces with scientists to better understand wine ageing, a process so subtle and intricate that even the scientists refer to it as magic. In the world-famous vineyards of Chateau Margaux, presenter Marnie Chesterton learns that the key ingredient for good grapes is a sandy soil type; and that in this part of France, the warming climate is actually having a positive effect on the vines, which need very little water to thrive. Over in the lab, we meet the chemist mapping the molecules responsible for aromas associated with a well-aged Bordeaux. Featuring: Philippe Bascaules, Chateau Margaux Prof Cornelis van Leeuwen, Bordeaux Sciences Agro Dr Stephanie Marchand-Marion, ISVV Alexandre Pons, ISVV Presented by Marnie Chesterton Producer – Marijke Peters Editor – Cathy Edwards Production Co-ordinator – Liz Tuohy Studio Manager – Sarah Hockley(Photo: Aged bottles on wine racks in a cellar. Credit: Morsa Images/Getty Images)

One year ago, the World Health Organisation declared that COVID-19 would no longer be categorised as a global health emergency. But the pandemic has left us with a new normal in all areas of our lives. From vaccine rollout to wastewater monitoring, we're asking: how has COVID altered the scientific landscape? Marnie Chesterton is joined in the studio by Linda Geddes, science journalist, and Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, Professor in Environmental and Analytical Chemistry at the University of Bath, to discuss.Are ugly animals getting the short end of the conservation stick? Whilst a few beautiful creatures, like tigers and panda bears, get good marketing and attract the most conservation efforts, comedian and biologist Simon Watt argues that the endangered animals which are less pleasing to the eye are being forgotten.Also this week, we answer a listener's question about the accuracy of using bug splats on cars to measure insect populations. Lead data analyst from the Kent Wildlife Trust, Lawrence Ball, gives us the details about the national citizen science survey, Bugs Matter, which sees people around the country measure insect splats on vehicle number plates as a marker of insect abundance.And science journalist Roland Pease discusses the unprecedented scientific opportunity hurtling towards Earth in the form of asteroid Apophis. It will just miss our planet – in astronomical terms at least – but its proximity has astronomers excited. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Ella Hubber, Sophie Ormiston and Hannah Robins Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

The Blue Ridge Parkway is 469 miles of beautiful vistas, a mountainous road that winds from Virginia to North Carolina in the USA. The route is peppered with elevation signs, telling you how many metres above sea level you are. Which has CrowdScience listener Beth wondering: as we are told that sea level is rising, will all the elevation signs need repainting? It's a task she's passed over to the CrowdScience team, who like a difficult challenge. The height of an enormous pile of rock like Ben Nevis, or Mount Everest feels unchangeable. But we measure them relative to the nearest patch of sea, which is where our story becomes complicated. Unlike water in a bath, sea level is not equal around the world. The east coast of America has a different sea level to its west coast. And as host Marnie Chesterton discovers in Finland, in some parts of the world the land is being pushed up, so sea level is actually falling. In fact, when nothing on earth - not the sea, the shore or the mountains - seems to be stable or constant, the question of what you measure from and to becomes incredibly tricky. But that hasn't stopped oceanography and geography scientists risking life and fingers to use an ever-evolving array of technologies to find answers. In this show we find out why they care so much, and why we should too.Featuring: Dr Paul Bell – National Oceanography Centre, Liverpool, UK Dr Severine Fournier – NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory / California Institute of Technology Dr Jani Särkkä – Finnish Meteorological Institute Khimlal Gautam – Mountaineer and Chief Survey Officer, Government of Nepal Dr Derek van Westrum – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, USAPresented and produced by Marnie Chesterton Editor – Cathy Edwards Production Co-ordinator – Liz Tuohy Studio Manager – Steve Greenwood (Photo: Sea Level Elevation Sign in Death Valley, California. Credit: Mitch Diamond/Getty Images)

In a competitive world, is it always best to finish first? A tribute to second place, second thoughts, and second opinions.You might assume that Olympic gold medallists have more successful lives than their silver-placed competitors. A study shows that on average winners die a year younger than the runners up, and earn less money.In the invasive jelly-fish wars of the Black Sea of recent years, it seems the second-comers prevailed over the voracious first-timers. And what about siblings? Does the first-born in a family really have any discernible advantage in life?Also, the potential perils of cutting-edge wearable medi-tech, the value of second opinions, and the chemical benefits of silver itself.Presented by Marnie Chesterton, with Godfred Boafo and Andrada Fiscutean Produced by Alex Mansfield, with Dan Welsh, Julia Ravey and Noa Dowling Sound by Gwynfor Jones

The sight of horses running wild in a city leads panellist Tristan Ahtone in Helsinki to rethink how we rate horses' welfare, Chhavi Sachdev in Mumbai tells the story of the country that is cloning the Lionel Messi of horses for sport and presenter Marnie Chesterton finds out why roboticist Eakta Jain is studying horses to engineer better relationships between humans and autonomous vehicles. All that, plus the slippery record for the world's biggest snake, how the alphabet came to be and asteroid forcing scientists to reiterate 'it will not hit Earth'.

Beyonce's new album tops the charts with a reappraisal of who can do country music and the Unexpected Elements team has a hoedown. Panellist Christine Yohannes unearths new research that changes our understanding of the origins of cowboys. Chhavi Sachdev has a thing or two to teach Beyonce as she reveals why the banjo has it's characteristic twang and we meet a man with powerful chemistry - TikTok dance sensation Dr Andre Isaacs from the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts tells presenter Marnie Chesterton how dancing in his lab helps explain click chemistry. We also hear how new species could be given names that refer to the locations they're found in, we discuss whether mining is causing the Earth to shrink and, of course, eclipses make an appearance. We shed some light on how an eclipse over 100 years ago helped prove Einstein's theory of relativity.

A recent study on how to get rid of microplastics in water sparked presenter Marnie Chesterton's curiosity. When she turns on the tap in her kitchen each day, what comes out is drinkable, clean water. But where did it come from, and what's in it? Dr Stewart Husband from Sheffield University answers this and more, including listener questions from around the UK. Is water sterile? Should I use a filter? And why does my water smell like chlorine? Also, new research indicates that bumblebees can show each other how to solve puzzles too complex for them to learn on their own. Professor Lars Chittka put these clever insects to the test and found that they could learn through social interaction. How exactly did the experiment work, and what does this mean for our understanding of social insects? Reporter Hannah Fisher visits the bee lab at Queen Mary University in London. And finally, more than 20 million years ago, our branch of the tree of life lost its tail. At that point in time, apes split from another animal group, monkeys. Now, geneticist Dr Bo Xia at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard thinks he may have found the specific mutation that took our tails. Marnie speaks with evolutionary biologist Dr Tom Stubbs from the Open University about why being tail-less could be beneficial. What would a hypothetical parallel universe look like where humans roam the earth, tails intact? And what would these tails look like? Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Louise Orchard, Florian Bohr, Jonathan Blackwell, Imaan Moin Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth  BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

Can you put a price on the perfect athlete? In baseball you can, and that's a $700 million dollar contract. Shoehi Ohtani took to the field in Seoul for the LA Dodgers to prove that the big cheque was worth it. It has Marnie asking – can you predict if one of your kids will become the G.O.A.T – the Greatest of All Time in any sport? She'll also be investigating the other kind of goat – I'd say ordinary, but these ones are fighting wildfires. We bring you the curious tale of a never-before-seen beach pebble washing up on the shores of a remote island. What are they? And get the lowdown on the most unpleasant sounding ultramarathons after a 40-year-old Scottish woman completes a race SO hard that only 20 people have finished . Plus, gravitational waves, home-grown antivenom, and listening on double speed. Can your brain take it? Presented by Marnie Chesterton, Phillys Mwatee and Camilla Mota.Produced by Harrison Lewis with Tom Bonnett, Jack Lee and Cath Mcghee.

Switzerland has submitted a proposal to create a United Nations expert group on solar geoengineering to inform governments and stakeholders. The idea was discussed at the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, this week. Professor Aarti Gupta shares how, after tense negotiations, the different member states could not agree, and the proposal was withdrawn. Why is solar geoengineering a controversial issue? How would dimming the sun even work? And should we consider it a genuine option in our fight against climate change? Dr Pete Irvine and Professor Joanna Haigh join presenter Marnie Chesterton in the studio to discuss. Animal welfare charities have been celebrating a ban on donkey skin trade, agreed to this month by 55 African countries. This will make it illegal to slaughter donkeys for their skin across the continent, where around two thirds of the world's 53 million donkeys live. Victoria Gill tells Marnie that the demand for the animals' skins is fuelled by the popularity of an ancient Chinese medicine called Ejiao, believed to have health-enhancing and youth-preserving properties and traditionally made from donkey hides. Lastly, Dr Jess Wade, physicist and science communicator at Imperial College London, discusses Breaking Through: My Life in Science. It's the memoir of Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Dr Katalin Karikó, whose passion and dedication to mRNA research led to the development of the life-changing COVID mRNA vaccines. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Florian Bohr, Louise Orchard Assistant Producer: Imaan Moin Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-HolesworthBBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

Crowd Science listener Maik wants to know what the BMI is and what his BMI score says about his body. He trains dogs for a living and wonders if, like different breeds of dog, we simply have different body types? Marnie Chesterton comes up with some answers, talking to doctors about how the BMI is used and misused in clinical practice, and looks at some alternative methods for measuring our body composition. She also sits down with philosopher Kate Manne to discuss the realities of living in a fat-phobic world. We hear from Tonga in the South Pacific, where high BMI scores have labelled the country highly obese. But this is not necessarily how Tongans see themselves. And Marnie finds out if the BMI will continue to be used across the world as an important health marker or whether it is destined for the scrap heap of medical history. Contributors: Professor Kate Manne Dr Francesco Rubino Dr Naveed Sattar Professor Brendon Noble Technician Leah Siegel Fononga Pulu Sela Latailakepa Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Richard Walker Editor: Cathy Edwards Production co-ordinator: Connor Morgans Studio manager: Emma Harth

As award season reaches its climax in the US, Unexpected Elements holds its own glitzy ceremony.Which bit of science will win Best Picture? Who will take home the Best Supporting Actor? And will Prof Elaine Chew play us out with her Best Original Music?The nominations include a particularly noisy tiny fish, a sweating mannequin, and a composition based on a misbehaving heartbeat. All this plus your correspondence and a discussion of how far science infuses the real Academy Awards.Presented by Marnie Chesterton with Godfred Boafo and Camilla Moto.Featuring pianist Elaine Chew, Professor of Engineering at Kings College London.Produced by Alex Mansfield, with Tom Bonnet, Harrison Lewis, Dan Welsh and Katie Tomsett.

Crowd Science is the show that takes listeners' questions and puts them to experts. We put some of your views on the programme to one of its presenters Marnie Chesterton and producer Ben Motley.Plus, the BBC WS has announced a change to the way it will be structured in India. Listeners ask what it means for them. Presenter: Rajan Datar Producer: Howard Shannon A Whistledown production for BBC World Service

When Lois Pryce arrived at her boat in Berkshire, the area was already completely flooded. The only way to get to it was via a small pontoon. She is one of many across the UK that have been affected by the current floods, and is very familiar with the flood warning system accessible to the public. But how exactly does this system work? What information is taken into account? Marnie Chesterton speaks to Dr Linda Speight about flood forecasting, and the delicate balance of when to send out flood alerts and warnings. Plus, a supersized spacecraft is launching this October. Europa Clipper will assess whether the most intriguing of Jupiter's 95 moons is habitable, meaning, could it support life? The evidence is tantalising. Jenny Kempmeir, Science Systems Engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, tells us why Europa might be the second body in our solar system on which life could exist. And, if you've been procrastinating over the housework – or should we say, mousework? - take a leaf out of a little rodent's book. Apparently, mice do like to keep things clean, but a video that went viral this week seemingly takes this idea to another level entirely! You may well have seen the footage of a Welsh mouse gathering up objects in a shed and placing them neatly inside a box, night after night. It's certainly very cute - Tidy Mouse carrying out its mousekeeping..but what's the scientific explanation behind this curious behaviour? Finally, how do exercise and video games affect cognitive performance? Professor Adrian Owen is launching a new experiment to find out and he needs your help. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Louise Orchard, Florian Bohr, Hannah Robbins Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth  BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

2024 is an exciting year for lunar exploration. For Inside Science this week Marnie Chesterton investigates the planned missions to the Moon over the next twelve months. It's been more than fifty years since the last manned mission to the Moon was completed. But that's about to change with NASA's upcoming Artemis II mission. This will not only be the first manned lunar flyby of the Moon since 1972, but also the first mission to have a woman and person of colour on board. Reid Wiseman, Commander of the Artemis II manned mission explains more about the mission and even lets us into a few secrets about what culinary delights await astronauts in space. But it's not just NASA going to the Moon in 2024. China's Chang'e 6 mission is lifting off in May, aiming to collect samples of rock from the far side of the moon. Quentin Parker, Director of the Laboratory for Space Research at the University of Hong Kong has a unique insight into China's mission and has been following progress. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Hannah Fisher Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth  BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

Marnie Chesterton & Victoria Gill embark on a science-themed version of the classic Christmas song ‘The 12 Days of Christmas' in this festive edition of BBC Inside Science. Twelve of the biggest moments of the year in science include discussion about a very special treefrog discovered in the Ecuadorian Andes. We also hear about two new promising drugs for Alzheimer's disease. An astronomer and visualisation scientist tells us about three new sonifications of space data. There's more on the discovery of a 476,000 year-old wooden structure found earlier this year in Zambia and how it has changed archaeologists' understanding of ancient human life. The year has also seen 5,000 new species discovered in a deep ocean abyssal plain. Saturn has 62 new moons and is now the planet with the most moons in our solar system. A report was published deeming 75% of UK rivers as posing a risk to human health. We gathered together experts from Natural Resources Wales, Cardiff University, Bangor University and the Wye and Usk Foundation who discussed why the help from citizen science is essential for their work. And a new record has been set which is really worrying scientists - the highest average global ocean surface temperature, which reached 20.98 degrees centigrade. Other notable moments from the year include: a Japanese twelve-legged robot, eighteen video-calling parrots, proposals for the 10km long Einstein telescope and the theory behind why one player in every football team views the world slightly differently. To help us along the journey the BBC's Radio Drama Company put all the science together into a brand-new rendition of the well-known 12 days of Christmas song. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton & Victoria Gill Producer: Hannah Fisher Assistant Producer: Emily Bird Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth  BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

COP 28, the largest climate summit in history, has drawn to a close. Marnie Chesterton examines some of the main stories to emerge from this lengthy conference. The way we look after our oceans, measures needed to ensure food security and an agreement to transition away from fossil fuel dependence were some of the big themes of the summit. The BBC's climate reporter Georgina Rannard takes us through the final agreement. We hear from Glada Lahn, senior research fellow at international affairs think-tank Chatham House, who explains how we might one day wean ourselves off so-called ‘brown energy'. Farming is also a source of greenhouse gases. Growing, processing and packaging food account for a third of all greenhouse gas emissions. How we feed the 8.1 billion of us on the planet continues to be a contentious issue. Casper Chater from Royal Botanic Gardens Kew explains what we can do to adapt our existing crops to cope with more frequent flood and drought events. Oceans are warming, losing oxygen and acidifying. Sea levels are rising. We speak to Ko Barrett, a senior climate advisor at the US's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, about the role oceans have played so far in helping us mitigate the worse effects of climate change. And we meet Mervina Paueli, a 25-year-old Tuvaluan negotiator, whose small archipelago in the South Pacific is on the frontline. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Louise Orchard, Hannah Robins and Harrison Lewis Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth  BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

Usually Unexpected Elements looks at the science behind the news, but this week Marnie Chesterton and Caroline Steel are looking back at some of the best bits from our first few months.We've got the best from our team of panellists across the globe, including what's going on in your brain when you speak more than one language, the horrific mating ritual of the bedbug and the science behind our panellist Camilla's terrible haircut decision.We look back at some of the brilliant scientists we've spoken to, with subjects as diverse as whale song, how the entire universe was once the size of a marble, why an archaeologist hasn't run off with all the gold he's found and how the jewel wasp turn a cockroach into a zombie.We have ‘Under the Radar' stories about power outages in South Africa, human ancestors from China, bringing Rhinos back to life in Kenya and how to keep everyone safe from Polar Bears in a place where there's no phone signal.We reflect on our attempts to find the Coolest Science in the World, and whether it's possible to pit a hurricane machine against an alternative to antibiotics.And it wouldn't be a ‘best of' show without a digest of all the fruit chat from throughout the year.All that plus eating glue for science, our best (or worst?) puns and some singing cows.Presented by Marnie Chesterton & Caroline Steel Produced by Ben Motley, with Tom Bonnett

Key scientific witnesses including former Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance and Chief Medical Officer for England Chris Whitty are called to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry. The BBC's Jim Reed brings us his three key moments from the evidence heard over the past few days that have been dubbed “science week”. NASA has managed to let loose a tool kit in the Earth's orbit -- and you can even see it in the night sky with binoculars. Lucinda King explains how this is possible and if space junk is getting out of control. The United Nations has warned we're heading towards 3 degrees warming and another Conference of the Parties, known as COP, is about to take place. The BBC's Georgina Rannard reminds us there is still hope for our planet to curb global warming. The winner of the 2023 Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize was announced on Wednesday night. It's Ed Yong for his book ‘An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us'. Marnie Chesterton was at the ceremony and nabbed Ed as well as Chair of the Judges Alain Goriely to find out what made this book the winner. Presenter:  Marnie Chesterton Producers: Harrison Lewis, Hannah Robins and Louise Orchard Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

Professor Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in Bangladesh, has died. He was instrumental in pushing for a loss and damages fund for vulnerable countries affected by climate change. Last year's COP27 climate conference made a pledge to set up this fund. But, as yet, there is not one in place. Marnie Chesterton speaks to BBC climate reporter Esme Stallard about Professor Huq's legacy, and where the money will come from for a loss and damages fund. We also hear about an unusual snail that's looking for love, with the help of matchmaking academic Dr Angus Davison. He's hoping to find a suitor for the mollusc. Marnie talks to Lev Parikian, author of Taking Flight: The Evolutionary Story of Life on the Wing, which has been shortlisted for this year's Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize. Geneticist, Professor Giles Yeo, who recently cycled from Land's End to John O'Groats with two glucose monitors attached to his arms, gives us an update on his research. He wanted to find out how diet and exercise affected his body's sugar levels. Presenter:  Marnie Chesterton Producers: Hannah Robins, Harrison Lewis and Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

This week on the show that brings you the science behind the news, inspired by COP28, we're talking about meetings. Honestly, it's way more interesting than it sounds. Come to hear about blackworm blobs – a wormy meeting that only happens in stressful situations - and how scientists are taking inspiration from it to design robots. Stay for the stories from nature where species are missing crucial pollination meetings thanks to that global stressful situation that is climate change. And what's better for the planet, a big meeting that everyone flies to or a telephone conference with no video? In ‘Ask the Unexpected' we answer a listener's question about antibiotics - if there are good bacteria in the body, how do they know which ones to attack?Also, OMG it's the OMG particle – we hear about the tiny but powerful particles that pound the planet from time to time. All that plus your emails about toilets and the rules of Cricket.Presented by Marnie Chesterton, with Chhavi Sachdev and Tristan Ahtone.Produced by Ben Motley, with Alex Mansfield and Dan Welsh.

This week on the show with the science behind the news, we're looking at a story that has sparked a debate in India about a 70-hour work week. In an interview, the billionaire NR Narayana Murthy said that young people should be ready to work 70 hours a week to help the country's development, suggesting that unless productivity improved, India would not be able to compete with other countries. But if you work twice as long, do you get twice as much done? The Unexpected Elements team on three continents look at research that sheds light on whether a 70 hour working week is actually as productive as Mr Murthy suggests. And if you're working all the time there's less time for sleep – we hear about the marine mammals that manage on 2 hours a day, and the Inuit hunters in northern Canada who follow a similar pattern. We're also joined by Environmental Economist Matthew Agarwala, wondering whether traditional notions of productivity ignore the issues of the climate and well-being. Our ‘Under the Radar' story this week is from Kenya, where Trachoma - a bacterial infection – is still causing people to become blind. It's one of a group of a diseases known as ‘neglected tropical diseases', but why are they neglected, and what can we do about it? In ‘Ask the Unexpected' a listener wonders why eating makes some pregnant women sick and not others. We ask an expert for the answer, and we discover that the menopause is not as unique to humans as we used to think. All that plus your emails and messages, including a listener who left a cult as a result of learning another language, and the mystery of the Eastern Australian Panther. Presented by Marnie Chesterton, with Phillys Mwatee and Meral Jamal. Produced by Ben Motley, with Alex Mansfield and Tom Bonnett.

A paper recently published in the journal Nature claimed that assembly theory could help explain and quantify selection and evolution. But what exactly is assembly theory? In this episode Marnie Chesterton speaks to science writer Philip Ball and zoologist and writer Professor Matthew Cobb. They dig into the science behind this tricky concept and figure out why it makes people so angry. A sample recovered by NASA from the Bennu asteroid hurtled back to earth recently. This week we saw what's been retrieved from 200 million miles away. Studies on the dust and rock are just getting underway. Professor Tom Zega, one of the mission scientists, reveals why this sample will be important for many years to come. We also hear from Ed Yong who has been shortlisted for the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize. He tells us about his book, An Immense World, where he encourages us to think beyond the confines of our fleshy bodies. People experience the world in many different ways. It all comes down to perception. We speak to Professor Fiona Macpherson who, along with neuroscientist Professor Anil Seth, are co-leads of The Perception Census which aims to document the differences. Fiona reveals how this could help shine a light on consciousness and what it means to be human. The census closes at the end of the month and everyone's welcome. You can take part here: https://perceptioncensus.dreamachine.world   Presenter:  Marnie Chesterton Producers: Harrison Lewis and Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.

The show that looks at the science behind the news, brings you the science of fear. In the week where many celebrated Halloween we're wondering about that tingle down your spine, the dryness in your mouth, the racing pulse - might it actually be good for you? We also look into a special frequency of sound, just below our human hearing range, that might cause rational people to start feeling spooky. And we explore Cryptids and the zoology of creatures that don't really exist. Plus, if you're bilingual, do you really have a first and second language? We also explore why driving a taxi is a workout for your brain and look at the benefits and pitfalls of cycling around the world. Presented by Marnie Chesterton, with Camilla Mota and Godfred Boafo. Produced by Margaret Sessa-Hawkins, with Alex Mansfield, Tom Bonnett and Ben Motley.

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 Producer: Emily Bird Editor: Richard Collings Technical producer: Mike Cox Studio manager: Jackie Margerum Production co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris (Photo: Marnie and guests. Credit: Jonathan Harris)

Salmon farming is a massive global industry. Just off the coasts of countries like Norway or Chile, hundreds of millions of these fish swim around inside big ocean nets. They provide crucial proteins and fatty acids to many people's diets, but are they more or less healthy than their wild cousins? That's what CrowdScience listener Jodie wants to know. For presenter Marnie Chesterton, answering this question means visiting a Scottish salmon farm and collecting dispatches from the ocean around Alaska; it means a closer look at what the salmon themselves are eating; and it means moving beyond nutrition to explore the health of the environment as well. What problems do salmon farms solve, what problems do they cause, and could moving onto land be the future for this field? (Photo: Atlantic Salmon jumping out of the water. Credit: Kevin Wells)

According to the pop icon Madonna, music makes the people come together. But can we prove that using science? As Madonna embarks on her greatest hits world tour, the Unexpected Elements team on three continents take some of those hits and examine the science behind them. Like a Virgin take us on an excursion into parthenogenesis, and the Komodo Dragons that can reproduce without the inconvenience of having to find a mate. Madonna sung about travelling ‘quicker than a ray of light', but is that actually possible? We take a very fast trip through the strange world of warp bubbles. And we Get Into the Groove with the physicist who created a record so tiny it fits into one of the grooves of a normal record. We also hear about the “find your ancestry” kits that have the capacity to solve so-called cold cases, identifying unknown human remains often decades old. With the eyes of the world on events in Gaza, we discover how tech can help make sure that any reportage – video or photos – are accurate and not doctored. All that plus your emails and WhatsApps, and a listener wonders whether fish can drown. Presented by Marnie Chesterton, with Philistiah Mwatee and Katie Silver Produced by Ben Motley, with Alex Mansfield, Tom Bonnett, Sophie Ormiston and Margaret Sessa Hawkins

River health has captured the public imagination, particularly as overspills from sewers have been getting more attention in the media. But the condition of a river is so much more complicated than what flows into it from our water treatment systems. Agriculture, roads, how we use our drains, what we buy and even the medicines and drugs we take can all have an impact on our rivers and the plants and animals that call them home. So how are UK rivers doing? And what needs to happen to help those waterways that are drowning in pollution? Joining the BBC's Marnie Chesterton on stage at Green Man Festival in Wales to discuss all this is: Dave Johnston, team leader of environmental reporting at Natural Resources Wales, whose responsibility it is to monitor Welsh rivers. Joanne Cable, head of organisms and environment division at Cardiff University, whose focus is on biodiversity and what we at home can do to support our rivers. Simon Evans, chief executive of The Wye and Usk Foundation, who runs citizen science projects to support these two rivers local to the festival. Christian Dunn, wetland biologist at Bangor University, who is keen to explain the power of wetlands and has also done some surprising research into the river near Glastonbury Festival. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Harrison Lewis and Hannah Robins Research: Liam Collins-Jones Studio Managers: Mike Cox and Duncan Hannant Editor: Richard Collings

How do you think about the internet? What does the word conjuror up? Maybe a cloud? Or the flashing router in the corner of your front room? Or this magic power that connects over 5 billion people on all the continents of this planet? Most of us don't think of it at all, beyond whether we can connect our phones to it. CrowdScience listener Simon has been thinking and wants to know how much it weighs. Which means trying to work out what counts as the internet. If it is purely the electrons that form those tikitok videos and cat memes, then you might be surprised to hear that you could lift of the internet with 1 finger. But presenters Caroline Steel and Marnie Chesterton argue that there might be more, which sends them on a journey. They meet Andrew Blum, the author of the book Tubes – Behind the Scenes at the Internet, about his journey to trace the physical internet. And enlist vital help from cable-loving analyst Lane Burdette at Telegeography, who maps the internet. To find those cables under the oceans, they travel to Porthcurno, once an uninhabited valley in rural Cornwall, now home to the Museum of Global Communications thanks to its status as a hub in the modern map of worldwide communications. With the museum's Susan Heritage-Tilley, they compare original telegraph cables and modern fibre optics. The team also head to a remote Canadian post office, so correspondent Meral Jamal can intercept folk picking up their satellite internet receivers, and ask to weigh them. A seemingly innocuous question becomes the quest for everything that connects us, and its weight! Producer: Marnie Chesterton Presenter: Marnie Chesterton & Caroline Steel Editor: Richard Collings Production Coordinator: Jonathan Harris (Image: Scales with data worlds and symbols interspersed throughout. Credit: Getty Images)

This week on the show that looks for the science behind the news, Marnie Chesterton investigates mystery after mystery. Where is Yevegeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, and could science help to trace him? Which animals would do best at a game of hide and seek? And we hear about the time when half the stuff in the universe went missing, and how cosmologists found it again. We continue our endless quest to identify the Coolest Science in the World. This week's contender studies the murky side of the genome – dark DNA. Plus the low-down on the indefinite doctor's strike in Nigeria, we look behind the latest news about our warming oceans and have you ever felt someone else's pain? You might be the 1 in 50 people known as mirror touch synaesthetes. All that plus your emails, whatsapps and even more fruit chat. Presented by Marnie Chesterton Produced by Ben Motley, with Margaret Sessa Hawkins, Alex Mansfield, Sophie Ormiston, Katie Tomsett and Florence Thompson.

The Threads social media app launched on 5th July. Instagram users were able to sign up with just a few clicks. It joins a plethora of other social media apps like Snapchat, Twitter and TikTok, all of which are readily accessible on our phones. With all these apps at our fingertips, it's never been easier for us to discover new people to follow, keep in touch with our friends and stay up to date with the latest news about our favourite celebrities. But Professor Devi Sridhar, the chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, is concerned about the harmful effect that all these apps could potentially be having on the health of young people. She talks to Marnie Chesterton about why they should be better regulated in order to protect our children. Marnie is then joined by Professor Andrew Przybylski from the University of Oxford who says that more studies need to be carried out. Next up we find out more about phages – ‘good' viruses that infect and destroy bacteria and could hold the key to fighting disease. Tom Ireland, author of a new book, The Good Virus, tells Marnie about the history of phages and their potentially exciting future. This week the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favour of middle-distance runner and Olympic champion Caster Semenya in a case related to testosterone levels in female athletes. Marnie speaks to developmental biologist Dr Emma Hilton about what causes differences in sexual development and the impact they can have. We also hear from Dr Stuart Farrimond who explains how the microclimates in your garden can affect the plants you can grow. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Harrison Lewis Content producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Assistant producer: Robbie Wojciechowski Editor: Richard Collings

Imagine spending six months of every year living in total shade. That's what life is like for residents of the Norwegian town of Rjukan, set so low in a valley that they see no direct sunshine at all from October to March. Marnie Chesterton heads there to hear about an ingenious solution: giant mirrors that beam rays down into the town square, where locals gather to feel the reflected heat. The man behind the project was motivated by a need for winter sun – but how much difference does it really make to our health and happiness? That's the question posed by this week's CrowdScience listener Michael, who has noticed living in the rainy Australian city of Melbourne is taking its toll. Many pensioners claim sunshine relieves achiness as well as conditions like arthritis but one of the biggest scientific studies found temperature has no real impact on reported pain levels, while factors like air pressure and humidity may play a role. When it comes to our mood, it seems that spending time outside is more important than feeling the heat. The optimum temperature for wellbeing is around a cool 19 degrees centigrade, while excessive warm weather has been linked to an increase in violence and crime. You can watch a visualisation of this episode on YouTube: Is the 'sunshine cure' a real thing? - CrowdScience, BBC World Service podcast - YouTube Producer: Marijke Peters Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Editor: Richard Collings Production Coordinator: Jonathan Harris Contributors: Dr Anna Beukenhorst, University of Manchester Professor Oscar Ybarra, University of Illinois Professor Solomon Hsiang, University of California, Berkeley Martin Andersen, artist (Image: Young woman enjoying sunset. Credit: Muriel De Seze/ Getty Images)

A rocket launch, super-massive black holes and ghost particles! This past week's scientific findings are testament to how hard-at-work cosmologists and physicists have been seeking out the fundamental building blocks of our universe and the rules that govern it. Professor of Cosmology at UCL, Andrew Pontzen, joins Marnie Chesterton to discuss the lot of them. Euclid took to the stars on Saturday, carrying a wide-angle space telescope that promises the opportunity to create a far larger and accurate 3D map of the universe to anything ever seen before. Gravitational waves detected by the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOgrav) provide insight into the role black holes play in galaxy formation. And neutrinos recorded in the remote ices of Antarctica have been detected from the centre of our Milky Way. Dr Stuart Farrimond also joins us for the next few weeks with his pitch on the science of gardening. He'll be digging up facts and tips that will help make the most out of summer blooms. This week Stu unearths how the pH of your soil could be hindering the flowerbeds. And visit a Welsh quarry with reporter Ella Hubber to hear how a mere 462 million years ago new species were exploding onto the scene. Palaeontologists Dr Joe Botting and Dr Lucy Muir stumbled across the most abundant and rare deposit of soft bodied fossils on record, scoring an archaeological jackpot! Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Harrison Lewis Content producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Assistant producer: Robbie Wojciechowski Editor: Richard Collings

“I'm bored!” We can all relate to the uncomfortable - and at times unbearable - feeling of boredom. But what is it? Why does it happen? And could this frustrating, thumb-twiddling experience actually serve some evolutionary purpose? CrowdScience listener Brian started wondering this over a particularly uninspiring bowl of washing up and it's ended with presenter Marnie Chesterton going on a blessedly un-boring tour through the science and psychology of tedium. She finds out why some people are more affected than others, why boredom is the key to discovery and innovation and how we can all start improving our lives by embracing those mind-numbing moments. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Samara Linton Production Co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris Editor: Richard Collings Contributors: Professor James Danckert, University of Waterloo, Canada Dr Elizabeth Weybright, Washington State University Dr Christian Chan, Hong Kong University Annie Runkel, University of Dundee

As extreme heat returns to much of the world we hear the impact of last year's heatwaves in Europe, where 62,000 people are estimated to have died. Joan Ballester, Associate Research Professor at Barcelona Institute for Global Health, discusses the figures from his latest paper and his concerns for the future. This week the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favour of middle-distance runner and Olympic champion Caster Semenya in a case related to testosterone levels in female athletes. Marnie Chesterton speaks to developmental biologist Dr Emma Hilton about what causes differences in sexual development and the impact they can have. Also, Kew Gardens is going digital. Millions of specimens are being made available to the world for the first time in an enormous digitisation project. Ella Hubber goes behind the scenes at Kew to see some of the precious specimens. Finally, the Indonesian government has banned a group of foreign scientists from conducting conservation research. Bill Laurance, Research Professor at James Cook University, talks to Science in Action about keeping politics out of conservation science. Image credit: Getty Images Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber

The show that brings you the science behind the news, with Marnie Chesterton and an inter-continental team. This week we take the headlines of the wildfires in North America, pull out the science and run with it. We explore what's actually in smoke-polluted air, looking at the part the El Nino weather system plays in starting fires, and discover why a surprising element of air pollution is helping conservation biologists to track animals. We look at how tobacco is not just bad for your lungs – it's bad for some of the farmers who grow it too. We get the Kenyan perspective on farmers trying to move away from tobacco production. We continue our quest to find The Coolest Science in the World with a researcher who studies grasshoppers that are the noisiest on the planet, but might not actually be noisy enough. And as Ukraine struggles with the devastation caused by the destruction of the Kherson dam, we look at dam building along the Mekong river and ask why a lack of flood water might be causing a problem. All that, plus your emails and whatsapps, and a listener gets an unexpected answer to a question about whether we can send taste and smell over the airwaves. Presented by: Marnie Chesterton Produced by Alex Mansfield, with Ben Motley, Margaret Sessa-Hawkins & Sophie Ormiston

What are the actual chances of finding alien life? The idea of meeting an extra-terrestrial has ignited imaginations for hundreds of years, and it's also inspired real science: the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence - or Seti - is an organisation that brings together researchers across the world in pursuit of distant life forms. This same dream is on the mind of listener Andrew in Yorkshire in the UK, who has been looking into the sheer size of the universe, and wants to know: how many stars are there in existence, how many planets, and how many planets that could harbour life? CrowdScience presenter Marnie Chesterton sets off on a space odyssey to answer these questions. She starts at Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, where University of Manchester astrophysicist Eamonn Kerins tells her the number of stars in the universe, and explains the Drake Equation - the mathematical formula that underpins SETI's work. It's a series of seven numbers that combine to give you the probability of making contact with an alien civilisation. The next step after stars is the number of planets; Michelle Kunimoto of MIT, who works on NASA's TESS mission, explains the transit technique for finding distant worlds. Supposedly anyone can learn to use this technique, so Michelle puts Marnie to a test of her planet-hunting prowess. Distant planets are a huge leap forward - but not all of them will be hospitable to life. Eamonn breaks down how scientists define a habitable planet, as well as how to determine habitability using telescope observations. Marnie speaks to Mary Angelie Alagao from the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand about a cutting-edge piece of optical kit designed to block out the light from stars so you can take direct images of the planets next to them. Finally, it's time to put everything together and get some actual numbers for listener Andrew - as well ask how long it could take to find proof of alien life. Try out Marnie's planet-hunting test for yourself: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0fghj2l Image credit: MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/ GETTY IMAGES