BBC Inside Science by BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
Categories: Science & Medicine
Listen to the last episode:
The world’s oldest fossilised forest was uncovered in Somerset last week. We head to palaeobotanist, Dr Christopher Berry’s, lab at Cardiff University to learn about these cladoxylopsids. They lived 390 million years ago and although they are not the ancestors of today’s trees, they reveal some extraordinary evolutionary secrets.
Also, Marnie speaks to Dr Chris Thorogood of the University of Oxford Botanic Gardens about his new book Pathless Forest: The Quest to Save the World’s Largest Flowers. Called “Rafflesia” plants and found in the remotest parts of South East Asia, their flowers burst from the rain forest floor the size of pumpkins and are critically endangered. Chris talks of his world of extreme fieldwork and hair-raising expeditions, braving leeches, lizards and lethal forest swamps, to discover the rarest of rare blooms.
Plus, the Wildlife Trust’s Making Friends with Molluscs campaign starts today, and I’m sure many gardeners will declare this an impossible task! We visit some allotments in Bristol to find out how people are managing slug and snail populations. And chat to Brian Eversham from the Trust of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, who explains why these garden creatures should be considered our friends, not foes.
And finally, Dr Stewart Husband from last week’s programme returns to answer more of your burning questions about your tap water.
Previous episodes
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906 - World’s oldest forest fossils Thu, 11 Apr 2024
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905 - Human Consciousness: Could a brain in a dish become sentient? Thu, 26 Apr 2018
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904 - Plastic-eating bacteria, Foam mattresses for crops, The evolved life aquatic, The Double Helix Thu, 19 Apr 2018
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903 - Pesticides in British Farming Thu, 12 Apr 2018
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902 - Stephen Hawking Tribute Thu, 05 Apr 2018
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901 - Genes and education, John Goodenough, Caring bears and hunting Thu, 29 Mar 2018
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900 - Data Scraping Thu, 22 Mar 2018
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899 - Buzz kill Thu, 15 Mar 2018
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898 - Russian Spy Poisoning Thu, 08 Mar 2018
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897 - Weird Weather? Thu, 01 Mar 2018
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896 - Science after Brexit Thu, 22 Feb 2018
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895 - Shipping air pollution; Cheddar Man; Millirobots in the body;Dog brain training Thu, 15 Feb 2018
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894 - Democracy in Space Thu, 08 Feb 2018
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893 - Scientists on Trial Thu, 01 Feb 2018
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892 - Did typhoid kill the Aztecs, DNA stored in Bitcoin, Glow-in-the-dark plants and levitating humans Thu, 25 Jan 2018
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891 - African swine fever, Oil spill update, CRISPR gene editing, Rat eradication in New Zealand, Chimp kin recognition Thu, 18 Jan 2018
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890 - Sanchi oil tanker, Gut gas-monitoring pill and Chimpanzee portraits Thu, 11 Jan 2018
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889 - Tabby's Star, Space 2018, Mosquito sounds, C diff and food additive link Thu, 04 Jan 2018
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888 - Ancient DNA and Human Evolution Thu, 28 Dec 2017
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887 - Antisense RNA therapy, Fossils vs Trump, Printing mini-kidneys, Electric eel power Thu, 21 Dec 2017
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886 - The Future of Coral Reefs, Little Foot, Arthur C Clarke Thu, 14 Dec 2017
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885 - Trophy hunting, Gene drives, Nuclear lightning, Peregrine falcons and drones Thu, 07 Dec 2017
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884 - Prehistoric Strong Women, Semi-synthetic Life, Listener Feedback, Artificial Superintelligence Thu, 30 Nov 2017
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883 - Interstellar visitor, Svante Paabo, Synthetic biology, Plight of the Axolotl Thu, 23 Nov 2017
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882 - Can we forecast earthquakes?, Britain's space race rocket Skylark, Francis Galton Thu, 16 Nov 2017
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881 - Boy gets New Skin, The York Gospels, Stephen Hawking's Thesis Thu, 09 Nov 2017
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880 - Climate Change and Health; Moth Snow Storm Feedback; Whale Brain Evolution; Pharoah's Serpent Thu, 02 Nov 2017
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879 - Insects disappearing, DNA Biosensor, Dog faces, Bandit dinosaur Thu, 26 Oct 2017
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878 - Colliding Neutron Stars, Krakatoa, Centigrade vs Celsius Thu, 19 Oct 2017
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877 - HiQuake, Plate Tectonics@50, Sonic Weapon Puzzle, The Chinese Typewriter Thu, 05 Oct 2017
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876 - Gravity wave breakthrough, The antibiotic pipeline, Microbial waste recycling, Fausto - an AI opera Thu, 28 Sep 2017
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875 - Cassini's finale; Science and Technology Select Committee; Crick's lecture; Cave acoustics Thu, 21 Sep 2017
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874 - Farewell to Cassini, the epic 20 year mission to Saturn Thu, 14 Sep 2017
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873 - North Korea Bomb Tests, Warming Antarctic Sea Life, the Microbiome, Cuckoo Chuckle Thu, 07 Sep 2017
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872 - Noxious haze over south coast; In Pursuit of Memory book; technosphere; Big Wasp Survey Thu, 31 Aug 2017
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871 - Killer robots; Myths and superstitions and conservation; Science book prize nominee - Cordelia Fine; Taxidermy Thu, 24 Aug 2017
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870 - Antarctica's volcanoes, science book prize nominee - Mark O'Connell, US solar eclipse and 40 years of NASA's Voyager mission Thu, 17 Aug 2017
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869 - European heatwave and climate change, Eugenia Cheng, Next generation batteries for electric cars, Joseph Hooker exhibition. Thu, 10 Aug 2017
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868 - Gene-editing human embryos, Spaceman's eyes, Science book prize, Sexual selection in salmon Thu, 03 Aug 2017
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867 - Cod fisheries, Our connection to nature, Domestic electricity and Gamma ray bursts Thu, 27 Jul 2017
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866 - Genetics and privacy, Global plastic, Great Ape Dictionary, Ocean Discovery X Prize Thu, 20 Jul 2017
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865 - Genetic testing; Pugs on treadmills; Frankenstein Thu, 13 Jul 2017
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864 - Neonics dispute, Hygenic bees, Hip-hop MRI Thu, 06 Jul 2017
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863 - Sex bias in biology, Engineering prize, Olympic bats, Angry Chef Thu, 29 Jun 2017
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862 - Forensics Centre in Dundee; D'Arcy Thompson centenary; Scottish science adviser; Coffee and climate Thu, 22 Jun 2017
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861 - Science in Fire Prevention Thu, 15 Jun 2017
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860 - Early Humans Were Even Earlier Than We Thought Thu, 08 Jun 2017
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859 - The Importance of Basic Research Thu, 01 Jun 2017
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858 - Sherpas - dolphin rescue - quantum computing - hot lavas Thu, 25 May 2017
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857 - Childhood cancers - Ghana telescope - Nano-listening device for cells - Ancient whales Thu, 18 May 2017