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.
Science Fraud & Bias, Immunity to COVID-19
Satellite navigation in the UK; the science of the World Wide Web and Neolithic genomics
Preventing pandemics, invading alien species, blood types & COVID-19.
The Human Genome Project's 20th Anniversary
Coronavirus conspiracy, Listeners' mask questions, Solar Orbiter gets close to the Sun
Engineering out of lockdown and should we castrate male dogs?
Back to School and Covid-19 and Ordnance Survey and the pandemic
Testing & Tracing the coronavirus, and the traces our movements leave behind
Coronavirus-free science, the impact of lockdown on climate change and the odds of both life and intelligent life existing.
Coronavirus R number, genome study of Covid-19 survivors and using aircraft messages to assess aviation
Should the public wear face masks? Did SARS-Cov-2 escape from a laboratory in Wuhan?
Testing for immunity to COVID-19 and Citizen science on BBC Radio past and present
Understanding Covid-19 death rates; Contact tracing apps; Whale sharks and atomic bombs
Lockdown lessons for climate change and the carbon neutral Cumbrian coal mine
Testing for asymptomatic coronavirus carriers, Human Cell Atlas, and invasive parakeets
Coronavirus: Models & being ‘led by the science’; Mars500 isolation tips; Kids’ science - singing glasses
Coronavirus - Lockdown efficacy; viral testing; surface survival; dog walking safety
TB vaccination to replace culling in badgers; Neil Shubin on the wonders of evolution
Biology of the new coronavirus
Banning lead shot for hunting; UK Fireball Network and Extremely thin gold
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Science Weekly
Post Reports
Science Vs
Global News Podcast
The News Agents