Vagrant birds are those that appear in locations where they are not usually found. They might have been blown off course by a storm or have been affected by changing weather patterns due to climate change. Although a treat for birders, these visitors can also have a big impact on their new environments as Victoria Gill finds out when she heads to Burton Mere Wetlands on the Dee Estuary with Dr Alexander Lees, reader in biodiversity at Manchester Metropolitan University.
As former Prime Minister Boris Johnson gives his testimony, we hear the latest from the UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry with BBC Health Reporter Jim Reed.
A new study reveals that, contrary to a commonly-held view, the brain does not have the ability to rewire itself to compensate for the loss of, for example sight, an amputation or stroke. This is despite what most scientists believe and teach. Moreover, the assumption that it has this ability has led to all manner of erroneous treatments for amputees, stroke victims and other conditions, the study suggests.
We’re joined by the study’s authors, Professor John Krakauer from Johns Hopkins University and Professor Tamar Making of the University of Cambridge. We’ll also hear from one of Tamar’s key case studies, Kirsty Mason, an amputee from the age of 18 who advanced the scientists’ experiments exponentially.
Presenter: Victoria Gill Producers: 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.
Oceans, ice and climate change; Neolithic baby bottles; Caroline Criado-Perez wins RS Book Prize
MOSAiC Arctic super-expedition, Likely extinction of the Bahama nuthatch, Tim Smedley's book on air pollution
Model embryos from stem cells, Paul Steinhardt's book on impossible crystals, Mother Thames
Inventing GPS, Carbon nanotube computer, Steven Strogatz and Monty Lyman discuss calculus and skin
Amazon fires, Royal Society Book Prize shortlist announced, John Gribben on quantum physics
UK's black squirrels' genetic heritage; nuclear fusion in the UK and the Royal Society's science book prize
UK power cut, Huge dinosaur find in Wyoming, Micro-plastics in Arctic snow
Making the UK's dams safe, AI spots fake smiles, How many trees should we be planting?
Lovelock at 100; Hydrothermal vents and antibiotic resistance in the environment
False positives in genetic test kits, Impact of fishing on ocean sharks, Sex-change fish
Turing on the new £50 note, Moon landing on the radio, 25 years since Shoemaker-Levy comet
Earliest modern human skull, Analysing moon rocks, Viruses lurking in our genomes
X-Rays on Mercury, Monkey Tools, Music of Molecules, AI Drivers
Global Food Security, Reactive Use-By Labels, Origins of the Potato
Rinderpest destruction, Noise and birdsong, Science as entertainment
Net-Zero carbon target, Science Policy Under Thatcher, Screen time measures
CCR5 Mutation Effects, The Surrey Earthquake Swarm, Animal Emotions
How maths underpins science
New CFC emissions, Cannabis and the Environment, The Noisy Cocktail Party, Automated Face Recognition
Hubble Not-So Constant, Synthetic E. Coli, The Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt
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