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.
Do we need a new model of cosmology?
Bird flu outbreak in cows
200 years of dinosaur science
Inside Your Microbiome
Our Accidental Universe
How pure is the water from your tap?
Dimming the Sun
Laboratory-Grown Meat
The Gulf Stream’s tipping point
Ancient Roman writings revealed
When brains and computers meet
Hydrogen and the race to net zero
A New Volcanic Era?
Understanding Flood Forecasting
Space Exploration
12 days of Christmas - science version
The Science of the South Pole
Biggest COP in history
Vagrant Birds
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