We’re on board the RSS Sir David Attenborough for the vessel’s first big science season in the Antarctic, since it launched in 2020. It’s crewed by scientists involved in Project Biopole, a 5-year mission attempting to better understand carbon cycle at the poles. Nadine Johnston, a microbiologist with the British Antarctic Survey, joins Inside Science to talk about her work on copepods; zooplankton that build up huge fat reserves over the spring and summer months, then hibernate at 3000m during winter, taking carbon with them which is then locked-up in the deep ocean for up to 600yrs! Her research is a world first in the Southern Ocean and could help improve global carbon modelling of the earth system.
Staying in the South Pole, neuroscientist John-Antoine Libourel, talks about his latest research into the surprising sleeping habits of chinstrap penguins.
And after weeks of intense earthquake activity, the volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula of south-west Iceland has erupted. Dr Evgenia Ilyinskaya, our go-to volcanologist, provides an update. Plus, a nod to the festive season, as composer and AI artist, LJ Rich, explains why Christmas music makes us feel all fuzzy.
Presenter: Victoria Gill Producers: Hannah Robins, Harrison Lewis & Louise Orchard Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.
A new space age?
The Origin of Celtic Culture in Britain?
The James Webb Space Telescope
Initial Omicron Lab Data, Creative Naps, and Fishy Sounds.
When Pandemics Collide
Malaria: what's in it for the mosquito?
Yet More Space Junk; COP-up or COP-out; The End of Bias.
Propane: Keeping Your Cool as the World Warms Around You
How Whales Farmed For Food, COP progress, and The Last Stargazers
Atmospheric Pollutants and Where to Find Them
The Possible Impact of false-negative PCR Tests
Early Alzheimer's Alert
Surprising choice for Nobel prizes in a pandemic?
Covid vaccine boosters; why we don't have a tail; cassowary domestication; Royal Society Science book prize shortlist
La Palma volcano; wind energy in the UK; origins of SARS-Cov2; Formula 1 safety
Perseverance drills on Mars; space tourism; Australian fire debris and algal blooms; DNA vaccines against Covid
Climate change and oil and gas exploration; cutting methane emissions; African wild dog populations; freezing eggs and sperm
Rugby and the brain
Window to solve pandemic origins closing
Mammoth Journey
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Science Weekly
Global News Podcast
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
The Infinite Monkey Cage
You’re Dead to Me