Science Interviews

Seeking Out Storms - Planet Earth Online

2012 began with gale force winds, localised flooding and travel disruptions in the UK. But not everyone is sorry to see the stormy weather. Here's Professor Robin Hogan telling us how he tracks, and predicts, thunderstorms..... Professor Robin Hogan, Reading University

The Magnetic Moon

When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin brought back the first samples of moon rock in 1969, scientists were surprised to see telltale signs in the material that the moon had once had a magnetic field – much like the one we have around the Earth. Now, another look at one of those 1969 samples has revealed something very unexpected...Erin Shea, MIT

Mapping a Mushroom Trip, Speedy genes and Magnetic Soap!

How mapping a mushroom trip could provide treatments for depression, the gene behind a winning racehorse, the world's first magnetic soap and the social networks of our ancestors...Robin Carhart-Harris, Imperial College London; Emmeline Hill, University College Dublin; Julian Eastoe, University of Bristol; Coren Apicella, Harvard Medical School.

Meeting MIRI - The Mid Infra Red Instrument

The Mid Infra Red Instrument, or MIRI, is due to fly on the James Webb Space Telescope, and will observe distant galaxies and cold gas and dust. It can observe light with a wavelength of 5 to 27 microns, which is virtually impossible on Earth, where it is absorbed by the atmosphere. MIRI hopes to see the most distant galaxies and shed light on the distribution of hydrogen gas in the universe...Dr Helen Walker, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

Astronomical Imaging, NEOShield and the Aurora

Robert Massey returns with a roundup of news from the Royal Astronomical Society. This month; The history of astronomical imaging, Near Earth Objects and Auroras above northern Britain...Dr Robert Massey, Royal Astronomical Society

Distortions Detect Dark Matter

Gravitational lensing is allowing us to detect things we otherwise wouldn't be able to see. Oxford University’s Dr Lance Miller explains to Andrew Pontzen how we can use distortions caused by the gravitational pull of dark matter to explore its distribution...Dr Lance Miller, Oxford University

Vitamin D and Cancer

An international consortium last year confirmed that aspirin can protect people with a genetic predisposition to bowel cancer. Now, they are turning their attention to finding out what Vitamin D could do for cancer...Professor Sir John Burn, Newcastle University

New Species at Hydrothermal Vents - Planet Earth Online

We explore the disovery of new species in the hydrothermal vents of Antarctica...Katrin Linse and Ali Graham, British Antarctic Survey

Vitamin D Deficiency and Multiple Sclerosis

How is Vitamin D linked to autoimmunity and the central nervous system? With us to discuss the research is Prof. George Ebers from Oxford University, expert in Multiple Sclerosis....Professor George Ebers, Oxford University

The Epidemiology of Vitamin D

Introducing Vitamin D: how deficient are we? And what disorders are linked with deficiency?Elina Hypponen, University College London

The balance between Vitamin D production and Skin Cancer prevention

Apart from food, a major source of vitamin D is exposure to sunlight which makes the hormone in the skin. So, some sun is good but therein lies the rub because sunlight can also cause skin cancer. Kat Arney discussing how to balance between the two...Kat Arney, Cancer Research UK

Evolving Multicellularity

Prior to about 1 billion years ago, all life on earth consisted of single-celled organisms. Then something happened to trigger squads of these cells to team up together to produce the first multicellular organisms, like our bodies, and this was a watershed in the evolution of life on Earth. Now, researchers at the University of Minnesota have managed to make yeasts do something similar, but in this case it only took them about 60 days...Professor Michael Travisano, University of Minnesota

Suicidal Comets and Dancing Beetles

Comets plummeting into the Sun's atmosphere, why exercise can keep diabetes at bay, how the public are helping seismology research and why Dung beetles like to dance...Carey Lisse, John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory; Congcong He, University of Texas Southwestern medical centre; Richard Allen, UC Berkeley; Emilay Baird, University of Lund

Wiring the Brain to Robotic Limbs

Scientists are moving closer to developing ways to interface with the brain and to decode what nerve cells are saying to each other, and can use this neural chatter to connect the brain to artificial limbs...Professor Andrew Schwartz, University of Pittsburgh

Mapping Solar Storm Risk - Planet Earth Online

Solar storms can disrupt satellites, communications and power supplies and so scientists have now produced the first ever map that shows which regions of the UK power grid are most at risk...Dr Ciaran Beggan, British Geological Survey

Implants to improve impaired vision

How implanting a new chip which contains light sensors and an amplifier could be a treatment for impaired vision for patients with retinitis pigmentosa...Dr. Marcus Groppe, Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology

What is cybernetics?

What is cybernetics? Does it include things like pacemakers and cochlear implants? How is it being used to treat Parkinson's, Depression and Tourette's Syndrome? Kevin Warwick discusses what we can learn about ourselves by mixing man with machine...Kevin Warwick, Reading University

Potentially Pandemic H5N1

Should we publish details of how to make viruses with pandemic potential? We explore the controversy and meet one of the scientists whose work is under question...Mark Peplow, Nature; Ron Fouchier, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam

Quitting Smoking, Exoplanets and Carnivorous Plants!

Why nicotine replacement may not be the key to kicking the habit, how most stars in our solar system have planets accompanying them, How Fungi could hold the key to tackling lead pollution and a new plants which makes a meal out of worms!Gregory Connelly, Harvard School of Public Health; Martin Dominik, University of St Andrews; Geoffrey Gadd, University of Dundee; Caio Pereria, State University of Campinas.

Studying wandering albatross on Bird Island

How to study the bird with the largest wings in the world.Andy Wood, British Antarctic Survey