Science Interviews

Metal Casting with Precision

If you've been on a flight recently, then there's a very high likelihood that you were carried aloft by a jet engine. These work by compressing air and squirting in fuel which then burns, expands, and generates thrust. But this also creates one of the harshest imaginable environments inside the engine. To withstand this takes specialist superalloy components which are produced with a very high precision and to find out how they're being made, Ben Valsler has been to the casting facility of one of the world’s top jet engine manufactures, Rolls Royce in Derby...Paul Withey, Casting Specialist for Rolls Royce

The Art of Alloying

We humans have been moulding metal to our will for at least 3,000 years. In fact, our use of metals mark the beginning of the aptly named Bronze Age. These days we fine tune the properties of metals to perform in extreme circumstances – inside nuclear reactors, jet engines, rockets, et cetera. To find the right combination of properties, we rely on metallurgists like Howard Stone at Cambridge University’s Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy...Howard Stone, Cambridge University

Planet Earth Online - Science from the Skies

Earth observation from satellites is an extremely important way of examining everything from glaciers to tree cover in the Amazon. But sometimes, satellite measurements aren’t quite enough. Planet Earth podcast presenter Sue Nelson met members of the Natural Environment Research Council’s Airborne Research and Survey Facility...David Davis, James Johnson and Carl Joseph from the NERC Airborne Research and Survey Facility

When a Metallurgist met a Blacksmith

What happens at a molecular level as a blacksmith works on a piece of metal? To find out, Meera took metallurgist John Aveson to meet Gordon Bevan, a blacksmith in Eltisley in Cambridgeshire...John Aveson, Cambridge University; Gordon Bevan, blacksmith in Eltisley.

The Shape of the Electron

What is round and measures 1 billionth of a millimetre across? Yes, you guessed it, it’s the electron. Theories have predicted that these particles should be spheres, but proving this has been tricky. Now after 10 years of trying, a team at Imperial College London have succeeded...Jony Hudson, Imperial College London

Colliding Black Holes in Pulsar Data

Pulsar hunters search for tell tale repeated signals in masses of data - and sometimes they spot something unusual. Evan Keane, from the Max Planck Institute in Bonn, Germany, explains how he's spotted a signal that may originate from colliding black holes, but unless we can get the astronomical community together, we may miss more of these events in future.Evan Keane, Max Planck Institute

Fact Impact - Mars

Fact Impact: A high-speed run-down of facts about Mars...Dominic Ford, Cambridge University

Parasites and Allergies

Allergic conditions were virtually unheard of before the 19th century, and this has led some people to suggest that leading an overly hygienic life may increase the tendency for the immune system to react to things that it would normally ignore. To tell us more, Professor Rick Maizels from Edinburgh University is with us…Professor Rick Maizels, Edinburgh University

Naked Engineering - Filtering our Air Supply

We explore how filters can be designed to provide a breath of truly clean air...Chloe Agg, WPS-CEL

Curing Peanut Allergies

Food allergies are relatively common – figures from the US suggest that up to 8% of young children and 3.7% of adults are affected. In many cases it’s little more than a nuisance, but for some, exposure can be fatal. Dr Pamela Ewan joins us from Addenbrooke’s hospital, where they’ve been developing a way to treat peanut allergy sufferers…Dr Pamela Ewan, Addenbrookes Hospital

Planet Earth Online - Ash Fall

In April 2010, a previously dormant volcano in Iceland released a massive ash cloud that closed most Europe’s air space and disrupted millions of people’s travel plans. Planet Earth podcast presenter Sue Nelson was one of those people stranded abroad, so she welcomed the chance to meet Oxford University’s Professor David Pyle for whom this cloud had an academic silver lining...Professor David Pyle, Oxford University

Regulatory T cells trigger immunity to transplant rejection

UK scientists have made big step forward in the field of organ transplantation. King’s College researcher Robert Lechler and his colleagues have found a way to purify a rare population of immune cells called T-regs, short for regulatory T-cells, which help to switch off immune responses against donor organs that could help to reduce the risk of rejection.Professor Robert Lechler, King's College London

Backyard Archaeology - Scouting for Information

Making use of the Historical Environment Record, the National Monument Record and the Urban Archaeological Database to look at the Viking 'Dark Age'.Ben Raffield, University of Aberdeen

Ceramic Petrology

Xenia explains the uses of ceramic petrology - the study of ceramics using microscopy, chemicals and thin sections. Xenia Charalambidou, University of Athens

Dating the Neanderthals of Mezmaiskaya Cave

A re-evaluation of Neanderthal remains from the Caucasus Mts in Russia has shown they are most likely to have lived there 40kya rather than 30kya, meaning that they were unlikely to have lived alongside modern humans.Tom Higham, University of Oxford

Planet Earth Online - Sediment Cores Tell History of the Thames

Wading into a river and digging until you get to the slime, soil, dirt and other matter at the bottom may not be everyone’s idea of a good day out - but, in the right hands, a core of river sediment can become an eye-opening time machine into the past...Chris Vane, British Geological Survey

Naked Engineering - Robotic Fish

Fish have developed an extremely efficient way of locomotion, so researchers are trying to emulate fish for novel ways of monitoring the oceans...Professor Hueosheng Hu, University of Essex

Reusing Fish Poo

Aquaculture isn’t restricted to the oceans – many aquatic organisms can actually be farmed on land. This is potentially good news for reducing the environmental impacts of aquaculture because all the byproducts can be contained, including large amounts of solid waste and enriched salty water. But how do you dispose of a whole lot of fish poo without harming the environment?Dr Kevan Main, Mote Marine Laboratory, Florida

The Pros and Cons of Aquaculture

If you’ve been shopping for a fish supper lately you’ve almost certainly been offered both farmed and wild fish. Fish farms are found all over the world, and can be a really good way of reducing reliance on wild stock, but there are also some very real environmental concerns....Dr Kenny Black, Scottish Association for Marine Science

Lasers Identify Key Molecular Structure in Tumours

Using lasers and over 100,000 hours of computing time, researchers have exposed the previously unknown molecular shape of epidermal growth factor receptors, EGFRs, which are known to be involved in the development of cancer...Dr Marisa Martin-Fernandez; STFC’s Central Laser Facility & Dr Martyn Winn; Computational Science and Engineering Department