The Naked Scientists

Naked Scientists Podcast

Subscribe via itunes,yahoo or google < Previous Show | Next Show >
20th Jan 2008

Combating Climate Change


Helen Scales

Chris Smith

On this week's Naked Scientists, We look at ways to tackle the problem of climate change - including capturing carbon at sea, trapping carbon dioxide in coal to release a useful fuel, and a way to turn co2 to stone, with the help of old lava floes! Also, we find out how silicon nano wires can be used to make super-batteries, why sneaky squirrels are faking what they do with their nuts, how the price tag on wine affects it's flavour and the parasite that makes it's ant-host resemble a piece of fruit. Plus, in Kitchen Science, we find out how a digital camera can see the signal from your TV remote!

Want to know more about Climate Change? In this article, Alex Thompson reviews the evidence.

Listen NowDownload as MP3 Podcast Enhanced Podcast, with pictures and chaptersMP3 Podcast.
Transcript Go back Vote for Us

Digg Thisfacebookdel.icio.usNetscapeRedditFarkStumbleuponNewsvineYahoo! My WebFurlMagnoliaSquidoo

Science News

Mega-cell: Researchers build better batteries

US scientists have come up with a way to make lithium batteries last ten times longer, which means a laptop could last all day on just one charge. Stanford's Yi Cui and his colleagues made the breakt...

The price tag feel-good factor

I’m sure most of us are guilty of occasionally indulging in an expensive treat – whether that’s a new pair or shoes or a bottle of pricey wine – because frankly a little bit of luxury makes us all fee...

Squirrels Faking it with their Nuts

Squirrels sequestering nuts and other nutritious morsels is a common site in autumn. But, according to US researchers, all is not what it seems - because up to 20% of the time squirrels are faking it,...

Kitchen Science

Seeing Remotes


If you have ever wondered how a remote control communicates with a TV? Well here is your chance to see them chatting away!

Make an Infra Red Camera


See the world from a completely different point of view using an old webcam and some exposed film.
But i never quoted anyone, or made presumptions. I merely stated what i think is correct, the fact that it may not be is quite likely.

Befo...
- paul.fr - 19th Jan 08



Never and "one million year-ish" are very different matters (especially given the planet is about 4.6 billion years old).
<...
- another_someone - 20th Jan 08

OK, before we get in to the usual merry go round. Can we try a different approach?

It has been said for a number of years that we are x yea...
- paul.fr - 20th Jan 08

Forget co2, the real problem is the loss of vegetation from vast areas of once fertile and productive land, now transformed into arid environments tha...
- Andrew K Fletcher - 21st Jan 08
Whole Thread | Post Reply

Interviews

Red Ant, Dead Ant...

Steve Yanoviak, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Catching Carbon - Is the Sea Safe for Sequestration?

Dr Margaret Leinen, Climos & Dr Steve Vivian, CEFAS

Coal for Carbon Capture

Professor Peter Styles, University of Keele

Turning Carbon into Stone

Dr Peter McGrail, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Rising Stars - Alternative Universes

Andrew Pontzen

Questions

Love your show, Chris. Can you help us with the following question? Fluorescent lights are already efficient when they’re running but I’ve heard that it takes a lot of energy to turn a fluorescent light tube on. So is it more efficient to turn off a fluorescent tube immediately when you’ve finished using it or is it better to leave it on and then wait until you’re more likely to not use it again for a while?


There’s a lot of talk about energy saving through the use of low energy light bulbs but since a lot of that energy ends up as heat if we’re using low energy light bulbs are we just turning up our thermostats and using more energy to heat our home?


How many watts is a burning candle? I’m wondering if they make some sort of significant contribution to the heat in the room I’m in?


I know that gasoline powered cars release harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere so I was wondering if any or all drivers switch to hydrogen powered cars would it make a difference to the climate, because hydrogen powered cars are going to release water when they burn hydrogen, react it with oxygen to make water? If so, what changes could that make?


Do fish always swim anticlockwise in a round bowl? I’ve watched my sister’s fish and they always go anticlockwise. When they’re in an oblong tank they go in every single direction.


Question of the Week

Fatter Cyclists Faster Downhill?

Who would go faster freewheeling downhill, a fat cyclist of a thin cyclist?


Combating Climate Change - More about this podcast

Global air temperatureIf there's too much CO2 in the atmosphere, and this is causing the climate to change, then surely we can just suck it back out and hide it, no?

Maybe, and several scientists are looking at ways to do just that.  If we could find a way to store the CO2 we create by burning fossil fuels, then maybe we can avoid adding more to the atmosphere.  But how can you store CO2?

 

 

Basalt

Turning CO2 to Rock

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have suggested that by pumping CO2-rich water through flood basalt, a type of porous rock left

behind by lava flows, could safely lock away the carbon.  In the lab, flood basalt will turn CO2 into Calcium Carbonate - the form found in limestone or seashells, and if the same will happen in the vast deposits of flood basalt in the Pacific Northwest, we could potentially store centuries worth of CO2.  Dr Pete McGrail will be on the show to tell us about the latest tests...

 

CoalCatching Carbon in Coal

What if we could trap CO2 and get something useful in return?  Meera spoke to Professor Peter Styles about a new possibility in carbon storage.  Peter and his team from Keele University are looking at using enhanced coal bed methane, ECBM, for carbon sequestration.  In ECBM, carbon dioxide is pumped into an un-minable coal seam to displace methane gas, which is then extracted and used as a fuel.  This way, the CO2 is stored in previously unusable mines, and we can use the methane released as a fuel!

 

Diatoms - a key Phytoplankton groupPut it in Plankton

A more natural approach could be to encourage the organisms that trap CO2 to thrive.  By seeding the oceans with iron, companies like Climos hope to be able to get plankton to flourish, taking up CO2 as they grow.  When these plankton then die off, they naturally sink and take the carbon to the sea bed.

But even if this works to trap CO2, is encouraging a bloom of plankton a good idea?  Dr Chris Vivian, from the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, CEFAS, talks us through why changing the balance of species in our oceans may have long term unexpected consequences.

 Red Ant Dead Ant

We'll also be hearing about a species of ant called Cephalotes atratus.  When this ant is infected by a nematode worm parasite, the parasite causes the ant's abdomen to swell up and look like a tasty berry to any passing birds.  These ants are then more likely to be eaten and the parasite gets passed on in the bird's faeces.

This is the first known example of a parasite 'mimicking' a fruit, and we'll hear more on the Naked Scientists...

Normal Ant

Infected Ant

A healthy Ant

An ant infected by the nematode worm

 

 




- Naked Scientists Science Radio Show Home - Who are The Naked Scientists
- Information about Naked Scientists - Interviews with Famous Scientists - Latest Science Radio Show
- Experiments to do at Home - Naked Science Articles - Archived Podcasts - Science Discussion Forum
- Science Book Reviews - Answers to Questions - Fact or Fiction Quiz
- Naked Scientists Contact Details - Search Naked Scientists Online - Receive Naked Scientists Podcasts

Click here for the Naked Scientists PODCAST

The contents of this site are © The Naked Scientists® 2000-2008. The Naked Scientists® and Naked Science® are registered trademarks.