Author: BBC World Service

In the dead of night at his home in Machinjiri, Malawi, CrowdScience listener John can hear a small, but persistent, hum. Whenever it’s quiet enough, the hum is there – but what’s causing it? And is John the only one who can hear it?

Reports of consistent, low-pitched noise have been popping up around the world for decades. No one knows this better than Dr Glen MacPherson, who runs the World Hum Map. He tells presenter Caroline Steel his theory for what’s behind these hums.

And Caroline does some investigating of her own. We visit the Isle of Lewis off the coast of Scotland, where residents are reporting a hum. We hear about the impact that persistent noise has on people’s lives, and find out… can Caroline hear the hum too?

We also ask why some people can hear a hum but others can’t. We head to an anechoic chamber – one of the quietest places in the world – to speak to Professor Jordan Cheer, who puts Caroline’s low-frequency hearing to the test.

From industrial activity to internally generated sounds, we sift through the noise to try and find out what could be causing listener John’s hum.

Presenter: Caroline Steel Producer: Sophie Ormiston Series Producer: Ben Motley

This week, get ready for a whole loot box of gaming-related stories!

First up, we find out about a video game that could give people the power to battle misinformation.

We also hear how scientists are putting harbour seals in front of a computer monitor to decipher how they navigate under the water.

And Dr Brett Kagan from Cortical Labs joins us down the line to tell us why he taught a clump of brain cells to play the 1970s arcade game Pong.

Along the way, we discover what happens when artificial intelligence tries to explain idioms, we learn about a tiny frog named after Bilbo Baggins and try to establish whether or not video games benefit your brain.

All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements.     Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Kai Kupferschmidt and Leonie Joubert Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Margaret Sessa Hawkins, Imaan Moin and Minnie Harrop

What is Fusarium graminearum and why were scientists allegedly smuggling it into the US? Also, Alpine Glacier collapse and an HIV capitulation.

The FBI has accused two Chinese scientists of trying to smuggle a dangerous crop fungus into the US, calling it a potential agro-terrorist threat. But the fungus has long been widespread across US farms, and elsewhere, and is treatable. So what’s going on? Frédéric Suffert, Senior researcher in plant disease epidemiology at France’s National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment, gives us some insight.

Last week, a glacier above the swiss village of Blatten collapsed and up to 12 million tonnes of ice and rock buried the idyllic, yet thankfully all-but evacuated, hamlet below. Daniel Farinotti of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology explains how it was monitored more than any such event before, and maybe, despite the tragedy, could help inform the science of such events in a warming world.

Amongst the latest cuts to scientific funding by the US government, two consortia working at advanced stages of a potential HIV vaccine have been told their funding will not continue. Dennis Burton of Scripps Research describes finding out.

The recipient of the Royal Society Faraday Prize 2024 gave his prize lecture last week. Titled Science Under Threat: The Politics of Institutionalised Disinformation, Salim Abdul Karim’s lecture is available on YouTube. Afterwards, he was kindly able to have a chat with Science in Action about his theme.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alex Mansfield Production co-ordinator: Jasmine Cerys George

(Photo: A hand holding an ear of wheat. Credit: Heather Schlitz/Reuters)