Celebrations for the Lunar New Year kicked off on 29th January, and this year is the Year of the Snake.
We start things off by discussing the purpose of some mysterious serpent markings on the banks of the Orinoco River.
Next, we find out about the origins of snake oil, before digging into the psychology of why we trust snake-like people.
Plus, herpetologist Dr Mark O’Shea tells us all about his work identifying snakes, and what happened when he got bitten.
That, plus many more Unexpected Elements.
Presenters: Marnie Chesterton, with Chhavi Sachdev and Christine Yohannes.
Producers: Dan Welsh, with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, William Hornbrook and Imaan Moin.
Nasa's OSIRIS-REx mission to collect a sample from an asteroid has been a great success. Asteroid Bennu's sample yields a watery pool of history, thanks to an international team of scientists including the London Natural History Museum's Sarah Russell.
Also, in a week of tumultuous changes to federal funding and programmes, we hear from some US scientists affected and concerned by Executive Orders from the White House. Betsy Southwood, formerly of the Environmental Protection Agency, is worried not just about the government employees’ careers, but the environment itself and the whole of environmental science in the US and the world. Chrystal Starbird runs a lab at the University of North Carolina and is worried about the fate of grants aimed at diversifying scientific expertise, but also that some grant schemes are getting erroneously included in the anti-DEI clampdown. And Lawrence Gostin is an eminent health lawyer, proud of the NIH and all it has achieved.
Presenter: Roland Pease
Producer: Alex Mansfield
Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
A Chinese-made artificial intelligence (AI) model called DeepSeek is stunning investors and sinking some tech stocks. It's also quickly impressing AI experts and has the attention of the entire tech industry and the world. How does it work and has it inspired Africa or not?
Also, why does Namibia have some of the highest rates of cervical cancer in the world?
And the race to host Formula One on the continent. Who will win?
Presenter: Charles Gitonga
Producers: Nyasha Michelle and Bella Hassan
Technical Producer: Jack Graysmark
Senior Journalist: Karnie Sharp
Editors: Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi
There are concerns that an international US foreign aid cut will reverse gains, especially in the fight against HIV
Who are the M23 - the group operating in eastern DR Congo?
And how a non-alcoholic bar in Ghana is challenging the drinking culture
Presenter Charles Gitonga
Producers: Frenny Jowi in Nairobi with Yvette Twagiramariya and Bella Hassan in London.
Senior Producer: Paul Bakibinga
Technical Producer: Chris Kouzaris
Editors: Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi
A group of prominent Zimbabwean war veterans, including a senior figure from the ruling Zanu PF party, have issued a rare rebuke against the country's president Emerson Mnangagwa. They've accused him of seeking to violate the country's constitution by pushing for a third term in office. What does this mean and how significant is this?
Also, we return to the story of the Malawian women facing abuse as domestic workers in Oman.
And who are the Lukurawa and why have they been designated a terrorist group?
Presenter: Charles Gitonga
Producers: Nyasha Michelle in London and Frenny Jowi in Nairobi
Technical Producer: Frank McWeeny
Senior Journalist: Karnie Sharp
Editors: Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi
Rwandan-backed rebels have taken over most of the city of Goma in eastern DR Congo. There are reports of Congolese and Rwandan troops exchanging fire across the border.
Calls for European Union member countries to respect the human rights of migrants in North Africa.
Plus, we remember one of the forgotten black victims of the Holocaust.
Presenter : Audrey Brown
Producers : Yvette Twagiramariya , Bella Hassan and Amie Liebowitz in London.
Senior Producer: Paul Bakibinga
Technical producer: Jack Graysmark
Editors: Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi.
Meet the man behind the YouTube channel 'Dad, How Do I?'. He teaches his millions of subscribers how to do everyday tasks. Also: the man in Uganda who is changing lives through chess; and the flower causing a stink.
World Book Café heads to Oslo to Europe’s largest Literature House to find out if Norway is the best place in the world to be a writer?
Octavia Bright is joined to discuss the highs and lows by the internationally bestselling novelist and climate activist Maja Lunde. Johan Harstad prize winning novelist and the first in-house writer at the National Theatre in Oslo, Gunnhild Oyehaug whose witty and experimental short stories and novels have won her fans around the world and Oliver Lovrenski whose first book was an instant bestseller when it was published in Norway in 2023, when he was just 19.
With generous grants for writers to live and work the Norwegian government also buys 1,000 copies of every book published to give to local libraries across the country. The organisation NORLA (Norwegian Literature Abroad) is funded by the ministry of culture and, since 2004, it has contributed to the translation of more than 8,000 books into no less than 73 languages. For a country of 5.5 million people Norwegian literature punches above its weight. However with much of the country’s wealth coming from the oil industry do environmental concerns tarnish this utopia for its writers?
While watching a feisty cockatoo chase after a hawk, CrowdScience listener Alison saw the hawk catch a thermal and rise effortlessly into the sky. The cockatoo gave chase, but the hawk climbed higher and higher until it became just a tiny speck, barely visible to the naked eye.
And that got Alison thinking: just how high can birds go? Are there altitude limits for our feathered friends? Could a cockatoo, a sparrow, or even a duck reach such dizzying heights if they really put their wings to it?
Presenter Alex Lathbridge sets out to investigate. Biologist Catherine Ivy reveals that life above the clouds isn’t easy. At high altitudes, the air is thinner, oxygen is scarce, and wings don’t generate as much lift. But some bird species have evolved incredible adaptations to overcome these challenges.
Among them: bar-headed geese, renowned for their daring flights over the world’s tallest mountains. Physiologist Lucy Hawkes delves into how these geese defy the odds with their remarkable physiology, revealing the surprising discoveries she made while putting some of them on a treadmill.
From super-powered hearts to clever lungs, we uncover the secrets behind nature’s impressive aviators.
Presenter: Alex Lathbridge
Producers: Ilan Goodman and Jeremy Grange
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Technical producer: Sarah Hockley
(Image: OIE A TETE BARREE (Anser indicus) EN VOL Credit: Jean-Patrick DEYA / Contributor via Getty Images)
The UN refugee agency says more than 200,000 Sudanese have arrived in Libya since the start of the war. Women are amongst those hoping to find a better life there. Instead, the women say they have faced abuse and raped. Five women have told the BBC they were tortured and sexually abused in "rape rooms", and worse, children have not been spared.
Also, why are children not going to school in Nigeria? The country has some of the largest numbers of children out of school in the world. Why is that?
And is smoking tobacco really in decline in South Africa? It was amongst the first countries in the world to heavily tax tobacco and introduce controls to rein in smoking in the early 90s.
Presenter: Audrey Brown
Producers: Nyasha Michella and Yvette Twagiramariya
Technical Producer: Craig Kingham
Senior Journalist: Karnie Sharp
Editors: Alice Muthengi and Andre Lombard
