Malawi's government is demanding billions in unpaid taxes and royalties from a US-based gemstone company for rubies exported over the last 10 years. The companies deny the claims
The tale of the child bride social media sensation in South Sudan.
And a couple share their painful experience with infertility
Presenter Audrey Brown
Producers: Susan Gachuhi and Charles Gitonga in Nairobi. Stefania Okereke, Yvette Twagiramariya and Amie Liebowitz in London.
Senior Producer: Paul Bakibinga
Technical Producer: Jonny Hall
Editors: Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi.
A man filmed playing the piano while homeless went viral. Now he's raising money for others and says it's saved his life. Also: showing love with Christmas lights; how a cat saved its owner; and AI spots dolphin accents.
The Moon has always sparked human curiosity. It governs the tides and biological rhythms. It’s inspired myths and stories. It’s inspired us to reach out and explore it. And it's certainly inspired CrowdScience listeners, who have sent us a host of questions about it. And in a special lunar-themed episode we’ve brought together a panel of astronomers and planetary scientists to help answer them.
What would life be like if there was no Moon? Would there even be life? Or what if we had two moons? Are the Moon and Earth equally battered by meteors? What would happen if an asteroid collided with the Moon? And could the Moon ever escape Earth’s gravity?
Anand Jagatia is joined by Prof Sara Russell, Head of the Planetary Materials Group at the Natural History Museum in London; Prof Neil Comins from the University of Maine, author of the book What if the Moon didn’t Exist?; and Prof Katarina Miljkovic from Curtin University in Perth, Australia.
Presenter: Anand Jagatia
Producer: Jeremy Grange
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Studio Manager: Andrew Garratt
(Photo: Landscape with the rising of the full moon during the golden hour Credit: Jose A. Bernat Bacete via Getty Images)
Piracy off the coast in Somalia, had cost the global economy around 7 billion US dollars just over a decade ago. Since then, international security patrols in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean shipping lane all but eliminated piracy. But in recent months, there’s been a resurgence off the coast of the autonomous region of Puntland. Why is that?
Also, what's behind the fire at the parliamentary buildings in Liberia?
And why Nigerians are not all that happy about "Detty December"?
Presenter: Charles Gitonga
Producers: Bella Hassan and Rob Wilson in London. Todah Opeyemi in Lagos.
Technical Producer: Francesca Dunne
Senior Journalist: Karnie Sharp
Editors: Alice Muthengi and Andre Lombard
As news breaks that archaeologists have found the tomb of St Nick in Turkey, we check in on the North Pole Father Christmas, and fact-check his present giving schedule with advanced level physics and a Gant chart.
Plus, prepare for stories of reindeers high... despite their apparent immunity to their favourite hallucinogenic mushroom treats. And we burrow into Santa’s iconic beard to find any microbial magic that lives there.
And yet more reindeer magic, this time the mysteries of their amazing body clocks, which they seem to be able to switch on and off at will... AND we reveal Rudolf the red nose reindeer’s big secret. You’ll never hear that song in the same way again
Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Phillys Mwatee and Camilla Mota
Producers: Emily Knight, Alice Lipscombe-Southwell and William Hornbrook
Sound engineer: Searle Whittney
New insights into how our skin learns to tolerate and co-exist with bacteria on its surface show great potential for the development of simpler and less invasive vaccines. Stanford University’s Djenet Bousbaine has published two papers in Nature detailing the microbiological research and mouse vaccination experiments that could change the future of immunisation.
The Sun is the hardest place in the Solar System to reach. But by the time the next edition of Science in Action is on air, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will have swooped through the scorching corona layer of the Sun, re-emerged, and be readying itself to relay the details of magnetic fields and particle storms to the team. NASA Helioscience deputy manager, Nicky Rayl, reveals all about the mission and explains why the Parker Probe’s future looks bright.
And a trip half a billion years back - and then some - to the dawn of complex life here on Earth. Microfossil hunter Shuhai Xiao, from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, has been compiling a single statistical database to better understand evolution during the so-called ‘boring billion’, why subsequent changes on the planet triggered a new diversity of species to emerge, and how the interplay between biology and geology has paved the way for modern life as we know it.
Presenter: Roland Pease
Producer: Alex Mansfield
Assistant Producer: William Hornbrook
Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
(Image: Solar Activity Captured in H-Alpha Filter. Credit: Manuel Romano/NurPhoto via Getty Images.)
An underfunded and undermanned contingent of 400 Kenyan police are on a mission to quell gangs in Haiti. How are they coping?
More Somali migrants stranded in Libya return home.
And Algerian Kamel Daoud was recently awarded a top French prize for his novel Houris- why is it banned in Algeria?
Presenter: Charles Gitonga
Producers: Amie Liebowitz in London and Susan Gachuhi in Nairobi
Senior Producer: Paul Bakibinga
Technical producer: Jonathan Greer
Editors: Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi.
Over a thousand Sierra Leoneans were recently arrested on the streets of Conakry in Guinea and deported. Sierra Leoneans reciprocated with their own deportation of Guineans. This all resulted in a diplomatic spat between the two countries. We'll get the details.
Also is Kenya really increasing state surveillance of its citizens? We'll hear government response to these claims
And a fresh start for Mali as production begins at the largest non-exploited lithium mine in the world!
Presenter: Charles Gitonga
Producers: Frenny Jowi and Susan Gachuhi in Nairobi and Bella Hassan and Rob Wilson in London
Technical Producer: Francesca Dunne
Senior Journalist: Karnie Sharp
Editors: Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi
The World Health Organization recently published its first-ever report on drowning prevention. The rates are highest in Africa-with Uganda one of the highest
And a Ghanaian shares his close encounter with jihadists in Burkina Faso
Are there academies in Nigeria where people are taught online scamming?
Presenter : Charles Gitonga
Producers: Susan Gachuhi in Nairobi, Blessing Aderogba in Lagos and Amie Liebowitz in London.
Senior producer: Paul Bakibinga
Technical Producer Philip Bull
Editors: Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi
Residents of Mayotte have spoken of "apocalyptic scenes" caused by the worst storm in 90 years to hit the French Indian Ocean territory. Twenty people have been confirmed dead, but local authorities say that number could rise into thousands. We'll look at the impact.
Also a look at the painful legacy of landmines in Africa and why campaigns to end their use is always welcome
And the life and times of a political cartoonist. We'll hear from South Africa's Zapiro and Kenya's Maddo!
Presenter: Charles Gitonga
Producers: Yvette Twagiramariya, Bella Hassan and Stefania Okereke
Technical Producer: Phillip Bull
Senior Journalist: Karnie Sharp
Editors: Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi
