Nobel prizes this week went to a range of discoveries that you might be familiar with, in fact you might be using one of them right now – the lithium ion battery. The scientists credited with its Invention got the chemistry prize. And the tantalising prospect of life on other planets plays into the physics prize win.
And we also see what salamanders have to offer in the treatment of arthritis
(Picture: Illustration of the Earth-like exoplanet Kepler-452b and its parent star Kepler-452. Credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech/Science Photo Library)
The Colombian novelist and journalist Héctor Abad discusses his memoir Oblivion, a heart-breaking tribute to his late father. Héctor Abad Gómez was a medical doctor, professor and human rights campaigner in the city of Medellín, Colombia, whose criticism of the Colombian regime led to his brutal murder by paramilitaries in 1987. One of the most exquisitely written accounts of profound love between a father and son in modern literature, Oblivion paints a picture of a remarkable man who followed his conscience and paid for it with his life during one of the darkest periods in Latin America’s recent history.
In 1881, James Bonsack developed a machine that made it far easier to mass-produce cigarettes. But at the time, other tobacco products were much more popular – so manufacturers had to find new ways of getting people’s attention. Tim Harford explains why the methods they devised are still working on consumers today.
The wings of one of the most beautiful butterflies could transform paints and textiles. Scientists are fascinated by how the blue morpho produces its shimmering blue effect.
With Patrick Aryee.
#30Animals
www.bbcworldservice.com/30animals
India has experienced some of the worse monsoon weather in years, but despite the extreme rainfall climate models suggest a drought may be on the way, with higher than average temperatures predicted for the months following the monsoon season.
We also hear warnings over the state of the world’s aquifers, with water levels in many places already low enough to affect ecosystems.
We examine the consequences of two historic eruptions. How Indonesian volcano Tambora changed global weather and why papyrus scrolls blackened by Italy’s Vesuvius can now be read again.
And from Australia the discovery of a new species of pterosaur in Queensland.
Presenter: Roland Pease
Producer: Julian Siddle
(Photo: Commuters make their way on a waterlogged road following heavy rainfalls in Patna.Credit:Getty Images)
When the US outlawed the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages, it inadvertently created one of the most successful black markets in the world. Tim Harford considers how much it costs to make something illegal, and what a failed law reveals about the way criminals make their money.
Unlocking the secrets of the dazzling colours in the tail of the peacock. It is designed to attract females but has caught the eye of scientists, as they mimic it to develop high-resolution reflective colour-screen displays.
With Patrick Aryee.
#30Animals
www.bbcworldservice.com/30animals
This week’s IPCC report on the state of the world’s climate looks very much like their earlier reports on the subject. The document cautiously expresses a picture of a future with greater climate extremes. Activists are frustrated by the lack of action. We look at why the scientific message is often hampered by politics.
Fish could provide micronutrients to the world poor, but as we’ll hear this would need a major shift in commercial fishing practices globally.
Baby bottles from thousands of years ago suggest Neolithic people gave animal milk to their children.
And when did the Sahara develop? New findings in deposits from volcanic islands provides some evidence.
The number of vegans is on the rise in many parts of the world, with many people swearing by the health benefits of a plant-based lifestyle. But is a vegan diet really better for your health? Is there any evidence to show that vegans are likely to live longer?
And what about the new, highly processed meat analogues becoming increasingly available in supermarkets and restaurants menus? They look, feel and taste just like meat products but what affect are they having on our health? To find out more, we talk to the experts and join listener Samantha in following a vegan diet.
The number of vegans is on the rise in many parts of the world, with many people swearing by the health benefits of a plant-based lifestyle. But is a vegan diet really better for your health? Is there any evidence to show that vegans are likely to live longer? And what about the new, highly processed meat analogues becoming increasingly available in supermarkets and restaurants menus? They look, feel and taste just like meat products but what affect are they having on our health? To find out more, presenter Anand Jagatia talks to the experts and joins listener Samantha in following a vegan diet.
Presenter Anand Jagatia
Produced by Caroline Steel for the BBC World Service
(Photo: Healthy vegan food with herbs and spices. Credit: Getty Images)
This week’s IPCC report on the state of the world’s climate looks very much like their earlier reports on the subject. The document cautiously expresses a picture of a future with greater climate extremes.
Activists are frustrated by the lack of action. We look at why the scientific message is often hampered by politics.
Fish could provide micronutrients to the world poor, but as we’ll hear this would need a major shift in commercial fishing practices globally.
Baby bottles from thousands of years ago suggest Neolithic people gave animal milk to their children.
And when did the Sahara develop? New findings in deposits from volcanic islands provides some evidence.
