BBC Inside Science

As another week of disruptive Just Stop Oil protests grabs media attention, sociologist Dana Fisher discusses which actions might help a cause - and which could harm it.

Japanese scientists have developed artificial skin for robots made from real human cells. Inside Science producer Dr Ella Hubber digs into the uncanny invention.

Inside Science reporter Patrick Hughes goes on the trail of methane emissions from landfills.

And, as a heatwave smothers the UK, physiologist Damian Bailey helps us figure out what the perfect temperature for a human is.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton ...

Taylor Swift fans danced so hard they made the ground shake at her recent Edinburgh gig so this week we’re meeting Earth Scientists Emma Greenough and James Panton to measure the Cardiff show - and explain some Swiftie Seismology.

We’re joined by the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring and Cardiff University's Professor Martin Innes to talk the science of tracking election disinformation on social media.

What’s in the election manifestos? BBC science correspondent Pallab Ghosh explains all.

And Marnie dashes to Kew Gardens to meet horticulturalist Solene D...

Elon Musk’s implanted brain chip, Neuralink, is coming to the UK for clinical trials. Is controlling computers with our minds a future reality or is it all hype? Neuroscientists Dean Burnett and Christina Maher weigh in.

Zoologist Jules Howard ponders the strange effects drugs in our sewage have on frogs from his garden pond.

How do we measure the distance to distant galaxies? Astrophysicist Edward Gomez answers a listener's burning question.

And a 101 on blood groups from Dr Lise Estcourt.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Ella Hubber, Gerry Holt, Sophie Ormiston Ed...

The looming danger of antibiotic resistance may have fallen out of the public consciousness but is still very much in the mind of those in public healthcare and research. As promising new research is published, the University of Birmingham’s Laura Piddock and GP Margaret McCartney get to the bottom of why antibiotic resistance is still so difficult to tackle.

Marine biologist Helen Scales joins us in the studio to talk about her new book “What the Wild Sea Could Be” which uses changes in the Earth’s past to predict what we can expect to happen to our o...

Guest presented by Liz Bonnin.

We all instinctively know that sleep is incredibly important but science doesn’t actually have a satisfying answer for why we need to sleep. There are multiple theories, but now, new research from Imperial College London has suggested that the leading idea might actually be incorrect. Science journalist Ginny Smith explains.

Nearly 80 years ago, one of the rarest elements in the world, promethium, was first discovered, but it’s properties have only now been revealed. Andrea Sella, Professor of Chemistry at University College London, tells us what this means.

Wh...

Guest presented by Liz Bonnin.

As the UK strives to achieve net zero by 2050, nuclear energy is looking more and more likely as a key player in reaching this goal. But it’s not just massive power plants like Hinkley point C - there’s are newer smaller reactors on the scene: small and micro modular reactors. 100 to 1000 times smaller than a conventional reactor, faster to build, and put together entirely in a factory before being shipped out, theoretically, anywhere: are micro modular reactors the future of nuclear energy or too good to be true? Dean of Engi...

Last week, a girl who was born deaf had her hearing restored following gene therapy. In the US, the first commercial gene therapy for sickle cell disease has just begun. And Great Ormond Street Hospital has found great success in their trials and a gene therapy for children lacking an immune system. Gene therapy is clearly having a moment. But how do these groundbreaking therapies actually work? And will they ever be truly accessible to everyone? Geneticist Professor Robin Lovell-Badge answers all. Also this week, atmospheric scientist Laura Wilcox answers an interesting listener question about the effect volcanoes can...

There has been increasing public outrage at raw sewage discharges into our rivers and seas, but new research at Lake Windermere suggests that treated sewage is as much to blame. Wastewater experts Simon Evans and Ali Morse get into the nitty gritty of sewage treatment and why it might be causing so many problems.

Last week, the Sumatran orangutan Rakus made headlines when he was spotted by researchers treating a wound with a medicinal plant. A first for a wild animal. But he’s not the only animal to show self-medicating behaviour. Biologist and author of Wild He...

One year ago, the World Health Organisation declared that COVID-19 would no longer be categorised as a global health emergency. But the pandemic has left us with a new normal in all areas of our lives. From vaccine rollout to wastewater monitoring, we’re asking: how has COVID altered the scientific landscape? Marnie Chesterton is joined in the studio by Linda Geddes, science journalist, and Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, Professor in Environmental and Analytical Chemistry at the University of Bath, to discuss.

Are ugly animals getting the short end of the conservation stick? Whilst a few beautiful creatures, like ti...

As the UN tries to get a global agreement on plastic waste we hear from two delegates at the conference in Ottawa; John Chweya, a Kenyan waste picker, and plastics scientist, Steve Fletcher, discuss the impacts of plastic pollution and the possible solutions.

Taylor Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department, exposes the pain a break up can cause. Heartbreak is a common theme in music and art – but what does science have to say about it? Florence Williams, science journalist and author of Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey, talks us through the research on what a...