It’s our Halloween special from a rain-soaked Jodrell Bank in Cheshire. We find out what you can see in a dark, dark Halloween night sky with space-watcher and Professor of astrophysics Tim O’Brien. Also this week, we meet some blood-sucking leeches, the horrors of pumpkin waste and could zombies ever be real? Presenter: Victoria Gill
Producers: Ella Hubber, Sophie Ormiston & Gerry Holt
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.
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28:11
Whatever happened to graphene?
Twenty years ago this week two physicists at the University of Manchester published a ground-breaking paper describing the extraordinary qualities of graphene. The thinnest and strongest material known to exist – and better at carrying electricity than any metal – its discovery was hailed as revolutionary. But two decades on, it doesn’t seem to have changed the world, or if it has, it is doing so very quietly. So, what happened? We go on the trail of graphene, meeting Nobel Prize winner and Godfather of Graphene Andrew Geim, and learning what it has – and hasn’t – done and what might be next... Also this week, how to kill an asteroid and we talk the “other” COP with chief scientific adviser to the government, Dame Angela McLean. Presenter: Victoria Gill
Producers: Sophie Ormiston, Ella Hubber & Gerry Holt
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth BBC Inside Science is produced in partnership with the Open University.
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28:10
Are our carbon sinks failing?
The Earth’s natural carbon sinks absorb half of our pollution. But now, they appear to be collapsing. Why is this happening – and will we be able to reach our climate goals without them?Also this week, why a psychologist won the Nobel Prize in Physics, the culprit behind the second biggest mass extinction event, and does playing video games make you smarter?Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producers: Sophie Ormiston, Ella Hubber, Anna Charalambou
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Andrew Rhys Lewis
BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.
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28:16
Should we bring back extinct animals?
A woolly mammoth by 2028.That’s the bold claim from US company Colossal Biosciences, who say research is under way that will make this possible.But even if we have the technology to bring back a long dead species, should we? We hear the arguments for and against de-extinction.Also this week, what will Europa Clipper find when it heads to one of Jupiter’s icy moons and how to win a Nobel Prize. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producers: Ella Hubber, Sophie Ormiston & Gerry Holt
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Andrew Rhys Lewis BBC Inside Science is produced in partnership with the Open University.
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28:14
Could coal shut-down mark new era for energy?
“That’s the end of coal in the UK for electricity.” The UK’s last coal-fired power station has closed, ending Britain's 142-year reliance on coal. But what difference will the closure of Ratcliffe-on-Soar make – and could it mark a new dawn for clean energy? After 20 years of research into microplastics and headline upon headline on their potential harms, how much do we really know about these tiny particles? Also this week, Marnie turns lab rat for a navigation experiment, and why are we all so obsessed with Moo Deng? Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producers: Sophie Ormiston, Ella Hubber & Gerry Holt
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Andrew Rhys Lewis BBC Inside Science is produced in partnership with the Open University. If you want to test your climate change knowledge, head to bbc.co.uk - search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to the Open University.