logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2023
14m 10s

9. Access Denied

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

A young researcher gains access to a secretive data set and discovers something shocking. What happens when a system designed to help people harms them instead?

Hannah Fry tells a tale about the mysterious realm of artificial intelligence.

Episode Producers: Lauren Armstrong-Carter and Clem Hitchcock Sound Design: Jon Nicholls Story Editor: John Yorke

A series for Radio 4 by BBC Science in Cardiff.

Up next
Sep 2024
11. Love Bytes
At thirty-one, mathematician Chris McKinlay is looking for love. But if it’s all a numbers game, his are not adding up. Could he be the problem? Or is something else getting in the way? Producer: Lauren Armstrong Carter Sound Designer: Jon Nicholls Story Editor: John Yorke 
17m 35s
Jan 2025
Introducing... Sideways
Best-selling author Matthew Syed explores the ideas that shape our lives with stories of seeing the world differently.In this taster from the series, Matthew explores the beauty that can be found in the process of decay.Search for Sideways on BBC Sounds to hear more. 
10m 6s
Sep 2024
20. The Confidence Trick
An ambitious portfolio manager stumbles upon a perfect graph. It outlines eye watering profits. But something doesn't quite add up - could this graph be accurate? Or does it hide a far more sinister truth? Producer Lauren Armstrong Carter Sound Designer: Jon Nicholls Story Editor ... Show More
17m 39s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2025
The Year in Science
We look back on 2024 in science, from billionaires in space, to record-breaking heat here on Earth, and the meteoric rise of new weight-loss drugs. From the biggest stories to the unsung and the plain fun, Inside Science presenter Victoria Gill hosts a special panel, featuring: - ... Show More
28m 18s
Dec 2024
The New Conservationists: AI is Making Meaning from the Sounds and Visuals of Wildlife (Part 2)
Ashleigh Papp, an animal scientist turned storyteller, takes us on into the field. Conservationists and animal behaviorists were once restricted to wildlife data gathered manually. Now new technologies are expanding the amount of passively collected data—and machine learning is h ... Show More
17m 55s
Dec 2023
Finding Tunnels
Tunnels have been the focus of much attention this week as the war in Gaza continues and 41 workers were rescued in India, after 17 days trapped underground. Forensic geoscientists Jamie Pringle and Ruth Morgan explain the science behind identifying what’s beneath the surface, fr ... Show More
28m 28s
Nov 2024
Reflecting on our First Attempt to Speak with the Stars
Tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of a transmission from the Arecibo Observatory, intended as our first attempt to send a message to intelligent life across the universe. Journalist Nadia Drake talks about the careful crafting of the signal and her personal connection with the ... Show More
15m 20s
Jul 2024
Every bite is a story
You might not think much about the sticky bottle of vanilla sitting in the back of your pantry. But that flavor – one of the most common in the world – has a fascinating history, involving a fickle orchid and a 12-year-old enslaved boy who made the discovery of a lifetime. That’s ... Show More
25m 51s
Nov 2024
Spooky Science
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 ... Show More
28m 11s
Jul 2024
Digital Dr. Dolittle: decoding animal conversations with artificial intelligence (reprise)
Artificial Intelligence is making the stuff of science fiction a science reality, changing how humans interact with the world. It could also change the way we interact with wildlife, giving us the ability to talk to animals...but are we ready? On this episode Chris talks to Aza R ... Show More
50m 2s
Feb 2025
Exploring the Hidden Life in the Air around Us with Carl Zimmer
Scientists now agree that COVID spreads via airborne transmission. But during the early days of the disease, public health officials suggested that it mainly did so via close contact. The subsequent back-and-forth over how COVID spread brought science journalist Carl Zimmer into ... Show More
16m 47s
Sep 2023
Tree Soil, Rodent Biologist, Soundscape Artist. Sept 8, 2023, Part 2
Where Soil Grows Above The TreesYou might be used to the feeling of Earth under your feet, but did you know that there’s soil high above your head? Way up in the treetops, where ferns, mosses, flowers, and even trees grow on top of the forest. A new study in Geoderma describes th ... Show More
46m 56s