logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2
36m 3s

A mystery satellite has been jamming GPS...

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Scientists detect for the first time an unknown source of GPS interference coming from space. Also, as AI begins to design more and more DNA sequences being manufactured synthetically, how can those manufacturers be sure that what their customers are asking for will not produce toxic proteins or lethal weapons? And… how camera traps in polish forests reveal that the big bad wolf is more scared of humans than anything else.

For that last few years instances of deliberate jamming and interference of GNSS signals has become an expected feature of the wars the world is suffering. Yet this disruption of the signals that all of us use to navigate and tell the time nearly always emanate from devices on the ground, or maybe in the air. But in ongoing research reported recently by Todd Humphreys of University of Texas at Austin and colleagues around the world is beginning to reveal that since 2019 an intermittent yet powerful signal has been causing GPS failures across Europe and the North Atlantic. The episodes have been thankfully brief so far, but all the signs suggest it comes not from soldiers or aeroplanes, but from a distantly orbiting satellite somewhere over the Baltic Sea. It may not be malevolent, it could be a fault, but the net of suspicion is tightening.

A team of scientists including some from Microsoft report today in a paper in the journal Science an investigation to try to strengthen the vetting of synthetic DNA requests around the world. As AI-designed sequencies increase in number and application, the factories that produce the bespoke DNA are in danger of making and supplying potentially dangerous sequences to customers with malicious intents. But how do you spot the bad proteins out of the almost infinite possible DNA recipes? Tessa Alexanian of the International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science, and one of the authors explains some of the thinking.

Finally, Liana Zanette of Western University in Ontario and colleagues have been hanging around in Polish forests scaring wolves. Why? Because as wolf numbers rise in protected reserves, more and more human-wolf interactions occur. And a suspicion has arisen that the legal protection they enjoy has led to them losing their fear of humans in a dangerous way. Not so, says Liana’s team, blowing away the straw arguments and setting fire to the political motivation to reduce their protection status. Wolves are still terrified of Nature’s apex predator – us.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alex Mansfield Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

(Image: Simulation screen showing various flights for transportation and passengers. Credit: Oundum via Getty Images).

Up next
Sep 25
Autism and the epigenetics of early brain development
Epigenetic changes during early brain development, and the complexities of autism. Also, how bacteria learn to parry antibiotics, the subterranean burp that shook the Island of Santorini, and new guidance for sharing land between farming space and living space for the pollinators ... Show More
36m 15s
Sep 18
Stephen Hawking gets it right again
Gravitational waves show two black holes merge just how Hawking predicted. Plus, a space mission without a target. And a Space probe without a confirmed budget.In January 2025 the LIGO gravitational wave observatories witnessed two distant black holes spinning into each other. In ... Show More
26m 29s
Sep 11
Asteroids, comets and where to find them
Scientists’ latest plans for welcoming interstellar visitor 3I/Atlas next month, and arranging a rendezvous with comet Apophis in 2029, as heard this week at the EPSC-DPS international planetary science joint meeting in Helsinki. Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber, wit ... Show More
26m 28s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2025
The Latest On Bird Flu
Bird flu, or avian influenza, is spreading among livestock and other mammals in the United States, raising concerns that another pandemic may be looming. Last month, California declared a state of emergency due to rising cases in dairy cattle, and there have been over 65 human ca ... Show More
13m 18s
Feb 2023
Elon Musk SLAMS Globalists agenda, as WHO announces next virus outbreak | Redacted w Clayton Morris
Elon Musk slammed the globalists agenda right to their faces as the World Health Organization announces our next pandemic. The WHO convened an emergency meeting to discuss a virus outbreak in Africa. Get ready! The White House now says the UFO flap is probably not China related. ... Show More
1h 38m
May 2024
Bird flu outbreak in cows
A strain of highly pathogenic bird flu, H5N1, has been spreading unchecked through wild bird, and some mammal, populations for the past few years. Last week, news of a large number of dairy cows in the USA being infected with bird flu has alarmed the public and virologists alike. ... Show More
31m 41s
May 2025
Bird Flu: The Next Pandemic?
Bird flu has been in the headlines for ages, with scientists warning that we could be headed for a pandemic. But we’ve been hearing about this H5N1 virus for so long that it’s kind of starting to feel like the boy who cried wolf. So — what’s really going on with H5N1 bird flu? Ho ... Show More
42m 28s
Jun 2025
How Bird Flu Went from an Isolated Avian Illness to a Human Pandemic Threat (Part 1)
Bird flu outbreaks in poultry and cattle have caused concern for public health officials. There have been few reported cases of human transmission, but the growing risks of H5N1 avian influenza have virologists on alert. Researchers at the St. Jude Center of Excellence for Influe ... Show More
31m 17s
Jul 2024
How worried should humans be about bird flu?
The H5N1 bird flu virus has spread from birds to dairy cattle in the United States where a number of agricultural workers have also been infected by it. This is thought to be the first time humans have caught the virus from another mammal and the first time the virus has been det ... Show More
23m 1s
Jun 2024
Playing chicken with biohazards. Are humans at risk from bird flu?
Bird flu – or Avian flu – has been detected at a number of chicken farms in Victoria and NSW. The discovery comes in the wake of an outbreak in the US and tests that found humans had symptoms associated with bird flu. How safe is Australia’s poultry industry, and how safe are our ... Show More
19m 2s
Feb 2022
Bird Flu Is Back in the US. No One Knows What Comes Next
The fast-moving pathogen, which has already invaded Europe, was found in East Coast ducks. The last outbreak that tore through the US killed 50 million birds. 
13m 40s
Feb 2025
How Close Are We to Another Pandemic?
An outbreak of bird flu has been tearing through the nation’s dairy farms and infecting more and more people.Now there are troubling signs that the United States may be closer to another pandemic, even as President Trump dismantles the country’s public health system.Apoorva Manda ... Show More
25m 6s