logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2025
37m 58s

Coral extinctions and chalky unknowns

Bbc World Service
About this episode

As two species of coral are killed off by the 2023 heatwave in the Florida reefs, the abilities of different plankton species to cope with rising CO2 remain crucially unknown.

Also, retrospective research shows a strong suggestion that mRNA covid vaccination might serendipitously boost certain types of cancer immunotherapy.

And, if you can’t identify changing agricultural crop types from satellite observations, why not just strap a camera to your bike helmet?

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

(Photo: Dead elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata). Credit: Rolf von Riedmatten/Getty Images)

Up next
Oct 2025
How science got here, and where next
As anti-science leaves research reeling, does evidence-based policy in a scientific society have much of a future? Michael Mann, Naomi Oreskes, Angie Rasmussen and Deb Houry discuss some of the sources and motivations that perhaps belie the current state of scientific affairs. Pr ... Show More
31m 30s
Oct 2025
Paris agreement impacts and drought realities
Ten years on from the Paris climate agreement, has it helped? Also, an international drought experiment, insights from 2D water, and social distancin in ants. Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alex Mansfield Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth(Photo: Small bushfire. ... Show More
38m 45s
Oct 2025
Old faces and big spaces in small places
The 2025 Nobel prizes are announced this week – how did Science in Action’s predictions fare? Science author and thinker Philip Ball judges.The Whitley Fund for Nature this week hosted a “People for Planet” summit, exploring possible solutions to save nature. Amongst the speakers ... Show More
31m 57s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2023
COP28, swine flu, Bennu asteroid and digital twins.
Dr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs, In this week's episode... what’s on the agenda for the COP28 climate summit? What do we know about the new strain of swine flu found in North Yorkshire? Samples from the Bennu ... Show More
51m 52s
Feb 2025
Uncharted: The golden spike
At a conference in Mexico, one scientist’s outburst sparks a global quest to find a ‘golden spike’ - the boundary marking the shift into a new geological period dominated by humans, not volcanoes or asteroids. From plastics and concrete to nuclear fallout, the data they uncover r ... Show More
26m 29s
Jul 2023
Global boiling, and crashed crafts on Mars
Sweltering temperatures wreak havoc across Europe and North America, so what needs to be done to bring them down? We hear from the Cambridge scientist who wants to create the largest ever DNA and health research programme for children and young people. And, did aliens crash-land ... Show More
27m 57s
Aug 2025
Cosmic Discoveries Soar as Earthly Health Decisions Stir Alarm
Rogue planets drifting through space might be forming their own planetary systems. NASA’s Europa Clipper mission has completed a key radar test ahead of its journey to study Jupiter’s icy moon. Plus, a major shift in U.S. health research funding occurs as Secretary of Health and ... Show More
9m 20s
Jul 2022
Chatbots that look like they're alive, and what colour wine bottles to avoid
Dr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs.The week the team review some of the scientific highlights of the last month, including what the James Webb telescope will reveal about our place in the Universe, how orcas are ... Show More
52m 9s
Dec 2022
COVID spreads in China
Hong Kong health expert Professor Malik Peiris relates the lessons from the devastation there earlier this year. UK virologist Dr Tom Peacock reveals the unusual origins and evolution of omicron, and explains the risks of dangerous new variants. New studies from China are reveali ... Show More
1h 5m
Sep 2023
Spinal cord injury treatments, red fire ants and asteroid samples.
Dr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs.In this week's episode... A breakthrough in treating spinal cord injuries, worrying news about red fire ants in Sicily, we look at what it means for us in the UK and NASA is se ... Show More
27m 41s
Feb 2021
Meeting Mars, Melting Ice, Ozone on the Mend Again, and A Sea Cacophany
Victoria Gill and guests discuss the signs and symptoms of melting ice and anthropogenic climate warming, illicit CFC production and the racket we make in the seas. As two robotic missions from UAE and China arrive at Mars , and a third from NASA arrives next week, UK astronaut T ... Show More
41m 9s
Jan 2023
Bird flu (H5N1) outbreak in mink
An outbreak of pathogenic bird flu, H5N1, in a Spanish mink farm could be a cause for concern. Some experts fear the virus may now spill over to other mammals without strict surveillance. Marion Koopmans, professor of virology at Erasmus Medical Centre, talks Roland through the p ... Show More
51m 5s
Feb 2013
Extreme Engineering
This week, research at the extremes: We find out how the new Halley VI station was engineered to withstand Antarctic conditions, and how scientists tackle some of the harshest environments on Earth to do groundbreaking research. In the news we discover a battery you can bend, sha ... Show More
59m 11s