PODCAST

Discovery

BBC World Service

Explorations in the world of science.

science

All Episodes

26:29

Fed: The Ethical Consumer's Dilemma

Discovery ·

2024/07/15

We’ve heard about the potential problems around chicken welfare. But how does that square with their impact on the environment?Dr Chris van Tulleken finds out what it takes to produce the most eco-friendly chicken meat possible. And makes a devastating discovery. Welfare concerns, and environmental credentials, often pull in OPPOSITE directions. Does he want to eat the happiest birds, or the ones kindest to the planet?Halfway through his poultry quest, Chris remains massively conflicted: he loves

26:28

Fed: U OK Hen?

Discovery ·

2024/07/08

We eat chicken. A LOT of it. We might love the taste, but what about how we're treating those birds?After witnessing first-hand the reality of indoor chicken farming - how most of the chicken we eat is raised - Dr Chris van Tulleken wants to know: are the birds happy enough, or is our method of rearing cheap chicken actually cruel?If so, what’s the ‘happier’ alternative – and do carnivores like Chris care enough to pay the price for that, or does a love of meat ultimately trump ethics?Chris battles

26:28

Fed: A Chicken and Egg Story

Discovery ·

2024/07/05

So we started farming this bird called chicken, and it spread around the world. But what does it actually TAKE to feed us the amount of chicken we want to consume?100 years ago this was a scrawny, egg-laying bird, only good for a stew once her eggs ran out – no one ate chicken meat. Fast forward to today and it’s the most consumed protein on the planet. How did we come to eat it in the first place, and what are the consequences of producing chicken meat on the vast, industrial scales we now consume

26:28

Fed: The invention of chicken

Discovery ·

2024/07/02

Dr Chris van Tulleken is on a mission to find out what we’re eating, why, and who or what might be influencing our decisions. And he’s starting his quest to uncover food truths with the most eaten meat in the world, and one of the most numerous animals on our planet: chicken.He’s recently been forced to confront a serious gap in his food knowledge - what happens before it gets to our plates - and has decided this, the world’s most popular meat, is an ideal starting point.Chris’ initial

26:28

Unstoppable: Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner

Discovery ·

2024/06/17

Dr Julia Ravey and Dr Ella Hubber both have a love of science, but it turns out there’s a lot they don’t know about some of the leading women at the front of the inventing game. In Unstoppable, Dr Julia and Dr Ella tell each other the hidden, world-shaping stories of the engineers, innovators and inventors they wish they’d known about when they were starting out as scientists. This week, the inventor whose incredible capacity to solve problems inspired today’s most popular period products. Mary

26:30

Unstoppable: Olga González-Sanabria

Discovery ·

2024/06/10

In her last year of high school, Olga González-Sanabria went on a field trip to the University of Puerto Rico’s school of engineering – and immediately knew that was what she wanted to do. She followed her passion and after university was recruited by Nasa, where she carried out instrumental work, without which we would not have the International Space Station.As the very first Latina woman working in engineering at Nasa, Olga’s career has not always been an easy ride, but is filled with remarkable

26:30

Unstoppable: Asima Chatterjee

Discovery ·

2024/06/03

Dr Julia Ravey and Dr Ella Hubber both have a love of science, but it turns out there’s a lot they don’t know about some of the leading women at the front of the inventing game. In Unstoppable, Dr Julia and Dr Ella tell each other the hidden, world-shaping stories of the engineers, innovators and inventors they wish they’d known about when they were starting out as scientists. This week, the story of an Indian chemist whose work laid the foundations to save thousands of lives. In a lab in 1950s

26:31

Unstoppable: Florence Bell

Discovery ·

2024/05/27

Dr Julia Ravey and Dr Ella Hubber both have a love of science, but it turns out there’s a lot they don’t know about some of the leading women at the front of the inventing game. In Unstoppable, Dr Julia and Dr Ella tell each other the hidden, world-shaping stories of the engineers, innovators and inventors they wish they’d known about when they were starting out as scientists. This week, the story of the woman who mastered viewing the world in microscopic detail – ultimately helping us discover the

26:32

Unstoppable: Nzambi Matee

Discovery ·

2024/05/20

Dr Julia Ravey and Dr Ella Hubber both have a love of science, but it turns out there’s a lot they don’t know about some of the leading women at the front of the inventing game. In Unstoppable, Dr Julia and Dr Ella tell each other the hidden, world-shaping stories of the engineers, innovators and inventors they wish they’d known about when they were starting out as scientists. This week, the story of an engineer who turned plastic into gold, all starting from her mother’s backyard. Every day,

26:28

Unstoppable: Hedy Lamarr

Discovery ·

2024/05/13

Dr Julia Ravey and Dr Ella Hubber both have a love of science, but it turns out there’s a lot they don’t know about some of the leading women at the front of the inventing game. In Unstoppable, Dr Julia and Dr Ella tell each other the hidden, world-shaping stories of the engineers, innovators and inventors they wish they’d known about when they were starting out as scientists. This week, the story of the Hollywood starlet whose brilliant ideas would go on to revolutionise the way we live. Known as

49:27

The Evidence: Maternal Health in Malawi

Discovery ·

2024/05/08

The process of childbirth can be painful yet amazing, but at times and in some places, also very dangerous. Recorded in Malawi, East Africa, Claudia Hammond is joined by a panel of maternal health experts to figure out why it is that the equivalent of a large jumbo jet full of women die every day due to pregnancy or childbirth. Together, they examine how so many women can still be at risk during this period despite a greater access to healthcare. They also look into whether an eighty-year-old drug

26:29

Obsessed with the Quest: Humpback Heat Run

Discovery ·

2024/05/06

Underwater cameraman Roger Munns set himself and his team an incredible challenge. In 2008, they visited Tonga to film the biggest courtship ritual of the animal kingdom, the humpback heat run, for the very first time underwater and up close. In the first few days, Roger had intimate encounters with the whales but most of the time, he was sat on the back of the boat, waiting to find a heat run. After two unsuccessful weeks, he started to wonder whether they would ever see one. But a few days later

26:29

Obsessed with the Quest: Inside the Minds of Chimpanzees

Discovery ·

2024/04/29

Primatologist Catherine Hobaiter has spent more of her adult life in the rain forests of Uganda, with family bands of chimpanzees, than she has with her own human family members. For more than 20 years now she has spent 6 months every year at a remote field station, getting up before dawn every day to observe and collect behavioural data on family bands of chimps as they wake up and go about their daily lives. What is she trying to find out, that has gripped her for so long? It turns out that life

26:28

Wild Inside: The sea lion

Discovery ·

2024/04/22

Professor Ben Garrod and Dr Jess French get under the skin (and blubber) of the California sea lion, to crack the key to its success both on land and at sea. Its ability to dive hundreds of meters down, keep warm in icy waters, and run on land, can all be explained through its unique internal anatomy. They are joined by zookeeper and sea lion trainer Mae Betts, who adds insight into the intelligence of these sleek marine mammals.Co-Presenters: Ben Garrod and Jess FrenchProducer: Ella Hubber Editor:

26:28

Wild Inside: The Aphid

Discovery ·

2024/04/15

The tiny sap-sucking aphid, at just a few millimetres long, is the scourge of many gardeners and crop-growers worldwide, spreading astonishingly rapidly and inflicting huge damage as it seeks to outwit many host plants’ natural defences. With insights and guidance from aphid expert George Seddon-Roberts at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, some delicate dissecting tools, and a state of the art microscope, Professor Ben Garrod and Dr Jess French delve inside this herbivorous insect to unravel the

26:28

Wild Inside: The Bearded Vulture

Discovery ·

2024/04/08

Ominously called the lamb vulture, there are many myths and misconceptions surrounding the bearded vulture. Flying the mountainous ranges across central Asia and eastern Africa, with a wingspan of almost three meters, the bearded vulture is am impressive Old World vulture. Prof Ben Garrod and Dr Jess French are looking past the beautifully coloured plumage, and delving deep inside to learn what this bird of prey really eats and what keeps its great wings aloft.

26:28

Wild Inside: The Red Kangaroo

Discovery ·

2024/04/02

Wild Inside returns for a new series to take a look at some of our planet’s most exceptional and unusual creatures from an entirely new perspective: the inside. Whilst we can learn a lot from observing the outside, the secrets to the success of any animal – whether they swim, fly, or hop – lies in their complex internal anatomy. How do these wild animals survive and thrive in harsh and changing environments? To truly understand we need to delve inside.Professor Ben Garrod, evolutionary biologist

27:25

Uncharted: Access denied

Discovery ·

2024/03/25

Hannah Fry explores two tales of data and discovery.A young researcher gains access to a secretive data set and discovers a system causing harm to the very people it is supposed to help. One day a student makes a discovery which, if true, could shake the intellectual foundations of a global movement, and undermine politicians around the world.Producer: Lauren Armstrong Carter

49:26

The Evidence: The science of the menopause

Discovery ·

2024/03/21

Millions of women around the world experience the menopause each year; it’s an important milestone, which marks the end of their reproductive years.But every individual's experience of it is personal and unique. In some cultures, there's a stigma about this life stage – it's viewed with trepidation and as something to be dreaded. In other cultures, it's considered to be a fresh start - a time of greater freedom when women no longer have to worry about their menstrual cycles.In this edition, recorded

27:19

Uncharted: The gossip mill

Discovery ·

2024/03/18

Hannah Fry explores two more tales of data and discovery.Gossip and rumour are plaguing a tile manufacturing company. The chatter is pulling morale to new lows, and amid it all, a question hangs in the air: who is spreading it? Can the science of networks find out? And, what is the secret to ageing well? One man believes he may have found the beginnings of an answer, and it is hiding in a convent.Produced by: Ilan Goodman and Lauren Armstrong Carter

831 results

Discovery

All Episodes

Similar Podcasts

Classic Radio Science Fiction

solgoodmedia.com

Mission to Mars

Inception Point Ai

The 365 Days of Astronomy

365DaysOfAstronomy.org

Creek Devil

william Jevning

UFO Chronicles Podcast

Nik Hunter