Vagrant birds are those that appear in locations where they are not usually found. They might have been blown off course by a storm or have been affected by changing weather patterns due to climate change. Although a treat for birders, these visitors can also have a big impact on their new environments as Victoria Gill finds out when she heads to Burton Mere Wetlands on the Dee Estuary with Dr Alexander Lees, reader in biodiversity at Manchester Metropolitan University.
As former Prime Minister Boris Johnson gives his testimony, we hear the latest from the UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry with BBC Health Reporter Jim Reed.
A new study reveals that, contrary to a commonly-held view, the brain does not have the ability to rewire itself to compensate for the loss of, for example sight, an amputation or stroke. This is despite what most scientists believe and teach. Moreover, the assumption that it has this ability has led to all manner of erroneous treatments for amputees, stroke victims and other conditions, the study suggests.
We’re joined by the study’s authors, Professor John Krakauer from Johns Hopkins University and Professor Tamar Making of the University of Cambridge. We’ll also hear from one of Tamar’s key case studies, Kirsty Mason, an amputee from the age of 18 who advanced the scientists’ experiments exponentially.
Presenter: Victoria Gill Producers: Hannah Robins and Louise Orchard Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.
Violins - Social networks and cliques in great tits and snow monkeys - Exploring DNA and art
The moral brain, stem cell developments, ancient DNA in cave dirt, mangrove forest
Homo naledi, First humans in America, Dark matter detector, New theory of dark matter
Cassini’s death, scrapping diesel, weather balloon, satellites monitoring volcanos
23andMe Genetic Sequencing, Human Knockout genes, Coral Bleaching
Creation of island Britain, Sleep gene, Mary Kelly forensics, Global Tree Search survey
Climate change and extreme weather; Primate brain size; Earthquake forecasting; Planet 9
Comet 67P images; Etna eruption; Brain navigation; Octopus intelligence
Boaty McBoatface in Antarctica, Aeroplane biofuels, Bakhshali manuscript, Goldilocks zones
Rise of the Robots: 3. Where is my mind?
Cells and Celluloid: Aliens on Film
Rise of the Robots: 2. More human than human
Rise of the Robots: 1. The history of things to come
Earth's Earliest Life, The Benefits of Pollution, Sexuality and Science and New ideas on Evolution
The perils of fake science news, The neanderthal inside us, What The Beatles really sang - statistically speaking
Science and cyber security, Dinosaur babies, Winston Churchill and level crossings
Measuring human impact on earth, Awards for engineers, Sounds of space junk.
Wildlife trafficking, New quantum computers, Ancient bird beaks, Glassblowing.
Crime, volcanoes, ghosts and how we are influenced by the genes of unrelated others
Antarctic science rescue, Killing cancer with viruses, Measuring wind from space and the Last man on the moon
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Science In Action
No Such Thing As A Fish
Global News Podcast
The Infinite Monkey Cage
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4