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.
Signs of life on planets, Royal Society Book Prize, Queen Bee control, Galactic Prom 29
Dinosaur extinction, Neanderthals in Gibraltar, Music appreciation, A year of New Horizons
Juno, Space debris, Fake tumours, Risky plants
Juno, Nanotech art conservation, Robots fix the city, Eel conservation
National Insect Week, Venus' electric field, Green mining, Wimbledon grass science
More gravitational waves; Ocean floor mapping; Selfish Gene 40th; Spoonies
Fighting Antimicrobial Resistance
Fixing the Future
GM plants; Svalbard Seed Vault; Directed Evolution; Dolphin Snot
Climate Change, State of the World's Plants, Antibiotic Resistance, Telephone Metadata, Bat Detective
Genetics and education, Eyam plague, Pint of science, Labradors and chocolate
Human embryos, Transit of Mercury, Fishackathon, Fat labradors
Chernobyl, Drones, Tree crickets, Cern
EU membership and UK science, Quantum games, Fixing genes
Breakthrough Starshot, Moon mining, QB50, Solar Q&A
Air pollution monitoring, Britain breathing, Tracking Hannibal
Solar farm, Gravity machine, Kakapo
Flu, Coffee yeasts, Wave machine, Cochlear implants
Recovering lost memories, Storks eat junk food, Oldest pine fossil, Spring flowering
Gain-of-function research, Mindfulness, Women in science, Snake locomotion
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