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.
Nobel Prizes 2014; Gauge; Genetics and Diabetes; UK Fungus Day
Women, Science and the Royal Society; Open Access Research
Cosmic inflation latest; Indian space success; Science and language; Wax Venus
European ancestry; Cern is 60; Graphene plasters; Penguins
Jack the Ripper; Future of Scottish science
Bardarbunga volcano; Geology in Minecraft; Synthesising opioids; Ammonia
Manipulating mouse memory; London pollution; Nature of knowing; Snail fur
TB in the New World; Trusting Wikipedia; Shipwreck of the London; @LegoAcademics
Anaesthesia; Chilean earthquakes; Strange weather; Jellyfish
New dinosaur; GM chickens; Lightning; Rosetta; Diatoms
ExpeRimental; Rosetta; MOOCs
Science's fascination with the face
A special programme on plants and their pollinators, poisons and pests
Behavioural profiling at airports; Light and colour in art; Hadrian's Wall; Cassini
Informed consent, El Nino, Gravitational Waves, Cloud cover
Longitude Prize Winner; Solar cells; New species; Fiji fisherwomen; Physics questions
Antarctic Invaders; Patents; Longitude Challenges for Water and Antibiotics
Turing test; World Cup exo-skeleton; Plant cyborgs; Music hooks
Moving Mountains; Invasive Species; Football Stickers
Women scientists; Mapping the ocean floor; Amplituhedron
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Science In Action
Global News Podcast
The Infinite Monkey Cage
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
You’re Dead to Me