The Gulf Stream, also known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), is essential to stable global climate, and the reason we have moderate temperatures in Northern Europe. Now, a new modelling study suggests that this circulation could, at some point, be at a tipping point and collapse. We hear from one of the minds behind the model, post-doctoral researcher René van Westen from Utrecht University. But how likely is it that this will actually happen in the real world? Presenter Victoria Gill speaks to Jonathan Bamber who cautions that a gulf stream collapse is not imminent, and that it may just weaken slowly over time. Every summer in the Hudson Bay, on the Eastern side of Arctic Canada, the sea ice melts and the region’s polar bears head inland. But that ice-free season is getting longer, depriving the bears of that frozen platform that they use to pounce on their favourite prey – seals. So what do the bears do all summer? Research Wildlife Biologist Karyn Rode shares how she and her colleagues put a collar with video cameras on 20 polar bears, and what it revealed about their lives.
Is CERN finally going to get a gigantic new particle accelerator? Almost exactly one decade ago, Roland Pease reported from Switzerland about the very first meeting about the successor of the Large Hadron Collider which was used to discover the Higgs Boson. Now there’s an update to the story. Roland is back to tell Vic how far along CERN is with their plans, and how much more time and money it will take to build the Future Circular Collider.
Lovers of certain famous, creamy French cheeses could be in for a bit of a shock. Camembert and Brie are facing extinction as we know them! The Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Paris has stated that, over the last 100 years, the food and farming industry has placed too much pressure on the production of these types of cheeses. Now, the fungus traditionally used to grow the famous, fluffy white rinds has been cloned to a point where the lack of diversity in its genetic makeup means it can no longer be reproduced. Turophiles must learn to appreciate more diversity of tastes, colours and textures to protect the cheeses’ future.
Presenter: Victoria Gill Producers: Florian Bohr, Louise Orchard, Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.
Antarctic melt; brain enhancing devices, atomic clocks and anti-bat moth sounds
Colin Pillinger; Fire? Artificial DNA
Mice & Men; Fuel from CO2; fRMI; Insect calls
Y chromosome; Everest avalanche; Aphid survey; Longitude
Sperm and egg; Dogs; Automatic Facebook; Invasive species
Whales; Dark Matter; Falling; Arty brains
Calorie Restriction; Moon Age; Mars Yard; IPCC.
Fracking; Purple GM tomatoes; Bionic humans; Shark attacks
Cosmic inflation; LISA; Photonic radar; Bird stress camera; Water research; Taxidermy
Tracking planes; Peer review; Mega-virus; Astronaut
LG - Chemical weapons, Turtles, Tech for wildlife, Climate
Brain Machine Interfaces; Question on Gay Genes; Studying Drinking Behaviour
Bees; Whales; Pain; Gay genes
Whales from space; Flood emails; SUYI JET Lasers; CERN's new tunnel; Discoveries exhibition
Engineering for floods; Neanderthal genes; Switching senses; Genes in Space game
Neanderthals; Plague; Wind Tunnel; Music Timing; Stem Cells
Higgs Boson; Neutrinos; Antarctic echo locator; Rainforest fungi; Alabama rot
Personal genetics kits; Persister cells; Earthquake mapping; Scorpions
Antarctica weather and climate change; GM Fish Oils; Melanin Fossils; Time Travel
Ancient Human Occupation of Britain
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