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.
Bacteriophages; Breath-detecting disease; Our bees electric and DNA Barcoding
Antimicrobial soap; GAIA; Stone-age jellybones; Antarctica
Horsemeat; NanoSims; Early bacteria; Crystallography
Badger culls; Douglas Mawson; Plastics; Uptalk
Therapeutic hypothermia; Cameras on Gaia; Methane; Wine microbiota
Bird Atlas; Flywheels; Energy capture; Science lessons for MPs
DNA to ID typhoon victims; Volcanic ash; Hope for red squirrels; Robogut
Personal genome; Solar cells and music; Asteroids; Alfred Russel Wallace
Moon dust; Electro-ceuticals; Soil and climate change; Dogs' tails
Nuclear Waste; Exoplanets; BBC time and pips, Synthetic Biology Olympics
Genetics and education; Golden Rice inventor; Chimp Chatter and Lightning Lab
US shutdown; Nobels; New climate science; Airport heart attack headlines
Menopause; IPCC; Fracking feedback; Particle accelerator; Zombie chemicals
Fracking FAQs; Fingerprint feedback; Lipstick forensics; Snake hook
Chemical weapons; Crowd-sourcing weather; Fingerprint ID; Dino drill
Stem cell news; Science practicals; Phantom head; Sewage power
Fukushima ice wall; Martian menus; Science practicals; Eye tracker
Research bias; Sniffer dogs; Lasers; Roadkill
Artificial reefs; Scanning beehives; Ape feet; NMR
Universal flu vaccine; Science games; AllTrials; Penguin camera
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