We’re on board the RSS Sir David Attenborough for the vessel’s first big science season in the Antarctic, since it launched in 2020. It’s crewed by scientists involved in Project Biopole, a 5-year mission attempting to better understand carbon cycle at the poles. Nadine Johnston, a microbiologist with the British Antarctic Survey, joins Inside Science to talk about her work on copepods; zooplankton that build up huge fat reserves over the spring and summer months, then hibernate at 3000m during winter, taking carbon with them which is then locked-up in the deep ocean for up to 600yrs! Her research is a world first in the Southern Ocean and could help improve global carbon modelling of the earth system.
Staying in the South Pole, neuroscientist John-Antoine Libourel, talks about his latest research into the surprising sleeping habits of chinstrap penguins.
And after weeks of intense earthquake activity, the volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula of south-west Iceland has erupted. Dr Evgenia Ilyinskaya, our go-to volcanologist, provides an update. Plus, a nod to the festive season, as composer and AI artist, LJ Rich, explains why Christmas music makes us feel all fuzzy.
Presenter: Victoria Gill Producers: Hannah Robins, Harrison Lewis & Louise Orchard Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
BBC Inside Science is produced in collaboration with the Open University.
Killer robots; Myths and superstitions and conservation; Science book prize nominee - Cordelia Fine; Taxidermy
Antarctica's volcanoes, science book prize nominee - Mark O'Connell, US solar eclipse and 40 years of NASA's Voyager mission
European heatwave and climate change, Eugenia Cheng, Next generation batteries for electric cars, Joseph Hooker exhibition.
Gene-editing human embryos, Spaceman's eyes, Science book prize, Sexual selection in salmon
Cod fisheries, Our connection to nature, Domestic electricity and Gamma ray bursts
Genetics and privacy, Global plastic, Great Ape Dictionary, Ocean Discovery X Prize
Genetic testing; Pugs on treadmills; Frankenstein
Neonics dispute, Hygenic bees, Hip-hop MRI
Sex bias in biology, Engineering prize, Olympic bats, Angry Chef
Forensics Centre in Dundee; D'Arcy Thompson centenary; Scottish science adviser; Coffee and climate
Science in Fire Prevention
Early Humans Were Even Earlier Than We Thought
The Importance of Basic Research
Sherpas - dolphin rescue - quantum computing - hot lavas
Childhood cancers - Ghana telescope - Nano-listening device for cells - Ancient whales
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
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