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.
Scottish GM ban, Earth's magnetic field, OCD, Birth of a new galaxy
Pluto's surface, Increased Arctic ice in 2013, Linking brains together, Signals of fertility
Pluto: New Horizons
Intrusive memories, Silent aircraft, Nuclear fusion, Pluto
Aphid-repelling wheat, National Institute for Bioscience, Global map of smell, Parrot mimics
Malaria drug, Listener feedback, Imaging the singing voice, Classifying human species
Stars, Fracking, Ice Cores, Drunken Chimps
Origins of life, Earthquakes in London, Frog plague, Ancient pollen
Self-adapting robots, Artificial intelligence in medicine, Ageing healthily
El Nino, Echolocation, Seasons, Snakes
Seasonal Variation in Immunity, Chemosynthesis, Role of the ISS, Storing Digital Data in DNA
Listeners' Science Questions
Nepalese Earthquake, Monkey Hands, Maritime Light Pollution, Light in Bacteria
Healthy Guts; Future High Speed Trading; Body Clocks and Colour; William Smith's Geology Map
Hubble Space Telescope at 25
Legacy of Messenger, Computer Touch, AI and Traumatic Forgetting, Stained Glass Restoration
Invasive Species, Coral Seaview Survey, Evolution of the Brain, A New Virtual Reality
Genetic Map of the British Isles, Drones for Conservation, Lab Photosynthesis, Solar Eclipse
Large Hadron Collider Run Two, Flooding, Nasa's Biggest Rocket, Violin Evolution
Encoding memories; 350 years of the science journal; Women in science; Ceres
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