Alle afleveringen van Discovery

The Life Scientific: Gillian Forrester

26 oktober 2026 · 26 min

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What do the very first writhing movements of babies have in common with orangutans solving problems for food? Well, according to Gillian Forrester they may both offer clues about how we humans developed language. Working with her great ape colleagues, Gilly Forrester – Professor of Comparative Cognition at the University of Sussex – has dedicated her career to finding out how we became the talkative, tool-using troop we are today. Examining the link between movement, spoken language and social communication, Gilly’s research has looked at how brain organisation could affect the likelihood of being diagnosed with autism and ADHD, as well as how training dexterity may improve linguistic fluency in children. In conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Gilly reveals what she believes it really means to be human, and the pair discover that despite his PhD in nuclear physics, Jim might not be quite as smart as a chimp. Presented by Jim Al-Khalili Lees meer

The Life Scientific: David Canter

19 oktober 2026 · 26 min

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Although books and movies might suggest otherwise, catching criminals is of course less about hunches and gut instinct, and more about gruelling analysis of hard data - including when it comes to the psychological side. David Canter is an Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Liverpool, who took exactly this approach in the 1980s when he was asked to help police track down a serial killer. David had built his reputation as an environmental psychologist, studying how people behave in emergency situations and even advising the government on how to prevent disasters in football stadiums. But when he was asked to apply his unique methodology to help track down a serial killer and rapist, he realised that data-driven analysis of a suspect's behavioural patterns could be invaluable to any investigation. David tells Jim Al-Khalili about how he founded the field of investigative psychology - and went on to advise on major criminal investigations, write award-winning books and even make time to pursue a parallel life as a composer. Lees meer

The Life Scientific: Edith Heard

12 oktober 2026 · 26 min

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Imagine looking at a map of a city you thought you knew inside-out, only to discover a collection of tightly knit neighbourhoods that nobody had ever realised existed... Edith Heard has achieved something rather similar with DNA. Lees meer

Edith is a leading expert in epigenetics: put simply, the science around how our bodies can turn particular genes on or off without actually altering our DNA. She’s spent her career studying the mechanisms that make us who we are and transforming our understanding of how X chromosomes are expressed; notably, how female cells turn off the spare X chromosome.

Talking to Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Edith discusses her journey from a shy and introverted youngster to the cutting edge of European science - including her latest role as Director of London’s prestigious Francis Crick Institute.

The Life Scientific: Ginger Kerrick

5 oktober 2026 · 26 min

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What do you do when your childhood dream of becoming an astronaut is grounded at the final hurdle? Lees meer

If you’re physicist Ginger Kerrick, you go on to help run the missions instead.

After failing the medical of her astronaut application process, Ginger went on to become Nasa’s first non-astronaut CAPCOM and its first Hispanic female Flight Director. Across a remarkable three-decade career, she helped train the International Space Station’s first long-term crew, logged thousands of hours in Mission Control, and shaped future missions to the moon and Mars. All with her trademark determination and resilience – qualities forged through life experiences that might have derailed someone else entirely.

In conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Ginger reveals the highs and lows of life at Nasa, and discusses the future of human spaceflight: from the potential of AI, to missions to Mars.

The ocean within us

28 september 2026 · 26 min

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Here's a little fact you might have heard before: humans are around 70% water. About the same percentage as a sweet potato, incidentally. But what does that actually mean? Sure, there's blood, that accounts for some of it. And the lymphatic system has a fair amount too, sloshing around. There is water in each of our cells. But that does not add up to the full 70%, so where is the rest of it? Lees meer

In 2018, a scientific paper was published which gives a tantalising clue. The authors revealed for the first time that our 'interstitial spaces' - those gaps, between our bones and joints and all of our organs - spaces which are often sidelined in conventional anatomy - those spaces were full of a kind of soft, gel-like liquid. Flowing around the body. Bringing essential substances to where they are needed. Connecting all the disparate parts of us and communicating between them. They called this massive, fluid-filled system 'The Interstitium', and suggested that it might be a brand new, previously undiscovered organ.

This moist, fibrous network seems to be important, in ways we still do not quite understand. It seems to have a key role in so many of our body's essential functions, from wound repair, to the maintenance of our body-clocks, to the spread of cancer from one tissue to another. And it is everywhere.

Emily Knight takes a journey deep into the human body, into the ocean within us, the spaces in between the things we think of as 'us'. And discovers the way it flows, and the things that flow through it.

The art of being a Zombie Ant Fungus

21 september 2026 · 26 min

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An ant becomes infected by a fungus which takes over its nervous system, turning the ant into a vehicle for the fungus’s reproduction and killing the ant in the process. It sounds like science fiction, but it is happening in rainforests around the world. Lees meer

It is a parasitic relationship that has inspired the TV series The Last of Us, but it also reveals a great deal about control, autonomy and the interconnectedness of the natural world.

Cultural entomologist Bridget Nicholls investigates this intriguing natural phenomenon with Merlin Sheldrake, mycologist and writer; Philip Ball, science writer; Mark Brown, director of the University Museum of Zoology at Cambridge University; Nura Sidarus, lecturer in Psychology at Royal Holloway, University of London; Lore Lixenberg, mezzo-soprano and sound artist, and Jason Singh, sound artist and composer. Jason's recordings and compositions feature throughout this documentary.

Presenter: Bridget Nicholls
Producer: Eliane Glaser

Women Not Included: Consumer Products

14 september 2026 · 26 min

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Design is never neutral and small choices can have a big impact. Lees meer

Dr Ella Hubber and journalist Katie Silver explore how consumer products marketed to women are frequently developed without fully understanding their needs. Along with expert insight, they look at everything from footwear based on male anatomy to menstrual products tested with unrealistic methods, revealing how these decisions can affect comfort, performance and even health.

As awareness grows, they also ask what change can look like and whether everyday products can finally reflect women’s real needs.

Presenter/producer: Ella Hubber
Assistant Producer: Scarlett Victoria
Researcher: Elliott Prince
Editor: Ilan Goodman

Women not included: Medical devices

7 september 2026 · 27 min

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CPR mannequins, medical implants and surgical tools. These are life changing and lifesaving medical devices. But when they are built around male bodies, what does that mean for everyone else? Lees meer

Through expert insight, Dr Ella Hubber and journalist Candice Bailey uncover how gaps in research can lead to higher complication rates in women, why the “one-size-fits-all” design method falls short, and how even the operating theatre can fail women.

As awareness grows, they also ask what change can look like and whether the tools used in healthcare can finally serve every body.[EH1.1]

Presenter/producer: Ella Hubber
Researcher: Elliott Prince
Editor: Ilan Goodman

Women not included: Artificial Intelligence

31 augustus 2026 · 27 min

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Dr Ella Hubber and journalist Katie Silver unpack how artificial intelligence is far from neutral, and why that matters. They speak to experts who reveal how some AI is trained with bad data and how this means it can often reflect the same inequalities found in society be that in voice assistants, hiring tools, or translation apps. Lees meer

As awareness grows, they also ask what change can look like. Better training, better regulation, and the technologies shaping our future working fairly for everyone.

Presenter/producer: Ella Hubber
Researcher: Elliott Prince
Editor: Ilan Goodman

Women Not Included: Urban Planning

24 augustus 2026 · 26 min

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On every street corner, at every bus stop, in every public toilet the message is clear: this city is not built for women. Lees meer

Along with journalist Chhavi Sachdev, Dr Ella Hubber explores how urban design often fails to reflect the realities of women’s lives. They unpack issues like why women spend longer queuing for toilets, how safety concerns shape the way women move through cities, and why transport systems built around linear commutes fail those juggling care, work and home.

As awareness grows, they also ask what change can look like. More inclusive planning, policies shaped by lived experience, and cities finally designed to work for everyone.

Presenter/producer: Ella Hubber
Researcher: Elliott Prince
Editor: Ilan Goodman

Women Not Included: Safety Equipment

17 augustus 2026 · 26 min

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Safety equipment is often designed around an “average” male body and Dr Ella Hubber wants to understand the consequences this has for women. Alongside journalist Candice Bailey and expert voices, we hear how healthcare workers are forced to adapt to PPE never made for them and how car safety systems fail to reflect the way women’s bodies respond in collisions. Lees meer

As awareness grows, they also ask what change can look like and if, through better data, and more women’s input, safety equipment can protect us all equally.

Presenter/Producer: Ella Hubber
Researcher: Elliott Prince
Editor: Ilan Goodman

Women Not Included: Drugs and clinical trials

10 augustus 2026 · 26 min

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After working exclusively with male mice while looking for a treatment for type 1 diabetes, Dr Ella Hubber begins to uncover a much bigger issue: modern medicine is not built equally for everyone. Along with journalist Chhavi Sachdev, she explores how decades of clinical research have overlooked women with serious consequences. Lees meer

Through expert interviews, they examine how women were historically excluded from clinical trials, why biological differences matter in how drugs work, and how this has led to higher rates of side effects. The story reveals how gaps in research continue to shape women’s healthcare today.
As awareness grows, they also ask what change can look like. More representative trials, pharmaceutical companies held accountable, and medicine finally built for everyone.

Presenter/Producer: Ella Hubber
Researcher: Elliott Prince
Editor: Ilan Goodman

The friendly virus

22 juni 2026 · 26 min

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Our antibiotics are failing us. In 2025, the UK Government said antibiotic resistance (AMR) contributes to more than 35,000 deaths each year in the UK. Emergency doctors say they are losing patients on a regular basis when they run out of ways to treat them. Lees meer

Antibiotics have saved countless lives, but alongside them, there is another unlikely sounding ally in this fight: viruses, so small that they can attack and kill the bacteria causing these devastating infections. They are called bacteriophages, or phages for short. There are more of them than any other commonly occurring natural entity on the planet. And we could be about to see doctors using them on very ill patients in the UK. The thing is scientists have studied bacteriophages for nearly a century. They are used routinely in other countries, and science journalist Marnie Chesterton, who has been following this story for nearly a decade, asks why, suddenly, is phage all the rage?

The Life Scientific: Dean Lomax

15 juni 2026 · 26 min

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Have you ever been told you aren't good enough to do something, then gone ahead and proved the naysayers wrong by doing it anyway - in glorious, headline-grabbing style? Lees meer

That is the satisfying story of Dr Dean Lomax. Dean grew up in Doncaster with a passion for fossils but after failing various school exams, was told by teachers that he'd never make it as a palaeontologist. Undeterred by leaving school with no qualifications, Dean sold his childhood Star Wars collection to fund a fossil-hunting trip to America that changed his life - after which a chance discovery led to him publishing his first ever scientific paper at the age of just 20.

Today, he’s an expert on ichthyosaurs - the massive marine reptiles that once inhabited our seas - and has discovered and named several new species, written books for both adults and children, and brought the prehistoric world to life on TV. Talking to Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Dean discusses dinosaurs as a 'gateway science', discovering the Rutland Sea Dragon and the importance of cutting out noise from nay-sayers to follow your dreams...

The Life Scientific: Helen Hastie

8 juni 2026 · 26 min

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What if robots of the future weren’t just clever machines, performing tasks in isolation, but trusted teammates you could have a chat with? That could respond naturally to conversational cues and even explain their work? Making this relationship a reality is a focus for Helen Hastie, Professor of Human-Robot Interaction and Head of the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh. Helen’s career has taken her from developing early dialogue systems - the ancestors of today’s generative AI - to working on sophisticated bots that can serve coffee with a side of small-talk, teach struggling kids with empathy, or provide calm and confident decisions as triage nurses. She’s also driven some of the UK’s flagship robotics initiatives, including as co-lead of the National Robotarium. Talking to Professor Jim Al-Khalili - who reveals he was once told off for rudeness by an early chatbot - Helen explains her hopes for useful, reliable and ultimately trustworthy robots; machines that aren’t just in our world but a welcome part of it. Lees meer

The Life Scientific: Seth Berkley

1 juni 2026 · 26 min

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Dr Seth Berkley is an epidemiologist and global health leader whose career has been shaped by one central problem: vaccines save lives, but only if people can actually get them. His 40-year career has spanned the global, from helping to build Uganda’s first HIV surveillance system and founding the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative; to leading Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance for more than a decade – overseeing the immunisation of hundreds of millions of children worldwide. And when COVID-19 struck, Seth co-founded COVAX, the global initiative designed to stop wealthy nations monopolising vaccines. In conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Seth discusses the highs and lows of his globe-trotting career - from saving millions of young lives through vaccine distribution, to setting his own shattered leg after a climbing accident in Namibia - and addresses the huge challenge of tackling vaccine scepticism. Lees meer

The Life Scientific: Hiranya Peiris

25 mei 2026 · 26 min

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Hiranya Peiris is playing a starring role in a movie that promises to tell perhaps the greatest story of all time. However, it’s a movie with a difference – there’s no director and no script. The Legacy Survey of Space and Time is one of the most ambitious projects in the world of astronomy, with a mission to create a decade-long time-lapse movie of the visible universe, to answer fundamental questions about its origin, evolution and, ultimately, its fate. Lees meer

Hiranya is Professor of Astrophysics 1909, the prestigious Chair at the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge University. Over her career she’s been one of the pioneers of a revolution in astronomy, bridging fundamental physics with the observational data coming back from space, to establish the first evidence-based standard model for the origin, evolution and fate of the universe. The endeavour has transformed the field from the ‘wild west’ of physics to the modern era of precision cosmology.

Ironically, it was another movie, of sorts, Carl Sagan’s documentary series ‘Cosmos’, that first sparked Hiranya’s interest in the universe as a young girl. Always keen to inspire women to follow in her footsteps and choose careers in science, if this interview were a live show she’d have reserved the front row for schoolgirls.

The Life Scientific: Washington Yotto Ochieng

18 mei 2026 · 26 min

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As a child growing up on the shores of Lake Victoria in western Kenya, Washington Yotto Ochieng once watched a plane cross the night sky and told his mother he wished he could travel on it. But he remembers her encouraging him to dream bigger... Today, Washington is a Professor of Engineering at Imperial College London, and President of the Royal Institute of Navigation. Over a career bridging industry and academia, he has helped shape the movement of urban transport; how satellites guide us and locate us; and how governments manage the technologies underpinning so much of modern life. Professor Jim Al-Khalili speaks to Washington about his inspirational upbringing, how reliant we've become on technologies such as GPS, and his work encouraging the next generation of engineers in both the UK and Africa. Lees meer

The Life Scientific: Lucy Carpenter

11 mei 2026 · 26 min

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Working on a remote tropical island in the Atlantic might sound like some sort of romantic idyll - but trying to conduct scientific research on a windy, isolated volanic outcrop is no picnic, as Lucy Carpenter can attest! Lucy is an atmopsheric chemist and a Professor at the University of York, whose work has helped to transform understanding of how oceans shape the air above them. She was one of the founding scientists behind the Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory, established on São Vicente in 2006 and now a key global monitoring site. Measurements made there helped overturn a long-standing assumption: ozone loss is not solely a human-made problem. Lucy and her colleagues showed that gases released by natural marine processes can trigger chemical reactions that destroy ozone - demonstrating that the sea is not simply a passive backdrop to climate change but an active participant; affecting aerosols, clouds and ultimately the climate itself. More recently Lucy's expertise has taken her into the policy arena, co-chairing the scientific assessment panel for the Montreal Protocol: the international agreement designed to protect the ozone layer. In conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Lucy discusses her journey from sampling ocean air to turning the tide of global environmental policy - and explains why her passion for duathlons could arguably be seen as an easier pastime than scientific research. Lees meer

The Life Scientific: Jens Juul Holst

4 mei 2026 · 26 min

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As recently as a few years ago, the idea of a self-administered injection that would deliver proven weight-loss results might have sounded fantastical. Today, these medications are a reality and a global phenomenon; hailed in many quarters as “miracle drugs" for their success in treating obesity and diabetes. They do this by replicating a gut hormone called GLP‑1, which tells the brain you’ve eaten enough and nudges the pancreas to release insulin; and this hormone was discovered and decoded thanks to years of work by today's guest. Jens Juul Holst is a Professor of Medical Physiology and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen. His efforts laid the groundwork for today’s weight loss jabs, earning him a slew of high-profile accolades and awards. Now it seems they might not only have positive impacts on obesity and diabetes, but also other health issues... But alongside the big success comes some big questions: including concerns over side effects, weight regain post-treatment, the black market in such drugs, and their cost and accessibility. In a frank conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Jens address these issues and shares his hopes for the future of GLP-1-focused research. Lees meer

The Life Scientific: Jim Ashworth-Beaumont

27 april 2026 · 26 min

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It's a rare thing to encounter a medical specialist who has experience of his field from the expert and the patient perspective - but not unheard of... Lees meer

Jim Ashworth-Beaumont is an orthotist and prosthetist who spent years helping people adapt to life with artificial limbs and musculoskeletal supports, before a near-fatal accident left him relying on both.

This twist of fate might have derailed many - but Jim drew on reserves of resilience and determination forged long before his accident; initially in the army, then by returning to education to earn the qualifications he missed out on as a youngster. He put himself through night school before earning a place to study Prosthetics and Orthotics at the University of Strathclyde. Later, while working at London’s Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Jim completed a Master’s in Neurorehabilitation, and a PhD in Health Studies – driven by a fascination with how the human body adapts under pressure.

But in 2020, while training for a triathlon, Jim was involved in a catastrophic cycling accident that nearly killed him - and cost him an arm.
He tells Jim Al-Khalili how the incident gave him a whole new insight into his patients’ experience and made him more determined than ever to achieve his goals.

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Lucy Taylor

Inside Universe 25

20 april 2026 · 26 min

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“I shall largely speak of mice,” the paper begins “but my thoughts are on man.” Lees meer

So begins a truly extraordinary scientific paper, and an equally extraordinary story.

“Death Squared: The Explosive Growth and Demise of a Mouse Population.” was published in 1973 by John Calhoun, and it detailed his increasingly bizarre research into the psychological effects of overcrowding. Over two decades he built a series of ‘rodent utopias’, where he could keep a population of rats or mice, meet all their basic food and shelter needs, but mess around with population levels. He wanted to see how they responded to having to live, cheek-by-tiny-jowl, with far more other rats than they were used to. And it wasn’t pretty. Social orders melted into chaos, rodents fought indiscriminately, or shut themselves away at the top of the enclosure. Mating orders collapsed, population numbers tanked, and eventually, every single rat was dead.

His work came at a prescient time. In the 60s and 70s, the exponentially expanding human population was a hot-button topic, and ‘population panic’ was in full swing. Alongside the expansion of cities, creeping urban sprawl, rising city-centre crime rates and 'urban sinks', there grew a concern that human living conditions were about to take an interminable dive. How would we live, with so many of us on earth? Calhoun’s work was leapt on by the press and public as a dire prediction of our own coming collapse. His rodent utopias became a subject of great interest among architects and city planners, psychologists and sociologists, and anyone fascinated by the human condition. But has his work been misunderstood?

50 years on, what lessons can we take from the work of a ground-breaking but often misunderstood scientist, in the face of a human population now exceeding 8 billion. Emily Knight explores his extraordinary work, its implications for humanity, and the possibility of a human utopia, that might not look anything like you expect.

Presented and Produc…

Dark Breath

13 april 2026 · 26 min

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In July 2024 a startling scientific paper was published. Lees meer

Headlined ‘Evidence of dark oxygen production at the abyssal seafloor’, scientists told how they had discovered oxygen being made two and a half miles down, at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

Their claim centred on small polymetallic nodules on the seafloor, and the key question - could these lumps of metal somehow be making oxygen in complete darkness?

It was an extraordinary finding that, if proven, could overturn hundreds of years of scientific knowledge about how this crucial ingredient for life is made. It prompted global headlines and split scientists.

But a year and a half on, are we any closer to knowing the answer... Is dark oxygen really possible?

BBC News science correspondent Victoria Gill investigates for BBC Radio 4, and finds so much more than a scientific anomaly.

Dark Breath is the story of a scientific controversy played out in real time. A row about science that became personal. And a discovery that crashed headlong into the debate about whether we should mine metals from the deep sea.

What does the story tell us about the messy and human scientific process? And what bearing does it have on the decision to exploit some of the last untouched parts of our planet?

Presenter: Victoria Gill
Producer: Gerry Holt
Editor: Ilan Goodman

Superbugs: Resistance Rising Part 3

6 april 2026 · 29 min

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The rapid spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria is already claiming lives - and a far greater global crisis is on the horizon. Lees meer

In this three part series for Discovery, reporter Roland Pease traces how we reached this point, uncovers the forces driving resistance ever faster, and meets the scientists racing to outpace evolving superbugs before our lifesaving medicines fail for good.

Episode 3 - Failed market. A successful new antibiotic must not only treat bacteria that resist existing therapies, it must be kept in reserve for only the hardest cases lest new kinds of resistance evolve, and yet it must pay back the developers' investment. No wonder several leading antibiotic companies have failed financially in the past 8 years. Is there a way to make antibiotic development pay?

Superbugs: Resistance rising, part 2

30 maart 2026 · 26 min

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The rapid spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria is already claiming lives and a far greater global crisis is on the horizon. Lees meer

In this three part series for Discovery, reporter Roland Pease traces how we reached this point, uncovers the forces driving resistance ever faster, and meets the scientists racing to outpace evolving superbugs before our lifesaving medicines fail for good.

Episode 2 - The chemists' challenge. With all the low-hanging fruit in the antibiotic search space gone, chemists are having to work harder and be cleverer to top up the antibiotic pipeline. The chances of finding even one successful compound in a working life are low, but can new approaches like AI or genetics make the difference?

Superbugs: Resistance rising, part 1

23 maart 2026 · 30 min

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The rapid spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria is already claiming lives and a far greater global crisis is on the horizon. In the first episode of a three-part series, reporter Roland Pease traces the rise of resistance since the discovery of penicillin, its consequences for patients, and how bacteria are getting widening the treatment gap. Lees meer

The Life Scientific: Jehane Ragai

16 maart 2026 · 26 min

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Ever heard of the unsuccessful Dutch painter who decided to humiliate his critics by forging Vermeers, which the artworld subsequently dubbed 'masterpieces'? Or the businessman who bought a Marc Chagall painting that he displayed with pride for years, before a television investigation revealed to his horror that it was a fake? Today we're exploring the scientific techniques used to reveal forged artworks - and bring down scammers still trying to make millions from fake masterpieces. Jehane Ragai is an Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at the American University in Cairo, with a passion for science matched by her love of arts and culture. Early in her career Jehane helped analyse the Great Sphinx of Giza and later became fascinated by the world of art forgery, leading to her acclaimed book, ‘The Scientist and the Forger’. Her life has not been without its difficulties, but - perhaps unsurprisingly, as the daughter of renowned Egyptian feminist Doria Shafik - she’s not one to shy away from a challenge. And as she tells Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Jehane feels priveleged to have been able to integrate her twin passions into a career; advice she now passes on to her students Lees meer

The Life Scientific: Tony Juniper

9 maart 2026 · 26 min

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Tony Juniper is an environmentalist who has worn many hats, over the course of his career. After developing a passion for birds in childhood, his first job saw him working to save endangered parrots - including a successful effort to bring back the Spix's macaw from the edge of extinction. Tony went on to hold leading campaigning roles with some of the world's best known environmental organisations, from Friends of The Earth to the World Wildlife Fund. He also acted as an advisor to King Charles's International Sustainability Unit and co-authored three books with the monarch. Today, Tony has swapped lobbying and campaigning for advising the government, as head of the advisory body Natural England: not without its challenges, but he says they are still outweighed by the positives. Talking to Professor Jim Al-Khalili about his enduring love for nature and hopes for the future, Tony explains his optimism that we can and will recognise the urgent need to protect and restore our planet; and why ultimately, that means saving ourselves. Lees meer

The Life Scientific: Pierre Friedlingstein

2 maart 2026 · 26 min

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The COP30 climate summit is taking place in the Brazilian city of Belém, a gateway to the Amazon rainforest, which continues to face widespread deforestation. We all know that our climate is changing and that we are largely responsible for this, but we can’t tackle the problem unless we understand what’s going on. Lees meer

One scientist who’s done more than most to rectify this is Professor Pierre Friedlingstein. He’s a prominent climate scientist and Chair in Mathematical Modelling of the Climate System at Exeter University. His models have transformed our understanding of climate change, revealing a complex dynamical system with carbon at its centre, cycling between the atmosphere, oceans and land, to directly influence the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Pierre is actively involved in assessing the state of our climate through the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and, as director of the Global Carbon Budget, estimates the remaining amount of carbon dioxide that can be emitted before we breach our global climate targets. It’s the ultimate test of effective climate action and the latest annual update will be released at COP.

Pierre explains how we can all play our part to reduce carbon emissions, and he practises what he preaches - he won’t be flying to COP this year so as to minimise his own carbon footprint.

The Life Scientific: Julia Simner

23 februari 2026 · 26 min

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Imagine if you were listening to an opera or a Taylor Swift concert, and as the lights in the auditorium dimmed, the music was accompanied by a rainbow of colours only you could see. Perhaps while listening to your friends talking, you simultaneously experience a smorgasbord of tastes, with different words evoking different flavours, maybe a delicious ice cream, or something as disgusting as ear wax...
This merging of the senses is known as synaesthesia, and it’s the rich research world of neuropsychologist Professor Julia Simner. Julia runs the Multisense lab at the University of Sussex and has pioneered research into understanding how special brains process our sensory world in special ways. In the studio she tests Jim to see if he might be a synaesthete or have aphantasia, which is the inability to view images in the mind’s eye. The results are surprising.
Julia’s discovered links to autism, and to different personality types, as well as a number of previously unknown sensory differences.
She describes her career and her life as a series of swerves, or sliding door moments, that have led her to study the subject and the people she’s passionate about. She says that the more she looks for these unusual traits in us the more she finds. Lees meer

The Life Scientific: Caroline Smith

16 februari 2026 · 26 min

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Caroline Smith is passionate about space rocks, whether they’re samples collected from the surface of asteroids and the Moon and hopefully Mars one day soon, or meteorites, those alien rock fragments that have survived their fiery descents through our atmosphere to land here on Earth. She is Head of Collections and Principal Curator of Meteorites at the Natural History Museum, home to one of the finest meteorite collections in the world. Her interest in rocks began while wandering the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, as a child, picking up the ones that caught her eye and bashing them with a hammer, hoping to find treasure inside, whether it’s gold, diamonds or dinosaur fossils. Her work today, studying rocks that have landed here on Earth or those still out there in space, is no less ambitious. She analyses their chemical composition looking for tantalising clues that might reveal how our Solar System formed, and potentially the presence of the chemical building blocks necessary for life itself. Lees meer

The Life Scientific: AP De Silva

9 februari 2026 · 26 min

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From humble beginnings in his native Sri Lanka, to a more than 40 year academic career at Queen’s University Belfast, Prof. AP (Amilra Prasanna) De Silva’s research into molecular photosensors has led to a pioneering career in that’s evolved from chemistry to medical diagnostics on one hand, to information processing on the other. Prof. De Silva challenged cultural expectations and overcame the lack of opportunities in chemistry that were available in Sri Lanka in the early 1970s. He first moved to Belfast to pursue research in photochemistry at Queen’s University. Inspired by his grandmother’s struggle with high blood pressure he engineered a unique sodium photosensor by marrying fluorescent molecules with chemical receptors. As a result of his international collaborations, a commercial, portable sensor was developed to detect salts and minerals in the blood. Its speed of analysis has since saved countless lives and improved healthcare around the world. AP talks to Jim Al-Khalili about his passion for engineering molecules and how his photochemical innovations have since crossed into computer science. They’ve been developed to perform molecular computations far inside the human body - where silicon microchips fear to tread. A new deeper understanding of life inside our tissues and cells beckons. Lees meer

The Life Scientific: Eleanor Schofield

2 februari 2026 · 26 min

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In July 1545, King Henry VIII watched from Southsea Castle on England's south coast as his fleet sailed out to face the French - only to witness his prized warship, the Mary Rose, sink before his eyes. Raised from the Solent in 1982, the ship is now the centrepiece of the Mary Rose Museum, along with thousands more artefacts that were recovered from the seabed. But keeping the 500-year-old ship and its associated Tudor relics in good condition is no small task, which is where Dr Eleanor Schofield comes in. As Director of Collections at the Mary Rose Trust and a materials engineer by training, Eleanor has spent years tackling the unique scientific challenges of conserving centuries-old wood and metal. From the United States to Portsmouth, Eleanor's research is helping ensure this iconic vessel remains 'ship-shape' for generations to come. In a special edition of The Life Scientific, recorded in front of an audience at the museum in Portsmouth's Historic Dockyards, Professor Jim Al-Khalili discovers how cutting-edge science is keeping history afloat. Lees meer

The Life Scientific: Peter Knight

26 januari 2026 · 26 min

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There are problems and tasks so hard and complicated that it would take today’s most powerful supercomputers millions of years to crack them. But in the next decade, we may well have quantum computers which could solve such problems in seconds. Lees meer

Professor Sir Peter Knight is a British pioneer in the realms of quantum optics and quantum information science. During his three decades as a researcher at Imperial College London, he has advanced our understanding of the physics which underpins how quantum computers work.

Quantum optics was a new field of physics at the start of Peter Knight’s career in the early 1970s and he tells Jim Al-Khalili about the excitement and opportunities for a young scientist at the birth of a new scientific discipline. He also talks about the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme. Since his retirement in 2010, Peter Knight has been the driving force behind this £1 billion government-funded endeavour which has positioned the UK as a world leader in the development and commercialisation of quantum computing and other revolutionary quantum inventions.

Frontiers of Earth Science

19 januari 2026 · 26 min

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The very latest developments in the world of Earth science with Roland Pease, recorded at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting in New Orleans, where thousands of Earth, atmospheric, glacial, ocean and hydrologic scientists come together to promote discovery in Earth science for the benefit of humanity. Lees meer

Twenty years on, we discuss the enduring lessons from the Hurricane Katrina disaster of 2005, hearing from Lieutenant General Russel Honoré who led the military relief effort, and Roland speaks to Jill Trepanier, hurricane climatologist from Louisiana State University.

We also hear about the mouth of the Mississippi River, known as the Bird's Foot Delta, south of New Orleans. Carol Wilson, assistant professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at Louisiana State University, tells us how important these wetlands are as storm protections, yet they’re under threat from sea level rise and lack of sediment.

Roland takes a look at fifty-thousand-year-old Antarctic ice whilst speaking to Ed Brook, Professor at Oregon State University and director of COLDEX (Center for Oldest Ice Exploration), whose team is searching for ice which is potentially ten million years old. And he speaks to Allison Chartrand, assistant research scientist at the University of Maryland and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, who has been working to reveal the hidden landscapes of Greenland under the ice.

And Bob Hazen, scientist at the Carnegie Science Earth & Planets Laboratory, takes us back to the origins of life on Earth. He is investigating rocks which could be over four billion years old and may contain molecular fragments of ancient life.

Presenter: Roland Pease
Producer: Jonathan Blackwell

Frontiers of Space Science

12 januari 2026 · 26 min

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The very latest developments in the world of space science with Roland Pease, recorded at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting in New Orleans, where thousands of space and planetary scientists come together to promote discovery in space science for the benefit of humanity. Lees meer

Roland talks to Andy Rivkin, planetary astronomer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, about planetary defence from asteroids, including the small potential for asteroid 2024 YR4 to hit the moon in 2032.

We hear from Craig DeForest, principle investigator for the PUNCH mission (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere), which is a constellation of four small satellites that aim to learn how the Sun's corona becomes the solar wind. And Lara Waldrop, principle investigator of the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, discusses the Earth's exosphere which plays an important role in Earth’s response to space weather caused by the Sun.

We also talk lunar earthquakes, or moonquakes, and plans to put seismometers on the moon to measure them with Philippe Lognonné, professor at Université Paris Cité and planetary seismologist at Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, and Ceri Nunn, lunar seismologist from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Presenter: Roland Pease
Producer: Jonathan Blackwell

What is Quantum?

5 januari 2026 · 26 min

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Quantum theory – our best understanding of the world at the smallest level – is famously weird and notoriously confusing. It’s a theory that seems to say particles can be in two places at once, or somehow “know” if you’re looking at them. Or at least, that’s what you might have heard. But is that really what quantum theory tells us about reality? Lees meer

To find out, presenter Marnie Chesterton travels to the birthplace of quantum theory: the remote, windswept island of Helgoland. Here, a century ago, a young scientist called Werner Heisenberg made a leap of understanding that laid the foundations of quantum mechanics, and changed the world.

To mark a century of quantum, leading physicists from across the globe have gathered on Helgoland for a conference, and Marnie joins them with an unconventional plan. She’s allowed to ask them JUST ONE QUESTION, in the hope it can get to the heart of what this strange and difficult subject is really about: “What IS quantum?”

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producer: Anand Jagatia
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jazz George

The Life Scientific: George Church

29 december 2025 · 26 min

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"My ideas are often labelled as impossible, or useless, or both. Usually when people say that I'm on the right track." George Church is a geneticist, molecular engineer, and one of the pioneers of modern genomics. He's also someone who makes a habit of finding solutions to the seemingly impossible. Over the course of his career so far, George developed the first method for direct genomic sequencing, helped initiate the Human Genome Project, and founded the Personal Genome Project: making huge quantities of DNA data publicly available for research. Today, as a professor at Harvard Medical School and MIT, he’s working on some of the most headline-grabbing - and controversial - science on the planet: from the so-called "de-extinction" of woolly mammoths, to growing transplant-suitable organs in pigs, to virus-proofing humans. When inspiration strikes, there seems to be little that will slow him down - even the fact that he has narcolepsy, the neurological disorder that causes sudden sleep attacks. In fact, as George tells Professor Jim Al-Khalili, some of his best ideas come in those moments between waking and sleep... Lees meer

The Life Scientific: Gareth Collett

22 december 2025 · 26 min

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Movies might have us believe that bomb disposal comes down to cutting the right wire. In fact, explosive devices are complex and varied - and learning how to dispose of them safely involves intense training, as well as the ability to stay calm under pressure. This was the world of Dr Gareth Collett, a retired British Army Brigadier General and engineer, specialising in bomb disposal; whose 32-year military career took him around the world, including heading up major ordnance clearance projects in Iraq and Afghanistan. After retiring from the army, Gareth became a university lecturer – but following his diagnosis with bladder cancer, started researching a possible link between bomb disposal veterans and higher rates of urological cancers. In conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Gareth discusses this ongoing research, dealing with PTSD - and why he just can't watch Oscar-winning movie The Hurt Locker... Lees meer

The Life Scientific: Sonia Gandhi

15 december 2025 · 26 min

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Many people will be familiar with Parkinson’s disease: the progressive brain disorder that causes symptoms including tremors and slower movement, leading on to serious cognitive problems. You might not know that it’s the fastest-growing neurological condition in the world. Today it affects around 11.8 million people and that’s forecast to double by 2030. Dr Sonia Gandhi is one of the scientists working to change that trend. As Professor of Neurology at University College London and Assistant Research Director at the Francis Crick Institute, her work involves using stem cells to build models of the human brain, helping to drive the development of drugs and other therapies for Parkinson’s patients. Talking to Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Sonia explains why this destructive condition is on the rise - and the promising routes they're studying to find new ways to tackle it. Lees meer

The Life Scientific: Mark O'Shea

8 december 2025 · 26 min

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How do you feel about snakes? What about highly venomous ones? Lees meer

For Mark O’Shea, close encounters with the world’s most rare and deadly snakes are not only his profession, but his passion.
Mark is a Professor of Herpetology - the area of zoology focusing on reptiles and amphibians - at the University of Wolverhampton.

After dropping out of college in his teens, Mark's life could have taken a very different direction; but prompted by a fascination with reptiles that started with a childhood trip to the zoo, he's gone on to have a career spanning research, international expeditions and broadcasting. He's also worked with international medical teams, studying deadly species and helping to generate antidotes for some of the world’s deadliest venoms.

In conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Mark reveals the challenges around generating antivenom for countries that need it, the pros and cons of keeping snakes as pets, and what you need to know if you ever get bitten...

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Lucy Taylor

Waking up with a different voice

1 december 2025 · 26 min

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What’s it like to wake up with a brand new voice? For those with foreign accent syndrome, this is their reality. Patients who develop this rare speech disorder start speaking in a brand new accent that they often have no connection to. Lees meer

So how does losing the voice you’ve known your entire life shape, or break, your identity?

Presenter Ella Hubber speaks to Althia Bryden, who developed foreign accent syndrome last year, and Sarah Colwill, who has lived with the condition for the past 15 years. They share the deep impact it has had on their identity and connection to those around them.

And to understand what is happening in the brain to cause this complete change in accent, and whether it’s really even an accent at all, Ella speaks to professor Nicholas Miller, who has been unpicking the mystery of foreign accent syndrome for decades. Also, professor Stefanie Keulen shares that there are actually multiple types of the condition.

Even though foreign accent syndrome is rare, it is found around the world, can affect anyone, and highlights just how deeply our voices influence all aspects of our lives.

Presenter: Ella Hubber
Producers: Sophie Ormiston, Ella Hubber
Assistant Producer: Minnie Harrop
Editor: Martin Smith

The animal employment agency

24 november 2025 · 26 min

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We live in a time of automation and robotics; the machines run the factories, and AI will soon take all the jobs. Yet, even today, there are certain niche jobs where only an animal will do. Comedian and biologist Simon Watt meets some of them and the people who train them, study them, and love them. Lees meer

He starts with a business of ferrets (yes, that is their collective noun) at the National Ferret School in Derbyshire, who have swapped rabbit holes and trouser legs for drain-clearing, rewiring, and laying fibre optic cables. Ferret Trainer James McKay demonstrates why they are perfect for the job, as he casually folds one trainee into a tight pretzel.

Simon visits the HQ of Medical Detection Dogs, a training facility in Milton Keynes where dogs are being trained to sniff the tell-tale signs of a host of diseases. You may have heard of their 'cancer dogs', but it goes much further - epilepsy, malaria, Parkinson's, even Covid-19. Dr Claire Guest explains.

Although we have no real idea exactly how dogs do what they do, AI may be on the cusp of solving this puzzle for us. Simon speaks to Dr Andreas Mershin from start-up Realnose, which is developing “electronic noses".

Finally, Simon meets some real heroes - HeroRats, to be precise. Not the same species that haunts our sewers, these are African Giant Pouched Rats, and their job as landmine detection specialists is saving lives across Thailand, Mozambique, Cambodia and Zimbabwe. Dr Cynthia Fast from UCLA trains them for the job.

Presenter: Simon Watt
Producer: Emily Knight

Bodies

17 november 2025 · 26 min

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The London Anatomy Office accepts around 350 human bodies donated for medical research and education annually. You may imagine that these bodies are presevered in chemicals for medical students to study over weeks and months. And some are. But many are used - almost fresh - to train surgeons in the procedures which may one day save your life. Lees meer

Journalist Jenny Kleeman gains rare access to a surgical training course at Brighton and Sussex Medical School which uses these "fresh" donor bodies. She talks to the people who work with them every day and the surgeons who have come to be trained to find out how they feel about the people who have given the ultimate gift and if we still need real human cadavers in medical education.

Presenter: Jenny Kleeman
Producer: Ella Hubber

The Life Scientific: Kevin Fong

10 november 2025 · 26 min

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There can't be many people in the world who've saved lives in hospital emergency rooms and also helped care for the wellbeing of astronauts in space – but Kevin Fong’s career has followed a singular path: from astrophysics and trauma medicine, to working with NASA, to becoming an Air Ambulance doctor. Lees meer

Kevin is a consultant anaesthetist and professor of public engagement and innovation at University College London. He’s worked on the front line in hospitals, dealing with major incidents and helping shape policy; but he's also stayed true to his childhood passion for space, working on multiple projects with NASA and even going through the astronaut application process himself. As if that wasn’t enough, he’s also become a well-known figure in science broadcasting through his various radio and TV shows.

Speaking to Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Kevin admits it hasn't always been an easy path – but his passion for both space and medicine have got him through. And today, he's channelling his energies into ensuring we protect the NHS's most precious commodity: its staff.

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Lucy Taylor
Revised for World Service by Minnie Harrop

The Life Scientific: Dame Pratibha Gai

3 november 2025 · 26 min

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Chemical reactions are the backbone of modern society: the energy we use, the medicines we take, our housing materials, even the foods we eat, are created by reacting different substances together. If we zoom in, it’s the atoms within these substances that rearrange themselves to give rise to new substances with the properties we need. Lees meer

However, chemical reactions are far from perfect. They're often inefficient and their waste products can be harmful to the environment. Getting to grips with what goes on at the scale of individual atoms has long been a sticking point.

Dame Pratibha Gai has spent much of her career pioneering novel microscopes to bring this seemingly inaccessible atomic world into sharp focus. Now Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at York University, her microscope, known as the environmental transmission electron microscope, is housed in labs around the world. It allows scientists, like herself, to observe chemical reactions in real-time, in exquisite atomic detail, and tinker with them to create products that are not only better for all of us, but also the environment.

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Beth Eastwood
Revised for World Service by Minnie Harrop

The Life Scientific: Catherine Heymans

27 oktober 2025 · 26 min

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Have you ever considered the lighter side of dark matter?
Comedy has proved an unexpectedly succesful way to engage people with science - as today's guest knows first-hand. Lees meer

Astrophysicist Catherine Heymans is a Professor at the University of Edinburgh and the current Astronomer Royal for Scotland. She’s spent her career studying dark matter and dark energy: the mysterious ingredients that make up an estimated 95% of our cosmos, but which we still know surprisingly little about. Using increasingly powerful telescopes, both on earth and in space, Catherine has spent years building detailed maps of dark matter - even to the extent of capturing rare images of this mysterious cosmic component.

On top of her research achievements, she's committed to making science accessible to all; not least by taking an astronomy-themed comedy show to the Edinburgh Festival and beyond.

In conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Catherine talks about her passion for sharing the joys of astrophysics - and reveals how health challenges over the last few years have forced her to readdress her career, her ambitions and even her sense of self...

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Lucy Taylor
Revised for World Service by Minnie Harrop

The Life Scientific: Tim Coulson

20 oktober 2025 · 26 min

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As a young man, traveling in Africa, Tim Coulson - now Professor of Zoology at the University of Oxford - became seriously ill with malaria and was told a second bout would probably kill him. Aged only 20, this brush with his own mortality led him to promise himself he would write a complete guide to science: life, the universe and everything. His aim was to understand the existence of all living things - no mean feat! Lees meer

Over the course of a colourful career, Tim's work has taken him all over the world: including researching wolves in Yellowstone National Park, little fish called guppies in the rivers of Trinidad and silvereye birds on Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef. Using complicated mathematical models he builds up a picture of ecosystems seeking to explain how predators impact both evolution and ecosystems. And finally, more than thirty years after he vowed to write the book that would explain everything we know about science, he's done just that.

In conversation with Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Tim talks about his journey from youthful ambition to science demystifier.

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced by Geraldine Fitzgerald
Revised for World Service by Minnie Harrop

The Life Scientific: Brian Schmidt

13 oktober 2025 · 26 min

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Have you ever pondered the fact that the universe is expanding? And not only that, it's expanding at an increasing speed - meaning everything around us is getting further and further away? Lees meer

If that isolating thought makes you feel slightly panicked, don't worry: this programme also contains wine!

Brian Schmidt is a Distinguished Professor of Astrophysics at the Australian National University, known for his work on supernovae: massive explosions that take place when stars come to the ends of their lives. They are among the most energetic events in the universe and incredibly difficult to find; but that’s what his High-Z Supernova Search Team did, identifying enough of these rare and distant explosions to measure just how fast they were moving away from us.

This led them to the realisation that, contrary to long-held belief in cosmology, the expansion of the universe was speeding up; a discovery which earned Brian a share of the 2011 Nobel Prize for Physics. As if that wasn't enough, he's gone on to discover one of the earliest stars in the universe; run a university; and become a winemaker, at his very own vineyard just outside Canberra.

In a conversation spanning the genius phraseology of writer Douglas Adams, the importance of pisco sours, and the similarities between astronomy and viticulture, Brian tells Professor Jim Al-Khalili how his supernovae breakthrough paved the way for a revolution in astronomy - and where the field needs to go next...

Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
Produced for BBC Studios by Lucy Taylor
Revised for World Service by Minnie Harrop

The Life Scientific: Jane Goodall

6 oktober 2025 · 26 min

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The celebrated primatologist Jane Goodall died last week at the age of 91. In tribute, we’re re-sharing this interview from 2020, where she reflects on the years she spent living with the wild chimpanzees in Gombe in eastern Tanzania and why she believes the best way to bring about change is to ‘creep into people’s hearts’. Lees meer

Jane shot to fame when she appeared on the cover of National Geographic magazine in 1963 and appeared in a documentary film directed by Orson Welles. Her ground breaking observations introduced us to the social and emotional lives of wild chimpanzees and changed our view of what it is to be human. Images of her younger self play-wrestling with baby chimps make Jane feel slightly apprehensive now but at the time she didn’t give it a second thought. However, she did take care to protect her young son. Seeing distressing footage of chimps who were living in captivity, she gave up fieldwork to become an activist, working to liberate chimpanzees that were being used for medical research or sold for meat or as pets, and setting up chimp sanctuaries for animals that were no longer able to live in the wild. For the last thirty years, she has campaigned gently but relentlessly to protect wild animals and wild places, touring the world and performing on stage in front of huge audiences. Her global youth programme, Roots and Shoots has inspired and empowered millions of people to understand and respect nature, leading some to call her ‘the mother Theresa of the environment’. A label she dislikes.

Producer: Anna Buckley