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Why am I good at jigsaw puzzles?

7 december 2024 · 32 min
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For their fans, jigsaw puzzles are a satisfying challenge, a focus, a chance to put everything else aside for a moment and be creative. But for other people they’re a frustrating jumble of random shapes and colours, a pointless task which is best left in the box. Lees meer

CrowdScience listener Heather is definitely a fan. She loves doing jigsaw puzzles and she wants to know why some people are so good at them. What skills do you need to find a pattern amongst all those shapes and colours? How do our brains, eyes and hands assemble the fragments into the finished article? And why do we enjoy doing them anyway?

Presenter Alex Lathbridge puts together the pieces to answer Heather’s question. He sits down to work on a jigsaw with Sarah Mills, the ten-times UK jigsaw puzzling champion (yes... competitive jigsaw puzzling really is a thing!) As he watches Sarah complete the puzzle at lightning speed he gets a few of her top tips.

So what’s going on in our brains when we’re doing a jigsaw puzzle? How do we recognise and process colour and shape? Prof Mark Mattson from Johns Hopkins University in the USA has the answer. And it’s all to do with a little seahorse-shaped part of the brain called the hippocampus.

Alex also explores the effect of jigsaws on our brains with neuropsychologist Dr Patrick Fissler. He’s carried out research to investigate the benefits of jigsaw puzzles on our brains as we grow older.

Both listener Heather and ten-times-champion Sarah seem to be better at jigsaws than Alex is. So, based on that sample size of three, women are superior puzzlers compared to men! But has anybody actually cast the net wider to see if that’s really the case? Alex talks to Daniela Aguilar from the University of Lethbridge in Canada about her study to investigate exactly that – and she reveals the results.

Heather’s also wondering if any other species enjoy puzzles. And it seems they do! Alex meets Dr Cody McCoy from the University of Chicago to find out about the optimistic, t…
Can I improve my sense of direction?

29 november 2024 · 30 min
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Do you find your bearings quickly or are you easily disorientated? Do your friends trust you with the directions in a new city? Lees meer

Finding our way in the physical world, whether that is around a building or a city, is an important everyday capability, one that has been integral to human survival. This week CrowdScience listener David wants to know whether some people are ‘naturally’ better at navigating, so presenter Marnie Chesterton sets her compass and journeys into the human brain.

Accompanied by psychologists and neuroscientists Marnie learns how humans perceive their environment, recall routes and orientate themselves in unfamiliar spaces. We ask are some navigational strategies better than others?

Professor Hugo Spiers from UCL shares his latest lab for researching navigation and tells us that the country you live in might be a good predictor of your navigation skills.

But is our navigational ability down to biology or experience, and can we improve it?

With much of our modern map use being delegated to smartphones, Marnie explores, with Prof Veronique Bohbot what an over-reliance on GPS technology might do to our brain health.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producer: Melanie Brown

(Photo: Man standing on rural road holding up a road map, head obscured by map. Credit: Noel Hendrickson/Getty Images)
Why can't my dog live as long as me?

22 november 2024 · 29 min
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As we enter our teenage years, many of us feel like life is just getting started. But for dogs, celebrating a ‘teen’ birthday is a sign of old age, entering a phase when things start slowing down. Listener Susan was besotted with her beloved corgi Copper John and wants to know why our furry companions rarely live as long as us. Lees meer

We investigate what accounts for the huge differences in lifespans across animal species. From fish that live a few weeks, to sharks who can survive for 500 years, what are the factors that affect the ticking on our biological clocks? Central to this field is the idea of ‘live fast, die young’, with some animals burning more quickly through their ‘life fuel’. But is this rate set in stone?

Presenter Anand Jagatia find out how animals’ growth, reproduction and anti-ageing methods contribute to the length of their survival. Dr Kevin Healy, a macroecologist at the University of Galway, discusses some of these theories, explaining how the dangers and luxuries faced by animals during their evolution shape their speed of life.

One example of extreme slow living is the Greenland Shark. John Fleng Steffensen, Professor of Marine Biology at the University of Copenhagen, describes how he helped figure out how old they really are, and how their cold living quarters increase their lifespan. Alessandro Cellerino, physiologist at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, finds the key to the sharks’ longevity in their DNA.

Anand also goes on a hunt on the west coast of Ireland for a creature that lives fast but surprisingly, dies old. Noel Fahy, research student at the University of Galway, is his guide, while Dr Nicole Foley, Associate Research Scientist at Texas A&M University, reveals the life-extending secrets of this creature.

And geneticist Trey Ideker, Professor at the University of California San Diego, busts the myth that one dog year is seven human years. But how much is this misconception off by?

Presenter: Anand Jagatia
Producer: Julia Ravey…
What does my voice say about me?

15 november 2024 · 32 min
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Maybe you have a deep, booming voice. Or perhaps it’s light and mellifluous. Some people’s voices are honey-smooth while others are as rough as gravel. But why does your voice sound the way it does? Lees meer

CrowdScience listener Hannah in Berlin is training as a teacher and will be using her voice a lot in the classroom in future. She wants to understand more about it: how can she improve the quality of her voice and protect it? And what factors - physical, genetic and environmental - determine the sound of your voice in the first place?

Together with presenter Marnie Chesterton, Hannah pays a visit to speech tutor Prof Viola Schmidt at the Ernst Busch University for the Performing Arts in Berlin. Viola and actor Aurelius give us a masterclass in just what your voice can do, as they throw words and sounds to each other across the rehearsal room at a dizzying pace. And Viola gives Hannah a few top tips on using her voice clearly and authentically in the classroom.

Hannah’s isn’t the only voice-related question in this episode. Peter from the Kingdom of Eswatini thinks people there speak more loudly than in other countries, and wonders why. To answer Peter’s question we turn to Prof Caleb Everett from the University of Miami. The jury’s out on whether people in some countries really do turn up the volume, but Caleb shares evidence of a link between the climate of a particular region and the sound of its native language.

And finally, listener Jonathan has an unusual question for Marnie. When listening to CrowdScience, he can’t tell whether he’s hearing Marnie or fellow presenter Caroline Steel. This got him wondering whether it’s common for two people to sound very similar. Marnie gives Caroline a call, and together they set out to discover if your voice really is unique to you. Caroline tracks down a forensic speech scientist - Dr Jess Wormald from the University of York in the UK – while Marnie speaks to Dr Melanie Weirich from the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena …
Why is my house getting sunnier?

8 november 2024 · 30 min
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CrowdScience listeners David and Tatiana have long been captivated by an unusual dinner table discussion: the peculiar change they’ve noticed over the past 16 years in the sunlight streaming through their bedroom window in Ostend, Belgium. They’re convinced that the room has not only become sunnier but that the actual angle of sunlight has shifted. Lees meer

Intrigued by their observations, we head to Ostend. Our mission: to investigate three of their theories, enlisting expert help along the way.

Theory 1 – A celestial anomaly?
René Oudmaijer at the Royal Observatory of Belgium considers whether our shifting position in the solar system might explain the change.

Theory 2 – Movement in the Earth’s crust?
Alejandra Tovar from the Geological Survey of Belgium examines tectonic data to see if the Earth’s crust is moving enough to alter the angle of sunlight.

Theory 3 – Subsidence?
Structural engineer Kath Hannigan helps us inspect the building for signs that it may be sinking or twisting.

And we explore one final theory of our own, enlisting memory expert Julia Shaw to examine whether it could all be a trick of the mind.
Will the team crack the case?

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Harrison Lewis
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Studio Manager: Sarah Hockley

(Photo: CrowdScience listeners David and Tatiana standing in front of a window in their house)
Why do some mushrooms glow?

1 november 2024 · 29 min
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Fungi are a mysterious and understudied life form. And to add to the intrigue, some of them actually glow in the dark. This phenomenon has sparked CrowdScience listener Derek's curiosity, and he's asked us to investigate. Lees meer

Presenter Caroline Steel gets on the case. This is just one example of the natural wonder that is bioluminescence – living organisms that glow. How do they produce their light, and is there any reason for it? Caroline visits a bioluminescent bay in Puerto Rico, and Dr Brenda Soler-Figueroa explains what makes it sparkle.

But it turns out there are many different explanations for why living things glow. Fungi, which listener Derek is particularly interested in, are neither plants nor animals, but an entirely different kingdom of life that we know much less about. Professor Katie Field takes on the task of trying to grow us some bioluminescent mushrooms, while Prof Cassius Stevani explains how – and importantly, why – they glow.

And finally – could we ever harness the power of bioluminescence to our advantage in the future?

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Hannah Fisher
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Studio Manager: Neva Missirian

(Photo: Omphalotus nidiformis, or ghost fungus, Penrose, NSW, Australia Credit: Louise Docker Sydney Australia via Getty Images)
Why do languages fade from us?

25 oktober 2024 · 27 min
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Can learning new languages make us forget our mother tongue? CrowdScience listener Nakombe in Cameroon is concerned that his first language, Balue, is slipping from his grasp. He has learned multiple languages through his life, but Balue is the language of his family and home. It’s central to his identity and sense of belonging. So why does it seem to be fading from him, and what can he do to get it back? Lees meer

We search for answers, investigating what happens in our brains when we struggle to recall languages, as well as the social and economic factors that lead to language loss. Presenter Anand Jagatia asks Michael Anderson from the University of Cambridge, an expert on memory and forgetting, whether forgotten languages disappear from our brain, or just become difficult to access. Linguist Monika Schmid from the University of York takes us through the phenomenon of first language attrition, and has words of reassurance and advice for Nakombe and others in his situation.

And we meet Larry Kimura from the University of Hawai’i at Hilo, a pioneer of Hawaiian language revitalization, and Gabriela Pérez Báez, an expert in indigenous languages and language revitalization at the University of Oregon. They explain why languages around the world become threatened, and how to keep them alive.

Presenter: Anand Jagatia
Producer: Margaret Sessa Hawkins
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Studio Managers: Sarah Hockley and Omera Ahamed

(Photo: Diccionario, Argentina Credit: PonyWang via Getty Images)
Why do my armpits smell?

18 oktober 2024 · 26 min
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While there is a myriad of deodorants, shower gels and perfumes helping us stay fresh and fragrant today, that hasn’t always been the case. How did humans stay clean in the past, or did they not care so much? And is there an evolutionary reason for human body odour in the first place? Lees meer

These are questions that CrowdScience listener Sarah has pondered on trips in her camper van, when she wants to keep clean, but washing isn’t always convenient.

In search of answers, presenter Anand Jagatia delves into the sweaty details: where body odour comes from, why some people's armpits don't smell, and whether this heady stink serves any purpose. Could our natural odour really help to attract a partner, or is it just a smelly bacterial by-product?

Anand explores the intriguing mystery of human pheromones, and hears how for hundreds of years, Europeans were terrified of washing.

Contributors:
Dr Madalyn Nguyen, Dermatologist
Dr Kara Hoover, Biological Anthropologist, University of Alaska Fairbanks
Katherine Ashenburg, author, The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History
Dr Tristram Wyatt, Department of Biology, University of Oxford

Presenter: Anand Jagatia
Producer: Sophie Eastaugh
Production co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Sound engineer: Emma Harth

(Photo: Girl sweating smelly armpit, Taiwan Credit: PonyWang via Getty Images)
What's the fairest voting system?

11 oktober 2024 · 32 min
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2024 is the biggest election year in history. From Taiwan to India, the USA to Ghana, by the end of the year almost half of the world’s population will have had the chance to choose who governs them. Lees meer

But there are a huge number of possible voting systems – and listener James wants CrowdScience to find out which is the fairest.

To do so, we create a fictional country called CrowdLand to try out different electoral systems. Presenter Caroline Steel consults mathematician David McCune and political scientists Eric Linhart and Simon Hix, and we hear from listeners around the world about how they vote in their respective countries. Can we find the perfect voting system for CrowdLand?

Contributors:
Prof David McCune, William Jewell College, USA
Prof Eric Linhart, University of Technology Chemnitz, Germany
Prof Simon Hix, European University Institute, Italy

Actors:
Charlotte Bloomsbury
Ross Virgo

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Florian Bohr
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Studio Manager: Donald MacDonald

(Image: Hand of a person casting a vote into the ballot box during elections, Thailand Credit: boonchai wedmakawand via Getty Images)
Why don’t sunflowers fall over?

9 oktober 2024 · 26 min
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With huge heads on top of spindly stalks, how do sunflowers defy gravity to stay standing? That was a question sent to CrowdScience by listener Frank, whose curiosity was piqued by the towering sunflowers on his neighbour’s deck. They stay up not only when the weather is fine, but, even more impressively, during strong winds. Could this feat of strength, flexibility and balance inspire the construction of tall buildings? Lees meer

It's a question that takes presenter Anand Jagatia to a sunflower festival in England, to see how the sunflower’s long evolutionary lineage has honed its structure. And from tall flowers to tall buildings, we turn to structural engineers, asking how these concepts factor into the design of the world’s tallest skyscrapers. Can ideas drawn from sunflowers or other natural structures help buildings withstand wind, or even storm surges?

Contributors:
Stuart Beare, partner and grower at Tulley’s Farm
Roland Ennos, Visiting Professor in Biological Studies, University of Hull
Sigrid Adriaenssen, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University
Koichi Takada, founder of Koichi Takada Architects

Presenter: Anand Jagatia
Producer: Tom Bonnett
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Studio Manager: Bob Nettles

(Image: Tall Sunflower blooming in a field, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Credit: Naomi Rahim via Getty Images)
How did the Moon affect the dinosaurs?

27 september 2024 · 31 min
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The Moon and Earth are drifting gradually further apart. Every year the gap between them increases by a few centimetres. We know that the Moon’s gravity has an important effect on Earth - from controlling the tides to affecting the planet’s rotation - but slowly, imperceptibly, over billions of years, that influence will diminish as the Moon moves away. Lees meer

For CrowdScience listener Tony in the UK that idea poses another question. What if we were to look back in time? What effects did the Moon have when it was closer to Earth? Would it counteract the planet’s gravity more so that, at the time of the dinosaurs, a Brontosaurus would weigh a little less that it would if it existed now?

It’s an intriguing question. And, given that it involves both the Moon AND dinosaurs, it’s one that’s got presenter Anand Jagatia really excited!

Anand begins his journey on Brighton beach on the South coast of the UK. He’s there to watch the full Moon rise - and get a few insights on Tony’s question - from astronomer Darren Baskill and astrophotographer (and cellist) Ivana Perenic.

Anand talks to Darren about the influence of the Moon’s gravity on Earth today. As they stand on the beach, with the sea lapping at their feet, they can certainly see its effect on the ocean tides. But did you know that the Moon also causes tides on the land as well? Every time it’s overhead the ground you’re standing on is higher by a few centimetres.

Professor Neil Comins, author of the book What If the Moon Didn’t Exist, explains why the tides are the reason the Moon is moving away from Earth – and it has been ever since it was first formed.

And how was it formed anyhow? We turn back time with Prof. Sara Russell from the Natural History Museum in London to discover one of the most dramatic events in the early history of our solar system... when two worlds collided.

And, of course, it helps to know what a dinosaur weighed in the first place. Anand turns to paleontologist Nicolas Campione, who’s been puz…
Are we mature by 18?

20 september 2024 · 30 min
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18 is the age of majority, or maturity, in most countries around the world. Depending where you live, it might be when you can vote, buy alcohol, or get married. But what's so special about 18 that makes it the beginning of adulthood? Lees meer

CrowdScience listener Lynda didn't feel very mature back then. She recalls a difficult decision that made her wonder what science has to say about when we’re truly grown up. How developed are we, physically, mentally and emotionally, by the age of 18? And how much does this differ between people, or from culture to culture?

Presenter Caroline Steel digs around for answers with the aid of neuroscientist Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, biological anthropologist Barry Bogin, and cultural anthropologist Bonnie Hewlett. And even some teenagers.

Contributors:
Barry Bogin, Emeritus Professor of Biological Anthropology, Loughborough University
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore - Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge
Professor Bonnie Hewlett - Associate Professor, Cultural Anthropology, WSU Vancouver

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Richard Walker
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Co-Ordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Studio Manager: Neva Missirian
Is the car an apex predator?

13 september 2024 · 40 min
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An apex predator is a killer. Usually large and terrifying, they enjoy the privilege of life at the top of a food chain. Nothing will eat them, leaving them free to wreak carnage on more vulnerable creatures. Lees meer

In biology, it’s a term normally reserved for animals like polar bears, tigers and wolves. But CrowdScience listener Eoin wonders whether there’s a non-animal candidate for apex predator: the car. After all, worldwide, more than 1.5 million humans die on the roads each year, while pollution from traffic kills millions more. And that’s just the impact on us. What are cars doing to all the other species on this planet?

Host Anand Jagatia hits the road to investigate. En route, we’ll be picking up some scientists to help answer the question. It turns out to be so much more than a question of roadkill: cars, and the infrastructure built to support them, are destroying animals in ways science is only now revealing.

How did the wildlife cross the road? We go verge-side to test four different approaches. And we hear how cars manage to kill, not just on the roadside, but, in the case of some salmon species, from many miles away. Gathering as much evidence as possible, we pass judgement on whether the car truly is an apex predator.

Contributors:
Samantha Helle - Conservation Biologist and PhD student, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Paul Donald – Senior Scientist, BirdLife International and Honorary Research Fellow, University of Cambridge
Zhenyu Tian – Environmental Chemist and Assistant Professor, Northeastern University

Presenter: Anand Jagatia
Producer: Marnie Chesterton
Reporter: Camilla Mota
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Studio manager: Donald MacDonald and Giles Aspen
Production co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano

(Image: Illustration of a deer in front of a car - stock illustration Credit: JSCIEPRO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via Getty Images)
What is the voice inside my head?

6 september 2024 · 28 min
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Many of us experience an inner voice: we silently talk to ourselves as we go about our daily lives. CrowdScience listener Fredrick has been wondering about the science behind this interior dialogue. Lees meer

We hear from psychologists researching our inner voice and discover that it’s something that begins in early childhood. Presenter Caroline Steel meets Russell Hurlburt, a pioneering scientist who devised a method of researching this - and volunteers to monitor her own inner speech to figure out what’s going on in her mind.

She discovers that speech is just part of what’s going on in our heads, much of our inner world in fact doesn’t involve language at all but includes images, sensations and feelings.

Caroline talks to psychologist Charles Fernyhough, who explains one theory for how we develop an interior dialogue as young children: first speaking out loud to ourselves and then learning to keep that conversation going silently. No one really knows how this evolved, but keeping our thoughts quiet may have been a way of staying safe from predators and enemies.

Using MRI scanning, Charles and Russell have peered inside people’s brains to understand this interior voice and found something surprising: inner dialogue appears to have more in common with listening than with speaking.

Caroline also has an encounter with a robot that has been programmed to dialogue with itself. Which leads us to some deep questions: is our inner voice part of what makes us human, and if so, what are the consequences of robots developing this ability? Scientist Arianna Pipitone describes it as a step towards artificial consciousness.

Featuring:
Professor Charles Fernyhough, University of Durham, UK
Professor Russell Hurlburt, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA
Dr Arianna Pipitone, University of Palermo, Italy

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Jo Glanville
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Sound design: Julian Wharton
Studio manager: Donald MacDonald
Production co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano

(Image:…
Can my body regenerate?

30 augustus 2024 · 32 min
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It would be quite a superpower to regrow entire body parts. CrowdScience listener Kelly started pondering this after a discussion with her friend on whether human tongues could regrow. Finding out that they couldn't, she asked us to investigate the extent of human regenerative abilities. Lees meer

Presenter Alex Lathbridge travels to Vienna, a hotbed of research in this area. He meets an animal with much better powers of regeneration than humans - the axolotl. In Elly Tanaka’s lab he finds out how she studies their incredible abilities – and shows off his new axolotl tattoo.

Why can these sweet-looking salamanders regrow entire limbs while we can’t even regrow our tongues? Palaeontologist Nadia Fröbisch has looked into the evolutionary origins of regeneration, and it goes a lot further back than you might think.

And in fact, even humans are constantly regenerating, by renewing the building blocks of our bodies: cells. New cells grow and replace old ones all the time – although, in some parts of the body, we do keep hold of the same cells throughout our lives.

However, cell turnover isn’t the same as regrowing entire organs or limbs. But can we grow new body parts in the lab instead? We meet Sasha Mendjan, who creates heart organoids using our cells’ innate ability to self-organise. How far off are we from implanting organs, grown from a patient’s stem cells, back into the human body?

Contributors:
Dr Elly Tanaka, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA)
Prof Martin Hetzer, Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA)
Prof Nadia Fröbisch, Natural History Museum Berlin
Dr Sasha Mendjan, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA)

Presenter: Alex Lathbridge
Producer: Florian Bohr
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Studio Manager: Bob Nettles
Why am I symmetrical?

23 augustus 2024 · 32 min
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Why do we have two eyes? Two ears? Two arms and two legs? Why is one side of the human body – externally at least – pretty much a mirror image of the other side? Lees meer

CrowdScience listener Kevin from Trinidad and Tobago is intrigued. He wants to know why human beings – and indeed most animals - have a line of symmetry in their bodies. Yet, beyond their flowers and fruits, plants don’t seem to have any obvious symmetry. It seems that they can branch in any direction.

Anand Jagatia sets out to find out why the animal kingdom settled on bilateral symmetry as the ideal body plan. And it takes him into the deep oceans of 570 million years ago. Paleobiologist Dr. Frankie Dunn is his guide to a time when animal life was experimenting with all sorts of different body plans and symmetries.

Frankie shows Anand a fossil of the animals which changed everything. When creatures with bilateral symmetry emerged they began to re-engineer their environment, outcompeting everything else and dooming them to extinction.

Well... nearly everything else. One very successful group of animals which have an utterly different symmetry are the echinoderms. That includes animals with pentaradial - or five-fold - symmetry like starfish and sea urchins. And that body shape poses some intriguing questions... like “where’s a starfish’s head?” Dr. Imran Rahman introduces us to the extraordinary, weird world of echinoderms.

To answer the second part of Kevin’s question - why plants don’t seem to have symmetry – Anand turns to botanist Prof. Sophie Nadot. She tells him that there is symmetry in plants... you just have to know where to look! Beyond flowers and fruits, there’s also symmetry in a plants leaves and stem. The overall shape of a plant might start out symmetrical but environmental factors like wind, the direction of the sun and grazing by animals throws it off-kilter.

And, while the human body may be symmetrical on the outside, when you look inside, it’s a very different story. As listener …
Can we improve the shipping container?

16 augustus 2024 · 33 min
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It's a simple metal box that moves nearly all of our goods around the world. Designed for uniformity and interchangeability, the shipping container has reshaped global trade and our lives in the nearly 70 years since its creation. Lees meer

But listener Paul wants to know if these heavy steel containers could be made with lighter materials to cut down on the fuel needed to transport them, especially when they're empty. Could we make shipping containers a more efficient process and reduce the shipping industry’s sizable greenhouse gas emissions?

Host Anand Jagatia travels to Europe's largest port in Rotterdam looking for answers. Speaking to environmental scientists and industry insiders along the way, he takes a look at how the humble container might be modified to once again remake global shipping, from materials, to designs, to how it’s shipped. And thinking outside the box, we explore which innovations might benefit the whole system – from machine learning to new, carbon-free energy sources.

For an industry that’s not always quick to change, we speak with the changemakers trying to disrupt the way 90% of the stuff we buy moves, in hope of a greener future.

Featuring:
Maarten van Oosten - Port of Rotterdam Authority
Marc Levinson - historian, economist and author
Greg Keoleian - School for Environmental Sustainability and Center for Sustainable Systems, University of Michigan
Hans Broekhuis - Holland Container Innovations
Trine Nielsen, Flexport
Tristan Smith - University College London
Elianne Wieles – Deep Sea Carriers, Port of Rotterdam

Presenter: Anand Jagatia
Producer: Sam Baker
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Coordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Studio Manager: Steve Greenwood

(Photo: Port of Rotterdam, Maasvlakte Deep Sea Carrier Area. Credit: Sam Baker, BBC)
How do fish survive in the deep ocean?

9 augustus 2024 · 28 min
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When listener Watum heard about the Titan submersible implosion in the news in 2023, a question popped up in his mind: if a machine that we specifically built for this purpose cannot sustain the water pressure of the deep ocean, how do fish survive down there? Lees meer

In this episode, we travel with marine biologist Alan Jamieson to the second deepest place in our oceans: the Tonga trench. Meanwhile, presenter Caroline Steel speaks to Edie Widder about the creatures that illuminate our oceans, and travels to Copenhagen to take a closer look one of the strangest deep sea creatures and its deep sea adaptations.

But even fish have their limits! Scientist Paul Yancey correctly predicted the deepest point that fish can live, and it all comes down to one particular molecule.

So is there anything living beyond these depths? Well, there is only one way to find out…

Contributors:
Prof Alan Jamieson, University of Western Australia
Luke Siebermaier, Submersible Team Leader, Inkfish
Dr Edie Widder, Ocean Research & Conservation Association
Peter Rask Møller, Natural History Museum of Denmark
Prof Paul Yancey, Whitman College

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Florian Bohr
Editor: Martin Smith & Cathy Edwards
Production Co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Studio Manager: Steve Greenwood

(Image: Deep-sea fish - stock photo, Credit: superjoseph via Getty Images)
Why is my handwriting so messy?

2 augustus 2024 · 30 min
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CrowdScience listener Azeddine from Algeria has had bad handwriting since he was a child. In fact, it was so untidy that, when he later became a chemistry lecturer, his university students complained that they could not read his lecture notes. That was when he decided he had to do something about it. Lees meer

And it got him wondering… why do some of us have very neat handwriting while other people’s is almost unreadable? Why do his sisters all write beautifully when his natural style is quite the opposite?

Presenter Alex Lathbridge sets out to answer Azeddine’s question. He explores the different factors which determine how well we write. How much of it is inherited? What part does family and education play? And what is actually going on in our brains when we apply pen to paper?

Alex talks to anthropologist Monika Saini of the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, Delhi, who has analysed writing styles within families and in different regions across India. She tells him about the genetic and cultural factors which seem to influence our handwriting.

We also hear from neuroscientist Marieke Longcamp of Aix Marseille Université, France, who uses MRI scanning to find out which parts of our brains are involved when we write by hand. She has looked at what is happening in the brains of people who write in more than one script – for example in French and Arabic, like Azeddine.

Another neuroscientist, Karin Harman James, from Indiana University, USA ,has been looking at the link between learning something by writing it down compared to typing it on a tablet or laptop.

And Alex meets handwriting tutor Cherrell Avery to find out if it’s possible to improve your writing – even as an adult.

Presenter: Alex Lathbridge
Producer: Jeremy Grange
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Studio Manager: Emma Harth
Why is a ship a ‘she’?

26 juli 2024 · 31 min
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In many languages across the world, all nouns are classed as either male or female, or sometimes neuter. The English language, however, only signals gender in its pronouns - he, she, it or they. For inanimate objects, gender just crops up in occasional examples like ships or countries, which, for some reason, are deemed female. Lees meer

This lack of gender in English intrigued CrowdScience listener Stuart, since the other languages he knows all highlight whether something is male or female. Did English ever have gender, and if so, where did it go? Presenter Anand Jagatia dives into some Old English texts to uncover the idiosyncrasies of its masculine and feminine nouns, and learns why these gradually fell out of use.

But why do other languages assign gender to nouns – male, female, and sometimes many more categories too? And does this affect the way we think?

Contributors:
Andrew Dunning, Curator of Medieval Manuscripts, Bodleian Library, Oxford University
Rachel Burns, Departmental Lecturer in Old English, Oxford University
Suzanne Romaine, Professor of Linguistics, Hawaii
Ida Hadjivayanis, Senior Lecturer in Swahili, SOAS University
Angeliki Alvanoudi, Sociolinguist, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Amy Bahulekar, Writer, Mumbai

Presenter: Anand Jagatia
Producer: Eloise Stevens
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Coordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Why am I afraid of this building?

19 juli 2024 · 26 min
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Buildings inspire many emotions, like awe, serenity or even dread. CrowdScience listener Siobhan was struck by this as she passed a huge apartment block with tiny windows; it reminded her of a prison. So, she asked us to investigate the feelings that buildings can trigger. Lees meer

Architects have long considered how the effect of buildings on their occupants or passersby: asking whether certain features elicit feelings of wonder or joy... or sadness and fear. And now modern neuroscience has started to interrogate these very questions, too.

How much of the way we feel about a building is to do with its intrinsic design, and how much is due to our individual brain chemistry and life experiences? Presenter Caroline Steel talks to designer Thomas Heatherwick about his ideas for improving public spaces; enters a virtual reality simulation in Denmark to learn about the emerging field of ‘neuroarchitecture’; and finds out why people just can’t agree what makes a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ building.

Contributors:
Thomas Heatherwick, Heatherwick Studios, London
Professor Zakaria Djeberra, University of Aalborg
Professor Lars Fich, University of Aalborg
Professor Edward Vessel, City College of New York

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Richard Walker
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Coordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant

(Image: Rear view of woman surrounded by old traditional residential buildings and lost in city, Hong Kong, China. Credit: d3sign via Getty Images)
What is the weight of the internet?

12 juli 2024 · 38 min
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How do you think about the internet? What does the word conjure up? Maybe a cloud? Or the flashing router in the corner of your front room? Or this magic power that connects over 5 billion people on all the continents of this planet? We might not think of it at all, beyond whether we can connect our phones to it. Lees meer

Another chance to hear one of our favourite episodes, inspired by a question from CrowdScience listener Simon: how much does the internet weigh?

First of all, this means deciding what counts as the internet. If it is purely the electrons that form those TikTok videos and cat memes, then you might be surprised to hear that you could easily lift the internet with your little finger. But presenters Caroline Steel and Marnie Chesterton argue that there might be more, which sends them on a journey.

They meet Andrew Blum, the author of the book Tubes – Behind the Scenes at the Internet, about his journey to trace the physical internet. And enlist vital help from cable-loving analyst Lane Burdette at TeleGeography, who maps the internet.

To find those cables under the oceans, they travel to Porthcurno, once an uninhabited valley in rural Cornwall, now home to the Museum of Global Communications thanks to its status as a hub in the modern map of worldwide communications. With the museum’s Susan Heritage-Tilley, they compare original telegraph cables and modern fibre optics.

The team also head to a remote Canadian post office, so correspondent Meral Jamal can intercept folk picking up their satellite internet receivers, and ask to weigh them. A seemingly innocuous question becomes the quest for everything that connects us... and its weight!

Producer: Marnie Chesterton
Presenters: Marnie Chesterton & Caroline Steel
Editors: Richard Collings & Cathy Edwards
Production Coordinators: Jonathan Harris & Ishmael Soriano
Studio Manager: Donald MacDonald

(Image: Blue scales with computer coding terms. Credit: Alengo via Getty Images)
How does a snake climb a tree?

5 juli 2024 · 27 min
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Snakes are often seen as slithery, slimy and scary. But these intriguing non-legged creatures have made CrowdScience listener Okello from Uganda wonder how they move – more specifically, he wants to know how they climb trees so easily, and so fast. Lees meer

Presenter Caroline Steel meets snake expert Mark O’Shea to investigate the ingenious methods different snakes use to scale a tree trunk, and gets a demonstration from a very agreeable corn snake at a zoo.

Snake movement isn’t just your typical S-shaped slithering: these reptiles move in a remarkably diverse range of ways. Melissa Miller from the University of Florida explains all the range of motion snakes can employ to effectively travel along the ground as well as at height.

Caroline witnesses this in action as we pay a steamy visit to the Everglades National Park in Florida, USA, tracking pythons across the vast swamps there. We find out why understanding these pythons’ movement is vitally important for conserving the local ecosystem.

Contributors:
Dr Melissa Miller, Research Assistant Scientist, University of Florida
Brandon Welty, Wildlife Biologist, University of Florida
Prof Mark O’Shea MBE, Professor of Herpetology, University of Wolverhampton

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Hannah Fisher
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Studio Manager: Neva Missirian
How many flies have ever existed?

28 juni 2024 · 31 min
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The CrowdScience team like a challenge. And listeners Jenny and Kai in the UK have come to us with a big one. They want to know how many flies have ever existed. Lees meer

Flies first appeared around 270 million years ago, so presenter Caroline Steel prepares herself to calculate a very, very large number indeed. She enlists the help of Dr Erica McAlister, Curator of Flies at the Natural History Museum in London. As Erica introduces her to specimens from the Museum’s collection of over 30 million insects, they start with the basics. Like... how do you define a fly in the first place?

Caroline also explores the incredible diversity of flies… from fast-moving predators like robber flies which catch other insects on the wing to midges which are a vital part of chocolate-production; and from blood-sucking mosquitoes which transmit fatal diseases to the housefly buzzing lazily around a room.

And that leads to another fly-related question. Listener Brendan in Colombia wonders why they always fly in circles around a particular area of his apartment. For an explanation we turn to Prof. Jochen Zeil from the Australian National University who reveals that this apparently aimless behaviour is, in fact, a battle for sex.

And Collin in Barbados has e-mailed to ask how flies and mosquitoes benefit us. He’s had first-hand experience of their negative effects through contracting the disease chikungunya from a mosquito bite so he’s wondering if these insects are anything other than a nuisance. However, passionate fly advocate Erica McAlister is ready with plenty of reasons that we should be extremely grateful for them!

Contributors:
Dr Erica McAlister, Natural History Museum, London
Dr David Yeates, Director, Australian National Insect Collection
Prof. Jochen Zeil, Australian National University
Prof. Jo Lines, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Jeremy Grange
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano
Studio Manager: S…
Is every atom unique?

21 juni 2024 · 33 min
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It’s hard to imagine something as mind-bogglingly small as an atom. Lees meer

But CrowdScience listener Alan has been attempting to do just that. All things in nature appear to be different and unique; like trees and snowflakes, could it be that no two atoms are ever the same?

Alan isn’t the first person to wonder this. Philosopher and scientist Gottfried Leibnitz had a similar idea in the 17th century; in this episode, philosopher of physics Eleanor Knox helps us unpick the very idea of uniqueness.

And with the help of physicist Andrew Pontzen, presenter Anand Jagatia zooms into the nucleus of an atom in search of answers. Listener Alan has a hunch that the constant movement of electrons means no atom is exactly the same at any given moment in time. Is that hunch right? We discover that the world of tiny subatomic particles is even stranger than it might seem once you get into quantum realms.

Can we pinpoint where uniqueness begins? And if the universe is infinite, is uniqueness even possible?

In the podcast edition of this show, we peer into that expansive universe, as we discover that the quantum world of hydrogen - the tiniest and most abundant of all atoms - allows us to observe galaxies far, far away.

Featuring:
Dr Eleanor Knox – King’s College London
Prof Andrew Pontzen – University College London
Dr Sarah Blyth – University of Cape Town
Dr Lucia Marchetti – University of Cape Town

Presented by Anand Jagatia
Produced by Florian Bohr
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Coordinators: Ishmael Soriano and Liz Tuohy
Studio Manager: Emma Harth

(Photo: Twelve snow crystals photographed under a microscope, circa 1935. Credit: Herbert/Archive Photos/Getty Images)
Why are the seas salty?

14 juni 2024 · 31 min
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Listener Julie lives close to the coast in New Zealand and wants to know why the water that washes up on the beach isn't fresh. How exactly does all that salt get into the world's oceans? Lees meer

In India, a country where salt became symbolic of much more than well-seasoned food, host Chhavi Sachdev visits coastal salt farms and a research institute dedicated to studying all things saline, to better understand our relationship with salty seas.

The team also ventures to a very briny lake on the other side of the globe in Salt Lake City, Utah, to learn how salt makes its way into water bodies.

Speaking to an expert in deep sea exploration, we learn how hydrothermal vents may play a role in regulating ocean saltiness, and how much the field still has to explore.

Meanwhile, listener Will wants to know how much melting ice sheets are affecting ocean salinity. But ice melt isn’t the only thing affecting salt levels when it comes to the impacts of climate change.

And... how many teaspoons of salt are in a kilogram of sea water anyway? We do the rigorous science to answer all these salient saline questions.

Featuring:
Deepika - small scale salt farmer
Mark Radwin - PhD candidate in geology and geophysics at the University of Utah
Brenda Bowen - Geology & Geophysics, Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah
Chris German - Geology & Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Prasan Khemka - Chandan Salt Works
Paul Durack - Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Bhoomi Andharia - Central Salt & Marine Chemicals Research Institute

Presenter: Chhavi Sachdev
Producer: Sam Baker
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Coordinator: Liz Tuohy
Studio Manager: Sarah Hockley

(Photo: Shiv Salt Works, Bhavnagar, Gujarat in India. Credit: Chhavi Sachdev, BBC)
How fast can a raindrop cross the globe?

7 juni 2024 · 26 min
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CrowdScience listener Eleanor was lying in bed one rainy evening, listening to the radio. She lives in New Zealand, but happened to hear a weather forecast that told her it was raining in the UK too. Lees meer

She started wondering: could it be the same rain falling there and outside her window in New Zealand? Can a raindrop really travel all the way around the world?

There are a number of routes the droplet could take, including traveling as moisture in the air. Presenter Caroline Steel meets meteorologist Kei Yoshimura, who puts his powerful weather simulation to work plotting the raindrop’s journey through the sky.

What if the raindrop falls along the way and gets trapped? Where might it end up? Hydrologist Marc Bierkens talks Caroline through the detours it could take, ranging from short stop-offs in plant stems to extremely long delays in deep groundwater.

Finally, could the drop of water make it to New Zealand by circulating through the world’s ocean currents? Oceanographer Kathy Gunn maps the droplet’s path through the ocean – and explains how climate change might affect its journey.

Featuring:
Prof. Kei Yoshimura, Professor of Isotope Meteorology, University of Tokyo
Prof. Marc Bierkens, Professor of Earth Surface Hydrology at Utrecht University
Dr. Kathy Gunn, Lecturer in Climate Sciences at the University of Southampton

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Phil Sansom
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Co-ordinator: Liz Tuohy
Studio Manager: Tim Heffer
Additional recording: Knut Heinatz

(Photo: Textures of rain on the surface of the ocean. Credit: Philip Thurston/Getty Images)
Why does wine taste better over time?

31 mei 2024 · 30 min
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It’s often said that fine wine gets better with time, and this week’s oenophile listener Jeremy has a cellar full of dust-covered bottles. He is curious whether chemistry can account for the range of flavours that develop as wine matures, but also wonders why some of it tastes like vinegar if you leave it too long? Lees meer

We head off to the Bordeaux region of France, where vines were planted almost 2,000 years ago. Here, winemakers are joining forces with scientists to better understand wine ageing, a process so subtle and intricate that even the scientists refer to it as magic.

In the world-famous vineyards of Chateau Margaux, presenter Marnie Chesterton learns that the key ingredient for good grapes is a sandy soil type; and that in this part of France, the warming climate is actually having a positive effect on the vines, which need very little water to thrive. Over in the lab, we meet the chemist mapping the molecules responsible for aromas associated with a well-aged Bordeaux.

Featuring:
Philippe Bascaules, Chateau Margaux
Prof Cornelis van Leeuwen, Bordeaux Sciences Agro
Dr Stephanie Marchand-Marion, ISVV
Alexandre Pons, ISVV

Presented by Marnie Chesterton
Producer – Marijke Peters
Editor – Cathy Edwards
Production Co-ordinator – Liz Tuohy
Studio Manager – Sarah Hockley

(Photo: Aged bottles on wine racks in a cellar. Credit: Morsa Images/Getty Images)
Will mountains shrink as sea levels rise?

24 mei 2024 · 26 min
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The Blue Ridge Parkway is 469 miles of beautiful vistas, a mountainous road that winds from Virginia to North Carolina in the USA. The route is peppered with elevation signs, telling you how many metres above sea level you are. Which has CrowdScience listener Beth wondering: as we are told that sea level is rising, will all the elevation signs need repainting? Lees meer

It’s a task she’s passed over to the CrowdScience team, who like a difficult challenge. The height of an enormous pile of rock like Ben Nevis, or Mount Everest feels unchangeable. But we measure them relative to the nearest patch of sea, which is where our story becomes complicated. Unlike water in a bath, sea level is not equal around the world. The east coast of America has a different sea level to its west coast. And as host Marnie Chesterton discovers in Finland, in some parts of the world the land is being pushed up, so sea level is actually falling.

In fact, when nothing on earth - not the sea, the shore or the mountains - seems to be stable or constant, the question of what you measure from and to becomes incredibly tricky. But that hasn’t stopped oceanography and geography scientists risking life and fingers to use an ever-evolving array of technologies to find answers. In this show we find out why they care so much, and why we should too.

Featuring:
Dr Paul Bell – National Oceanography Centre, Liverpool, UK
Dr Severine Fournier – NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory / California Institute of Technology
Dr Jani Särkkä – Finnish Meteorological Institute
Khimlal Gautam – Mountaineer and Chief Survey Officer, Government of Nepal
Dr Derek van Westrum – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, USA

Presented and produced by Marnie Chesterton
Editor – Cathy Edwards
Production Co-ordinator – Liz Tuohy
Studio Manager – Steve Greenwood

(Photo: Sea Level Elevation Sign in Death Valley, California. Credit: Mitch Diamond/Getty Images)
What does prayer do to my brain?

17 mei 2024 · 28 min
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Prayer and meditation are key features of religious and spiritual practices around the world, suggesting they’re intimately linked to the human condition. But what is going on in the brain during prayer? And is praying beneficial for our mental health? Lees meer

CrowdScience listener Hilary is keen to find answers to such questions. She’s a counsellor with a strong Christian faith, and is curious to know whether science can illuminate religious and spiritual practices.

Presenter Caroline Steel talks to neuroscientists researching how our brains respond to prayer and meditation; and practices mindfulness herself to explore its similarities to prayer. She discovers that having a relationship with God may depend on more than religious practice. And is there a ‘spiritual part’ to our brains? Or is prayer just one activity among many - like going for a walk or playing music - that can have similar effects on our state of mind?

Featuring:
Professor Andrew Newberg, Director of Research Marcus Institute of Integrative Health, Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital, USA
Tessa Watt, mindfulness teacher
Ven. Hin Hung Sik, Centre of Buddhist Studies, University of Hong Kong
Dr Junling Gao, Centre of Buddhist Studies, University of Hong Kong
Dr Blake Victor Kent, Westmont College, USA

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Jo Glanville
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Studio Manager: Tim Heffer
Production Co-ordinator: Liz Tuohy

(Photo: A crowd of people praying. Credit: Digital Vision/Getty Images)
Why are people still dying from malaria?

10 mei 2024 · 28 min
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Mosquitoes are responsible for more human deaths than any other animal. These tiny creatures transmit many diseases, but the most devastating is malaria. It kills over half a million people every year, most of them children. Lees meer

So why are people still dying of malaria in such large numbers, when so much time and money has been invested in trying to eradicate it? What do we know about mosquitoes and malaria, and what do we still need to learn? CrowdScience visits Malawi, one of the African countries leading the way against malaria, with the rollout of the world’s first malaria vaccine programme.

Presenter Caroline Steel is joined by a live audience and a panel of experts: Wongani Nygulu, Eggrey Aisha Kambewa and Steve Gowelo. Together they explore questions from our listeners in Malawi and around the world, like why female mosquitoes feed on blood while males drink nectar; why some people are more likely to be bitten by mosquitoes than others; and how we might modify the insects’ DNA to stop them spreading diseases.

About half a million children across Malawi have been vaccinated since 2019. We visit a clinic in nearby Chikwawa to meet the staff involved in the vaccination programme there, and the mothers embracing the opportunity to protect their babies against this deadly disease.

Recorded at Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust (MLW), Blantyre, Malawi.

Contributors:
Dr. Wongani Nygulu, Epidemiologist, Malaria Alert Centre
Eggrey Aisha Kambewa, MLW entomologist, MLW
Dr. Steve Gowelo, University of California San Francisco Malaria Elimination Initiative

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Jeremy Grange
Researcher: Imaan Moin
Additional Recording: Margaret Sessa Hawkins & Sophie Ormiston
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Co-ordinator: Liz Tuohy

(Photo: A mosquito, that is silhouetted against the moon, bites a human arm. Credit: LWA/Getty Images)
Why am I bad at maths?

3 mei 2024 · 31 min
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When CrowdScience listener Israel from Papua New Guinea received a bad grade on a maths test in third grade, he looked around the class and realised that almost all the other students had received a better result. Since then, he has always wondered: why are some people better at maths than others? Lees meer

And Israel isn’t the only one to think about this: our listeners from all over the world describe their relationships with numbers, which run the full gamut from love to hate.

So are we all in control of our own mathematical fate, or are some people just naturally bad at it? Presenter Anand Jagatia hears about studies of identical and non-identical twins showing how genetics and environment interact to shape our mathematical abilities.

Our numerical abilities are not set in stone. It’s always possible to improve, and getting rid of negative feelings and anxiety around maths could be the key, says psychologist Iro Xenidou-Dervou.

Some countries seem to support children’s maths skills better than others. China and Finland both rank highly in international league tables; education experts in both countries discuss whether there are any keys to a successful mathematics education.

And there is something underlying our ability to do maths in the first place: our number sense. We hear what happens when this number sense does not work as intended – and what can be done about it.

Contributors:
Professor Yulia Kovas – Goldsmiths University of London, UK
Professor Pekka Räsänen – University of Turku, Finland
Assistant Professor Zhenzhen Miao – Jiangxi Normal University, China
Dr Iro Xenidou-Dervou – Loughborough University, UK
Professor Brian Butterworth – University College London, UK

Presented by Anand Jagatia
Produced by Florian Bohr
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Co-ordinator: Liz Tuohy
Studio Manager: Jackie Margerum

(Photo: Boy scratching head in front of blackboard. Credit: Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/Getty Images)
How should we protect our coastlines?

26 april 2024 · 27 min
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Coastlines around the world are changing, causing serious problems for the many communities living near the sea, as well as vital and fragile coastal ecosystems. Lees meer

In the second of a two-part special on coastal erosion, CrowdScience explores the best ways to tackle this problem. Presenter Caroline Steel visits the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico to see the various methods they use to protect their coasts.

First up: ‘riprap’ – rocks strategically placed to keep the encroaching sea at bay. The problem is, while it protects the area immediately behind the rocks, riprap can exacerbate erosion nearby.

But there are other, more nature-friendly solutions, including sand dune restoration. Caroline picks up her shovel and helps to re-plant dunes, destroyed in the past by erosion as well as sand extraction for the construction trade. The roots of these plants stabilise the dunes, while building boardwalks prevents further damage from humans.

Nature also offers the perfect offshore protection against coastal erosion: coral reefs. These are the first line of defence in absorbing the power of the ocean’s waves. Down on the beach, we see for ourselves just how effective they are. The reefs face threats, but restoration plans are afoot. We visit a nursery that grows corals to plant out on the reefs – and find out about corals’ surprising cannibalistic tendencies in the process.

Featuring:
Professor Robert Mayer - Director of Vida Marina, Center for Conservation and Ecological Restoration, University of Puerto Rico
Nada Nigaglioni - Biology student, University of Puerto Rico
Ernesto Diaz - Caribbean Regional Manager at TetraTech
Dr Stacey Williams - Executive Director, ISER Caribe

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Hannah Fisher
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Co-ordinator: Liz Tuohy
Studio Manager: Emma Harth

(Photo: Coast restoration measures at Ultimo Trolley Beach, Puerto Rico. Credit: BBC)
Are our coastlines being washed away?

19 april 2024 · 26 min
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Around the world, coastlines are constantly changing due to the power of waves, currents and tides. Coastal areas are also some of the most heavily populated and developed land areas in the world. So it’s not hard to see how the natural process of coastal erosion can cause serious problems for us. Lees meer

It’s an issue that’s been bothering CrowdScience listener Anne in Miami Beach, Florida. She can see the beach from her window and wonders why after every storm, several trucks arrive to dump more sand on it.

In this first of two programmes, CrowdScience visits Anne’s home in south Florida and finds out how erosion threatens Florida’s famous beaches. Caroline Steel speaks to geoscientist Dr Tiffany Roberts Briggs and hears why it’s such a problem for this tourist-reliant state. Tiffany explains the delicate balance between natural processes and human infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico declared a state of emergency in April 2023 due to coastal erosion. Caroline witnesses the impacts of erosion first-hand, as Ruperto Chaparro shows her abandoned houses crumbling into the sea.

But how can we quantify the rate of erosion? Dr Kevian Perez in the Graduate School of Planning at University of Puerto Rico explains the methods they use to monitor Puerto Rico’s coastlines, and how they are evaluating the effectiveness of different mitigation methods.

However, some of the methods used to protect coastal communities from the encroaching sea have done more harm than good. So what are the best ways to tackle this problem? That’s what we’ll be exploring in next week’s programme.

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Hannah Fisher
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Co-ordinator: Liz Tuohy
Studio Manager: Steve Greenwood and Bob Nettles

Featuring:
Dr Tiffany Roberts Briggs, Associate Professor at Florida Atlantic University
Ruperto Chaparro, Director of Sea Grant Programme, University of Puerto Rico
Anabela Fuentes Garcia, Villa Cristiana community leader
Dr K…
How do my ears sense direction?

12 april 2024 · 33 min
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How do we know where a sound is coming from? Lees meer

Another chance to hear this ear-opening episode, exploring a question from CrowdScience listener Chiletso. One day, he heard his son bounce a ball and instantly knew the direction it was travelling. How?

Anand Jagatia sets out to discover what makes left, right, up and down sound so different.

First, he gets blindfolded, so Alan Archer-Boyd, former auditory scientist and lead engineer at BBC R&D, can put his sound localisation skills to the test. It turns out that having two ears and pinnae, those flappy bits of cartilage on the side of your head, help a lot.

Professor Eric Knudsen shares how the barn owl’s asymmetrical ears allow it to hunt mice, even in complete darkness.

And Anand uncovers how far he can push his own spatial hearing. Blind activist and researcher Thomas Tajo teaches him how to echolocate like a bat, and Dr Lore Thaler explains what is going on in the brain of experienced echolocators.

This programme was originally broadcast in March 2023.

Presented by Anand Jagatia
Produced by Florian Bohr for the BBC World Service

Image: Boy with hands at his ears
Credit: Silke Woweries/Getty Images
How many people have ever existed?

5 april 2024 · 26 min
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Today there are over eight billion people on Earth. That’s an awe-inspiring figure… but how does it compare to the vast numbers who came before us? Listener Alpha wants to know how many people have ever existed, so CrowdScience sets out to do a historical headcount. Lees meer

The Population Reference Bureau in the USA estimated this number back in the 90s, and have been updating their calculations ever since. Demographer Toshiko Kaneda explains how their model works, the assumptions it makes – and the huge uncertainties around the number it comes out with.

We first need a date for when ‘humans’ first began, so Caroline travels to the Natural History Museum in London to meet human evolution expert Chris Stringer, and marvel at his collection of replica fossil skulls. Chris demonstrates how to distinguish our species, Homo sapiens, from other species like Neanderthals. When did these species first appear - and which of them count as human?

And once you know where to start the clock, how do you estimate the numbers of people alive at different points in history? For a population demographer like Walter Scheidel, it helps that some ancient civilisations kept detailed censuses, a few of which have survived to the present day. Caroline and Walter pour over one of these census fragments, and learn how to combine them with other archaeological clues to get some very rough numbers.

And finally: what does the future of our population look like? Poonam Muttreja from the Population Foundation of India discusses developments in the world’s most populous country, as well as the big demographic trends ahead for humanity.

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Phil Sansom
Additional Recording: Umaru Fofana
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Co-ordinator: Connor Morgans
Studio Manager: Sue Maillot

Featuring:
Toshiko Kaneda, Technical Director of Demographic Research, Population Reference Bureau
Chris Stringer, Research Leader in Human Evolution, Natural History Museum London
Walter Scheidel…
Could climate change lead to more volcanic eruptions?

29 maart 2024 · 27 min
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We spend a lot of our time thinking about climate change, but listener Paul has a question that isn’t usually part of the conversation. He wants to know whether a hotter atmosphere will affect how often volcanoes erupt, or make them more explosive when they do. Lees meer

CrowdScience travels to New Zealand to search for answers, exploring volcanic craters and discovering traditional Maori knowledge about volcanoes.

Contributors:
Geoff Kilgour, Volcanologist, Geological and Nuclear Sciences Taupo, New Zealand
Heather Handley, Volcanologist, University of Twente, The Netherlands
Pouroto Ngaropo, Historian and Matauranga Māori expert, Rotorua, New Zealand

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Emily Bird
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Co-Ordinator: Connor Morgans
Sound Engineer: Steve Greenwood

(Photo: Icelandic volcano. Credit: KRISTINN MAGNUSSON/Getty Images)
Do animals have anxious habits like us?

22 maart 2024 · 27 min
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Many of us have habits that calm us down in times of stress. Things we find deeply comforting, like sucking our thumb or biting our nails. We might not even be aware we’re doing them, but they play a fundamental role in helping us regulate our emotions. Lees meer

Our question this week comes from CrowdScience listener and nail-biter, Ash. He wants to know where these habits come from. And since his pet dog is also a nail-biter: do we share these traits with other animals?

Recently, a video of a mouse cleaning up a man’s shed took the internet by storm. Was this a house-proud mouse, or was it the animal's way of making sense of a frenetic environment? An emerging field of scientists focusing on animal behaviour and emotions help us shed some light on such questions.

Along the way we meet a dog training specialist, learn what a sniffari is, go for playtime with a thumb-sucking otter, and visit an OCD clinic. We’ll also be getting tips on how to give your pets the best home environment, and meet an animal enrichment officer in South Africa, who knows how to spot the signs of an unhelpful habit developing.

Contributors:
Karolina Westlund, Ethologist, Stockholm University and ILLIS
Ben Terry, CBT Therapist, Priory Hospital North London
Karin Pienaar, Animal Behaviourist, COAPE International
Candice Ward, Animal Behaviourist, Johannesburg Zoo

Jaak Panksepp clip: The science of emotions: Jaak Panksepp at TEDxRainier

Producer: Robbie Wojciechowski
Presenter: Alex Lathbridge
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production co-ordinator: Connor Morgans
Additional recording by Elna Schutz

(Photo: Portrait of border collie puppy biting a curtain. Credit: Rawlstock/Getty Images)
Is the BMI fatphobic?

15 maart 2024 · 29 min
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Crowd Science listener Maik wants to know what the BMI is and what his BMI score says about his body. He trains dogs for a living and wonders if, like different breeds of dog, we simply have different body types? Lees meer

Marnie Chesterton comes up with some answers, talking to doctors about how the BMI is used and misused in clinical practice, and looks at some alternative methods for measuring our body composition. She also sits down with philosopher Kate Manne to discuss the realities of living in a fat-phobic world.

We hear from Tonga in the South Pacific, where high BMI scores have labelled the country highly obese. But this is not necessarily how Tongans see themselves.

And Marnie finds out if the BMI will continue to be used across the world as an important health marker or whether it is destined for the scrap heap of medical history.

Contributors:
Professor Kate Manne
Dr Francesco Rubino
Dr Naveed Sattar
Professor Brendon Noble
Technician Leah Siegel
Fononga Pulu
Sela Latailakepa

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producer: Richard Walker
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production co-ordinator: Connor Morgans
Studio manager: Emma Harth
Do we all see the same colour?

8 maart 2024 · 29 min
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CrowdScience listener Gregory wants to know what affects the way we see the colours of the world. He was looking at a blue summer sky with a friend and they got to wondering whether they both see the same colour blue. So what does influence our vision of the colours that surround us? Could eye colour have anything to do with it? And can we ever really know if your blue sky is the same as mine? Lees meer

Caroline Steel comes up with some answers, talking to colour scientists about their research into the multiple factors that enable us to see in multi colours, from the intricate biology of our eye to the changing environment around us.

She also investigates her own colour vision and solves a personal mystery, discovering why the world has always looked a slightly different colour from each eye.

Contributors:
Professor Jay Neitz, Department of Opthalmology, University of Washington, US
Professor Hannah Smithson, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford
Dr Juan Perea García, researcher, Department of Cognitive Psychology, University of Leiden
Dr Lauren Welbourne, researcher, Department of Psychology, University of York
Dr Adam Bibbey, lecturer in sport, Department of Sport, Oxford Brookes University

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Jo Glanville
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production co-ordinator: Connor Morgans
Studio manager: Jackie Margerum

(Photo: LWA)
How bad is our data for the planet?

1 maart 2024 · 27 min
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Storing your data in ‘the cloud’ might sound like an ethereal, intangible place, but it’s actually a physical location - a data centre. CrowdScience listener Art is worried about how much energy and water data centres are consuming. He’s from Ireland, where data centres are gobbling up almost 20% of the national electricity supply and that’s growing, fast. Lees meer

So how much energy and water are data centres using globally? And how can they become more sustainable? To answer Art’s question CrowdScience heads to chilly western Norway to visit a data centre hidden deep within a mountain, that’s said to be one of the most efficient in the world. And we hear how a data centre in South Africa is saving water and dealing with crippling power cuts by generating its own renewable energy.

Do we just need to stream less TV and reduce our email inbox? With the help of carbon footprint expert Mike Berners-Lee, we crunch the numbers to find out.

Featuring:
Svein Atle Hagaseth, CEO of Green Mountain data centres in Norway
Mike Berners-Lee, Professor at Lancaster University’s Environment Centre and consultant at Small World Consulting
Thulani Ncube, Group Energy Lead at Africa Data Centres

Presenter: Anand Jagatia
Producer: Sophie Eastaugh
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Studio Manager: Donald MacDonald
Production: Jonathan Harris & Connor Morgans
Additional Recording by: Kobus van Niekerk
Why do we have wisdom teeth?

23 februari 2024 · 29 min
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Why do humans have wisdom teeth if so many of them get removed soon after they appear? Lees meer

Wisdom teeth, the third molars in the back of our mouths, are so called because they normally appear in late teenage, early adulthood – the time in life we supposedly have learned some wisdom. But around 25% of people don’t develop all four. Of those that do emerge, it is not uncommon for them to appear at nasty angles, jutting into the tooth next door causing potentially dangerous infections and pain. Because of this, for decades many people have them surgically removed.

Listener Khaleel was preparing to have his remaining wisdom teeth removed when he wrote to CrowdScience to ask about them. Given that they can seem to cause more harm than good, why has evolution resulted in these troublesome teeth? But many people have perfectly uneventful relationships with their wisdom teeth, so have we perhaps removed more than we needed to over the years?

Anand Jagatia chews it over with the help of surgeons and dentists to try to extract the truth – why DO we have wisdom teeth?

Featuring:
Tanya M Smith, Professor in the Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution at Griffith University, Australia
Patrick Magennis, Consultant Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon at University Hospitals Aintree, Liverpool UK
Verena Toedtling, Dentist and Specialist Oral Surgeon, UK

Presented by Anand Jagatia
Produced by Alex Mansfield
What time was the first clock set to?

16 februari 2024 · 27 min
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When the first person set the very first clock, how did they know what time to set it to? This question, from listener Chris in the UK, sends CrowdScience off on a quest into the history of timekeeping. Lees meer

From sundials to water clocks, from uneven hours to precision seconds determined by the vibration of an atom, we examine how we came to measure time. We visit possibly the oldest working mechanical clock in the world to discover how its time was originally set; and hear how the time we go by today is not quite the same as it was in the past.

Will all this be enough to solve Chris' question, or has he stumped the team?

Featuring:

Ian Westworth, Clock Mechanic
Dr. Chad Orzel, Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Union College
Anna Rolls, Curator of Clocks, Clockmakers’ Museum
Peter, Guide, Salisbury Cathedral
Dr. Jun Ye, Physicist at NIST (National Institutes of Standards and Technology) and The University of Colorado, Boulder.

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Margaret Sessa-Hawkins
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production Co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris
Studio Manager: Jackie Margerum

(Photo:Stopwatch on red background. Credit: Martin Poole / Getty Images).
When will the next earthquake hit?

9 februari 2024 · 27 min
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In 2011, CrowdScience listener Amanda survived the devastating earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. Lees meer

It arrived unannounced - as all earthquakes do - leaving her with no time to prepare a response. So Amanda wants to know whether science will ever be able to give us advance warning of quakes.

To explore her question CrowdScience heads to New Zealand to meet listener Amanda, as well as the brains behind the country’s earthquake forecasting models. We dig in a field for thousand-year-old tectonic clues that could help us understand when the next earthquake might strike. But even if we could get a head start against a quake, would we respond in the right way?

Please note: earthquake response advice varies by location. Please check local guidance and individual building procedures.

Featuring:

Nicola Litchfield, Principal Scientist in Paleoseismology at GNS, Wellington, New Zealand
Matt Gerstenberger, Seismologist and leader of the National Seismic Hazard Model, GNS, Wellington, New Zealand
Andy Howell, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Lauren Vinnell, Lecturer in Emergency Management at the Joint Centre for Disaster Research at Massey University

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Emily Bird
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production: Jonathan Harris, Jana Holesworth
Sound Engineer: Steve Greenwood

(Photo: Earthquake damage in Christchurch. Credit: John Crux Photography)
Why do we daydream?

2 februari 2024 · 31 min
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Have you ever been through a romantic break up, unable to shift the ex from your thoughts? You are, obviously, not alone… Lees meer

Listener Elkin, experienced just that. But rather than wallowing in self-pity, he sought out an explanation. Where better to get it, than from CrowdScience. Now, Alex Lathbridge is putting on his thinking cap to find out why we daydream?

Presenter: Alex Lathbridge
Producer: Harrison Lewis
Editor: Martin Smith
Production: Jonathan Harris

Featuring:

Giulia Poerio, Lecturer in Psychology, University of Sussex.
Kalina Christoff, Professor of Psychology, University of British Columbia.
Eli Sommer, Israeli Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Haifa.
Sophie Forster, Reader in Psychology, University of Sussex

(Photo: Man daydreaming surrounded by clouds. Credit: jacquesdurocher / Getty Images)
How should we measure cleverness?

26 januari 2024 · 26 min
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Presenter Marnie Chesterton and the team pit their wits against a multitude of mind-bending puzzles from an old TV gameshow - all in the name of answering a question from Antonia in Cyprus: how do we work out how clever someone is? Is IQ the best measure of cleverness? Why do we put such weight on academic performance? And where does emotional intelligence fit into it all? Lees meer

In the search for answers Marnie and the team are locked in rooms to battle mental, physical, mystery and skill-based challenges, all against the clock.

Unpicking their efforts in the studio are a global team of cleverness researchers: Dr Stuart Ritchie from Kings College London, Prof Sophie von Stumm from York University and Dr Alex Burgoyne from Georgia Institute of Technology in the US.

They are challenged to face the toughest questions in their field: Why do men and women tend to perform differently in these tests? Is our smartness in our genes? And what about the Flynn Effect – where IQs appear to have risen, decade after decade, around the world.

Producer/presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Editor: Richard Collings
Production co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris

(Photo Man doing puzzle. Credit: Getty Images)
Were humans ever semi-aquatic?

19 januari 2024 · 27 min
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What evidence is there for a semi-aquatic period in human evolutionary history? That’s the question that’s been bothering listener Dave in Thailand. He thinks our lack of hair and love of water might indicate that, at some point, we were more water-based than we are now. But what does science have to say on the matter? Lees meer

The theory that our ape ancestors returned to the water for a phase in our evolutionary history is a controversial idea that most scientists disagree with.

Anand Jagatia chats to Dr Melissa Ilardo, assistant professor at the University of Utah, about our dive reflex - a physiological response we display when submerged underwater, which helps direct oxygen towards vital organs. But this is not a response that is unique to humans - it is found in all mammals. Experts say it developed long before all apes split off in the evolutionary tree.

To find out more about the theory itself Anand hears from John Langdon, emeritus professor at the University of Indianapolis. He explains why the aquatic ape theory is not generally accepted by anthropologists, what the fossil record can tell us about our evolutionary path and why evolution is much more complex than the aquatic ape hypothesis suggests.

While there may be little evidence of a semi-aquatic period in our evolutionary past, there are some communities around the world that have adapted to utilising their watery environments in more recent evolutionary history.

Anand speaks to Dr Nicole Smith-Guzman at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute who has found evidence that ancient populations in Panama were habitually diving in the sea for shells and seafood. She explains how she can piece together evidence from different sources to detect the activity of ancient populations. And Dr Melissa Ilardo explains how evolutionary pressure can cause physical changes in isolated communities, as our bodies ultimately adapt to help us thrive in more watery environments.

Producer: Hannah Fisher
Presenter: Anand …
Can planting trees solve the climate crisis?

12 januari 2024 · 26 min
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Our question this week comes from a father and his two young boys. Lees meer

They want to know whether it’s possible to plant enough trees to soak up all the extra carbon we are putting into the atmosphere?

The quest to find answers takes us to a remote reforestation project in the Carpathian Mountains in Romania which could be a model for other projects looking to tackle the climate crisis through reforestation.

We speak to experts to find out how much tree planting and reforestation can do in helping combat the climate crisis.

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Margaret Sessa-Hawkins
Editor: Richard Collings
Will electric cars help solve noise pollution?

5 januari 2024 · 28 min
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Noise pollution from vehicles in the public space has a huge impact on human health. But as the world switches to quieter electric-powered means of transport there’s a debate about whether we will actually see any noticeable improvement to our quality of life. Lees meer

Discovering more than just engineering solutions to the problem, CrowdScience visits one of the world’s loudest cities, Mumbai in India. It is a place where noise has become a way of life. But is that all about to change?

Presenter: Alex Lathbridge
Producer: Richard Walker
Editor: Richard Collings
2023 Year End Extravaganza, Part 2

29 december 2023 · 27 min
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Welcome to Part 2 of our year-end extravaganza and the final episode of 2023! Lees meer

We’ve had a brilliant year hunting down the answers to your science questions - on everything from food and phobias to friction and flying - and in this episode presenter Anand Jagatia is revisiting some of the best stories we covered. We’re bringing you some extra juicy bonus content that we couldn’t fit in to those shows first time round.

Hannah Fisher joins Anand to revisit an episode she produced about the microbiome, the community of tiny organisms living both on and inside us. During that show Hannah took presenter Caroline Steel to a microbiome museum in the Netherlands called Micropia. And one thing from Micropia that never got aired was the kiss-o-meter, a device that measures how many microbes you exchange when you kiss! Micropia curator Jasper Buikx explains the science behind the kiss-o-meter, and then Caroline Steel tries it for herself!

Microbes aren’t just living on and in humans and animals - they’re pretty much everywhere in our environment. And to illustrate this CrowdScience producer Marijke Peters brings Anand a bonus interview with a professional surfer who’s also a bioscientist.

Cliff Kapono undertook a scientific project travelling around the world to take microbiome samples from surfers in different countries. He discovered a fascinating global connection. Surfers are linked together by microbes on their skin that they get from the water around them. Intriguingly, he describes how this might affect our perception of who we are as humans.

Caroline Steel updates us on an interview she did with indigenous Australian astronomer Peter Swanton. Peter appeared on CrowdScience telling an ancient Australian folktale about a man who sacrificed himself to save his brother. The story, which has been handed down through several generations, provides possible evidence for an early observation of a supernova. You can hear that story in the episode “Why is the sun at the cent…

Alle afleveringen

Why am I good at jigsaw puzzles?

Can I improve my sense of direction?

Why can't my dog live as long as me?

What does my voice say about me?

Why is my house getting sunnier?

Why do some mushrooms glow?

Why do languages fade from us?

Why do my armpits smell?

What's the fairest voting system?

Why don’t sunflowers fall over?

How did the Moon affect the dinosaurs?

Are we mature by 18?

Is the car an apex predator?

What is the voice inside my head?

Can my body regenerate?

Why am I symmetrical?

Can we improve the shipping container?

How do fish survive in the deep ocean?

Why is my handwriting so messy?

Why is a ship a ‘she’?

Why am I afraid of this building?

What is the weight of the internet?

How does a snake climb a tree?

How many flies have ever existed?

Is every atom unique?

Why are the seas salty?

How fast can a raindrop cross the globe?

Why does wine taste better over time?

Will mountains shrink as sea levels rise?

What does prayer do to my brain?

Why are people still dying from malaria?

Why am I bad at maths?

How should we protect our coastlines?

Are our coastlines being washed away?

How do my ears sense direction?

How many people have ever existed?

Could climate change lead to more volcanic eruptions?

Do animals have anxious habits like us?

Is the BMI fatphobic?

Do we all see the same colour?

How bad is our data for the planet?

Why do we have wisdom teeth?

What time was the first clock set to?

When will the next earthquake hit?

Why do we daydream?

How should we measure cleverness?

Were humans ever semi-aquatic?

Can planting trees solve the climate crisis?

Will electric cars help solve noise pollution?

2023 Year End Extravaganza, Part 2