How climate change is disrupting nature’s ancient symbiotic relationships
Be it a pair of wolves that mate for life, a pod of female dolphins that hunt together, or a large colony of honeybees all working together in a hive, the natural world is filled with relationships of all kinds. But some relationships run deeper than others, even to the extent that certain species literally make their homes inside the bodies of others. This is an example of a symbiotic relationship – a long-term bond that exists between organisms of different species.
In this episode, we speak to science writer Sophie Pavelle about her new book To Have or to Hold: Nature’s Hidden Relationships.
She tells us how far from being rare, symbiotic relationships occur practically everywhere in the natural world, how they come in a dizzying array of different forms, and how the fine balance underpinning these relationships that has formed over thousands of years is coming under threat from human activity and climate change.
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33:43
How catastrophes have shaped the world as we know it
The history of the Earth is littered with dramatic events that have shaped the planet itself and the lives of the human beings who live on it in profound ways. Be it floods, famine or disease pandemics. Human beings have so far survived. But what in modern times can we learn from these past catastrophes?
In this episode, we speak to author Lizzie Wade about her latest book Apocalypse: How Catastrophe Transformed Our World and Can Forge New Futures.
She tells us how even though Neanderthals died out many years ago they still live on in human DNA, how ancient civilisations that once thrived fell but their culture persists to this day and how the story of the human race is far from finished.
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38:23
How mathematics shapes human creativity
It’s commonly believed that the arts and the sciences have little in common with each other. The distinction that’s most frequently made is that the arts are creative in nature whereas the sciences are logical. But this couldn’t be further from the truth.
In this episode, we catch up with mathematician and author Marcus du Sautoy to talk about his latest book Blueprints: How mathematics shapes creativity.
He tells us how, fundamentally, mathematics is the study of patterns, structure and symmetry, how these patterns are found everywhere in music, visual art and architecture, and why we should be teaching students how to spot them in their everyday lives.
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35:11
How climate change impacts the world’s most vulnerable people
When think about climate change, we may think about global temperatures escalating, extreme weather events occurring more and more and sea levels rising. But what effect is all of this actually having on the everyday lives of the world’s population, especially those that are most vulnerable?
In this episode, we speak to Dr Friederike Otto about her latest book Climate Injustice: Why We Need to Fight Global Inequality to Combat Climate Change.
She tells us how facts and evidence and are vital if we want to combat the effects of climate change on the world’s poorest populations, how the historical effects of inequality are deeply ingrained in the issue, and why the future doesn’t have to be as bleak as some may say.
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32:24
How future materials will help save the planet
Everywhere we look we’re surrounded by materials of all kinds – from the fabrics we use to make our clothing, to the bricks and mortar we use to build our homes and places of work, to the complex transistors and circuits we use to build our digital devices. Life as we known it simply wouldn’t be possible without them. But what will the materials of the future look like?
In this episode, we catch up with Mark Miodownik, professor of materials and society based at University College London, best-selling author and veteran presenter of many BBC television and radio science documentaries.
He tells us how the advent of materials such as paper, bronze and ceramics transformed early humans into a truly technological species, how nano-machines are already showing promising results in several areas of medicine, and how we may one day be living in buildings that can generate their own electricity and repair themselves.
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