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  • AI to solve the energy crisis?

    AI to solve the energy crisis?
    Sep 17 2026
    Nuclear fusion energy, the idea of copying the sun’s heat source on earth to make limitless commercial energy is famously always 30 years away. This month, the UK and US have agreed to combine the brains of their nuclear fusion supercomputers in an attempt to improve models of plasma behaviour using AI. Tom Whipple is joined by interim CEO of UKAEA Tim Bestwick to understand what challenges must be overcome to make commercialised nuclear fusion a reality. With under a fortnight to go before the winner of the coveted Royal Society's Trivedi Book Prize is announced, we are marking its imminent arrival by interviewing two shortlisted authors. Deborah Cohen, author of Bad Influence, warns how the internet can influence our health. Plus, Steve Ramirez, author of How to Change a Memory, reflects on a career studying the mechanisms of memory and how grief changed his perspective on its purpose. Also on the show, have researchers finally found Nefertiti's tomb? Nature Reporter Lizzie Gibney answers one of the most exciting questions in science news this week. To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk, search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.Presenter: Tom Whipple Producers: Alex Mansfield, Tabitha Taylor Buck, Katie Tomsett Editor: Ilan Goodman Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

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    26 Min.
  • What AI agents talk about behind your back

    What AI agents talk about behind your back
    Sep 10 2026
    Is AI really plotting against us? In a week where an Anthropic researcher believes there is more than a 10% chance AI 'could kill all humans' we're delving deeper into the capabilities of AI agents. Tom Whipple is joined by Alex Mallen, from Redwood Research, the team whose recent investigation exposed the surprising, weird, and worrying scale of a website hack conducted by OpenAI agents.Is this the most important story we will ever cover on Inside Science? Or is this all just credulous sci fi hype? Professor Stuart Russell helps us unpick how we might align AI with humanity’s hopes. Plus, science journalist Caroline Steel has trawled the news to bring us the science stories you might have missed. This week Caroline discusses how AI has allegedly helped solve a Millennium Prize maths problem and why planetary scientists are turning their attention to a shrinking Mercury. To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk, search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.Presenter: Tom Whipple Producers: Alex Mansfield, Katie Tomsett, Tabitha Taylor-Buck Editor: Ilan Goodman Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

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    26 Min.
  • The quest for dark matter

    The quest for dark matter
    Sep 3 2026
    The quest for Dark Matter just got interesting. Researchers on an international project called the Lux-Zeplin (LZ) Dark Matter Experiment reported they may have discovered the signature of a bit of Dark Matter passing through an underground mine in South Dakota. Kimberly Palladino, professor of physics at Oxford and a member of that LZ collaboration, speaks with Roland to explain how dark matter is being detected. Probiotics have long been all the rage in health advice, but this week we discovered they may also be good for corals. Microbiologist turned ecologist Erika Santoro has been testing a probiotic treatment on reefs in the Red Sea and joins us to divulge her findings. We’re continuing with a tone of optimism with this week’s shortlisted book for the Royal Society’s coveted Trivedi Science Book Prize. ‘Despite it All: A Handbook for Climate Hopefuls’ by veteran environmental journalist Fred Pearce, focuses on the progress humanity has made in protecting the planet. Plus, mathematician Kit Yates is back, bringing us some of the week’s most exciting science news, including how we might use the earth's magnetic field to authenticate artefacts and a puzzling ten-sided cloud structure on Saturn's south pole. Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alex Mansfield, Katie Tomsett, Keiran Manetta-Jones Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

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    26 Min.
  • The day of the datacentres

    The day of the datacentres
    Aug 27 2026
    Reports about the impacts of datacentres, including carbon emissions, water usage and power consumption, vary drastically and the truth can be hard to decipher. Deborah Andrews, Emeritus Professor at London South Bank University, joins us for some myth busting. Plus, science journalist Caroline Steel has been scouring the journals and brings us some of this week’s most exciting science news, including the failed attempts to save the Swift space telescope. Presenter: Tom Whipple Producers: Alex Mansfield, Katie Tomsett, Keiran Manetta-Jones Editor: Ilan Goodman Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

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    26 Min.
  • Is the era of the cancer vaccine upon us?

    Is the era of the cancer vaccine upon us?
    Aug 20 2026
    This week Merck (known as MSD in Europe) and Moderna announced that a personalised cancer vaccine had significantly improved the outcomes of melanoma patients. Is the era of the cancer vaccine, at last, upon us? What does that mean? Anne Willis, a cancer cell biologist at the Medical Research Council, joins us to discuss. In just a few weeks the Royal Society will be putting out the red carpet as the most coveted prize in non-fiction science is about to be awarded. We will be speaking weekly to the shortlisted authors for the Royal Society Trivedi Book Prize, and we are starting with Kit Chapman, author of the Age of Alchemy. Plus, Penny Sarchet has, like an alchemist of old, been scouring the most obscure texts and journals to bring us the latest science knowledge. Presenter: Tom Whipple Producers: Alex Mansfield, Tabitha Taylor Buck, Katie Tomsett, Keiran Manetta-Jones Editor: Ilan Goodman Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

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    26 Min.
  • Should we be scared of AI viruses?

    Should we be scared of AI viruses?
    Aug 13 2026
    The extreme possibilities of synthetic biology hit the headlines last week, when researchers at Stanford University in the US announced they had created new kinds of viruses designed by Artificial Intelligence. Roland Pease is joined by microbiologist Dr Simon Clarke from Reading University and Joy Zhang, Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent, to discuss whether we should be concerned about the prospect of AI viruses. Meanwhile, 50 years ago NASA's remarkable Viking space probes touched down on Mars, breaking new frontiers in space science. Claire Cousins, part of the European Space Agency's team working on the ExoMars Rover, joins us to take a look at how today’s ambitious projects built on their success. And science and technology journalist Gareth Mitchell joins us to discuss the week’s science news. Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Tabitha Taylor-Buck, Dan Welsh, Keiran Manetta-Jones Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

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    26 Min.
  • The state of our substrate: What is drought doing to our soil?

    The state of our substrate: What is drought doing to our soil?
    Aug 6 2026
    Large parts of Europe are in the grip of drought. According to the UK Meteorological Office, last week was the UK's driest July on record. Katie Field, professor of plant-soil processes at Sheffield University, joins us to discuss the state of our struggling substrate. Next week, a dramatic solar eclipse will be sweeping down the Atlantic. In the past, eclipses have been vital to astronomers exploring the outer reaches of the Sun. Now though, they can make their own on demand. Esther Bastida-Pertegaz, project engineer at the European Space Agency, discusses the flying formation Proba-3 mission. A highly pathogenic bird flu has arrived in Australia, threatening local wildlife. Every continent in the world is now affected, and the harm that could be done to bird populations and mammals could be devastating. Thijs Kuiken, virologist at Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, brings us up to date with the situation. And Lizzie Gibney of Nature Magazine joins us to discuss this week’s science news. Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Clare Salisbury, Tabitha Taylor-Buck, Keiran Manetta-Jones Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

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    26 Min.
  • Are we alone in the universe?

    Are we alone in the universe?
    Jul 30 2026
    Scientists have long referred to the Goldilocks zone – the region around a star where conditions are not too hot and not too cold but “just right” for life. Joined by a live audience at the Cheltenham Science Festival in the UK, Tom Whipple asks what are the true limitations of alien life? How do we spot it? And have we been looking too narrowly? Planetary scientist at MIT Sara Seagar discusses her team’s mission to Venus where, on the surface, temperatures can reach 500 degrees Celsius and it rains sulphuric acid. Above the rain, up in the clouds, Sara Seagar tells us how there could be life. And Lewis Dartnell, Professor of astrobiology at the University of Westminster, describes how he looks for extremophiles. These are organisms on earth that are found in places we once thought impossibly hostile to life. Plus, the missions to find life on Mars.... Presenter: Tom Whipple Producer: Dan Welsh Editor: Ilan Goodman & Martin Smith Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

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    26 Min.