BBC Inside Science

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

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

Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth has announced that the US military will be screening military personnel aged 30 and older for testosterone deficiency. Those found with low testosterone levels will be offered voluntary hormone replacement therapy. The secretary says this is to ensure “a healthy, capable, and decisively dominant fighting force”. Tom Whipple is joined by Professor Joe Herbert from the University of Cambridge to discuss why jacking soldiers up with testosterone may or may not be the best idea.
Marine Biologist Kathryn Ayres, from the non-profit organisation Beneath the Waves, describes a newly observed behaviour in orcas in which they collaboratively swim so hard into a dead sunfish it explodes. Is it a teachable moment for their young or is it just for fun?
Finally, we have Kit Yates, our resident mathematician, to reassure Tom that although AI might one day actually kill us all, at least it can disprove an 87-year-old mathematics conjecture.

Presenter: Tom Whipple
Producer: Dan Welsh, Alex Mansfield, Imy Harper, Tabitha Taylor Buck
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

A few years ago a satellite speeding through the Van Allen belt in earth orbit raised concerns that it may include a nuclear weapon. An explosion in that orbit would take out much of our global space infrastructure. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 specifically prohibits such a thing, but it has proven technologically impossible to verify and monitor over the decades. Tom Whipple is joined by Prof Areg Danagoulian, Associate Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT to explore a clever concept to spot such a thermonuclear device in orbit that he has published in this month’s Nature journal.
Also on the show, Professor of Science Communications Gareth Mitchell discusses how the way toddlers waddle can teach robots how to play football, and how to win. He also examines a new global database on food consumption which aims to help answer some of the world’s most pressing questions on our diets and the environment.

Presenter: Tom Whipple
Producer: Alex Mansfield & Tabitha Taylor Buck
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

Synthetic biologist Kate Adamal and her team at the University of Minnesota published their research into the lab-created ‘SpudCell’ in a significant step towards building life from scratch. Science journalist, Kai Kupferschmidt, joins us to discuss the implications of this research, as well as the controversies.
Nature reporter Lizzie Gibney tells us how science has helped us better understand the route that the famous Carthaginian general, Hannibal – and not forgetting his elephants – took across the Alps.
Plus, in this week’s scout of science stories behind the ‘beautiful game’ we learn of research carried out at a Tokyo football match, monitoring seismic waves made by the vigorous celebrations of thousands of fans.
Presenter: Tom Whipple
Producer: Kate White, Alex Mansfield, Katie Tomsett, Tabitha Taylor Buck
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth