A Crash Course in Space Junk

The Naked Scientists Podcast

Dr Chris Smith

Naked Scientists, Medicine, Engineering, Natural Sciences, Life Sciences, Technology, Science, Health & Fitness, Science Radio

4.6 • 960 Ratings

🗓️ 14 March 2017

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

There is a floating museum above our heads: millions of fragments from past space missions are hurtling round the earth and could destroy our current satellites. We find out how spacecraft are coping now, and how we might be able to clean up space in the future. Plus, news of a synthetically engineered yeast genome, a breakthrough in OCD and a new ebola vaccine for gorillas. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Transcript

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0:00.0	I have you loud and clear.
0:03.6	Hello.
0:04.6	Hello.
0:05.6	Welcome. Science and that is the same physics medicine nature, nature, or space, time, brain, life, the universe.
0:16.7	This week we're drawing rings around the world, looking at all the junk that we've dumped
0:21.4	into orbit and how it's coming back to bite us.
0:24.4	Plus, scientists engineer a synthetic genome from scratch, new insights into treating
0:30.0	obsessive compulsive disorder and the fight to save guerrillas from Ebola.
0:34.4	I'm Chris Smith. I'm Katani and this is the Naked Scientists.
0:39.1	The Naked Scientists podcast is powered by UKfast.co.uk.
0:44.0	First this week scientists have announced that they've successfully
0:53.7	engineered from scratch a significant part of the DNA genome of yeast.
0:58.9	The team have now made synthetic forms of six of the yeast's 16 chromosomes and these are the
1:05.5	DNA hubs that are inside cells and where genes are located and inserted into yeast
1:11.3	cells in place of the native chromosomes, these synthetic forms
1:14.9	actually booted up and worked normally.
1:18.0	This, researchers say, brings us a step closer to the goal of producing completely synthetic life. New York-based
1:24.4	scientist Jeff Buka is leading the project. The papers that came out in
1:29.2	science this week describe the complete design of a synthetic version of the yeast genome and that
1:36.6	would be the yeast commonly used to brew beer and bake bread.
1:40.9	It's also a very important organism for basic science research.
1:45.0	And we're announcing that five additional chromosomes have been synthesized to this design. They are alive and well inside a yeast cell
	...

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