A year with Covid -19
Unexpected Elements
BBC
4.4 • 568 Ratings
🗓️ 27 December 2020
⏱️ 54 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It was the end of December 2019 when reports of a new flu like infection first came out of China. Within weeks millions of people were in lockdown as the virus took hold around the world.
In this programme we look back and revisit the scientists who were ready, those who had been studying bat coronaviruses and warning of their pandemic potential.
The scientific response was immediate. The coronavirus tests now used across the world were being developed within a few hours of news of the outbreak in China, and the vaccines we now have licenced for use began to be formulated just a few days later.
At Christmas, is there a better gift than knowledge? CrowdScience has cooked up its own version of 'secret Santa', with members of the team setting one another the challenge of answering surprising questions from all over the world.
Are humans the only animals to exercise? Can you get colder than absolute zero? Why are sounds louder at night? When it comes to food dropped on the floor, is there such thing as the "three-second rule"? And, does honey really have healing properties?
Producers and presenters from the CrowdScience team speak to all manner of experts, from zoologists through to material scientists, to find the answers.
(Image: Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | In 2019, we began investigating the disappearance of Dr. Ruzha Ignatva. |
| 0:08.0 | I believe we are a very special network. |
| 0:10.0 | A scammer who stole billions from investors around the world. |
| 0:15.0 | She's on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. |
| 0:18.0 | And now, we have some unmissable updates. She has money and when you have |
| 0:23.0 | money you have power. Join me, Jamie Bartlett, as the hunt for the missing crypto queen continues. |
| 0:29.5 | Listen first on BBC Sounds. Thank you for downloading the Science Hour from the BBC World Service |
| 0:35.9 | with me, Roland Pease. |
| 0:42.8 | Later in the podcast, the crowd science team will be answering a clutch of your questions. |
| 0:47.4 | For example, on food hygiene and do animals exercise. |
| 0:50.6 | But first, it's science in action. |
| 0:55.8 | December 30th, I remember it very clearly. We got news from our colleagues in action. December 30th, I remember it very clearly. |
| 0:59.5 | We got news from our colleagues in China that something was going on. |
| 1:04.1 | We were on the phone, on WeChat, trying to find out more information all that day. |
| 1:10.5 | The story that defined 2020 had its origins in the dying days of the previous year, |
| 1:13.9 | and only a few had an inkling of what it might become. |
| 1:17.8 | By December 30th, we had pretty good information looking back. |
| 1:24.1 | We had heard from a good source that there was a coronavirus behind this outbreak with 20% difference to SARS. The idea that a repeat of the severe respiratory |
| 1:30.8 | disease SARS could emerge once again from the food markets of China had long haunted experts |
| 1:37.3 | like EcoHealth, Peter Dasak. The minute I heard about an unusual pneumonia, that's the red flag |
| 1:42.7 | for a SARS-like event. That's what we've been looking for in China for many years, the potential for a SARS-like event. |
| 1:49.2 | The original SARS had infected over 8,000, claimed the lives of nearly 800 and taken eight months |
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