Comet landing detects organics molecules; Lunar Mission One; Biological warfare

BBC Inside Science

BBC

Technology, Science

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 20 November 2014

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Philae lander detects organic molecules on Comet 67P Rosetta scientist, Professor Monica Grady from the Open University discusses the latest news from last week's historic comet mission. Philae, the Rosetta robot probe, made history last week when she finally landed on the surface of Comet 67P. But she ended up lying on her side, and only in partial sunlight. Her batteries were on borrowed time. After around 60 hours, Philae powered down, and went into hibernation mode. However, her instruments harvested some data and now the first results are in.

UK-led crowdfunded Moon mission Lunar Mission One aims to land a robotic spacecraft on the unexplored lunar South Pole by 2024. It's a space mission with a difference: it could be funded by you. For a small fee supporters can send a human hair to the Moon in a Blue Peter-style time capsule. And the spacecraft will drill up to 100 metres below the surface to ask questions about the Moon's origin, aiming to find out more about the minerals that exist there, several of which are potentially valuable. Our reporter Sue Nelson went to the British Interplanetary Society's Reinventing Space conference in London to hear more.

The Selfish Gene debate As another bout of biological warfare breaks out between two scientific superpowers, Adam Rutherford gets to grips with evolutionary theory, with social insect expert Professor Adam Hart. He hears from Richard Dawkins and E.O. Wilson and finds out why, after forty years of promoting the idea of kin selection, E O Wilson now dismisses the whole idea as 'rhetoric'.

Presenter: Adam Rutherford Producer: Anna Buckley Assistant Producer: Jen Whyntie.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
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0:36.0	Hello you, this is the podcast of BBC Inside Science first broadcast on the 20th of November 2014.
0:42.0	I'm Adam Rutherford terms and conditions at BBC.co.
0:45.9	UK slash radio 4.
0:48.4	Crowd funding trips to space. Is this the new model for exploration of the solar system where you can pay anything upwards of a quid to get us back onto the moon?
0:58.0	And we addressed the latest skirmish in the biological warfare that has broken out between two superpowers, Richard Dawkins and E.O. Wilson.
1:06.7	The concept of the selfish gene is the territory and we get to the bottom of the science and decide
1:11.9	if evolution is about to be revolutionized or if it's all just
1:16.2	jibber jibber.
1:17.8	But now the first results from Rosetta.
1:20.4	It was this time last week that Philai, the Rosetta Landing Craft, made history.
1:25.6	She finally came to rest on the surface of Comet 67P.
1:29.4	She was lying on her side, and alas, in partial sunlight, which meant that her batteries were on borrowed time.
1:35.6	After 60 hours, Fili powered down and went into hibernation mode.
1:40.3	But not before her instruments with names like Kozak and Ptolemy
1:44.6	harvested some data and sent it back home.
1:47.8	Yesterday we got word that organic molecules had been detected.
	...

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