Coral Reefs
The Infinite Monkey Cage
BBC
4.7 • 9.4K Ratings
🗓️ 27 January 2020
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Magic of Coral
Brian Cox and Robin Ince are joined on stage by comedian Marcus Brigstocke and marine biologists Professor Callum Roberts and Dr Heather Koldewey as they look at the amazing creatures that create and colonise coral reefs. Just two microscopic organisms are responsible for the creation of these incredible structures, structures so huge that they can be seen from outer-space. Brian, Robin and the panel talk about the vital yet delicate relationship between the coral polyp and and its tiny plant lodger, how they evolved to be so co-dependent, and how this unique partnership has lead to some of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. They also look at the very real threat to our planet's reefs as our oceans warm, and what, if anything can be done.
Producer: Alexandra Feachem
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:04.7 | Hello, welcome to the Infinite. |
| 0:06.4 | I did a very special hello, by the way. |
| 0:08.0 | That was what we call the podcast Hello, |
| 0:09.8 | which means that because slightly younger people |
| 0:11.4 | offer a list of BBC sounds for their podcasts, |
| 0:13.1 | I go, hello! |
| 0:14.2 | Can I just explain who that is? |
| 0:16.0 | That's Robin Ins, I'm Brian Cox, |
| 0:17.8 | and you are listening to the BBC Infinite Monkey Cage |
| 0:21.6 | podcasts on BBC Sounds, which you know |
| 0:24.8 | because presumably you've downloaded it. |
| 0:26.9 | My wife's family used to own a mermaid. |
| 0:29.4 | It's just entirely true. |
| 0:30.7 | They owned a mermaid and eventually they sold it |
| 0:33.3 | to a hair salon in North Shields. |
| 0:35.9 | And it turned out it was basically an embarmed cod body |
| 0:39.6 | with a monkey's head stuck to it. |
| 0:42.3 | And I have no idea why a hair salon would want that, |
| 0:46.3 | as if that was going to be kind of one of the tips of what. |
| 0:48.4 | I was going to ask for a perm, |
| 0:50.3 | but I think instead, could you make me look like a decaying macaque head? |
... |
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