Does talking to strangers make you happier?

Could aging disgracefully help you live longer?

I'm Dr. Michael Mosley and in my Just One Long Thing podcast series I'll be chatting to doctors and scientists

we'll be covering topics like sleep exercise happiness and staying young with each

of our experts choosing a health hack they claim is the single most effective way you can improve your life.

Just one long thing. Listen first on BBC Sounds. Hello, welcome to the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service with me Jane Wilkinson. I'm taking you back to the UK in 1985 and what would

turn out to be one of the most important environmental discoveries of the

20th century. There's new concern about the ozone layer which protects the earth from the sun's harmful

ultraviolet radiation.

Some scientists say that more must be done to curb the use of the chemicals

which cause its deterioration. They're concerned about chemicals called chloroflorocarbons

which are used in aerosol sprays and fast food packaging.

That was the BBC, with an early report on a shocking scientific discovery.

Unfortunately, most of the world was not paying attention to environmental warnings.

At the time, Jonathan Shanklin was working for the British Antarctic survey in Cambridge.

Back in 1985, I was basically a junior scientist with a survey and one of the many roles was looking at Antarctic

ozone data that was coming back. Some of it via TLEX, which is a very primitive form of

internet. Some of it on handwritten sheets shipped back all the way from

Antarctica. Those readings came from the Dobson Ozone Specter

at the survey South Pole research station.

It had been measuring Ozone in the Earth's atmosphere since 1956, because, as a European Space Agency film explains ozone is

essential for life. The ozone layer is a thin part of Earth's atmosphere that

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