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BBC Inside Science

El Nino, Echolocation, Seasons, Snakes

BBC Inside Science

BBC

Technology, Science

4.51.3K Ratings

🗓️ 21 May 2015

⏱️ 29 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

El Nino is a weather event that happens every 5 years. It leaves Europe largely unscathed but causes havoc around the southern hemisphere. El Nino causes droughts, floods and has even been linked to an increased incidence of war. And yet it is surprisingly hard to predict. Adam speaks to Professor Adam Scaife, from the Met Office, about unpicking the science from weather chaos.

Echolocation is the ability to sense objects using reflected sound. A handful of animal species do this - most bats, some whales and even a few humans. Some blind people use echolocation to navigate the world they can't see. Some make a clicking sound as they walk. Others use the sound of their footfall. In fact, all humans, sighted and unsighted, do it. Adam meets BBC's Damon Rose, who is blind, and they compare skills.

Marnie Chesterton travels to Southampton University's Institute of Sound and Vibration Research to meet Daniel Rowan. His team have recently isolated some of the factors necessary to echolocate. The work involved an anechoic chamber - the quietest place on earth and the sound equivalent of nothing.

Last week Adam gave the incorrect reason for why we have seasons. Dr Laura Rogers, a physics teacher, puts him right.

Dr Rhys Jones, star of BBC TV's Wildlife Patrol talks to Adam about the origin of snakes. A recent paper from a team in Yale hypothesises a common ancestor with tiny hind legs and nocturnal habits. Adam questions why 3400 species of snake have evolved to not have legs, when millions of other animals find them so useful.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Choosing what to watch night after night the flicking through the endless

0:06.8

searching is a nightmare we want to help you on our brand new podcast off the

0:11.8

telly we share what we've been watching

0:14.0

Cladie Aide.

0:16.0

Load to games, loads of fun, loads of screaming.

0:19.0

Lovely. Off the telly with me Joanna Paige.

0:21.0

And me, Natalie Cassidy, so your evenings can be a little less

0:24.9

searching and a lot more watching listen on BBC sounds.

0:29.1

Hello you this is the 100th podcast of Inside Science from BBC Radio 4 this one first

0:35.3

broadcast on the 21st of May 2015. Happy birthday to us. I'm Adam Rutherford and you are our lovely listener.

0:44.0

Terms and Conditions at BBC.co.

0:46.0

UK slash Radio 4.

0:48.0

Bats do it.

0:50.0

Dolphins do it and it turns out a few of us do it too.

0:53.0

Echolocation using sound to navigate around the world,

0:56.5

mostly the domain of non-human animals,

0:59.2

but we get a demo from a blind echolocating person and visit one of the quietest places on earth to find out just how it works.

1:07.0

Indiana Jones was terrified of them, but I love them.

1:10.0

We take a look at the origin of snakes and get to grips with the mother of all serpents.

1:16.2

And an apology.

1:17.6

Last week I said something that was egregiously wrong, a genuine schoolboy error. Many of you noticed, so we've invited a teacher on to set me straight.

1:26.0

But first, it's a semi-predictable phenomenon. It comes in roughly two to seven-year cycles.

...

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