Hayfever, paleobotany and snot palaces
Unexpected Elements
BBC
4.4 • 567 Ratings
🗓️ 22 June 2023
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A look at some unexpected elements of congestion: Why does pollen make so many of us wheezy, and sneezy? What can it tell us about the distant past? Plus, we take a look at what we can learn from the construction and engineering behind aquatic snot palaces.
Plus your enemy’s enemy can be your friend – hear about the tiny viruses that invade certain bacteria. Speaking of bacteria, we look at the latest place to hunt for new antibiotics – the fur of a certain animal, and with reports of famine emerging from North Korea, we hear about the scientist who is said to have saved more lives than any other person who has ever lived.
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. |
| 0:34.8 | So this week, a couple of my colleagues came down with COVID, which is a reminder that in the UK, the virus hasn't gone away. |
| 0:43.1 | We just closed the last of our monitoring surveys, so we no longer know how prevalent it is in the population. |
| 0:50.1 | It's British summertime, which tends to be a time with lower levels of COVID infection. |
| 0:55.9 | However, it's also peak hay fever. So whenever anyone sneezes near you on the bus or the tube, |
| 1:03.1 | you have to guess, do they have allergies or an airborne transmitted infection? Do you feel lucky? |
| 1:10.5 | I do feel lucky because I've got a bicycle and can choose |
| 1:14.2 | to opt out of the whole dilemma by cycling around the city. I just need to not think about all the |
| 1:19.5 | traffic fumes I'm breathing in instead. I'm Marnie Chasterton. From the BBC World Service, |
| 1:25.6 | this is unexpected elements. |
| 1:45.2 | This show is a group effort and let me introduce the rest of us, |
| 1:49.4 | joining me from a place with more than enough space to socially distance from the northernmost province of Canada in Nunavut |
| 1:52.5 | is journalist Moral Jamal. Welcome Moral. |
| 1:56.5 | Hello, Olakut. |
| 1:58.4 | And from the capital of Costa Rica, we have the editor from Knowable N. Español, |
| 2:04.9 | Debbie Ponchner. Welcome, Debbie. Hi, nice to be here. Thank you for having me. |
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