In search of stardust
Discovery
BBC
4.3 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 24 July 2023
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Norwegian jazz musician Jon Larsen was having breakfast one clear spring morning when he noticed a tiny black speck land on his clean, white table. With no wind, birds or planes in sight, he wondered if it fell from space.
Dust from space is not as fanciful as it sounds. Billions of microscopic meteorites, dating back to the birth of our solar system, fall onto Earth every year. But they are so tiny, hidden among the copious dust of everyday life, that scientists believe they are impossible to find outside ultra clean environments like Antarctica.
But this doesn’t deter Jon, who, against the advice of all experts, decides he is going to be the first person to find an urban micrometeorite.
He takes presenter Caroline Steel and planetary scientist Dr Matthew Genge up onto some roofs, in search of the elusive particles. Can we find stardust on the top of the BBC?
Featuring Jon Larsen, Dr Matthew Genge and Svein Aarbostad.
Presenter: Caroline Steel
(Image: Cygnus Nebulosity and Starclouds Credit: VW Pics / Contributor | Getty Images)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello, and welcome to Woman's Hour. |
| 0:03.8 | I never would have dreamed of going out and playing in front of thousands of people |
| 0:07.7 | all around, you know, center court. |
| 0:09.4 | The daily podcast featuring women's voices. |
| 0:12.0 | It seems that I'm a threat and they scared all women like me who can say no to this barbaric |
| 0:17.6 | regime talking about women's lives. |
| 0:20.1 | You're doing what every other girl was doing, just going out at night, having fun. |
| 0:24.6 | And they, again, villainized us for it. |
| 0:26.9 | Woman's Hour. |
| 0:27.9 | First, on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:30.5 | World Football at the Women's World Cup is the podcast bringing you all the action from |
| 0:35.0 | the tournament in Australia and New Zealand. |
| 0:37.9 | Listen now by searching for World Football from the BBC World Service, wherever you get |
| 0:43.3 | your BBC podcasts. |
| 0:45.1 | So, the key works. |
| 0:48.4 | Oh, that sounds good. |
| 0:51.4 | Oh, we're on the BBC roof. |
| 0:57.1 | So what I would start with is just to have a quick look around. |
| 1:02.1 | So the Cosmic Dust Particles would be blown over here, pressed into that wall and into |
| 1:08.0 | the edge at that side. |
| 1:09.2 | Let's have a look. |
| 1:10.2 | What about this? |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.