Introducing: CrowdScience - What keeps the universe in balance?
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 17 May 2026
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Listener Ndanusa in Ghana, is gazing up at the stars, and wondering what keeps our universe in balance? Ndanusa knows a thing or two about the stars, and he knows that they use up hydrogen as they burn, and release helium. And he’s wondering, is there something out there which does the opposite? Something that uses up helium, and produces hydrogen, to keep the universe in perfect, chemical equilibrium? Presenter Alex Lathbridge goes on a journey to answer his questions and delves into the blackness of deep space, the ancient origins of our universe, and the complex physics of the stars. He pops into the Ghana Radio Astronomy Observatory, just outside Accra, where astrophysicist Dr Proven Adzri helps him peer into the earliest few seconds of our universe, and find out what set the stars burning. And at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Dr Linus Labik talks him through what’s going on at the atomic level. And in the deep blackness of the night, up above the tree canopy of Kakum National Park, he takes a peek at the stars for himself. Local guides Chris and Kwabena explain how much meaning there is behind the stars in the night sky.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts. |
| 0:07.3 | On BBC Sounds, there are podcasts to help you look after your body and your mind. |
| 0:12.7 | From increasing your immunity to feeling more confident. |
| 0:16.6 | Or tips on how to focus. |
| 0:18.5 | Sorry, what will you say? |
| 0:19.7 | If it matters to you, it matters to us. |
| 0:22.6 | Feel good inside of it. |
| 0:24.3 | With What's Up Docs. |
| 0:25.8 | And Complex with Kimberly Wilson. |
| 0:27.9 | Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:30.5 | Hello and welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:34.4 | I'm Alex Staffbridge and I'm one of the presenters of crowd science. The concept |
| 0:38.7 | is pretty simple. You send us your science questions and we try and answer them with the help of |
| 0:44.4 | some of the finest minds in the world. Experts who spend their lives doing the research. From |
| 0:50.2 | how big as a rainbow to can I really manifest the future, you can ask us pretty much anything that's bothering you. |
| 0:56.8 | Just email crowd science at BBC.co.uk or WhatsApp us on plus 44-8,000, 314773. That's plus 448-0-314-773. |
| 1:13.2 | As a special treat, we're giving you the chance to hear one of our recent episodes now. |
| 1:18.8 | And to start, we're going stargazing in Ghana. |
| 1:25.0 | Welcome to Kakul National Park. |
| 1:37.3 | My name is Kabina Asante, from Abraffu, Dumasie here, who works as a tour guide in Kakum National Park rainforest. We're hoping to see some stars. Where are we going? |
| 1:41.3 | We are going to the forest, but the problem is the forest canopy will cover ice. |
| 1:48.0 | To find a place where we can go up on the tree platform to be able to see the stars. |
... |
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