Not so random acts of kindness

Unexpected Elements

BBC

Science

4.4 • 567 Ratings

🗓️ 15 February 2024

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ahead of international Random Acts of Kindness Day, Marnie Chesterton and an invited panel look at some of the science behind nature’s better nature.

Are mother spiders in Africa behind the ultimate act of kindness? How are lightning and lava lamps involved in the quest for a truly random number? And the engineer trying to bring more compassion to the machines we use every day.

We also hear about the technology helping archaeologists discover lost worlds in South America, the maths that might benefit your love life, and Marnie receives her very own random act of kindness - a surprise trip to a lab to meet some of the most extraordinary creatures on the planet.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Andrada Fiscutean and Camilla Mota Producer: Dan Welsh, with Tom Bonnett, Katie Tomsett and Alex Mansfield

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.
0:21.7	She has money and when you have money, you have power.
0:24.6	Join me, Jamie Bartlett, as the hunt for the missing crypto queen continues.
0:29.5	Listen first on BBC Sounds.
0:32.0	In 1969, a plan to show support for an anti-racism protest turned the lives of 14 promising black student athletes upside down.
0:41.8	Amazing Sports Stories from the BBC World Service tells their story.
0:46.3	Search for amazing sports stories wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
0:53.6	Last week was a big deal for football fans, whether you're a follower of the Africa Cup of Nations, the Asian Cup, or the American version of football with the Super Bowl.
1:04.9	Although there's much joy for fans of Qatar, Ivory Coast, or the Kansas City Chiefs, including all the new fans who mainly joined for the love of Taylor Swift, spare a thought for the heartbreak for fans of Nigeria, Jordan and the San Francisco 49ers.
1:21.8	So close, so hopeful, and yet victory wasn't to be.
1:26.8	It makes me think of that great line from Liverpool
1:29.0	manager Bill Shankley. Many people believe football is a matter of life and death. I can assure you
1:35.3	it is much, much more important than that. I'm not much of a fan. I'm more of a voyeur of other
1:42.4	people's excitements and heartbreaks. So I'm sending
1:45.6	a commiseration hug over the airways. I'm Marnie Chesterton from the BBC World Service. This is
1:51.7	unexpected elements team in Bucharest, Romania, technology journalist Andrade Fiscutian.
2:13.6	Hello.
2:14.4	Bunamani.
	...

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