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Unexpected Elements

Nyiragongo - is Goma under threat?

Unexpected Elements

BBC

Science

4.4570 Ratings

🗓️ 6 September 2020

⏱️ 63 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A new survey of the volcano's activity suggests there may be an eruption in the next 4 to 7 years. It's a particular concern for the populations of Goma and Gisenyi, two cites between the volcano and lake Kivu. As we hear from the director of the Goma Volcano Observatory Katcho Karume, the city of Goma in particular has expanded so much that many people now live right next to fissures in the flank of the volcano through which any eruption would likely occur.

Hurricane Laura made landfall in Louisiana's main area of swamp land, missing big urban areas to either side. It was a lucky escape for many, but as hurricane historian Jill Trepanier tells us such extreme weather events do seem to be more frequent and potentially more destructive.

And wildfires ravaging California and other Western US states may have been intensified by changes to global weather systems . Climate scientist Bill Lau says those weather systems in turn have been modified by man-made climate change.

In November 2018 a Chinese scientist announced he had edited the genes of twin girls. The announcement was greeted with horror by many researchers in the field. Now a way to regulate gene editing internationally has been proposed by some of the world's leading scientific institutions. Kay Davies co-author of their report explains the plan.

What does science say about controlling urination, and other bodily functions? We tackle three queries about peeing triggers, pooing positions and missing sweat. This episode CrowdScience presenter Marnie Chesterton poses some of the best listener follow-up questions that have landed in our inbox to a panel of experts.

Listener Samuel in Ghana is wondering why watery sounds seem to induce urination. Producer Melanie Brown heads out to survey whether this is the case for individuals in an actual crowd at a public fountain in London. And urologist and trustee of the International Continence Society Marcus Drake talks Marnie through how he uses the sound of running water during his work as a hospital doctor helping patients with common but distressing peeing issues, and the limitations of research into this question.

And he's not the only listener who wants us to dig deeper into topics we've explored on the show before. Anna in Tokyo also got in touch after hearing our show about toilets, to ask if there is a toilet design that is most 'natural' for our health. Gastroenterologist Anton Emmanuel explains why small changes in people's posture whilst pooing can have a significant impact on their quality of life.

Finally, listeners Stelle, James and Joel emailed crowdscience@bbc.co.uk after hearing Marnie investigate hyperhidrosis: Sweating too much. They and their relatives experience the opposite.

(Main Image: Sunset, Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. Credit: Shamim Shorif Susom / EyeEm / Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0

Oh, hello. You have chosen a BBC podcast, but before you listen to it, we thought you might

0:04.7

like our podcast too. You might. You might. It is called Sightracked with me, Nick Grimshaw.

0:09.2

And me, Annie Mack. And we talk about the week in music. All the news, all the cultural

0:14.0

happenings in the UK and beyond. And great guests. And it's on BBC Sounds. Yes, where you can

0:19.7

also enjoy lots of playlists, music mixes and

0:22.6

live radio, everything from my six music breakfast show to Radio 3 Unwind. But obviously start

0:29.2

with our podcast, sidetrack. Obviously. Obviously. So if you like music, listen on BBC

0:33.7

Sounds. This is The Sands Hour from the BBC World Service,

0:37.7

where in half an hour,

0:39.5

crowd sance goes in search of strange bodily responses,

0:43.3

like this acoustic trigger to dinkle.

0:46.1

When you hear the sound of running water,

0:48.6

do you ever need the loo?

0:50.0

Do you need the toilet?

0:51.1

Yeah.

0:51.7

I suppose if you can put it that way.

0:54.0

Yeah. What about you guys? Yeah. I suppose if you can put it that way. Yeah.

0:54.6

What about you guys?

0:56.1

Yeah.

0:56.8

Definitely.

1:00.5

Myth or science?

1:02.9

Marnie Chesterton seeks answers later in the podcast.

...

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