Rosetta; Thought-controlled genes; Biophonic Life; Arecibo message 40 years on

BBC Inside Science

BBC

Technology, Science

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 13 November 2014

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Rosetta After a nail-biting, bumpy, bouncy landing, European Space Agency's Rosetta probe - 'Philae' -lands on the comet 67P. It's already collecting data and beaming back some very impressive images of this dusty, icy space projectile. BBC Space correspondent Jonathan Amos fills us in on the latest news.

Thought-controlled genes Brainwaves from human participants activated a light, which in turn switches on specific genes in mice. In this proof of concept study, Professor Martin Fussenegger hopes that one day this technology could be used to control pain, pre-empt epileptic seizures, or in fact communicate with people who have locked in syndrome. It's another example of two very exciting techniques - brain machine interfacing and optogenetics.

Arecibo Message Anniversary 40 years ago, on 16 Nov 1974, a message designed to inform intelligent alien civilisations about human existence was beamed into space. Whilst Frank Drake's binary picture message was primarily put together to show the capabilities of the upgraded Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico, it has inspired interest and enthusiasm around the world. Veteran of subsequent space message projects Dr Carolyn Porco joins Adam to talk about how space science has progressed in the interim decades, and what these ventures mean to humankind.

Biophonic Life Sound installation "The Sounds of Others: A Biophonic Line", by artist Marcus Coates is currently delighting visitors to Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry. It explores the sounds of animals, from field crickets to humpback whales. By speeding and slowing each sound, his work reveals unimagined connections between species, and unearths common patterns and forms that would normally be beyond the reach of the human ear. The Sounds of Others looks for commonality between the human and non-human worlds, through sound. Marcus Coates, and collaborator wildlife sound-recordist Geoff Sample talk Adam through some of the surprising sounds of nature. Can you tell a pack of children from red deer? Or Marcus from a Lion? And is there a reason for these connections?

Producer: Fiona Roberts.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:08.5	As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.
0:18.0	What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,
0:24.6	poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.
0:29.7	If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.
0:36.0	Hello you, I'm Adam Rutherford and this is the podcast of BBC Inside Science.
0:40.0	First broadcast on the 13th of November 2014 one day after humankind put a
0:46.3	spacecraft on a comet traveling at 12 miles per second 300 million miles
0:51.1	from home not bad for a species of shaven apes. Terms and conditions at
0:55.8	BBC.co. UK slash Radio 4.
0:58.8	Stranger than fiction, it all sounds like sci-fi this week, but it's not, it's science.
1:03.6	Switching on genes using telepathy, not supernatural, but you think it and a brain circuit is
1:09.2	activated in another creature.
1:11.7	And 40 years on and we're still waiting for E.T. to call.
1:14.8	It's the anniversary of the Arisebo message when for the first time we let the
1:19.0	universe know that we are here. And we have strange alien noises.
1:24.0	Well, the first of those was not
1:34.4	terrestrial and it wasn't the clangers but you'll have to stay tuned in to find out what it was.
1:36.2	The second noise, not alien, but certainly from interplanatory space.
1:40.3	That was the sound of the big science news this week, maybe of this year.
1:44.0	The vibration produced by the Comet 67P
	...

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