Science of ageing; Microneedles; Firelab; Rosetta; Scientific authorship

BBC Inside Science

BBC

Technology, Science

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 6 November 2014

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What is ageing? In 1900, the global average life expectancy was 31, today it's 70, and the number of people over 85 in the UK is predicted to double in the next 20 years. How has ageing evolved, and do we know what is happening in our cells as we age? Professor Richard Faragher, University of Brighton, explains.

Sticking plaster-like needle replacement Microneedles on a sticking-plaster-like patch may be the painless and safe way doctors will test for drugs and infections, and give vaccinations in the future. Roland Pease tries an alternative to the traditional injection at Queen's University Belfast with Dr Ryan Donnelly.

Science of fire It's November, and these are the days when you may well have a smouldering bonfire in your back garden. Marnie Chesterton meets scientists whose lives are devoted to the behaviour of fire.

Comet landing mission nears The Rosetta Mission is entering the final stages before landing on a comet. By this time next week, we will know if the European Space Agency has successfully achieved what could be an extraordinary feat. Paolo Ferri, Head of Mission Operations at the European Space Agency, outlines the challenge.

Dr Stronzo and other cases Dr Stronzo Bestiale made his debut in the world of scientific publications in 1987, authoring a paper entitled 'Diffusion in a periodic Lorentz gas', in the Journal of Statistical Physics. However, he doesn't exist. This phantom physicist is not an isolated incident: Mike Holderness at New Scientist has been tracking scientific author apparitions for some time.

Producer: Marnie Chesterton Assistant Producer: Jen Whyntie.

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, this is the podcast of BBC Inside Science from the BBC first broadcast on the 6th of November 2014 and I'm Adam Rutherford
0:44.7	terms and conditions at BBC.co. UK slash radio 4.
0:48.8	we investigate an utterly pointless way of injecting drugs.
0:52.7	By that, I mean, the needles have no actual point.
0:56.3	It's bonfire season, so we visit the scientists whose job it is
0:59.5	to set fire to things, which includes,
1:01.5	rather upsettinglyly jelly babies.
1:04.0	And we have the curious tale of Dr Stronso Bastiali.
1:07.6	We take a shadowy flight into the world of phantom scientists who serve to expose scams, injustice and the academic sense of humour.
1:15.8	It's all part of the strange world of academic authorship.
1:19.2	And one of my favourite stories, which is just for you, dear Podcast Faithful,
1:23.0	is the way that Imperial College Biologists Hassel and May
1:26.0	determined the order in which their names would be presented
1:29.0	in their 1974 study entitled
1:32.0	Aggregation of Predators and Insect Par insect parasites and its effect on
1:34.8	stability. A footnote on the first page highlights their very British strategy
	...

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