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Discovery

The growling stomach

Discovery

BBC

Science, Technology

4.31.2K Ratings

🗓️ 14 September 2020

⏱️ 28 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

"Why do our tummies rumble - and when they do, does it always mean we are hungry?" asks listener James, aged 12. For this series, with lockdown learning in mind, Drs Rutherford and Fry are investigating scientific mysteries for students of all ages. To get to the bottom of this noisy problem, the doctors tune in to our guts. Geneticist Giles Yeo studies food intake and obesity. He explains the wavy workings of our digestive system, and how those audible rumbles are a sign that digestion is taking place – a phenomenon thought to be onomatopoeically named 'borborygmi' by the ancient Greeks, and explored further in the gruesome 19th century experiments of surgeon William Beaumont. However, tuning in to the gut’s sounds can tell us more than whether we need a snack. Family doctor Margaret McCartney takes us through the process of how and why she and her medical colleagues may use a stethoscope to listen to your abdomen for both particular noises and silence. Microbiologist Barry Marshall has taken medical listening one step further in his Noisy Guts Project. Inspired by microphones used to listen for termites hiding in walls, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist is trialling an acoustic belt, which could be worn to help diagnose and treat Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Presenters: Hannah Fry, Adam Rutherford Producer: Jen Whyntie

Transcript

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0:00.0

Newscast is the unscripted chats behind the headlines.

0:05.6

It's informed, but informal.

0:07.5

We pick the day's top stories and we find experts who can really dig into them. We use our colleagues in the newsroom and

0:14.4

our contacts. Some people pick up the phone rather faster than others.

0:18.0

We sometimes literally run around the BBC building to grab the very best guests.

0:23.4

Join us for daily news chats to get you ready for today's conversations.

0:28.3

Newscast, listen on BBC Sounds.

0:32.4

Hello and welcome back to the curious cases of Rutherford and Fry on Discovery for the BBC.

0:38.0

This is the show where you send us in questions of things that you have always wondered,

0:42.0

the things you've always been curious about,

0:44.4

and we investigate them using the power of science.

0:48.4

So please do send us your curious cases, the things that have always bothered you, which we think we might be able to help

0:54.1

out with using the power of science to curious cases at BBC.co. UK.

0:59.2

Adam did you not eat any breakfast today?

1:03.2

Oh, excuse me.

1:05.2

This is just basic broadcasting etiquette.

1:08.2

No tummy rumbles, please.

1:09.4

Yeah, sorry, apologies.

1:11.0

You just passed me that banana. But you do the intro.

1:13.6

Okay, all right.

1:14.4

Well, today's question was sent into curious cases

1:18.0

at BBC.kate UK by James, who is age 12,

...

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