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BBC Inside Science

Vaccine Dosing and Biodiversity Soundscape Monitoring

BBC Inside Science

BBC

Technology, Science

4.51.3K Ratings

🗓️ 7 January 2021

⏱️ 39 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

After the decision by the UK government last week to change the spacing between dosings of vaccine from the recommended 3 weeks to 12 weeks, immunologists around the world have been discussing with some urgency the wisdom of such a move. The FDA and the WHO are deeply sceptical, and the manufacturers have distanced themselves to some extent, by cautioning not to deviate from the regime tested in last year's phase III trials. The thinking behind the move is to get more people injected with a single dose in a shorter time, and that the longer wait for the second shot is worth the risk, if it means more people receive some level of protection in the short term. Clinical Epidemiologist Dr Deepthi Gurdasani and Immunoligist Prof Danny Altmann of Imperial College describe to Marnie how evidence, experience and hunch are combining in the face of the covid crisis, and quite what we know, what we don't and what we could, about this nationwide experiment. Increasingly, ecologists wanting to monitor remote areas are relying on such things as solar powered audio recorders to measure biodiversity in the sounds of the wild. But how to scrutinize years and years worth of 24 hour, multi-site recordings? Sarab Sethi and colleagues have not only been leaving solar-powered Raspberry Pi recorders out in the jungles of Borneo, they've been using machine learning techniques to look out for species and biodiversity changes from afar. You can listen to some of the Borneo work at the SAFE acoustic website (link on BBC page below). Presented by Marnie Chesterton Produced by Alex Mansfield Made in collaboration with the Open University.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Before you listen to this BBC podcast I'd like to introduce myself. My name's

0:04.0

Stevie Middleton and I'm a BBC Commissioner for a load of sport

0:07.5

podcasts. I'm lucky to do that at the BBC because I get to work with leading

0:11.1

journalists, experienced pundits and the biggest

0:13.3

sports stars. Together we bring you untold stories and fascinating insights

0:17.4

straight from the player's mouth. But the best thing about doing this at the BBC is

0:22.0

our unique access to the sporting world.

0:25.0

What that means is that we can bring you podcasts that create a real connection to

0:28.9

dedicated sports fans across the UK.

0:31.5

So if you like this podcast, head over to BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more.

0:35.2

BBC Sounds, Music Radio Podcasts.

0:40.3

This is the first Inside Science Podcast of 2021, originally broadcast on the 7th of January.

0:47.0

Happy New Year and all that jazz.

0:49.0

Except it's not a particularly joyful January, since it looks like we'll be staying in various

0:54.2

degrees of lockdown at least until the most vulnerable in the UK are vaccinated.

0:59.2

Today on Inside Science we're going to delve into the science behind that trade-off, vaccinate some people

1:05.1

according to the instructions on the packet or give more people one jab whilst risking

1:10.2

reducing the levels of immunity for each individual.

1:13.0

Also in non-Covid science prepare to be sonically transported to the forests of Malaysia.

1:19.0

As we hear from a scientist who's left a bunch of microphones in the forest, which could

1:26.0

let to monitor its ecosystem from the comfort of his chair in lockdown UK.

1:31.4

Speaking of which, the government announced last week that it was shifting

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