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BBC Inside Science

Higgs Boson; Neutrinos; Antarctic echo locator; Rainforest fungi; Alabama rot

BBC Inside Science

BBC

Technology, Science

4.51.3K Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2014

⏱️ 29 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Higgs boson has been discovered, providing the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle for the Standard Model of particle physics, a description of how the universe works. But what physicists haven't found yet, which they should have, are supersymmetry or SUSY particles. Roland Pease attended a recent meeting of top physicists, and shares with Adam Rutherford the latest discussions about where to look next.

The history of neutrinos is littered with interesting characters. It was Wolfgang Pauli who first suggested their existence. Pauli was so unsettled by his proposal that he bet a case of champagne against anyone being able to discover these "pathologically shy" particles. Since then, scientists have built ever more elaborate experiments to try and detect these particles. Ray Jayawardhana, Professor of Astrophysics and author of a new book "The Neutrino Hunters" explains more about the most abundant particle in the universe.

This week's Show Us Your Instrument is a tool used to help scientists measure the glaciers in the Antarctic. Julian Dowdeswell, a glaciologist from the University of Cambridge, uses an echo-locator to look at the dynamics of large ice masses and their response to climate change.

Fungi, not viewed favourably by gardeners, can be good for rainforest biodiversity. Dr Owen Lewis from Oxford University tells Melissa Hogenboom that plots sprayed with fungicide soon become dominated by a few species at the expense of many others, leading to a marked drop in diversity.

A mysterious illness killing dogs has been in the headlines this week. David Walker a veterinary specialist, says that although it's not clear what's causing the disease, people should not panic.

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 BBC Inside Science Podcast, first broadcast on the 23rd of January.

0:42.0

On this day in 1897,

0:44.5

Elva Heista was found murdered in Greenbrier, West Virginia,

0:48.3

and in the trial that followed of her husband,

0:51.2

the testimony of her ghost was accepted as reported by her mother.

0:55.0

Brilliant.

0:55.7

Nothing to do with the program, just a fun fact.

0:58.0

Terms and conditions can be found at BBC.co.

1:00.4

UK slash Radio 4. The Scarlet Pimpernel of Particle Physics was found last year, but what's the next

1:07.6

big tiny thing in the post-Higgs universe?

1:10.6

And while we're searching for extremely small, incredibly hard to find things,

1:15.0

65 billion neutrinos have just passed through your eyeball.

1:19.0

Did you feel them?

1:20.0

No? Well, that's because they're even more elusive than the Higgs

1:22.6

on but the hunt is on.

1:24.6

Back in the visible world we've got an Antarctic echo locator

...

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