Predicting everything

BBC Inside Science

BBC

Technology, Science

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 26 September 2024

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Royal Society recently announced the shortlist for their annual Science Book Prize – and nominated is science writer and journalist Tom Chivers, author of the book Everything is Predictable. He tells us how statistics impact every aspect of our lives, and joins Marnie as a studio guest throughout the show.

A drug – lecanemab – that can slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease has recently been approved for use in the UK, but the healthcare regulator NICE has said that it won’t be available on the NHS. But what is behind this decision, and what makes creating an Alzheimer’s drug so difficult? Professor Tara Spires-Jones from the University of Edinburgh talks us through the science.

And could ‘smart paint’ supersize our fruit and veg? Reporter Roland Pease heads over to the experimental greenhouses of Cranfield University’s crop science unit to see if the technology works.

Thee Paralympic Games are now underway in Paris, with athletes competing across 22 different events. But as competitors have a range of different impairments, how is it ensured that there's a level playing field? Professor Sean Tweedy from the University of Queensland calls in from Paris to explain how athletes are sorted into categories for competition.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producers: Sophie Ormiston and Ella Hubber Editor: Martin Smith Production Co-ordinator: Andrew Lewis

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Kim Ketrau and I want to tell you about my new podcast a new audio drama telling the history of the CIA from the inside out.
0:09.0	The United States of America was suddenly its worst domestic attack.
0:14.0	He's got to convince Congress to give him an open checkbook now.
0:18.0	America has suffered its worst domestic attack of the 20th century at Pearl Harbor.
0:23.0	How do we make contact with the NKGB?
0:27.0	Central Intelligence, starring me, Kim Kertral, Ed Harris, and Johnny Flynn.
0:31.0	There's $50,000 in it for you if you say yes.
0:34.8	Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:37.5	This is BBC Inside Science, first broadcast on the 29th of August,
0:41.7	2024. I'm Marnie Chesterton.
0:44.0	Hello coming up in the next half hour everything is predictable
0:49.0	which means you might have already guessed that we're talking about why it's so hard to find
0:54.0	Alzheimer's drugs, how to scientifically judge a Paralympian's level of disability and
0:59.5	a new light tweaking paint that boosts your greenhouse growth. And I'm joined in the studio this
1:05.3	week by a guest, science writer and journalist Tom Chivers. Hello. Hello, hello,
1:09.2	Marney, how are you? Good. You are the author of the book Everything is Predictable, which was recently shortlisted for the Royal Society's annual Science Book Prize.
1:19.0	Did you predict that?
1:21.0	Absolutely not.
1:23.0	Partly I was incredibly pleased out of professional spite
1:26.0	because my podcast co-host Stuart Ritchie also got nominated a few years ago and he lost.
1:30.0	So I'm just hoping to, you know, go one further also it's just it's a lovely thing it's a
1:35.4	lovely thing it's a recognition of a book that I'm I'm quite proud of so you know hopefully it does well
	...

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