Planet Earth

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: how scientists plan to measure the Earth's magnetic field from space, why one researcher is in the frozen town of Churchill in northern Canada, and how the Chernobyl disaster still affects Northern Ireland 25 years on.

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: how the famous White Cliffs of Dover could be made of fish poo (at least partially), why one researcher is so interested in dead whales, and why the Japan earthquake was so powerful and devastating. Join Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson to find out more...

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: how carbon capture and storage works and why it's here to stay, the effect of floodplains on water pollution, and how exactly do you measure the thickness of polar ice from space? A pub isn't an obvious place for a discussion about taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and storing it in rocks deep underground, but the venue for this week's Planet Earth Podcast isn't any old pub. This pub is set into the sandstone rock in the centre of Nottingham and is the perfect place to demonstrate exactly how the technology works. Richard Hollingham visits Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem to see for himself...

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: how tracking insects can help scientists forecast summer storms and floods, and the role one of Europe's key satellite missions played in the recent floods in Queensland, Australia.

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - how the Romans recycled glass, dinosaur colour, and what Europe's gravity mission tells us about ocean currents. Did you know that the height of the world's oceans can vary by as much as 200 metres? These huge differences depend almost entirely on very slight changes in gravity across the world. Sue Nelson goes to the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton to find out more. We also hear that even the Romans recycled glass. But were they being green, or did they have other reasons? Richard Hollingham goes to Norwich to meet the archaeologists with the answer. Finally, what colour do you think dinosaurs were? Until now artists have been free to paint them whatever colour they felt like. But not anymore - scientists now have a way of figuring out what colour they were. Richard goes to Bristol University to get the low-down from one of the scientists at the forefront of this research.

In this latest watery-themed Planet Earth Podcast, Richard Hollingham hears how the underwater world isn't the soundless place you might imagine. From chirping, gurgling and snapping sounds from busy coral reefs to clicking sperm whales, scientists are finding that all sorts of marine life use sounds to find a suitable home, to find a mate, to avoid being eaten or to communicate. First up, we hear from a marine biologist from the University of Bristol who explains how manmade noise might not affect just whales and dolphins, but also much smaller creatures that live in and around coral reefs. Later, Richard meets a British Antarctic Survey scientist to find out how fossils of tiny marine creatures called bryozoans give us clues about when the West Antarctic Ice Sheet last collapsed. We also hear the strange clicking sounds sperm whales use to communicate with each other, and find out how very far leatherback turtles can swim.

As the UK winter continues to bite, Sue Nelson tries to escape it all by going to visit a coral reef. Unfortunately for Sue, the coral reef is not in some sunny clime. Instead, it's an indoor coral reef at the brand new Coral Reef Research Unit at the University of Essex. Researchers are using the reef to look at the effects of ocean acidification on coral in a unique experiment. Sue meets David Smith and David Suggett from the Unit to find out exactly what they're up to. Later, Sue talks to Andy Morse from the University of Liverpool. Andy's an expert on the effects of climate change on the spread of infectious diseases. Sue finds out that as the climate changes and brings warmer and wetter weather, we might get more than we bargained for. Finally our correspondent in Antarctica - the British Antarctic Survey's medical doctor, Claire Lehman - meets a researcher who tells us how she finds out how the sea around the continent changes with the seasons.

This is a special edition of the Planet Earth podcast, featuring some of our favourite audio diaries from the past year. We've got scientists using cannons to study geese in Ireland, researchers collecting mongoose poo in Uganda, Darth Vader impressions from beneath Antarctic ice and tiger leeches in a researcher's pants. In the first feature, Tim Cockerill from the University of Cambridge gives us an insight into studying insects in pristine rainforests of northern Borneo, describing some of the downsides. Next, Michael Cant, also from the University of Exeter tells us how cooperative - or not, as the case may be - Ugandan mongooses are. We then head down to the freezing cold waters of Antarctica to hear how British Antarctic Survey doctor Claire Lehman gets on when she joins the dive team.

Red squirrels used to be the most common squirrel in Britain. But since the grey squirrel was introduced from the USA as an illegal immigrant in the late 1800s, their numbers have nose-dived. This is partly because the greys out-compete red squirrels for food: they feed on the ground and can digest unripe acorns, which red squirrels can't. But it's not just food; grey squirrels brought a deadly virus with them, which has hit red squirrel populations hard. Sue Nelson goes to a National Trust wood near Liverpool, one of the last red squirrel strongholds in the country, to find out how they have coped with the virus. Later Richard Hollingham goes to Glasgow to find out how scientists know what Antarctica's climate was like 50 million years ago. Even though it was in the same place as it is now, temperatures on the continent were surprisingly different from what they are today.

In this podcast Richard Hollingham reports from an unusual and somewhat cold location - onboard the British Antarctic Survey's RRS James Clark Ross which was stuck in the ice for two weeks 1000 kilometres from the North Pole. He talks to researchers on the ship about their work, finds out exactly how dangerous polar bears can be and hears what it's like to dive in freezing cold waters. He also learns that the Arctic isn't the desolate, barren place you might at first imagine. No, it's full of life. Not just big stuff like bears, seals and gulls, but algae and microorganisms that literally keep our planet alive.

Does your shopping basket contain chocolate, biscuits and shampoo? If it does, you may be unwittingly contributing to the destruction of the some of the world's pristine rainforests. Manufacturers now use palm oil in a huge range of products, because it's so cheap. But virgin rainforest in some of the planet's last wildernesses is being destroyed at a dizzying pace to make way for palm oil plantations to keep up with our voracious appetites for the products the stuff is in. Richard Hollingham meets Tim Cockerill, who's just come back from Borneo, to find out how the plantations affect the animals and plants that live in the rainforests there. We also hear why charcoal is such an incredible material. Not only can it tell us there was a fire, but it can also provide a previously unseen glimpse into our past. Sue Nelson goes to Frensham Common in Surrey to find out more. Finally, Tim Cockerill shows Richard Hollingham his very own working flea circus.

It seems that hardly a week goes by without a major earthquake striking somewhere in the world, which may be why many people have been asking scientists at the British Geological Survey if earthquakes are getting more frequent. Richard Hollingham talks to expert seismologist Brian Baptie from BGS, who uses clever musical software to give us the answer. We also hear from Plymouth Marine Laboratory scientists on a boat off the coast of Cornwall in the UK. They're sampling seawater and sediment from the seafloor to try to understand how marine ecosystems change from one month to the next, coming across many weird and wonderful creatures in the process. Finally we get an action-packed update from Cambridge scientist Tim Cockerill, who's in northern Borneo investigating the effects of palm plantations on the biodiversity of rainforest insects. Sounds like fun? Not until you hear about the leeches.

In this Planet Earth podcast, Sue Nelson reports from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew where she finds out that some plants like the Snake's Head Fritillary have enormous amounts of DNA in their genomes. These plants struggle in extreme environments, so how will they cope under climate change? We also hear from the British Antarctic Survey's medical doctor Claire Lehman in one of our unique audio diaries. Claire joins the diving team for a refreshing dive under the Antarctic ice. Later, Sue meets a fossil-tree expert at Cardiff University. Chris Berry describes how he went about identifying the 385 million-year-old fossilised remains of trees in New York State.

In this Planet Earth podcast, Sue Nelson hears about the birth of an ocean in the Afar depression in the Horn of Africa. The continental crust is being ripped apart at a phenomenal rate - one metre every year over the last five years. In the not too distant future - well, not too distant in geological terms - we may see a new ocean in that region of Africa. That's if we're still around in ten million years' time. Plus Richard Hollingham goes to Edinburgh to find out about the damage our nearest star wreaks on our planet during its unruly phases. Later Sue hears about 'mechanical dolphins' in Antarctica, while Richard gives us a preview of the gruelling training he had to endure recently in preparation for a scientific expedition to the Arctic.

This week, Richard Hollingham finds out that bowerbirds are not just brilliant at making elaborate bowers, they're also good at mimicking other birds and pretty much most sounds they hear - including human voices. He also goes to a Scottish forest to meet researchers from the University of Edinburgh who are using a 220-metre high TV tower to measure greenhouse gas concentrations from across Scotland and all the way to Ireland and even as far as Canada. Lastly, during Richard's recent trip to the Arctic onboard the RRS James Clark Ross, he spoke to a scientist who explained how a small yellow submarine is helping scientists understand much more about Arctic ocean currents.

Unless you've never seen the sea, you've probably seen a jellyfish. And even if you haven't seen one, you will almost certainly know what they look like. Despite this, scientists know surprisingly little about them. Which is why British and Irish researchers are in the middle of a project to tag them to find out things like where they go during the winter, how long they live and why they congregate around our coasts during the summer months. Sue Nelson goes to Swansea to find out more. Later, we learn something about water most of us had no idea about. Richard Hollingham goes to Leeds to talk to a researcher about supercooled water and discovers why you wouldn't want it in your aeroplane's fuel system.

Have you ever noticed that when you cross a busy road, as well as clocking the traffic, you subconsciously follow what your neighbours do? Scientists have recently put a figure on this and worked out that we're 2.5 times more likely to cross if our immediate neighbour makes a move to cross. Richard Hollingham goes to Leeds to meet the researcher behind the study to find out why we have such kamikaze tendencies, and how the research helps us understand shoaling, herding and flocking behaviour. Later on, we get up close and personal with banded mongooses in Uganda. Hear what the researchers studying them have to say about why all females give birth at the same time, in the next instalment of our unique audio diaries.

In this Planet Earth podcast, Sue Nelson goes to the Eden Project in Cornwall, southwest England and to the South Downs in southeast England to find out what butterfly research is telling us about climate change. As you might expect, there's some bad news to report, but surprisingly there's also hopeful news - at least for the silver spotted skipper. Meanwhile Richard Hollingham goes to Plymouth - also in southwest England - to hear how long-term monitoring buoys in the English Channel have helped reveal, among other things, that the water has gradually been getting warmer.

Scientists know that fluffy stratocumulus clouds act like a blanket on the Earth - they stop warm air escaping, but also reflect the Sun's energy back out to space. But they have no idea if cirrus clouds, which are high up in the atmosphere and made of ice, do the same. So Dr Paul Connolly makes ice clouds inside the 10-metre-high, three-storey ice cloud chamber - which looks a bit like a giant fridge freezer - to find out. To hear how the chamber works, Sue Nelson goes to Manchester to meet him. Also in the programme, find out how a tiny wasp, just 1.5 millimetres long, can pollinate fig trees 160 kilometres apart. And after the successful launch of the European Space Agency's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite earlier this month, Professor Meric Srokosz from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, tells us why he's pinning his hopes on the data. Finally, Richard Hollingham gets more than he bargained for when he visits the venomous snake facility at Bangor University.

With efforts to improve energy efficiency focussed on green transport to sustainable power generation, growing your own food to reducing waste, it's often easy to forget that the very buildings we live and work in could also be made energy efficient. But how do you retrofit old buildings without ruining their architectural character? One researcher from the UK Energy Research Centre explains where you might start. Scientists at the University of Birmingham tell Sue Nelson how they're trying to understand when and why humans developed the ability to walk on two legs; with the help of some human subjects, a manmade rainforest canopy and some orangutans. We also hear from the British Antarctic Survey's GP at Rothera Research Station in the West Antarctica Peninsula who explains what life's like on the base.

Scientists recently found plastics floating in some of the most remote and inaccessible seas in the world - just off the coast of Antarctica. Although it clearly looks ugly in such a pristine environment, scientists are more concerned about the major role plastics play in moving alien species around the world. Richard Hollingham goes to the north Norfolk coast to speak to an expert on ocean plastics from the British Antarctic Survey to find out more. Later, Sue Nelson goes to the Natural Environment Research Council's Space Geodesy Facility at Herstmonceux in Sussex to find out how it uses lasers to pinpoint satellites.

British Geological Survey scientists have completed the first full geological survey of Lake Windermere in the English Lake District since the Royal Navy made a survey in the 1930s. Among other things, the survey will help researchers understand how quickly the ice retreated after the last Ice Age, how the lake evolved and which parts the Arctic Charr prefers to live in. Richard Hollingham went to visit scientists on the BGS's research boat the White Ribbon on the lake to talk to the scientists involved. Next up, Richard speaks to a dinosaur expert at London's Natural History Museum who is studying how and why some dinosaurs went from walking on two legs to four. It turns out that despite the popular 3D animations on the telly, we know very little indeed about how they walked.

Everyone loves a rockpool, and Sue Nelson nearly takes a dive into one in this week's podcast while finding out about the riches they contain. She visits the Anglesey coast of north Wales to learn what these mini marine laboratories can tell us about the value of biodiversity. The effects of climate change range from rising temperatures and higher sea levels to extreme weather and mass extinctions. Richard Hollingham reports from the Plymouth Marine Laboratory where scientists are investigating another, hidden process - increasing ocean acidification. And finally we learn how scientists are using pan scourers to find out how communities of marine creatures might respond to chemical changes in our oceans.

You could be forgiven for thinking the freezing seas around Antarctica are pretty barren and lifeless. But, as Richard Hollingham soon finds out, this couldn't be further from the truth.The Census of Marine Life is building up a picture of the richness and diversity of life in the world's oceans and has so far found thousands of species on shelves around the frozen continent. Incredibly, scientists are still finding new species.At this rate, researchers will soon have documented 17,000 species living on coastal shelves in the region. Richard meets British Antarctic Survey researcher Huw Griffiths to find out more.Later, hear why the recent Icelandic volcano presented scientists with a unique opportunity to study the ash cloud. Also, find out how a ground-breaking study has revealed where giant sauropod dinosaurs preferred to live.Finally, in the first of our audio diaries, we hear from a bird ecologist in Ireland who talks us through exactly how you go about tagging geese migrating to the Arctic.

In this week's Planet Earth podcast from the impressively-named Diamond Light Source in Oxfordshire, England, hear how two researchers are using hi-tech physics to study different aspects of the environment.The Diamond synchrotron is like a giant, silver doughnut, is more than half a kilometre around and - according to the blurb - you could fit eight St Paul's cathedrals inside.You might imagine a huge machine like this is used only for physics experiments. But it turns out it's used to study everything from the nature of matter to food and new medicines.One researcher explains how his studies of earthworms at Diamond could help clean up contaminated soils. Another scientist tells us how his mussel shell research at the synchrotron may ultimately help make stronger materials for aeroplanes and hip replacements.Finally, find out how irrigation techniques used by ancient indigenous cultures could help Peru cope with water shortages caused by its disappearing glaciers. And hear how high speed winds off the coast of Greenland affect how heat moves around the world's oceans.

Look around the English countryside and you'll find animals and plants that shouldn't be there - from Muntjac deer to Mitten crabs, Harlequin ladybirds to Tree of Heaven.So-called invasive species are reckoned to be one of the world's greatest threats to native wildlife. And when you factor in a changing climate, the situation gets even more complicated.Richard Hollingham meets an invasive species expert from the Centre for Ecology Hydrology who tells us not only what we can expect, but also what you can do to help.We also hear from a climate expert at the UK Met Office to find out why he believes climate scientists should take responsibility for communicating their science to the world.Finally, we hear how researchers figured out that a pit full of decapitated bodies in Dorset were Vikings and why small honeybees don't do as well as their normal-sized peers when it comes to mating.

Coral reefs are among the most beautiful habitats in the world. As well as being rich in biodiversity, they're vital for the local economies that depend on them for fishing, tourism or protection from storms.While most of us are aware that ocean acidification is bad for coral reefs, scientists are now finding that coral communities are facing other threats from climate change.Richard Hollingham meets three coral reef experts to find out more - not in some tropical paradise but in the basement of a 1960s towerblock at the University of Essex.Later in the programme we hear from two insect experts at the University of Cambridge, who explain why it might be wise for oil palm producers to nurture patches of rainforest close to and among their plantations.We also find out why scientists think an asteroid caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, rather than huge volcanoes, why global warming could lead to more male turtles than female turtles and how household waste is being linked with pollution in rivers.

Willow, palm, miscanthus and other energy crops are being touted as a possible solution to our growing energy security problems. Some people are suggesting that they could help replace fossil fuels, plugging Britain's energy gap and cutting our carbon footprint.But before we go down that route, wouldn't it be sensible to find out how these crops affect the environment?That's the very question David Bohan from Rothamsted Research is trying to answer. He's researching how miscanthus and willow affect native biodiversity while looking at where these crops should be sited to have minimal environmental impact.Also in this week's podcast, we find out why 25 February will be a nail-biter for many scientists, not least for those from the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling at University College London.Later we'll hear how British winters are ending an average of 11 days earlier compared with the 1970s, why red leg bands put male zebra finches in front of their rivals and what next for a group of scientists that has just returned from exploring volcanic vents in the Southern Ocean.

This week we talk to two researchers about the technological solutions some scientists say we might have to use to tackle climate change. With average temperatures expected to rise by 2C this century, and efforts to cut greenhouse emissions proving painfully slow so far, scientists are saying it might be prudent to have a plan B. Professor Tim Lenton and Dr Nem Vaughan from the University of East Anglia explain the differences between the two approaches to geoengineering - removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and reflecting sunlight to keep temperatures down. Later on we find out how scientists use a field full of radars in Wales to help forecast extreme weather. We also hear what the UK Government's chief scientific advisor thinks about the latest climate change controversies in the news, how researchers have figured out what colour dinosaurs were and why carpet sea squirts have been spotted in Scotland.

Mention the word archaeology and you might conjure up an image of Tony Robinson from Channel 4's Time Team getting down to a dig in an ancient burial site in an attempt to find some telling artefacts. But these days, people researching the ancient past have some additional, very sophisticated tools up their sleeves. Richard Hollingham visits the Natural Environment Research Council's Isotope Geosciences Laboratory near Nottingham to find out what isotope geosciences are and why they're such an important tool for archaeologists. Later on we hear why fossil hunting is just kid's stuff for one scientist: Russell Garwood from Imperial College London shows Sue Nelson how he uses medical technology to see ancient spiders in 3D. Also, how scientists know that sticklebacks understand all about virtues like patience, how Arctic terns fly an epic 80,000 kilometres every year on their way from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back again, and why corals may be better able to recover from fishing damage than scientists thought.

In this week's podcast, Richard Hollingham strikes gold - literally - while Sue Nelson finds out why weather forecasters still struggle to predict sudden, violent summer storms. We'll also be hearing why scientists may be a step closer to getting rid of the American mink from the Outer Hebrides and how to run away from a Tyrannosaurus rex. Banks may have collapsed, shares plummeted and currencies faltered over the last couple of years, but if you put your money in gold, you could have made a tidy profit - the metal recently reached its highest value ever. Great news if there's a gold mine nearby, which funnily enough isn't as unlikely as you might think. As well as going gold-panning, Richard visits Northern Ireland's only gold mine and finds out why there's such a market for Northern Irish gold. Also, Sue Nelson meets cloud expert Dr Andrew Russell from the University of Manchester. Andy talks about the work he's doing to make forecasting storms easier. Finally, find out what scientists are doing to understand why some Antarctic penguin colonies are growing, while others are declining.