Science in Action – March 13, 2025
BBC World Service | Host: Rhoda (Ronan) Pease
Episode Overview
This episode delves into urgent warnings about pandemic preparedness, the reconstruction of Europe's earliest human face, evidence of a colossal meteorite impact in Australia, and the discovery of peculiar radio flashes from a cosmic "dancing stars" duo. The host, Ronan Pease, interviews leading scientists and reports on groundbreaking new studies, all presented with the show’s characteristic blend of curiosity and clarity.
Key Topics and Insights
1. Pandemic Preparedness: Five Years after COVID-19
(02:37–12:49)
Main Points:
- Reflection on the pandemic: On the fifth anniversary of the World Health Organization’s pandemic declaration, health experts express concern over global complacency and shrinking enthusiasm for preparedness, especially regarding avian influenza (H5N1).
- Open Letter to Science: A group of international health leaders, including Dr. Nicole Lurie (CEPI), published an urgent call in Science magazine for immediate action to stave off another pandemic.
- Lessons Not Learned: Despite improvements in genetics and vaccine technology, surveillance and readiness are lacking, and previous mistakes risk being repeated.
Expert Interview: Dr. Nicole Lurie, CEPI
Key Quotes & Highlights:
-
On historic neglect and early warnings:
“We have a history of not paying attention to early warnings...nobody paid attention until it became a public health emergency.”
(03:52, Nicole Lurie) -
On human susceptibility:
“Sometimes I think we want to forget that humans are mammals...and so I think we are very much susceptible.”
(04:50, Lurie) -
On what needs to be done:
“We’re not doing adequate surveillance, particularly in humans who are in contact with animals...we have not done enough to accelerate vaccine development.”
(05:30, Lurie) -
Call for a 'Manhattan Project for Peace':
“We need now is something like another version of warp speed or a Manhattan Project, but a Manhattan Project for Peace...”
(05:53, Lurie) -
The '100 Day Mission':
“The idea that...when you can authorize a vaccine for use ought to be 100 days. And we actually think that that should be possible...”
(06:46, Lurie) -
Equity and trust as challenges:
“What we are much further behind on than we were in Covid now is we don’t have the public’s trust in many, many areas...”
(07:52, Lurie) -
Real-world case (Rwanda's Marburg outbreak):
“10 days before that outbreak, Rwanda...did a whole exercise on what you would need to do to make the hundred day mission work...and was able to keep an outbreak at bay.”
(11:47, Lurie)
Notable Moment:
Lurie’s passionate plea:
“If you take this seriously, you really can do something about it, and we need to take it seriously.”
(12:32, Lurie)
2. Meet Europe’s Oldest Human Face
(12:49–22:24)
Main Points:
- Discovery in Spain: The partial left side of a human face, over 1.2 million years old, was found at the Atapuerca site in northern Spain, offering vivid evidence of early hominins related to Homo erectus.
- Reconstruction Work: The team used both physical and digital techniques to piece together bone fragments, allowing comparison with fossils worldwide.
Expert Interview: Dr. María Martinón-Torres, National Centre for Research on Human Evolution
Key Quotes & Highlights:
-
Bringing fossils to life:
“Although it’s true that people usually think that we are interested in the dead, indeed we are interested in the alive people.”
(13:34, Martinón-Torres) -
On fossil remains and significance:
“This is the first time that we have found something that is like the closest thing to a Homo erectus in Europe.”
(18:41, Martinón-Torres) -
Atapuerca as a “human evolution encyclopedia”:
"Atapurca, [is the] most complete encyclopedia we could have [on] human evolution, because we really have all the chapters, we have the annexes, we have the introduction. We have not missed anything."
(16:40, Martinón-Torres) -
On cave context and ancient environment:
“These hominins lived in a period [that] was probably like a humid forest...probably warmer than even in present days.”
(19:21, Martinón-Torres) -
Stone tools and culture:
“We also found the stone tools...hominins that were getting all these raw materials for their tools in the near region...everything has been trapped...About their culture, their tools, and the way they lived.”
(20:39, Martinón-Torres) -
Room for further discovery:
“Why not, maybe we can find the rest of the individual that is missing...we should not give up and keep trying.”
(21:36, Martinón-Torres)
3. Earth’s Oldest Meteorite Crater?
(23:52–39:15)
Main Points:
- Western Australia Find: Evidence from the North Pole Dome, a rare exposure of ancient Pilbara crust, points to a possible meteorite impact structure over 3.5 billion years old.
- Discovery of Shatter Cones: These conical rock features—classic signs of impact—were found, supporting the theory of a crater in excess of 100 km across, potentially the oldest yet recorded.
Expert Interview: Dr. Tim Johnson, Curtin University
Key Quotes & Highlights:
-
On landscape and discovery:
“The North Pole Dome...has been ravaged flat...certainly not a crater in the typical sense that people would think of one anymore.”
(25:06, Johnson) -
On finding shatter cones:
“My favorite description is they look a bit like a badminton shuttlecock if you...chop the little knob off...they range in scale from a few millimeters up to several meters across.”
(27:55, Johnson) -
Science process and skepticism:
“I don’t think very many...if any, people believed us. So we really wanted to look for some more tangible evidence...”
(26:05, Johnson) -
Cosmic impacts shaping continents:
“We think these central uplifts are perfect ecological niches on which life could have taken a foothold...the sites where you can start building up big thicknesses of crust that ultimately can differentiate to become the continents on which we all walk.”
(34:23, Johnson) -
On why these ancient impacts matter:
“If the Moon was hit...then the Earth would have been hit by 10 times, 100 times as many. It's a much bigger body...so you have to try and explain what that might have done, what effects that might have had on the Earth.”
(37:27, Johnson)
4. Radio Sparks from a Pair of Dancing Stars
(39:15–48:13)
Main Points:
- Discovery of Transient Radio Blips: Researchers using the LOFAR radio telescope found mysterious, repeating radio flashes from a stellar binary—unlike classic pulsars.
- Star Duo Identified: The system comprises a white dwarf (stellar remnant) and a brown dwarf (substellar object), whose magnetic interactions generate the observed radio phenomena.
- Unique Turnabout: The flashes occur every two hours, like a cosmic lighthouse beam, visible only when the geometry aligns.
Expert Interview: Dr. Antonia Rowlinson, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy
Key Quotes & Highlights:
-
Detection process:
“We looked in this data, found one blip...Iris then went away and found a whole load more observations...it was giving a blip roughly every two hours.”
(41:33, Rowlinson) -
On identifying the star system:
“Iris first found that it was associated with a brown dwarf star. And we know brown dwarfs can make radio flashes, but not like this...maybe it’s in a binary.”
(43:13, Rowlinson) -
What’s happening between the stars:
“As soon as you put two different sources with magnetic fields next to each other and they're orbiting each other, you can get interactions between the two stars. And we believe that this interaction is what's causing the radio emission that we see.”
(45:37, Rowlinson) -
On the ‘lighthouse’ effect:
“So this is where it's science. We have our theories...we think it's to do with that beaming effect, like a lighthouse...but obviously we need to study them more to actually nail down that cause.”
(47:16, Rowlinson)
Memorable Moment:
On the need for better celestial names:
“Go to Nature Astronomy for more details on Transient radio source ILT J 1101 5521. They need a better name, really.”
(48:13, Pease)
Timestamps & Notable Segments
- 02:37 – Pandemic anniversary reflections and intro to preparedness segment
- 03:52 – Dr. Nicole Lurie: Early warning failures
- 05:26 – Urgent actions needed for H5N1
- 06:46 – '100 Day Mission' for vaccine readiness
- 13:34 – Dr. María Martinón-Torres: The hunt for ancestral faces
- 15:01 – What fragments were found and reconstructed
- 16:40 – Atapuerca’s significance for human evolution
- 25:06 – Dr. Tim Johnson: The Pilbara, ancient impacts, and shatter cones
- 27:55 – What is a shatter cone?
- 34:23 – Meteorite impacts and life's habitats
- 39:15 – LOFAR discoveries, atypical radio flashes
- 43:13 – Identification of brown dwarf-white dwarf binary
- 45:37 – Magnetic interactions creating cosmic radio blips
- 47:16 – The “lighthouse” hypothesis for periodic flashes
Tone and Delivery
The episode blends urgency (about pandemic threats), awe (at deep-time geology and astronomical discovery), and a sense of intellectual adventure. The voices of scientists and the host keep explanations clear yet technically rich, inviting listeners into the research process and its real-world stakes.
Conclusion
From pandemic readiness and ancient human faces to the traces of world's earliest impacts and mysterious cosmic signals, this episode provides a rich tour of contemporary science—reminding us that our future and past are deeply intertwined with biology, geology, and the cosmic phenomena above.