Science In Action (BBC World Service):
Old Faces and Big Spaces in Small Places
Air Date: October 9, 2025
Host: Roland Pease
Episode Overview
This episode explores major breakthroughs and long-term projects in science, emphasizing how years—even decades—of persistence can lead to transformative discoveries and technologies. The program highlights recent Nobel Prizes across chemistry, physics, and medicine, showcases the evolution of animal tracking from small-scale studies to a global “Internet of Animals,” discusses the revolutionary potential of blood-based health diagnostics, and delves into new findings from legacy data on Saturn’s moon Enceladus with implications for astrobiology.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
Nobel Prizes 2025: Chemistry, Physics, Medicine
[01:09 - 10:23]
Chemistry: Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs)
- Breakthrough Honoured: Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar Yaghi awarded for the development of MOFs.
- What are MOFs:
- Engineered porous materials with vast internal surface areas, akin to “molecular catacombs” or a “molecular children’s construction toy.”
- “The materials that you produce are extremely light...some of the lightest materials known to humanity, and they’re extremely porous.” – Omar Yaghi [07:21]
- Significance:
- Enables carbon capture, water harvesting, catalysis, and possible applications in batteries and pollution control.
- The Nobel was described as long overdue: “Many people...have been saying for years...MOFs...are going to win the prize.” – Phil Ball [08:19]
- Application Examples:
- Extracting pollutants, acting as catalysts, harvesting water from desert air.
Physics: Quantum Devices
- Award Context: Recognition of foundational quantum mechanics work from the 1980s that now underpins modern quantum computers (e.g., those from Google and IBM).
- Relevance: Shows how fundamental research leads to groundbreaking technology after decades.
- Quote: “It paved the way for the devices...in quantum computers.” – Phil Ball [09:42]
Medicine: Immune System Modulation
- Focus: Mechanisms that prevent the immune system attacking self-tissues—important for autoimmune disease and cancer therapy.
- Timeframe: Work started four decades ago.
- Further coverage recommended via BBC Health Check.
Global Animal Tracking: The “Internet of Animals”
[10:59 - 17:52]
Evolution of Animal Tracking
- Speaker: Martin Wikelski (Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior)
- Past: Started with tiny radio tags on migrating dragonflies (as small as 120 milligrams) [12:42].
- Now: Project Icarus aims to track animal movements globally using satellite-linked “wearables”—from insects to whales.
- Database Scale: MoveBank hosts over 35,000 daily-updating animals, 8 billion locations, and info from 1,600 species [13:33].
- “We're only touching the top layer of the information” – Martin Wikelski [14:24]
Data Uses & Implications
- Understanding Behaviour & Disease: Movement and biometric data (like temperature) can signal behavioral changes, disease outbreaks (notably avian influenza), and environmental threats.
- “We can really trace a disease and make predictions where it will show up next.” – Martin Wikelski [17:03]
- Conservation & Eco-forecasting: Long-term migration data reveals climate impact on species and may eventually predict ecological changes or natural disasters.
Scaling Up
- Satellites: Plan for six satellites by early 2027 to achieve global coverage [17:29].
The Future of Blood Diagnostics: A Molecular Atlas
[19:14 - 25:03]
Major Study on Blood Biomarkers
- Interviewee: Matthias Ulayan (SciLife Lab)
- Approach:
- Used millions of data points from thousands of biobank volunteers, tracking thousands of proteins (“biomarkers”) to correlate with health records.
- Machine learning identifies disease-linked profiles: “It’s not this protein which is important, but this profile of proteins...” [20:59]
- Key Findings:
- Detects diseases like cancers (lung, colorectal, pancreatic, liver) even before symptoms emerge [23:46].
- Tracks changes in protein profiles across a human lifespan, especially pronounced at puberty [22:29].
Realistic Hurdles & Hopes
- Challenges: Clinical translation will require rigorous trials and care to avoid over-diagnosis and false positives.
- Vision: “I am absolutely sure that there will be a blood test at home every year in the not so far future.” – Matthias Ulayan [25:03]
New Life in Old Data: Saturn’s Moon Enceladus
[26:06 - 33:34]
Cassini’s Legacy and Fresh Insights
- Interviewee: Nazair Koir (Free University of Berlin)
- Discovery:
- Cassini’s 2008 flybys collected ice grains from Enceladus’s plumes.
- Advanced analysis now reveals complex organic molecules—building blocks for life—distinct from those created by solar radiation.
- Confirms these molecules originate from the moon’s subsurface ocean [31:20].
Importance and Next Steps
- Scientific Significance: Presence of complex organic molecules enhances the “habitability potential” of Enceladus.
- “The synthesis of more complex organics is possible inside Enceladus and probably this is happening right now.” – Nazair Koir [32:59]
- Patience Required: Likely decades until a new mission investigates further.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- “Call me Nostradamus.” – Roland Pease, joking about his repeated prediction of a Nobel for MOFs [01:09]
- “The materials...have the density, 2/10 of the density of water. So they're extremely light, some of the lightest materials known to humanity, and they're extremely porous. In one gram of such material, you could have the footage of, you know, 10, 20 apartments...more than a football field.” – Omar Yaghi [07:21]
- “Giving animals a voice about their own behavior and their location is so amazing that we have to do this.” – Martin Wikelski, on animal tracking tech [12:42]
- “We can really trace a disease and make predictions where it will show up next.” – Martin Wikelski, on avian flu tracking [17:03]
- “I am absolutely sure that not that far future, we will take a blood sample at home once a year in a sort of screening procedure.” – Matthias Ulayan [25:03]
- “The synthesis of more complex organics is possible inside Enceladus and probably this is happening right now.” – Nazair Koir [32:59]
Timestamps for Important Segments
- 01:09: Start of Nobel Prizes discussion (Chemistry focus)
- 07:21: Omar Yaghi describes MOFs’ spectacular properties
- 09:42: Physics Prize and quantum computers relevance
- 10:59: Launch of animal tracking segment (“Internet of Animals”)
- 13:33: Scope of MoveBank animal tracking database
- 17:03: Tracking diseases like avian influenza with animal data
- 19:14: Introduction to blood-based health diagnostics study
- 25:03: Vision for home blood test screening
- 26:06: Evidence of complex organics in Enceladus’s ice plumes
- 32:59: Implications for life on Enceladus
Tone and Style
The episode embodies Roland Pease’s dry wit and curiosity (“Call me a stopped clock...”), combined with excitement and awe from contributors. It celebrates patient, collaborative science, while also underscoring how technological leaps often rest on sustained, generational effort.
Conclusion
This rich, wide-ranging episode brings together stories of slow scientific maturation now delivering world-changing results—from Nobel-winning chemistry and quantum physics to the digital tracking of wildlife and the promise of simple blood tests for health. It ends with the tantalizing possibility of life’s chemical precursors on icy Enceladus, fitting the episode’s theme: scientific hope and wonder, rooted in decades of careful observation and analysis.