The 40 scientists who decide which flu shot you'll get
Twice a year, 40 scientists gather together for five days to decide what strains of influenza to vaccinate against for the next flu season. It takes around six months to prepare the vaccine – which us...
27 Nov 202526min
How China cleaned up its air pollution
As Pakistanis and Indians struggle with hazardous air quality, in Beijing – a city once notorious for its smog – the air quality is currently rated as good.Ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Chin...
20 Nov 202523min
How early climate models got global warming right
Since the 1960s, scientists have been developing and honing models to understand how the earth’s climate is changing. One such pioneer of early climate modelling is Syukuro Manabe, who won the Nobel p...
13 Nov 202524min
How organised crime infiltrated Brazil
At dawn on October 28, residents of Rio de Janeiro woke to the sound of gunfire. Battles continued throughout the day in the favelas of Alemão and Penha, as police mounted a huge operation targeting t...
6 Nov 202528min
Ghosts vs demons: a 16th century Halloween showdown
In the 16th century, witches and demons weren’t just for Halloween. People were terrified and preoccupied with them – even kings.In 1590, James VI of Scotland – who was later also crowned James I of E...
30 Okt 202524min
Bitcoin buys: the risks and rewards of companies buying crypto
One American company called Strategy owns more than 3% of all bitcoin in existence. In August 2020, its executive chairman, Michael Saylor, pioneered a new business model where publicly listed compani...
23 Okt 202521min
The hidden sources of forever chemicals
As one of the birthplaces of the industrial revolution, the River Mersey in northern England is no stranger to pollution flowing into its waters. Now it's got a new problem: monitoring shows the amoun...
16 Okt 202523min
Nobel laureate Shimon Sakaguchi on his immune system breakthrough
Back in the 1980s, when Shimon Sakaguchi was a young researcher in immunology, he found it difficult to get his research funded. Now, his pioneering work which explains how our immune system knows whe...
9 Okt 202516min
