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Bumblebee disease, HIV Teens, Fear and Neurons

Declining bee populations, the plight of teens with HIV, and inhibiting fearful memories.

Honeybee Diseases
Many species of bee are suffering serious declines. They are threatened by habitat loss and land-use change. But disease also plays a part. Adam Rutherford talks to Professor Mark Brown about the new work he has done looking at the evidence of diseases harboured by honeybees, spilling over into wild bumblebees.

HIV and Teens
Thanks to anti-retroviral therapy children with HIV are surviving into adolescence. But these teenagers are growing up with chronic illness, disability and social stigma. Dr Rashida Ferrand, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine works with this lost generation in Zimbabwe and is raising awareness of the plight of these young people in an article in The Lancet.

Fear Suppressing Neurons
Scientists still have a lot to discover about the specific areas in the brain where memories are formed. Now new research in mice has taken them one step closer into understanding the role neurons play during a fearful event. A team has found that certain neurons in the hippocampus inhibit fearful memories from forming there. Melissa Hogenboom investigates.

(Photo: A bumblebee on a flower)

50 minutes

Chapters

  • Bumblebee disease

    Honeybees may be infecting bumblebees with colony-threatening diseases

    Duration: 09:31

  • HIV teens

    Are HIV and teens in sub-saharan Africa becoming a lost generation?

    Duration: 05:37

  • Fear and neurons

    How our brain controls our recollection of scary events

    Duration: 07:49

  • Great Barrier Reef threats

    How human activity on Australia鈥檚 land may be affecting its coastal habitat

    Duration: 10:35

  • Saving Lemurs

    Proposing a long-term strategy for preserving these enigmatic primates

    Duration: 01:58

  • Whalers and satellite spotting

    Listeners ask: Could whale-spotting environmental research technology be used by whalers?

    Duration: 02:35

  • Citizen cyberscience

    Science uses people power, the internet, and smart technology to tackle big data

    Duration: 03:15

  • Cancer computer game

    A new smartphone app allows players to contribute to cancer research

    Duration: 08:16

Broadcast

  • Sun 23 Feb 2014 14:06GMT

Podcast