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The car manufacturer VW has admitted that more than eleven million diesel cars could be affected by the company rigging car emission tests in the US. Calls for testing of VW diesel cars outside the US are growing, with Italy, France and South Korea opening investigations. But can current technology accurately test real world driving emissions? Professor Chris Brace from the University of Bath explains what can be done now.

Antarctic Seabed Life Captures Carbon as Ice Melts
As climate change warms our planet some areas of the West Antarctic ice sheet are melting, causing rising sea levels and reducing the amount of heat reflected by the bright white ice sheets. In an unexpected twist a new study has found that as the ice retreats, tiny organisms on the ocean floor are thriving, and their increased growth could play a significant role in capturing and locking away carbon. Given the vast number of these miniature marine creatures their flourishing activity could play a major role in counteracting climate change.

The Psychology of Praise
Claudia Hammond talks to Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck who has identified that individuals tend towards a fixed or growth mindset, regarding what they can learn and achieve. Her research has also shown that a fixed mindset can be changed, and that once a child or adult adopts a growth mindset, they can achieve more. Professor Dweck’s ideas have spread around the world and increasing numbers of schools are adopting her approaches to praise, learning and encouragement.

A New Ear on the Universe
Visions of the universe exert an eerie silence. But as Aleem Maqbool reveals in A New Ear on the Universe all this is set to change. Physicists are racing to develop a cosmic hearing aid which will bring us the Universe’s equivalent of sound - gravitational waves.

Didier Queloz
Kevin Fong meets a scientist who made an incredible discovery - astronomer Didier Queloz refused to believe what he had found – the first planet outside our solar system orbiting a sun-like star. That was 20 years ago. Today nearly there are some 2000 confirmed exo-planets and the race to pinpoint ones that could support life is on.

Listeners' Science Questions
Adam Rutherford and panellists Helen Czerski, Andrew Pontzen and Nick Crumpton answer listeners' science questions: What's the best way to become fossilised when you die? Why are there no animals with green fur?

The Science Hour was presented by Roland Pease with comments from ´óÏó´«Ã½ Science Correspondent Jonathan Amos.

(Photo: Shattered Volkswagen logo. Credit: Getty Images)