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THE MATERIAL WORLD
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MISSED A PROGRAMME?
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PROGRAMME INFO |
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Quentin Cooper reports on developments across the sciences. Each week scientists describe their work, conveying the excitement they feel for their research projects.
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Contact Material World |
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LISTEN AGAIN 听30 min |
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PRESENTER |
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"For me science isn't a subject, it's a perspective. There are fascinating scientific aspects to everything from ancient history to the latest gadgets, outer space to interior decorating; and each week on The Material World we try to reflect the excitement, ideas, uncertainties, collisions and collaborations as science continues its never-ending voyage into the unknown".
Quentin Cooper |
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PROGRAMME DETAILS |
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Forecasting evolving coastlines
England's 130 million square metres of shoreline - much of it home to wildlife听- is under constant threat.
Environmental agencies like English Nature say much of this vital terrain will have disappeared by 2025.
How that disappearing coastline impacts on man and wildlife species will depend on our ability to forecast the way sands, mud and sediments move around our coasts.
In order to make predictions about these movements, scientists need mathematical models, allowing for the complicated effects of tides and changing waves.
Quentin Cooper's guests in the studio are Professor Alan Davies of the School of Ocean Sciences at the University of Wales in Bangor, and Professor Peter Thorne from the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory in Liverpool.
They discuss the latest techniques in mapping coastal erosion, and how climate change is dramatically affecting their strategies.
Artificial noses and the secret of smell
One of the most effective methods of identifying whether an infection is present in听a听wound听is by smelling it.
Bacteria produce characteristic smells as they metabolize inside a wound, and once the ensuing infection takes hold doctors need to identify the bacteria that causes it quickly.
Currently it takes 2-3 days for a hospital lab to identify bacteria from a swab of the wound.
However,听Dr Krishna Persaud, of the School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science at Manchester University, has developed an artificial nose which will 'sniff out' harmful infections in people with serious burns, skin ulcers or gaping wounds.
The technology mimics the workings of a biological nose, the procedure will be non-invasive and the results will be ready in ten minutes.
He is joined by science writer Luca Turin, author of The Secret of Scent, a science book for lay people which professes to lift the lid on two worlds - the highly lucrative realm of perfume makers, and the equally rivalrous domain of smell science.
Dr Turin has deciphered how smell is written into molecular structure, and will be telling Quentin how our noses work.听 |
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RELATED LINKS
大象传媒 Science听& Nature
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