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THE MATERIAL WORLD
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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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LISTEN AGAIN Ìý30 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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Artemisia annua - not in the encyclopaedia yet. © University of York
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Encyclopedia Of Life
As the tercentenary of the Swedish botanist, and father of taxonomy, Carolus Linnaeus approaches, a global consortium has promised to catalogue all 1.2 million known living species on an online Encyclopaedia of Life.
Quentin hears from the Natural History Museum’s Graham Higley how it’s supposed to work, and from Oxford University’s professor of Ecology, what it’s hoped to achieve.
Artemisinin
And deep within that catalogue you’ll eventually find Artemisia Annua, Chinese wormwood, an ancient herbal medicine now being used across Africa to treat malaria – killer of 3 million every year.
But supplies of the active compound artemisinin are limited.
Plant breeder Maggie Smallwood from York University and Chris Whitty, Professor of International Health at the London School of Tropical Medicine, explain how production can be boosted to meet the massive demand for the drug.
NEXT WEEK:ÌýÌý A century of plastic and biology through a guinea pig’s eyes…
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RELATED LINKS
Encyclopedia Of Life
´óÏó´«Ã½ Science & Nature
´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 4 Science programmes
The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of external websites
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