<description>&lt;p&gt;After this week’s announcement that under-16s will be banned from major social media platforms, we delve into the evidence behind the ban with Professor Amy Orben, Programme Leader of the Digital Mental Health Group at the University of Cambridge, and Dr Catherine Sebastian, Head of Evidence at Wellcome. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Also on the show, what can penalty shoot-outs teach us about international diplomacy? And how does the valuation of a football player impact the number of crashes seen after their team plays? Professor of Mathematical Sciences at Bath and football fan, Kit Yates, joins Tom to assemble their very own World Cup squad of science. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Presenter: Tom Whipple 
Producers: Kate White, Katie Tomsett, Keiran Manetta-Jones 
Editor: Martin Smith 
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth&lt;/p&gt;</description>

How do you research the impacts of social media on young people?

After this week’s announcement that under-16s will be banned from major social media platforms, we delve into the evidence behind the ban with Professor Amy Orben, Programme Leader of the Digital Mental Health Group at the University of Cambridge, and Dr Catherine Sebastian, Head of Evidence at Wellcome. Also on the show, what can penalty shoot-outs teach us about international diplomacy? And how does the valuation of a football player impact the number of crashes seen after their team plays? Professor of Mathematical Sciences at Bath and football fan, Kit Yates, joins Tom to assemble their very own World Cup squad of science. Presenter: Tom Whipple 
Producers: Kate White, Katie Tomsett, Keiran Manetta-Jones 
Editor: Martin Smith 
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

Finding the evidence for the social media ban

<description>&lt;p&gt;After 144 years the tallest tower on the Sagrada Familia is finally complete, but when Gaudi first designed it, the technology to build the tower didn’t exist. We’re joined by Tristram Carfrae, structural engineer and designer at Arup who was tasked with this impossible feat over a decade ago. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;With the reappearance of screwworm in North America, we ask – is it ever acceptable to intentionally drive a species to extinction? Tom is joined by Dr Gregory Kaebnick from the Hastings Center for Bioethics to dive into the science that could make it happen and the ethics stopping us. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Four in five of us will check the weather daily, but do we really know what our apps are telling us? Meteorologist Simon King guides us through the complex models behind these forecasts that govern our daily decisions. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Plus, science journalist Caroline Steel is in the studio bringing us the scientific discoveries the headlines missed, but that you need to know. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Presenter: Tom Whipple 
Producer: Kate White 
Editor: Martin Smith 
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth&lt;/p&gt;</description>

How engineers fulfilled Gaudi’s once impossible vision for the Sagrada Familia.

After 144 years the tallest tower on the Sagrada Familia is finally complete, but when Gaudi first designed it, the technology to build the tower didn’t exist. We’re joined by Tristram Carfrae, structural engineer and designer at Arup who was tasked with this impossible feat over a decade ago. With the reappearance of screwworm in North America, we ask – is it ever acceptable to intentionally drive a species to extinction? Tom is joined by Dr Gregory Kaebnick from the Hastings Center for Bioethics to dive into the science that could make it happen and the ethics stopping us. Four in five of us will check the weather daily, but do we really know what our apps are telling us? Meteorologist Simon King guides us through the complex models behind these forecasts that govern our daily decisions. Plus, science journalist Caroline Steel is in the studio bringing us the scientific discoveries the headlines missed, but that you need to know. Presenter: Tom Whipple 
Producer: Kate White 
Editor: Martin Smith 
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

How do you build an unbuildable tower?

<description>&lt;p&gt;Are we moving away from science as a strictly human endeavour? This is the view of Pushmeet Kohli, head of AI for Science at Google DeepMind. He joins Tom Whipple to discuss the use of the AI tool Co-Scientist as a collaborator in the lab, and the challenges in making Artificial Intelligence that works in science. Clare Bryant from the University of Cambridge also joins the conversation. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And Steve Brusatte, Professor of Palaeontology at the University of Edinburgh, joins the program to talk about his new book, The Story of Birds, tracing a 150‑million‑year journey from small, feathered dinosaurs to the birds of today. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Plus, science journalist Caroline Steel joins us to discuss the latest scientific discoveries that you might have missed. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Presenter: Tom Whipple 
Producers: Dan Welsh and Kate White 
Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
Editor: Martin Smith&lt;/p&gt;</description>

What role will humans play in the future of scientific research?

Are we moving away from science as a strictly human endeavour? This is the view of Pushmeet Kohli, head of AI for Science at Google DeepMind. He joins Tom Whipple to discuss the use of the AI tool Co-Scientist as a collaborator in the lab, and the challenges in making Artificial Intelligence that works in science. Clare Bryant from the University of Cambridge also joins the conversation. And Steve Brusatte, Professor of Palaeontology at the University of Edinburgh, joins the program to talk about his new book, The Story of Birds, tracing a 150‑million‑year journey from small, feathered dinosaurs to the birds of today. Plus, science journalist Caroline Steel joins us to discuss the latest scientific discoveries that you might have missed. Presenter: Tom Whipple 
Producers: Dan Welsh and Kate White 
Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
Editor: Martin Smith

How is AI going to change science?

<description>&lt;p&gt;From Hay Festival 2026, a dive into a big year for our oceans, with plankton specialist Vincent Doumeizel and physicist turned oceanographer Helen Czerski.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Vincent is author of the Power of Plankton, which describes the crucial history and future of plankton and planktonic life on our planet. Helen's book The Blue Machine looks at the physical oceanic processes that shape the world.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Presented by Tom Whipple
Produced by Alex Mansfield&lt;/p&gt;</description>

From Hay Festival 2026, a dive into a big year for our oceans.

From Hay Festival 2026, a dive into a big year for our oceans, with plankton specialist Vincent Doumeizel and physicist turned oceanographer Helen Czerski.Vincent is author of the Power of Plankton, which describes the crucial history and future of plankton and planktonic life on our planet. Helen's book The Blue Machine looks at the physical oceanic processes that shape the world.Presented by Tom Whipple
Produced by Alex Mansfield

Plankton's untapped potential

<description>&lt;p&gt;With 2023’s El Niño – a recurring pattern of extreme weather across the pacific basin - still leaving a bad taste in people's mouth, 2026 sees an El Niño stirring in the Pacific Ocean and there are warnings that this will be one of the strongest yet.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Roland Pease speaks with Amanda Maycock, a climatologist from Leeds University, to discuss what this climate phenomenon is and how it will impact the world from October to early next year. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He also hears from Scott Evans from the American Museum of Natural History, who has been exploring the Mackenzie mountains of Canada’s Northwest Territory to better understand the biology and ecology of life on earth before anything we might recognize - from the Ediacara era. This was before the explosion of different animal types with hard shells and bones in the later, Cambrian, time. In certain places around the world, much older rocks from the ancient ocean floor reveal an ecosystem abounding with soft, squidgy animal wierdness. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In Canada Scott has found a new trove of these fossils, but from far deeper below the surface of those ancient seas. Did animal life begin deep in the darkest depths rather than paddling in pools nearer the land?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Today, over half a billion years later, bottom trawling, a common fishing method involving dragging heavy nets across the bottom of the seafloor, is an environmentally destructive process that rips up everything in its path to maximise catch. We talked to Amanda Vincent, a professor at the Institute for the Oceans and fisheries of the British Columbia university and founder of the international Project Seahorse conservation group, about what bottom-trawl bans can achieve, in the light of results published about a renaissance of biodiversity off the coast of Scotland in an area where trawling has been banned for several years.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Plus, we talk to science journalist Gareth Mitchell, who explains how bottom trawling can also have negative consequences on technology, as well as other science news you may have missed, including updates on solar storms and robotic wolf shortages in Japan.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Presenter: Roland Pease
Producers: Alex Mansfield and Dan Welsh
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth&lt;/p&gt;</description>

El Niño is stirring in the Pacific Ocean and may well be one of the strongest yet.

With 2023’s El Niño – a recurring pattern of extreme weather across the pacific basin - still leaving a bad taste in people's mouth, 2026 sees an El Niño stirring in the Pacific Ocean and there are warnings that this will be one of the strongest yet.Roland Pease speaks with Amanda Maycock, a climatologist from Leeds University, to discuss what this climate phenomenon is and how it will impact the world from October to early next year. He also hears from Scott Evans from the American Museum of Natural History, who has been exploring the Mackenzie mountains of Canada’s Northwest Territory to better understand the biology and ecology of life on earth before anything we might recognize - from the Ediacara era. This was before the explosion of different animal types with hard shells and bones in the later, Cambrian, time. In certain places around the world, much older rocks from the ancient ocean floor reveal an ecosystem abounding with soft, squidgy animal wierdness. In Canada Scott has found a new trove of these fossils, but from far deeper below the surface of those ancient seas. Did animal life begin deep in the darkest depths rather than paddling in pools nearer the land?Today, over half a billion years later, bottom trawling, a common fishing method involving dragging heavy nets across the bottom of the seafloor, is an environmentally destructive process that rips up everything in its path to maximise catch. We talked to Amanda Vincent, a professor at the Institute for the Oceans and fisheries of the British Columbia university and founder of the international Project Seahorse conservation group, about what bottom-trawl bans can achieve, in the light of results published about a renaissance of biodiversity off the coast of Scotland in an area where trawling has been banned for several years.Plus, we talk to science journalist Gareth Mitchell, who explains how bottom trawling can also have negative consequences on technology, as well as other science news you may have missed, including updates on solar storms and robotic wolf shortages in Japan.Presenter: Roland Pease
Producers: Alex Mansfield and Dan Welsh
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

El Niño is nigh, but so what?

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