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Material World

Factual: Science & Nature

Science programme reporting on developments across the disciplines

Science programme reporting on developments across the disciplines. Each week, scientists describe their work, conveying the excitement they feel for their research projects

Material World: 18/02/2010

18/02/2010

BBC Radio 4 - Material World, 18/02/2010

Quentin Cooper meets the man behind CryoSat-2, rebuilt to study changing polar ice.

In 2005, CryoSat crashed in the Arctic during launch. Now, CryoSat-2 is on the launch pad. Quentin Cooper hears why it is crucial to our understanding of climate change.

Quentin Cooper talks to Duncan Wingham, Professor of Climate Physics at University College, London for an update on the European Space Agency's ice mission satellite, CryoSat. The first CryoSat mission ended in disaster five years ago when the launch rocket malfunctioned. Next week, a new satellite, CryoSat-2, will be launched. If the launch goes according to plan, the satellite will enter an orbit 700 kilometres above the Earth. Using the first all-weather microwave radar altimeter, CryoSat will investigate the Earth's ice fields and map ice thickness over water and land. 

A report in Nature suggests that the brains of songbirds are physically changed by the songs they sing. Quentin discusses the research with the paper's lead author, Richard Mooney, Professor of Neurobiology at Duke University School of Medicine. Richard describes the 'sensitive period' in both birds and humans when the brain is most receptive to learning. 

Quentin also hears about the world's most accurate clock. The Aluminium Ion Clock is more than twice as precise as the previous pacesetter based on an atom of mercury. It's accurate to one second in about 3.7 billion years. Quentin talks to Till Rosenband, one of the researchers at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) who developed the clock. He also talks to Patrick Gill from the National Physical Laboratory in Middlesex.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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