BBC Radio 4 LW

Home Planet

Discussion & Talk

Factual: Science & Nature

Programme answering listeners' questions about planet Earth and our impact upon it

Home Planet: 02/11/2010

02/11/2010

BBC Radio 4 - Home Planet, 02/11/2010

Mysterious froth; satellite watching; salty kingfishers.

What is the mysterious yellow froth that appears in Northumbrian grasslands? One listener wondered if it might be rabbit vomit, but it comes from a far more exotic creature.

Each year, grass fields in Northumbria sprout mysterious frothy clumps. They start out white and quickly decay to yellow then crumble away. No bird or animal has been seen depositing them and they appear overnight like something in a fairy tale. 

On today's Home Planet, the team dive into these curious clumps and come up with the answer. They're not magical but they do come from one of the strangest living things to be found in the British Isles. There's also the puzzle of the geese that fly North for the winter; the source of the bright light that rushes South across the night sky and how do gold atoms formed in distant supernovae end up nuggets here on Earth.

Answering these questions in this week's Home Planet are astronomer Dr Carolin Crawford of Cambridge University; conservationist Derek Moore and; Professor Philip Stott, an environmental scientist from the University of London. 

Contact: 

Home Planet
BBC Radio 4
PO Box 3096
Brighton
BN1 1PL

Or email home.planet@bbc.co.uk

Or telephone: 08700 100 400

Presenter: Richard Daniel
Producer: Toby Murcott
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 4.

BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

Radio 4

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

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Home Planet

02/11/2010

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 LW

About BBC Radio 4