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Factual: Science & Nature

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The BBC brings you all the week's science news.

Science In Action: Japanese Whaling Ban

Japanese crew members from whaling ship use water cannon to disperse Greenpeace activists

10/04/2014

Japanese Whaling Ban

BBC World Service - Science In Action, Japanese Whaling Ban

Japanese whaling ban; A robotic clam; Africa Engineering Prize; Computational psychiatry

Japanese whaling ban in the Antarctic; A robotic razor clam to anchor vessels and lay cables; Africa Engineering Prize; The world’s first computational psychiatry centre

The International Court of Justice, in The Hague, recently ruled that Japan should stop whaling in the Antarctic, which the country has been doing 'for scientific purposes'. Former BBC environment correspondent Richard Black, who has covered the story for many years, joins us in the Science in Action studios to discuss how much scientific data has been collected from the Japanese whaling expeditions.

RoboClam
The Atlantic razor clam can burrow into undersea soil at high speed, using very little energy.  Now researchers have built a robotic clam that can perform the same trick, and that could have implications for everything from anchoring vessels to installing underwater cables.   BBC science reporter James Morgan explains.

Africa Engineering Prize
The Royal Academy of Engineering in the UK has launched the first ever Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation to promote engineering in sub-Saharan Africa.  Applications for entries close at the end of May - the winner will receive £25,000, however every shortlisted entry will receive six months of mentoring, training and support in getting their idea to market.  Calestous Juma and Malcolm Brinded, two of the judges tell us more about what they are looking for.

Brain Research Centre
The Max Planck Society, a German non-profit, has over 80 centres globally, with the aim of conducting research that benefits the general public.  They are widely regarded as one of the foremost research institutes in the world, and the topics they choose to study are watched with interest.  Now, a new Max Planck centre in London has opened, with the aim of developing models of how the brain works, and using those computational methods to understand how human cognition works.  The BBC's Melissa Hogenboom reports for Science in Action.

(Photo caption: Japanese crew members from whaling ship use water cannon to disperse Greenpeace activists © AFP/Getty Images)

Presenter: Jack Stewart
Producer:  Ania Lichtarowicz

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