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Unexpected Elements

Factual: Science & Nature

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

The news you know, the science you don’t.

The news you know, the science you don’t. Unexpected Elements looks beyond everyday narratives to discover a goldmine of scientific stories and connections from around the globe. From Afronauts, to why we argue, to a deep dive on animal lifespans: see the world in a new way.

The Science Hour

Unexpected Elements: Kepler 186F Sperm and egg, Facebook, Russian Science;Peter Higgs; Alcoholics

Artist’s impression of Kepler 186F: Credit NASA Ames/SETI Institute/JPL-CalTech

19/04/2014

Kepler 186F Sperm and egg, Facebook, Russian Science;Peter Higgs; Alcoholics

BBC World Service - Unexpected Elements, Kepler 186F Sperm and egg, Facebook, Russian Science;Peter Higgs; Alcoholics

NASA announce the latest Kepler-mission discovery. A new Earth-like planet has been discovered.

Kepler 186F
NASA announce a new discovery made by its planet-hunting mission, the Kepler Space Telescope

How sperm recognises the egg 
The discovery of a protein on mammalian sperm almost a decade ago, sparked the search for the corresponding receptor on the egg. Now researchers, in the UK, have found this receptor in mouse egg cells. They propose to call it Juno, after the Roman Goddess of fertility and marriage. The finding indicates that these two proteins need to interact for normal fertilisation to occur. And in humans, it could lead to early screening of couple to decide which appropriate fertility treatment they require. 

Automatic Facebook 
Keeping up with your online social network of 'friends' on Facebook can sometimes be time consuming and arduous. Now artificial intelligence expert, Boris Galitsky has invented a robot to do the bulk of his social interactions online. But how realistic is it? And does it fool his cyber pals? 

Peter Higgs
Peter Higgs opens up to Jim Al-Khalili, admitting that he failed to realise the full significance of the Higgs boson and to link it to the much celebrated Standard Model of Physics. An oversight he puts down to a string of missed opportunities, including one night at physics summer camp when, most regrettably, he went to bed early.

Photo Credits: Artist’s impression of Kepler 186F
Credit NASA Ames/SETI Institute/JPL-CalTech

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Unexpected Elements

Kepler 186F Sperm and egg, Facebook, Russian Science;Peter Higgs; Alcoholics

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