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Factual: Science & Nature

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

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Science In Action: ISEE-3 Reboot Project

Artist's concept image of ISEE-3 (ICE) spacecraft

17/07/2014

ISEE-3 Reboot Project

BBC World Service - Science In Action, ISEE-3 Reboot Project

Crowdfunded space hackers have managed to restart an old comet-chasing NASA satellite

Crowdfunded space hackers have managed to restart an old comet-chasing NASA satellite, plus respect for local customs needed to contain the Ebola virus.

Crowdfunded scientists have managed to revive an old satellite, which was launched by NASA to chase comets in 1978. At first, the team did not get the engine burns that they hoped for, which puts the satellite on course for a possible collision with the moon. The team is tweeting the latest news via @ISEE3Reboot.  Dr Geraint Jones of University College London has been keeping a keen eye on the project. 

Ebola Virus
The current Ebola outbreak in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia is the world's worst to date and shows no signs of slowing down. The World Health Organisation has reported figures of up to 1000 cases and more than 600 deaths. Medical agencies say that the spread of the virus is partly due to the lack of knowledge among the aid community of how the sick should be cared for and how the dead are handled.  Anthropologist Professor Melissa Leach, of Sussex University, has been following the outbreak and talks to Science in Action's Andrew Luck-Baker.

Caterpillar Crunch
In a collaboration of audio and chemical analysis, a study published in the journal Oecologia, revealed that plants respond to sounds that caterpillars usually make when eating them with more defences.  Future applications of this research could be in making pesticides.  Dr Rex Cocroft and Dr Heidi Appel, at the University of Missouri, tell Jack Stewart about their research on how Arabidopsis, a small flowering plant related to cabbage and mustard, reacts when munched by caterpillars.  

Palm Oil and Apes
With increasing demand of palm oil, rain forests are being cleared in order to create more plantations.  Professor Serge Wich, a specialist in primate biology from Liverpool John Moores University, says that this loss of habitat could have detrimental effects on the population of great apes. 


(Photo: Artist's concept image of ISEE-3 (ICE) spacecraft  ©NASA)


Presenter: Jack Stewart
Editor:       Deborah Cohen

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