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BBC Inside Science: Encoding memories; 350 years of the science journal; Women in science; Ceres

05/03/2015

Encoding memories; 350 years of the science journal; Women in science; Ceres

BBC Radio 4 - BBC Inside Science, Encoding memories; 350 years of the science journal; Women in science; Ceres

Encoding memories; 350 years of the science journal; women in science; arrival at Ceres.

Adam Rutherford on new insights into how the brain encodes memory, and on the eve of Nasa's Dawn spacecraft arriving at Ceres, what can be expected as its 14-month orbit begins?

How does the brain lay down memory? For decades the limits of microscopes have meant that a detailed look at the way brain cells encode particular learned skills and events has proved elusive. But in a report published this week a team of researchers has identified how changes in specific connections encode a particular behavioural response. Adam Rutherford talks to Tony Zador of Cold Spring Harbour laboratories who's become the first to crack a piece of the neural code for learning and memory which could have profound medical insights.

350 years ago this week, the world's first scientific journal was published. Philosophical Transactions began by drawing together various letters and reviews that cemented the origin of modern science by publishing Isaac Newton, Christopher Wren and other founding members of the esteemed Royal Society. Historian Dr Aileen Fyfe discusses the key moments in the journal's evolution and its legacy today.

There's a look at the ongoing representation of women in science following on from a recent report examining the Royal Society's 2014 university research fellows of which only 2 out of 43 were women. The Society's President Sir Paul Nurse discusses how the imbalance in this and in science more generally should be addressed.

NASA's Dawn spacecraft is about to arrive in the orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres and will be the first mission ever to successfully visit a dwarf planet. As the spacecraft spirals closer, images have shown numerous craters and mysterious bright spots that scientists believe could reveal how Ceres formed and offer new clues to the origins of our solar system. Adam talks to the mission's deputy scientist Carol Raymond on the latest interpretations of what's currently being observed.

Producer: Adrian Washbourne.

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Encoding memories; 350 years of the science journal; Women in science; Ceres

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