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Factual: Science & Nature

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

A weekly programme looking at the science that's changing our world.

A weekly programme that illuminates the mysteries and challenges the controversies behind the science that's changing our world.

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BBC Inside Science: Ethiopian genome, Coral nutrients, The hunt for gravitational waves, Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

08/10/2015

Ethiopian genome, Coral nutrients, The hunt for gravitational waves, Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

BBC Radio 4 - BBC Inside Science, Ethiopian genome, Coral nutrients, The hunt for gravitational waves, Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

Adam Rutherford meets Carlo Rovelli, author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics.

Adam Rutherford meets Carlo Rovelli, author of publishing sensation Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, and examines new insights into the the resilience of corals across the globe.

As evidence grows about the vulnerability of our ocean corals to climate change, what's often overlooked are the more subtle changes in the ocean waters that contribute to coral resilience. Adam visits Southampton's Oceanography Centre where new research is showing how an imbalance of nutrients in reef waters is increasing the vulnerability of reef corals to high water temperatures which could help direct future coastal management.

The long awaited hunt for gravitational waves gets underway as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) in the United States begins its first observational run. The waves, generated by some of the most dramatic events in space such as the explosion of stars and the merging of two black holes, were first postulated by Einstein in 1916. So far they've never been detected but if LIGO is successful it'll not only provide proof of Einstein's Theory of Relativity but also provide the first direct evidence of the existence of black holes.

And Adam meets theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli whose new book Seven Brief Lessons on Physics examines in seven short essays how 20th century physics is shaping our world view. In Italy, it's outsold 50 Shades of Grey and the Pope's Encyclical and has now been translated into English. What's been the key to its success?

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Ethiopian genome, Coral nutrients, The hunt for gravitational waves, Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

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