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Science In Action: African Astronomers Recycle Old Telecoms Dishes

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crop_Men-working-on-Ghana-r.jpg

18/05/2017 GMT

African Astronomers Recycle Old Telecoms Dishes

BBC World Service - Science In Action, African Astronomers Recycle Old Telecoms Dishes

Ghana’s first radio telescope, built from an old telecommunication dish, is up and running

African astronomers recycle old telecoms dishes. Also, severe rainfall and climate change and why humans don’t have a penis bone, but chimps do?

Africa has a new telescope. The second radio telescope on the African continent has been built in Ghana. Using old, decommissioned telecommunications dishes, they hope to erect more of these telescopes, which can form an array, getting a better reading of things like distant pulsars in the southern skies.

Severe Rainfall and Climate Change
Severe rainfall and climate change – it’s almost become a mantra of climate change – “More severe weather, such as rainfall, in more unpredictable patterns”. Researchers have been looking at ways to predict severe precipitation events around the world. It was already understood that a warmer atmosphere holds more water, but new work is showing that it’s the increased turbulence in the atmosphere creates conditions for more extreme rain storms. 

Waterlogged Land
And the worst effect of severe rainfall is when it falls on already saturated ground. This is when flooding can occur. The latest land surveying satellites can measure the waterlogged-ness of the ground and help pinpoint regions of likely flooding.

Why Humans Don’t Have a Penis Bone, But Chimps Do?
The evolution of the penis bone or baculum is an interesting story. Only mammals have one and not all of them at that. The size of the penis bone varies greatly between species and it’s bigger in some animals than others, but why? Apparently it has got something to do with monogamy.

Picture: Men working on Ghana radio telescope. Photo courtesy SKA SA

Presenter:	Roland Pease
Producer: 	Fiona Roberts

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