Original version

BBC World Service

BBC World Service Radio

World Service Radio

Science in Action

Science In Action

Factual: Science & Nature

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

The BBC brings you all the week's science news.

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

Science In Action: Russia’s New Nuclear Age

Magazines & Reviews

crop_72DB5B4F-9310-4606-826.jpg

08/03/2018 GMT

Russia’s New Nuclear Age

BBC World Service - Science In Action, Russia’s New Nuclear Age

How credible is Putin’s claim that Russia has developed a nuclear-powered cruise missile?

Russia’s New Nuclear Age. Also the far flung future of fisheries, the impact of climate change on women famers and Ice trapped in diamonds reveal Earth’s watery underside.

President Vladimir Putin has just announced a whole new suite of strategic nuclear systems being developed in Russia. One of these is a worrying nuclear-powered cruise missile. Worrying - because back in the 1960’s the US tried something similar with their Project’s Pluto and SLAM and it turned out the missiles were too dangerous even to test. We find out how likely experts in the field think these claims are.

International Women’s Day (Thursday 8th March 2018) 
Around the world, more and more women are becoming farmers and responsible for small holdings. Climate change is impacting women globally more than men, a good example is women tend to fetch water and water sources are becoming more scarce, so they have to travel further each day. Agriculture is first in the firing line when it comes to the negative impact of climate change. Is anyone doing anything to mitigate this double-whammy impact on women around the world?

Long-term Impact on Fisheries from Climate Change. 
Changes in the cycling of nutrients in the world’s oceans are already occurring. Global warming is having an impact on the marine food chain already. Nutrients needed to feed phytoplankton, the first organisms in the food chain, are being locked up at depth. This means less food for the larger organisms, including fish. The decline has been predicted to be low and slow for the next 100 years. But new work has pushed the models further into the future and have shown much greater declines in fish stocks around the whole world by 2300.

Looking for Ice in Diamonds
Diamonds look nice on rings and necklaces, but they can also have uses beyond ornamentation. In a recent study, geologists have found minute traces of a new form of ice in diamonds from deep within the Earth’s mantle. Could this be evidence of an untapped ocean beneath our feet?

Picture: In May 1961 the world’s first nuclear ramjet engine, mounted on a railroad car, roared to life for just a few seconds at the Nevada Test Site’s Pluto Facility at Jackass Flats. Credit: Federal Government of the United States

Presenter: Roland Pease
Producer: Fiona Roberts

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Science In Action

Russia’s New Nuclear Age

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service

About BBC World Service