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BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

Unexpected Elements

Factual: Science & Nature

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

The news you know, the science you don’t.

The news you know, the science you don’t. Unexpected Elements looks beyond everyday narratives to discover a goldmine of scientific stories and connections from around the globe. From Afronauts, to why we argue, to a deep dive on animal lifespans: see the world in a new way.

Unexpected Elements: Nasa’s Tess Ready to Launch

Discussion & Talk

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14/04/2018 GMT

Nasa’s Tess Ready to Launch

BBC World Service - Unexpected Elements, Nasa’s Tess Ready to Launch

Imminent launch of new planet-hunting mission Tess

Nasa’s Tess; Brain surgery while wide awake; Internet Health Check; Tasmanian devil cancer; Raising eyebrows

Nasa’s latest exoplanet hunting mission is due to launch this week. It will look for Earth-like planets closer to home than the previous Kepler exoplanet mission. By looking at stars hundreds of light years away, rather than thousands, scientists will be able to use ground based telescopes to learn more about rocky planets.   Roland Pease talks to Professor Sara Seager from MIT who is the Deputy Science Director on the Tess Mission. 

Brain Surgery While Wide Awake
We hear extraordinary story vet Adam Tjolle who found out he had a brain tumour, following a scan when he had a cycling accident. The low-grade glioma – nicknamed his second brain – grew inside his head, very slowly, for ten or even twenty years.  Adam is a friend of presenter Claudia Hammond and together they decided to keep a record of his journey – before and after his life changing surgery.  

Internet Health Report 2018
Mozilla’s annual Internet Health Report is a detailed overview, reflecting its volunteers’ research into internet shutdowns, net neutrality, corporate dominance and online misinformation.  Gareth Mitchell talks to the author of the report, Solana Larsen.

Tasmanian Devils at Greater Risk of Cancer
Scientists writing in the journal Cancer Cell say they have identified the sources of two transmissible cancers that are killing Tasmanian devils, and threatening the survival of the species. It appears the cancers originated in two different animals – one male and one female.  The team is now looking to see if new human cancer treatments will work in the Tasmanian devil population, as Elizabeth Murchison from the University of Cambridge explained to Roland Pease.

More on Brain Surgery While Wide Awake
Claudia Hammond speaks to her friend Adam Tjolle after his life changing brain surgery.

Raising Eyebrows
Our ancestors bore a very prominent brow ridge, which scientists think was a symbol of dominance.  Modern humans, however, have lost this ridge in favour of a flatter forehead - but why?  Adam Rutherford asks Dr Penny Spikins from the Department of Archaeology at the University of York.  


(Image caption: Nasa’s Tess, shown here in a conceptual illustration, will identify exoplanets orbiting the brightest stars just outside our solar system – credit Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center)


The Science Hour was presented by Claudia Hammond with comments from BBC Science reporter Bobbie Lakhera


Producer: Katy Takatsuki

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