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Nobel Prizes 2014The annual Nobel Prizes for Physiology or Medicine, Physics and Chemistry were announced this week. The Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to UK-based research...er Prof John O'Keefe as well as May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser who discovered the brain's "GPS system". They discovered how the brain knows where we are and is able to navigate from one place to another. Their findings may help to explain why Alzheimer's disease patients cannot recognise their surroundings. The 2014 Nobel Prize for physics has been awarded to Professors Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura in Japan and the US, for the invention of blue light emitting diodes (LEDs). This enabled a new generation of bright, energy-efficient white lamps, as well as colour LED screens. The 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Eric Betzig, Stefan Hell and William Moerner for improving the resolution of optical microscopes. This type of microscope had previously been held back by the presumed limitation that obtaining a better resolution than half the wavelength of light would be impossible. But the laureates used fluorescence to extend the limits of the light microscope, allowing scientists to see things at much higher levels of resolution.GAUGEThe UK has a database for the amount of greenhouse gases we emit each year - usually measured in Gigatonnes of carbon. It's compiled by adding up emissions from various individual sources - be it a coal-fired power station or a wetland bog. This amount is used worldwide, but it is an estimate. A project called Greenhouse gas UK and Global Emissions, or GAUGE, is - for the first time - verifying these estimates by measuring what's in the atmosphere on a much larger scale.Genetics and DiabetesType 2 diabetes is globally the fastest growing chronic disease. The World Health Organisation estimates more than 300 million people are currently afflicted, rising to more than half a billion by 2030. It might seem on the surface to be a disease with a simple cause - eat too much & exercise too little - and the basic foundation is a relative lack of the hormone insulin. But as with most illnesses, it's much more complicated, not least because a large number of disease processes are happening all at once. In 2010, a particular gene variant was associated with around 40% of Type 2 diabetics - not directly causal, but this so-called 'risk variant' increases the chance of developing the condition if you have the wrong lifestyle. Research published in the journal Science Translational Medicine this week identifies a drug called yohimbine as a potential treatment to help Type 2 diabetics, one that targets this specific genetic make-up.UK Fungus DayOctober 12th is UK Fungus Day, a chance for us to celebrate these cryptic, often microscopic, but essential organisms. Usually hidden away inside plants or in soil (or if you're unlucky, in between your toes), fungi have largely been growing below scientists' radars for centuries. Mycologists still don't know anything close to the true number of fungi that exist on the planet. About a hundred thousand have been formally identified, but it's estimated that anywhere from half a million to ten million species may exist. This dwarfs, by several orders of magnitude, how many mammals there are on Earth. And, increasingly, we're realising quite how crucial fungi are to the functioning of our ecosystems. Head of Mycology at The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Bryn Dentinger, explains how valuable fungi really are.
Nobel Prizes 2014The annual Nobel Prizes for Physiology or Medicine, Physics and Chemistry were announced this week. The Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to UK-based research...er Prof John O'Keefe as well as May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser who discovered the brain's "GPS system". They discovered how the brain knows where we are and is able to navigate from one place to another. Their findings may help to explain why Alzheimer's disease patients cannot recognise their surroundings. The 2014 Nobel Prize for physics has been awarded to Professors Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura in Japan and the US, for the invention of blue light emitting diodes (LEDs). This enabled a new generation of bright, energy-efficient white lamps, as well as colour LED screens. The 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Eric Betzig, Stefan Hell and William Moerner for improving the resolution of optical microscopes. This type of microscope had previously been held back by the presumed limitation that obtaining a better resolution than half the wavelength of light would be impossible. But the laureates used fluorescence to extend the limits of the light microscope, allowing scientists to see things at much higher levels of resolution.GAUGEThe UK has a database for the amount of greenhouse gases we emit each year - usually measured in Gigatonnes of carbon. It's compiled by adding up emissions from various individual sources - be it a coal-fired power station or a wetland bog. This amount is used worldwide, but it is an estimate. A project called Greenhouse gas UK and Global Emissions, or GAUGE, is - for the first time - verifying these estimates by measuring what's in the atmosphere on a much larger scale.Genetics and DiabetesType 2 diabetes is globally the fastest growing chronic disease. The World Health Organisation estimates more than 300 million people are currently afflicted, rising to more than half a billion by 2030. It might seem on the surface to be a disease with a simple cause - eat too much & exercise too little - and the basic foundation is a relative lack of the hormone insulin. But as with most illnesses, it's much more complicated, not least because a large number of disease processes are happening all at once. In 2010, a particular gene variant was associated with around 40% of Type 2 diabetics - not directly causal, but this so-called 'risk variant' increases the chance of developing the condition if you have the wrong lifestyle. Research published in the journal Science Translational Medicine this week identifies a drug called yohimbine as a potential treatment to help Type 2 diabetics, one that targets this specific genetic make-up.UK Fungus DayOctober 12th is UK Fungus Day, a chance for us to celebrate these cryptic, often microscopic, but essential organisms. Usually hidden away inside plants or in soil (or if you're unlucky, in between your toes), fungi have largely been growing below scientists' radars for centuries. Mycologists still don't know anything close to the true number of fungi that exist on the planet. About a hundred thousand have been formally identified, but it's estimated that anywhere from half a million to ten million species may exist. This dwarfs, by several orders of magnitude, how many mammals there are on Earth. And, increasingly, we're realising quite how crucial fungi are to the functioning of our ecosystems. Head of Mycology at The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Bryn Dentinger, explains how valuable fungi really are.
| Series: | Inside science |
|---|---|
| First transmission date: | 2014-10-10 |
| Original broadcast channel: | BBC Radio 4 |
| Published: | 2014 |
| Rights Statement: | Rights owned or controlled by The Open University |
| Restrictions on use: | This material can be used in accordance with The Open University conditions of use. A link to the conditions can be found at the bottom of all OU Digital Archive web pages. |
| Duration: | 00:30:00 |
| Note: | Radio 4 version |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Fiona, Roberts |
| Presenter: | Adam Rutherford |
| Contributors: | Adam Rutherford; Stefan Hell; Michael Le Breton; Tracy Logan; Joe Pitt; Sue Nelson; Anders Rosengren; Bryn Dentinger |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Production number: | AUDA784B |
| Available to public: | no |
