The Edge of Space

Crowdscience listener Ryosuke grew up in Japan, and spent his childhood summers catching cicadas in the park. For people in Japan, the sound of their chirping signals the first true summer day. But until they emerge, these enigmatic insects live underground - often for many years ...  Show more

CrowdScience listener Limbikani in Zambia is always being told he has his Dad’s laugh, so he set us the challenge of trying to find out whether a laugh can be passed down in our genes or if it’s something we learn from our environment. Presenter Caroline Steel steps into the worl ...  Show more

A century ago, astronomers were locked in a debate about the scope of our universe. Were we it? The answer is no. There are other galaxies beyond the Milky Way, and they are speeding away from us. Answering that question left astronomers with an even bigger puzzle. Why is everyth ...  Show more

This year marks the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s use of the first telescope. On this week’s show, we reflect on how telescopes have shifted our perspective on how small we are in size, space, and time. We also discuss how they help astronomers discover new and interesting as ...

Under the mighty radio Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank, Victoria Gill brings together some of the UK’s leading experts who were visiting the recent ‘bluedot’ science and music festival. They discussed the ongoing hunt for extraterrestrial life. We hear from Karen Olsson-Francis, ...  Show more

Justin Spilker and his colleagues at Texas A&M University have detected the oldest and most distant organic molecules in the known Universe using the James Webb Space Telescope. Justin joins Planetary Radio to talk about the discovery and what it means for our understandin ...