Science In Action
BBC World Service
Categories: Science & Medicine
Listen to the last episode:
Friday, April 13th 2029 – mark it in your calendar. That’s the day an asteroid the size of an aircraft carrier will fly past Earth, closer than some satellites. Don’t worry – it will miss, but it’ll will pass so close to Earth that it will be visible to the naked eye of 2 billion people, particularly in North Africa and Western Europe.
Roland Pease this week attended the Apophis T-5 Years conference at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands, meeting astronomers scrambling to get missions up to the object to learn what kind of threats such asteroids might pose to us in the future and to discuss the science of planetary defence.
NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX, a follow-on to OSIRIS-REx, will study the physical changes due to the gravitational forces from the Earth as it closely passes us by. But will there be an armada of spacecraft sent to monitor Apophis? The European Space Agency hope to gather support for their own mission, RAMSES.
Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Jonathan Blackwell
Image Credit: JPL/Caltech
Previous episodes
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450 - An armada for asteroid Apophis? Thu, 25 Apr 2024
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449 - Unexpected black hole in our galaxy Thu, 18 Apr 2024
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448 - Bird flu in Antarctica Thu, 11 Apr 2024
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447 - Earthquake in Taiwan Thu, 04 Apr 2024
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446 - Star for a day Thu, 28 Mar 2024
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445 - Out of Africa Thu, 21 Mar 2024
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444 - Impacts of global warming Thu, 14 Mar 2024
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443 - The first stars in the universe Thu, 07 Mar 2024
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442 - One million genomes in two dimensions Thu, 29 Feb 2024
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441 - Largest ever covid safety study Thu, 22 Feb 2024
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440 - Climate scientist wins defamation case Thu, 15 Feb 2024
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439 - Particle physics v climate change Thu, 08 Feb 2024
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438 - Unethical data gathering in China Thu, 01 Feb 2024
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437 - Drilling into the past Thu, 25 Jan 2024
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436 - Swine fever in South East Asia Thu, 18 Jan 2024
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435 - Seeking supernovas Thu, 11 Jan 2024
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434 - Tackling tuberculosis in South Africa Thu, 04 Jan 2024
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433 - Following in the footsteps of ancient humans Thu, 28 Dec 2023
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432 - Volcanic eruption lights up Iceland Thu, 21 Dec 2023
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431 - The science of morning sickness Thu, 14 Dec 2023
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430 - Can carbon capture live up to its hype? Thu, 07 Dec 2023
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429 - All aboard the RRS Sir David Attenborough Thu, 30 Nov 2023
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428 - Fires in the Pantanal wetlands Thu, 23 Nov 2023
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427 - Volcanic rumblings in Iceland Thu, 16 Nov 2023
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426 - Sounds of the Cape Thu, 09 Nov 2023
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425 - Climate emergency Thu, 02 Nov 2023
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424 - Bird flu reaches Antarctic region Thu, 26 Oct 2023
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423 - Alarm at Campi Flegrei, Italy Thu, 19 Oct 2023
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422 - Devastating earthquakes hit Afghanistan Thu, 12 Oct 2023
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418 - Deadly floods in Derna Thu, 14 Sep 2023
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417 - Returning to the North Pole Thu, 07 Sep 2023
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410 - On the edge of a new volcano Thu, 20 Jul 2023
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409 - Europe’s heatwave death toll Thu, 13 Jul 2023
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408 - Melting of Greenland ice sheet Thu, 06 Jul 2023
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406 - Human embryo models Thu, 22 Jun 2023
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405 - Oceans in hot water? Thu, 15 Jun 2023
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404 - The beginnings of us Thu, 08 Jun 2023
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403 - Vaccinating condors against bird flu Thu, 01 Jun 2023
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402 - Brightest supernova in a decade Thu, 25 May 2023
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401 - Return of the Wildfires Thu, 18 May 2023