RADIO_2

YOUR NAME_Dianne van Os
ID CODE_1577240
CLASS_JBC-B03
RADIO_2
TITLE_Science in Action
BROADCAST_BBC World Service
DATE_16/11/2010
DURATION_26.31
SUBJECT_Hungarian toxic sludge, the birth of microbiology, antibodies against cancer, Rat Attack, science hack day SF
SUMMARY_
Nine people died after caustic red mud burst through a reservoir wall in October, and devastated towns and rivers in the west of the country. Scientists and engineers have been studying the disaster, to figure out how bad things might be. Also to prevent anything similar happening again. Professor Paul Younger is the Director of the Newcastle Institute for Research on Sustainability and tells about it. Further a Dutch tradesman made a lens in  1670s. The lens was five hundred times more powerful than all other lenses at that time.
With the lens he revealed a previously unseen world in a drop of pond water. Most of the more distinguished scientists thought he might be hallucinating, because he was an amateur scientist. Jenny Uglow tells why she believes this was a moment of genius. Scientist are helping farmers in Bangladesh and India against the Rat Floods. These attack happen once every 50 years. With all the food in the countries the rats reproduce to plague levels. When the seeds are all eaten the rats descend on the rice field and leave the farmers with nothing. Dr Steven Belmain is telling us about it.