Episodes
Thursday Oct 31, 2019
1. Climate change - reading the past in tree ring data
Thursday Oct 31, 2019
Thursday Oct 31, 2019
Global temperature changes we have experienced in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries are unprecedented in terms of speed, suggesting a real climate emergency. Professor Mary Gagen, of Swansea University’s Geography Department, measures tree ring data – ‘weather stations across the world’. Her research focuses on climate change over the last few thousand years, to determine how our current global changes compare to recent history.
Thursday Oct 31, 2019
2. The truth about antibiotics: will maggots save the human race?
Thursday Oct 31, 2019
Thursday Oct 31, 2019
The world is losing the battle against bacteria and is running out of effective antibiotics…but can maggots save the human race? In this episode, Biomedical Scientist, Professor Yamni Nigam, discusses her research into wounds and antimicrobial resistance. Yamni talks about using maggots to combat the antimicrobial crisis and heal infected wounds while working to overcome the “yuck factor” associated with these creepy crawly medical powerhouses.
Thursday Oct 31, 2019
3. Is there a ‘digital darkness’ descending?
Thursday Oct 31, 2019
Thursday Oct 31, 2019
How a human-centred approach to digital technology helps to address global problems. Computer Scientist, Professor Matt Jones, discusses his research into street-speaker systems in India and how working with emergent users to design technology makes a real difference to their lives. Matt also talks about a ‘digital darkness’ in terms of privacy, artificial intelligence, the breakdown in face-to-face communication and how we can use a human-centred approach to overcome this.