BBC Inside Science

This week, we’re letting you run the airwaves. Victoria Gill puts your science questions to Catherine Heymans, Astronomer Royal for Scotland and Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Edinburgh, Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth System Science at University College London, and Penny Sarchet, Managing editor of New Scientist.
If you’ve ever wondered why men have nipples, how gravity slingshots work, or whether photosynthesis could solve our energy problems, that’s all on this week’s BBC Inside Science.
Presenter: Victoria Gill
Producers: Ella Hubber & Debbie Kilbride
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

Humans are returning to the Moon - hear all about it on the BBC’s space podcast. 13 Minutes Presents: Artemis II is following Nasa’s mission to loop around the Moon, with a new episode every day. Starts on Monday 30 March 2026. Search for 13 Minutes Presents: Artemis II wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Follow or subscribe now so you don’t miss an episode.
Nasa plans to return to the Moon for the first time in more than half a century. Its Artemis II mission aims to send four astronauts to loop around the Moon. They are planning to go further from Earth than any human in history.
The story of Artemis II will be told by space scientist, Maggie Aderin and British astronaut, Tim Peake, with regular guest, US space journalist Kristin Fisher.
13 Minutes is the BBC’s space podcast, telling epic space stories, including the first Moon landing, Apollo 13 and the space shuttle. Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music.

Are we, at last, getting the spacefaring future we were promised back in the 1960s? This week, NASA has been outlining ambitions for a base on the Moon and, perhaps more surprisingly, the development of a new class of spacecraft powered by nuclear electric propulsion. Dr Hannah Sargeant at the University of Leicester explains the potential of nuclear-powered space travel, how it could take us further into the solar system than ever before, and why it has taken decades for the technology to reach this point.
Meanwhile, a lorry carrying a very unusual cargo has been making careful laps around the campus of CERN in Switzerland. This week science reporter Caroline Steel has been enthralled by the controlled transportation of antimatter. With insights from Dr Harry Cliff at the University of Cambridge, explore why trapping and moving antimatter is such a milestone for physicists.
Plus, rising beaver populations in the UK and the science of brain preservation. Caroline Steel joins Tom for her pick of the week’s science news.
Presenter: Tom Whipple
Producer: Harrison Lewis and Katie Tomsett
Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
Editor: Martin Smith

In a bid to invest in the future of computing and keep emerging quantum companies on their shores, the UK government has announced a £2 billion ‘Quantum Leap’ fund. Tom Whipple heads to ORCA Computing in London to find out exactly how close we are to realising that quantum future and the industries that may be revolutionized in the process.

After Iranian missiles have hit a key helium production plant in Qatar, stability of the global supplies of the element have been called into question. Dr Rebecca Ingle from University College London clues us in on just how much of the world relies on Helium and why it is the irreplicable “cryogenic king” of the elements.

Plus, can potatoes grow on the moon? And what can pythons tell us about weight loss? Reporter Gareth Mitchell joins Tom for their pick of this week's science news.
Presenter: Tom Whipple
Producer: Alex Mansfield and Katie Tomsett
Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
Editor: Martin Smith

This week new research suggests that in recent years the Earth has been warming faster than we predicted. But scientists are undecided on whether this change is going to be permanent. Laura Wilcox, Professor of Aerosol-Climate Interactions at the University of Reading explains.
Tom Whipple is joined by Kit Yates, Author and Professor of Mathematical Biology and Public Engagement at the University of Bath. They mark the ten year anniversary of a game of ‘Go’ in which a computer programme called AlphaGo beat human Go champion Lee Sodol. Computer scientist at Google DeepMind Thore Graepel was witness to the game and talks about why the event has become a crucial moment in the story of AI.
Kit also brings Tom his pick of the science news.
To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk, search for BBC Inside Science and follow the links to The Open University.
Presenter: Tom Whipple
Producers: Clare Salisbury and Alex Mansfield
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth