About this episode
The episode discusses advancements in space travel, including nuclear propulsion and antimatter transportation, alongside other scientific news.
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
People in this episode
Host: Tom Whipple
Guests: Dr Hannah Sargeant, Caroline Steel
Topics covered
- space travel
- nuclear propulsion
- antimatter
- CERN
- beaver populations
- brain preservation
Keywords
- spacefaring future
- Moon base
- nuclear electric propulsion
- antimatter transportation
- beaver populations
- brain preservation
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: NASA, CERN, University of Leicester, University of Cambridge
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