Coral extinctions and chalky unknowns

About this episode

The episode discusses coral extinctions due to heatwaves, the unknowns of plankton adaptation to rising CO2, and the potential benefits of mRNA vaccination for cancer therapy.

As two species of coral are killed off by the 2023 heatwave in the Florida reefs, the abilities of different plankton species to cope with rising CO2 remain crucially unknown. Also, retrospective research shows a strong suggestion that mRNA covid vaccination might serendipitously boost certain types of cancer immunotherapy. And, if you can’t identify changing agricultural crop types from satellite observations, why not just strap a camera to your bike helmet? Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alex Mansfield Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth (Photo: Dead elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata). Credit: Rolf von Riedmatten/Getty Images)

People in this episode

Host: Roland Pease

Topics covered

• coral extinction
• climate change
• plankton adaptation
• cancer immunotherapy
• agriculture technology

Keywords

• coral extinction
• heatwave
• plankton
• mRNA vaccination
• cancer immunotherapy
• agriculture
• satellite observations

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BBC World Service

Books & works: mRNA covid vaccination

Places: Florida, Florida reefs, agricultural crop types

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