Episode description

Valerie Trouet of the University of Arizona tells us how tree-ring data has been used to show how the jet stream has shaped extreme weather in Europe for centuries, influencing harvests, wildfires and epidemics.

Monash University’s Andy Tomkins discusses how, around 460 million years ago, the Earth was briefly encircled by a ring of dust – like Saturn is today, and that the resulting temporary astronomical shade may have cooled the planet. Andy proposes that this dust came from an asteroid which had a close encounter with our planet.

And the cell biology of choking on your drink with Laura Seeholzer from the University of California, San Francisco. Laura has won the 2024 Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology recognising her work on the discovery of how neuroendocrine cells protect our airways.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Jonathan Blackwell Production co-ordinator: Andrew Rhys Lewis

(Photo: Members of the research team collected tree ring samples at various locations in Europe, including the Balkan region. Credit: Courtesy of Valerie Trouet)