BBC Inside Science

The Zika virus is dominating the news this week. The latest data says it's been found in 21 countries so far. The symptoms are generally mild, but the possibility of a link to microcephaly has been raised in Brazil. Microcephaly is a serious condition where children are born with abnormally small heads and sometimes incomplete brain development. Trudie Lang, Professor of Global Health at Oxford University, and virologist Professor Jonathan Ball from Nottingham University discuss what we know so far.All the way from Antarctica our reporter Victoria Gill brings us the latest news about the citizen science project 'Penguin Watch'. Victoria installed new cameras with Dr Tom Hart and collected guano with Hila Levy. Gemma Clucas (Oxford and Southampton University) gives an update on what will happen with the collected data. Back in October we featured a major paper by a team of scientists lead by Dr Andrea Manica from Cambridge University. By comparing the 4500 year-old genome of a prehistoric man called Mota to other genomes from living Africans they had mapped a migration of Middle Eastern farmers back into the whole African continent. This week, colleagues identified an error in the way the original team had processed the data, thus overturning one of the key results. But the rest of the findings remain intact. Andrea talks to us about how and why science must make corrections along the path of progress.Heard a few stories about giant dinosaur fossils lately? Usually the giant A-list superstar fossils get all the attention. But according to curator Mark Carnall, about 90% of the collections are mainly uninteresting specimens. Marnie Chesterton went out to meet Mark at the Museum of Natural History in Oxford. He celebrates fragmentary fossils in his blog 'Underwhelming Fossil Fish of the Month'. Warning: Lower your expectations!Producer: Jen Whyntie Assistant Producer: Julia Lorke.

DNA expert Professor Dan Bradley discusses new research on ancient Britons' DNA, Concorde's 40th anniversary celebrated by engineer and pilot, massive dinosaur discovery in Argentina, and the hunt for a new planet in the solar system.

Genetics expert Prof Maria Bitner-Glindzicz discusses diagnosing rare diseases using the 100,000 Genome Project. Stem cells' survival improved with 'blood paint'. Dame Sue Ion explores nuclear waste disposal challenges. Dr David Hone's research on dinosaur features for sexual selection.

El Niño expert Roland Pease discusses the impacts of El Niño on global weather patterns, including floods, droughts, fires, and altered weather patterns. Experts explain the science behind how El Niño affects different regions, such as causing rains in drought-ridden California and exacerbating fires in Indonesia. The podcast sheds light on the cyclical nature and challenges of predicting El Niño events, emphasizing the environmental and human impacts of these natural phenomena.

Adam Rutherford and guests oceanographer Dr Helen Czerski, astrophysicist Chris Lintott and zoologist Dr Tim Cockerill share their highlights of the science year and answer listeners' science questions.Producer: Adrian Washbourn.

Alan Stern, Principal Investigator on New Horizons mission, discusses Pluto's surprising geologic activity. Insights on predatory bacteria's defense mechanisms. Scientists spending Christmas in the lab. DNA analysis reveals ancient human history and population structures.

Commander Chris Hadfield shares insights on living in space and offers advice to Tim Peake. Polar bears are walking further due to Arctic ice melting. Researchers explore using seismic sounds to deter elephants. Satellite tracks air pollution trends, with reductions in the West and increases in developing nations. London faces challenges with nitrogen oxides and wood burning stoves. The Human Evolution Gallery at the Natural History Museum opens, showcasing hominid diversity.

Flood modeller Nick Reynard discusses predicting floods amidst climate change. Unveiling scientific models' strengths and weaknesses in representing diverse scenarios. Exploring animals' 6th sense with magnetoreception and the ongoing quest for a 'biological compass'. London Underground escalator experiment reveals commuter behaviors and crowd control improvement at Holborn station. BBC Radio 4 Christmas Appeal aids homeless and vulnerable individuals with St Martin in the Fields.

Science Funding Review In the Comprehensive Spending Review last week, the Government announced its commitment to protect the science budget in 'real terms'. After five years of declining spending on science, this has been welcomed by many in the research community. But a lot of the detail is still to emerge. Adam asks Minister for Universities and Science, Jo Johnson where the extra funds are coming from? Is it a case of money being moved around, between departments or is there really an extra £1.5 billion, over the next 5 years, in the science research pot?Carbon Capture Storage Five years ago, amid much fanfare, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, committed £1 billion to the development of carbon capture and storage - the technology to extract carbon dioxide from the exhaust streams of power stations, and bury it underground. This technology is one strategy for reducing our impact on the climate while keeping coal, oil and gas as options for generating energy. Given the discussions going on right now over in Paris at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21, this might seem like a suitable commitment for the UK's plans to address global warming. But in the recent Comprehensive Spending Review, the Government have withdrawn the money, effectively ending the current CCS research in the UK.Graphene In contrast, one of the many recent success stories in UK science, graphene, is set to be a focus of research in the Government's plans. Graphene is the world's first truly two dimensional material; incredibly strong, very light and extremely flexible. It is also capable of conducting heat and electricity, so it is a material exciting scientists and industry alike. Since the isolation of graphene in Manchester in 2004 the UK has been at the forefront in graphene research. This year the National Graphene Institute in Manchester was opened, with a remit to link basic, fundamental research to graphene commerce and industry.Producer: Fiona Roberts.

DNA analysis of ancient European farmers reveals insights into human evolution. ALICE Experiment at CERN explores fundamental forces in the Universe. Astrophysicists answer questions on gravity, star sizes, and matter volume.