Oxford Sparks Big Questions

"Life finds a way"...This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of Stephen Spielberg and Universal Studio's dinosaur masterpiece 'Jurassic Park'. A rousing soundtrack, gutsy kids, and graphics which have stood the test of time remarkably well - the film has undeniably become a classic. But - here's the big question - could it actually happen? Using today's technologies, could we actually extract ancient dinosaur DNA from blood-sucking mosquitoes preserved in amber? And then use that DNA to clone a prehistoric beast? We ask palaeontologist Dr Ricardo Pérez-de la Fuente to help us sort the science fact from the science fiction.

Many of us will have had to deal with a bacterial infection at some point or another. The solution? Often, antibiotics. But as the issue of antibiotic resistance becomes more and more of a concern, might there be an alternative to tackling bacterial infections with drugs? We chat to biomedical engineer Dr Sara Keller about how sound waves could potentially be used to break down bacterial cells.

Increasing levels of CO2 in our atmosphere are a big cause for concern. So what if we could find a way to not only remove some CO2 from the air, but turn it into something useful too? That's exactly what Dr Tiancun Xiao and his team have been working on...and they've found a way to turn CO2 into jet fuel!

Forced displacement of human populations owing to conflict or natural disasters is very difficult to measure. During these crises, the traditional methods of assessing changes in populations - which mostly rely on surveys - are simply not possible. We chat to Dr Douglas Leasure from Oxford's Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science about how his team have been using social media data to assess the internal displacement of populations in Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022, in order to help ensure humanitarian aid is delivered as effectively as possible. If you would like to read the original research paper about Doug's work, you can access it here: 'Nowcasting Daily Population Displacement in Ukraine through Social Media Advertising Data'. You can find out more about the work of researchers at the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science in this Oxford Sparks micro-documentary: 'Demography: Understanding Our World'.

Demographers (researchers who study the statistics of human populations) look at factors such as birth rates, death rates, migration and life expectancy. But what exactly is meant by the term 'life expectancy'? How is it calculated, and how has it changed after the pandemic? We speak to Prof Jennifer Dowd from the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science to find out. You can find out more about Prof Dowd's work in our micro-documentary Demography: Understanding Our World: https://www.oxfordsparks.ox.ac.uk/videos/demography-understanding-our-world/

More than half the world's population is at risk from dengue fever, a viral infection that is spread via the bite of an infected mosquito. While some cases of the disease can be mild, others can be extremely dangerous and even fatal - particularly if someone has contracted the virus previously. When cases of dengue fever are high, those at risk can take some preventative measures, such as wearing clothing that covers as much skin as possible, using mosquito nets at night, and avoiding standing water. As such, some way of predicting high levels of the virus before they arrive would be invaluable. This is exactly what Dr Sarah Sparrow and her colleagues at the DART (Dengue Advanced Readiness Tools) project are hoping to achieve - using climate data to create a forecast, similar to a pollen forecast, for dengue fever.

Our gut microbiome (that's all the microorganisms - such as bacteria, viruses and fungi - living in our gut) is really important for healthy digestion. But did you know that it's also linked to our mental health? In this episode of the Big Questions Podcast we chat to neuroscientist Prof Philip Burnet from Oxford's Department of Psychiatry about how our gut is connected to our brain, and how taking prebiotic and probiotic supplements could even help in the treatment of mood and psychotic disorders.

We've talked about a lot of different types of research on this podcast...from investigations into drought, to space exploration, to the future of food. But what about researching 'research' itself? That's right, on this week's episode of the Big Questions Podcast, we're going meta! We chat to Dr Patricia Logullo, a meta-researcher from the Nuffield Department for Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, about why it is so important to examine the practice of research itself, and how scientists such as herself help to ensure research reporting is transparent, complete and reproducible.

Not everyone is the biggest fan of spiders...we know that. They might not be the first thing that springs to mind when it comes to romance, either! But, you've got to admit, when it comes to engineering, they're pretty incredible. Capable of making up to seven types of silk, and able to sense vibrations through thousands of 'ears' on their legs, there's a lot we can learn from spiders when it comes to new materials and sensor technologies. So, on this year's Valentine's episode of the Big Questions Podcast, we're asking arachnologist Dr Beth Mortimer how spider mating rituals could help us become better engineers.

Ask an internet aficionado what the 'next big thing' is, and they might respond with 'the metaverse'. This is the idea that we could soon be wandering in a virtual world - a kind of global, immersive video game. But are we really just one VR headset away from paradise? Or is the metaverse doomed before it's even really got off the ground? We chat to Dr Bernie Hogan from the Oxford Internet Institute to find out if Big Tech's confidence in the metaverse might be misplaced.