Oxford Sparks Big Questions

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic there was a lot of confusion, as we all tried to figure out what we should and shouldn't do to best protect ourselves and others. Fortunately, we now have more definitive answers to some of our most pressing questions - which are backed-up by data - including "umm...should I be wearing a mask?". As COVID cases are again on the rise across Europe, this is the question we're putting to demographer and behavioural scientist Prof Melinda Mills.

Satellites have been orbiting our planet for the past few decades. We might be familiar with how they can be used to track weather, or beam television and phone signals around the world. But did you know, that by capturing images of the Earth outside the visible spectrum, they're able to offer a unique perspective of the ground beneath our feet? They could even - as Earth observations specialist Maral Bayaraa tells us - provide a remote early warning system for an environmental catastrophe, dam collapse.

From California to Greece to Australia, it seems like every time we switch on the news there's another wildfire report. Some fires are natural - in fact, they're a fundamental part of many ecosystems - but the severity and frequency of the wildfires we are now witnessing is beyond natural levels. Human-ignited "megafires" are causing devastation across the planet. Climate change and inadequate ecosystem management are key contributors to the problem, but what are the possible solutions? In this special COP26 edition of the Big Questions Podcast, we ask Dr Imma Oliveras all about megafires.

Chocolate. It's rare to find anyone who isn't partial to a square or two of this delicious treat. But is its very existence in danger? (*Cue worried faces.*) In this episode of the Big Questions Podcast we chat to chocoholic and researcher Acheampong Atta-Boateng, who studies the relationship between cocoa trees and their micro-pollinators. We hear about how monocropping, pesticides and climate change all pose a risk to the cocoa tree and ask – could chocolate go extinct?

Nowadays, the idea of encountering robots in our daily lives isn't pure science fiction. Many of us interact with AI every day, and the use of robots in, for example, healthcare settings, is already on the horizon. But what if something goes wrong? The RoboTIPS team at the University of Oxford is developing an innovative feature - an 'ethical black box' that acts like a data recorder for use when adverse incidents or accidents occur. How would it work? Well, in this very special episode of the Big Questions Podcast, we're going to demonstrate - through the medium of theatre! That's right, we've made our very own radio play! Sit back, relax, and let us present the Oxford RoboTIPS players in "The Case of the Fall".

Do you remember when the price of fizzy drinks in the UK went up slightly a few years ago? Soda fans, perhaps you remember all too clearly...! Well, this was because the UK government introduced a sugar tax (or the Soft Drinks Industrial Levy, to be precise), requiring manufacturers to pay a tax on sugary drinks - a cost which was then passed on to the customer. Following the success of this tax (perhaps not for your pocket, but fizzy drinks now contain less sugar) we're asking public health nutritionist Dr Lauren Bandy - is a snack tax on the horizon?

An arboretum could be described as a "living library". A beautifully curated collection of woody plants from across the globe, each one carefully labelled and managed. In this episode of the Big Questions Podcast we chat to Ben Jones, Arboretum Curator at the University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Harcourt Arboretum, about what makes an arboretum so special.

Lockdowns, social distancing, restrictions on 'normal' activities - we've all been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. But how has it impacted on our mood and mental wellbeing? We chat to Dr Maxime Taquet from the Department of Psychiatry about 'mood homeostasis' (the interplay between people's activities and the way they feel), and how this has been affected over the past year. He also tells us about a new study into the impact of COVID-19 infection itself on mental health.

Their distinctive 'teacher teacher' call is synonymous with British gardens, but great tits are facing a big problem - climate change. As our springtime becomes warmer and begins earlier, peak caterpillar abundance is also shifting earlier. As a crucial food source for great tit chicks, this is cause for concern. In this episode of the Big Questions Podcast, we catch up with ecologist Dr Charlotte Regan, one of the scientists who monitors the Wytham Woods great tit population, which has been systematically studied since the 1960s.

Remember those days when it was possible to climb aboard a plane and jet off around the world? Well, while we might be yearning for foreign shores, there's no denying that air travel comes with a big ol' carbon footprint. But is it possible to make aeroplanes 'greener'? We chat to Dr Chiara Falsetti, a researcher at the Oxford Thermofluids Institute, who is looking at ways to improve the cooling mechanisms of aircraft engines, to boost their efficiency and ultimately make flying more sustainable.