Main content

Running Rings Around Matter

A remarkable first image of the supermassive black hole at the middle of the Milky Way, around which we orbit. Also, as the upgraded LHC gets into gear, we muse on past successes.

Astronomers have captured the first image of Sagittarius A*, the gargantuan black hole at the centre of our galaxy. Dr Ziri Younsi, University College London, shares what it took to capture a picture of a supermassive black hole that is 26,000 light-years away and from which (almost) nothing, not even light, can escape.

The world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider, is restarting after three years of upgrades. Roland Pease visits the European Particle Physics Laboratory, CERN, to see how things are going, and looks back on some of the team's past successes.

Also, how do you investigate the mysterious deaths of the world’s biggest fish when their bodies sink without trace? That’s the quandary facing marine scientists who’ve been trying to figure out what exactly is killing whale sharks. Freya Womersley, UK Marine Biological Association, shares how satellite tracking technology is helping us solve the mystery.

And finally, what’s in a name? As our inventory of Earth’s biodiversity progresses, the number of species given a Latin name is also growing. So, where do scientists find their naming inspiration? In Royal Society Proceedings B this week, an analysis of nearly 3,000 parasitic worm species uncovered some intriguing patterns and worrying biases. Samara Linton reports.

Presenter Victoria Gill

Produced by Alex Mansfield and Samara Linton

Available now

28 minutes

Broadcasts

  • Thu 12 May 2022 16:30
  • Thu 12 May 2022 21:00

Explore further with The Open University

Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Inside Science is produced in partnership with The Open University.

Podcast