What’s the highest a human could possibly pole vault?
How can science explain Armand Duplantis’s 14 consecutive pole vault world records? And the new neuroscience exploring how our brains measure distance.
Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis broke the sport’s world record again this week at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. It’s the 14th consecutive time he’s broken the record.
Professor of Sports Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University, Steve Haake, joins Victoria Gill to discuss this monumental feat of athleticism, and to explain the role physics and engineering play in Duplantis’s unprecedented success.
The actor, comedian and scientist Nick Mohammed explains why he and his fellow judges selected ‘Ends of the Earth’ by Professor Neil Shubin as one of this year’s finalists in the Royal Society Trivedi Book Prize. We also hear from the book’s author about what it’s like doing science at the farthest reaches of the planet.
Neuroscientist Professor James Ainge from the University of St Andrews tells us how he has been mapping our internal mileage clock.
And the author and mathematician Dr Katie Steckles brings us the brand new maths and science shaping our world this week.
To discover more fascinating science content, head to bbc.co.uk, search for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Inside Science, and follow the links to The Open University.
Presenter: Victoria Gill
Producers: Clare Salisbury, Dan Welsh, Jonathan Blackwell and Tim Dodd
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth
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- Monday 20:30ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 4
- Wednesday 05:04ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 4
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Discover more fascinating science content with The Open University
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ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Inside Science
A weekly programme looking at the science that's changing our world.