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A few days ago saw the death of Emma Mhic Mhathúna, one of the most prominent campaigners affected by the CervicalCheck cancer smear test scandal in Ireland. She was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2016 after receiving two incorrect smear test results. This crisis in the national screening programme has delayed treatment for at least 221 patients with cervical cancer and the number of women implicated will undoubtedly increase. Fergal Bowers, RTE’s Health Correspondent, explains the background to the scandal.

Did Climate Influence Angkor's Collapse?
Angkor, in what is now modern Cambodia, was the capital city of the Khmer Empire. Angkor was a megacity supporting around a million people (0.1% of the global population) during 1010–1220. The city established a vast network of canals, embankments, moats and reservoirs to capture, store and distribute surface water resources. However, during the 15th Century it floundered and was largely abandoned by 1431. Roland Pease talks to Associate Professor Daniel Penny from the University of Sydney about whether monsoon-driven flooding was responsible for weakening Angkor’s infrastructure.

New Migraine Treatments
In The Science Hour last week, the programme looked at how everyday tension type headaches can usually be treated with ibuprofen or paracetamol, and having a cup of coffee at the same time increases the effectiveness of these painkillers. A headache can be one of the main symptoms of migraine, a condition which affects one in seven people. The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™s Katy Takatsuki finds out more about the new treatments available for migraine sufferers.

Antimicrobials in Livestock Feed
Global pharmaceutical companies are selling antibiotics as performance enhancers and artificial fatteners to livestock farmers in India. This unnecessary use of antibiotics has been made illegal in the US and Europe as it is thought to increase the risk of antibiotic resistance. The practice is not illegal in India, but with the subcontinent suffering from the highest incidence of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) it’s something the whole world needs to worry about. Roland Pease hears more from Timothy Walsh, Professor of Medical Microbiology and Antibiotic Resistance at Cardiff University and Dr Abdul Ghafur, consultant in infectious diseases at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, India.

Asthma and Obesity
It has been known for some time that people who are obese have an increased risk of developing asthma, but now a new large international study has found that the direction of causality may be the other way around. Claudia Hammond talks to Dr Lida Chatzi, Associate Professor of Preventative Medicine at the University of Southern California, who followed more than 20,000 children from nine European countries.

Data and Space
A group of ‘A’ level students in London have been looking at or rather listening to data from space, and published a scientific paper on their observation of a solar storm. In a unique partnership with university physics researchers, information on electromagnetic waves around our planet has been turned into audible data. Gareth Mitchell talks to Dr Martin Archer who is a space scientist at Queen Mary University of London and some of the students involved.

(Picture caption: Medical chart, pap smear ticked – credit: Getty Images)

The Science Hour was presented by Claudia Hammond with comments from freelance writer and columnist for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Future, David Robson.

Producer: Katy Takatsuki

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