Rogue Agents

This week’s news of an AI agent managing to hack into an Australian government website has the Unexpected Elements team exploring the sneaky science of infiltration.

Marnie Chesterton is joined by science journalists Paul Adepoju and Andrada Fiscutean to discover how South African drongo birds have developed an ingenious technique to protect their nest from cuckoo eggs, and to hear about the unusual approach being developed to help get eyedrops past the body’s immune system so they can reach the retina.

We’re also joined by Dr Bart Geert, Professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of Wyoming in the US, to explore the science of how to manipulate clouds to try to help produce more rain in drought-ridden areas.

We also find out about how the tracking data that comes from tagging wild dogs in Zambia could help to ensure better approaches to their conservation in the future. We hear about your cases of pareidolia, and learn why aging leads to men going bald but also growing longer hair on other parts of the body.

All that and more in this week’s Unexpected Elements.

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producer: Dan Welsh with Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, Imy Harper and Robbie Wojciechowski