Brainwaves BBC Radio Scotland

With the battle against climate change never far from many of our minds this week, 6 years on from when Brainwaves first visited, Pennie Latin returns to the Flow Country in Caithness and Sutherland to remind us how that much-maligned, but globally rare, feature of the Scottish landscape: the peat bog might be crucial as a carbon sink. Because it is now deemed so precious a group called ‘ The Peatlands Partnership’ has been formed with the aim of applying to get the Flow Country designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. If it successful then the area will rank alongside the Grand Canyon and the Great Barrier Reef as one of the most important natural sites in the world but, could this precious landscape itself be in danger of the effects of climate change? We'll be discovering how new research hopes to find out.

How comfortable are you with virtual reality? We're not just talking about gaming but across your life and your family's life? With virtual reality being developed in just about every area of our lives Pennie Latin weighs up the value of VR. There's no doubt VR is a powerful tool and results from research into the potential for using VR to treat mental health issues like schizophrenia and anxiety are looking very promising but how worried should we be about that power? Does the fact that VR can be so immersive and engaging mean it also needs to come with a warning? Pennie will be visiting Oxford University to try out some of the latest immersive therapies for herself plus she'll join a primary school in the Highlands to see VR being piloted in an educational setting. So on balance will we love or loathe the prospect of a VR saturated world...listen to find out!

Who doesn't love dinosaurs? Dr Steve Brusatte certainly does and his knowledge, story telling and passion for the subject are utterly infectious. In this Brainwaves Pennie Latin joins Steve in his Edinburgh laboratory to discuss the 5 fossils which best capture his love of the subject together with a flavour of a story which lasted over 180 million years then ended so dramatically with a mass extinction. Among his chosen 5 fossils Steve discusses the Sauropod trackways he discovered on the Isle of Skye, Scotland's Jurassic Park, in 2015 and the extraordinary fossil of a Zhenyuanlong which he first saw in China and is a brilliant example of a feathered dinosaur.

Top para-cyclist Karen Darke MBE won silver in London and gold in Rio now she's trying to make it to a third consecutive Paralympic games in Tokyo but its a tough challenge. So Karen's enlisted the help of Williams Advanced Engineering to see if they can bring a Formula 1 approach to maximising her performance this summer. In this Brainwaves Pennie Latin joins Karen behind the scenes to see just what science and technology can offer our elite athletes.

Professor Lesley Yellowlees CBE has an extraordinary passion for life and for her work as an inorganic chemist. A leading figure in the fields of spectroelectrochemistry and solar energy research Lesley's also a pioneer - she was the first female head of Chemistry and then of Science and Engineering in Edinburgh. She was also the first female president of the Royal Society of Chemistry and is a passionate champion for diversity in science. In this fun, fast talking and hugely engaging conversation Lesley chooses 5 objects which capture her fiery character; love of family, food and travel, and the work that drives her so much.

How often do you do a number '2'? Seriously! And do you know how often your friends and family members have a poo? No? So how do you know if you're normal and what does a well functioning gut system mean when it comes to our toilet habits and our health?
Pennie Latin goes on a frank and fearless journey to find out more about the human gut system. Along the way she talks to Kevin Whelan, Professor of dietetics at King's College London, about what normal is when it comes to going to the loo. Dr Alan Walker, principal investigator at the Rowatt Institute in Aberdeen, shows Pennie how they're using an artificial gut to research how microbes in our gut interact with the food we eat and she takes a tour of EnteroBiotix where faeces from healthy donors are processed to make a radical treatment for c difficile infection. Pennie also manages to persuade a family to keep a 'jobbie journal' for a week so they keep account of the regularity and consistency of their toilet habits.
Bold, brave and utterly fascinating, join us for an irresistible slice of everyday science which impacts each and every one of us!