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In this month’s programme, we imagine a hotter world through the eyes of scientists and policymakers. We kick off our podcast with ‘super beans’: 30 new varieties that can thrive in weather extremes. The beans were developed by scientists at CGIAR, a global research partnership for food security, to protect the ‘meat of the poor’ from being wiped out in a warmed world. We then visit Oxford University in the United Kingdom where we hear from climate scientists running a global climate model on tens of thousands of volunteers’ home computers. With this experiment, they are investigating how global warming is increasing the likelihood and intensity of extreme weather events. Amid uncertainties about what tomorrow’s hotter world will look like, one thing scientists are sure of is that sea levels will rise, threatening the world’s coastal populations. We learn how researchers are now including coastal managers in the picture and how they try to provide them with new tools to prepare for the “most unlikely but

Data is changing the world. It influences our way of learning, communicating and consuming services. And it is affecting development, informing policymaking and empowering citizens. Since the advent of the internet, the use of data has become widespread, with faster and more powerful tools to process online information and big data sets. For example, scientists can now collect information from sources such as social media or telecommunication databases to study people’s behaviours and disease patterns. But as technical capabilities grow at ever increasing speeds, scientists and policymakers still struggle with ethical and political issues, particularly in the developing world. In this month’s podcast, we focus on some of the main questions related to the use of data for development. We speak with Birte Sniltsveit, an evaluation specialist who has helped to map large archives of academic information, making them available and easy to navigate, in an effort to inform policymaking around issues such as paymen

Last August, the WHO declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a “public health emergency of international concern”. The epidemic, with over 22,000 cases across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and almost 8,800 likely victims, is the biggest Ebola outbreak ever recorded. This month, as the rate of new Ebola deaths slowly declines, we examine how the world got together to fight the crisis, making use of different skills in the fields of medical research, technology and the media. Experts hope the world will be better equipped to respond fast and effectively to future global health emergencies. We discover how researchers in Oxford, in the United Kingdom, have helped to fast-track trials of one potential Ebola vaccine, in accordance with WHO guidelines. We also discuss how the unprecedented international drive to speed up vaccine development may help highlight the underfunded field of neglected tropical diseases. Although action against the outbreak has so far mainly been by doctors and NGOs, now designers

In this month’s programme, we examine what’s on the radar for science and development in 2015. First, we take stock of the global response to the escalating danger of climate change, with a report from the UN’s latest climate summit in Lima, Peru. We reflect on the outcome of the conference, on what ongoing efforts will be taking place over coming months and on the major milestone for climate negotiations: the next UN climate summit in Paris, France, at the end of the year. To mark the start of the UN year of light and light-based technologies, we open our series on light technology for development by travelling to Tanzania to discover how solar power and mobile phones can fulfil basic energy needs and support grass-roots entrepreneurship. Finally, as the world takes stock of what has been achieved within the Millennium Development Goals initiative, we discuss solutions to accelerate progress towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goals that will succeed them. We talk to Peter Singer, a proponent of s

In this month’s programme, we discover how technology is turning mapping into a powerful tool for supporting development and tackling humanitarian crises. First, at the launch of the Missing Maps Project in London, United Kingdom, we join volunteers as they help to map two vulnerable areas in the Central African Republic and South Sudan, using satellite imagery to create basic maps to which local volunteers will add place names. Then we speak to Anna Mason from MapAction, a charity that provides mapping services after disasters, to learn more about the satellite technology underlying open mapping work. In Congo, we discover how mobile phones help researchers fight poaching. An icon-based phone application enables people — who may be unable to read and write — living in the forest to record and map areas at risk. Finally, we discover how a data repository is helping journalists and policymakers understand the complex water system of the Tibetan plateau, also known as ‘the Third Pole’, which provides wate

In this month’s programme, we examine how the Ebola emergency has led to new forms of humanitarian response. One is the use of music to educate people about safety practices using simple language. We interviewed Carlos Chirinos, a visiting professor at New York University, United States, where he specialises in radio and development. He says that local West African communities tend to trust musicians more than doctors as sources of information, making them powerful allies when spreading public health messages. We learn how biobanks, which store biological samples, are helping Africa foster local research capacity and what challenges the collection and management of genetic material present. Shivaji Pandey, a special advisor to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, shares his views on the organisation’s 2014 report on food insecurity. It highlights significant progress towards the global eradication of hunger, but points to remaining political challenges. We also find out about ‘flying donkeys’: cargo

In this month’s show, we visit the island state of Kiribati, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, whose future is at risk from rising sea levels brought about by climate change. Scientists agree there are limited adaptation options for the tiniest archipelagos of the small island developing states (SIDS), a group of diverse tropical islands facing similar economic and environmental issues. Within 30 to 50 years, it is likely that Kiribati, along with other small states such as the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu, will disappear beneath the ocean. In SciDev.Net’s UK studio, we hosted Victoria Burns, whose film, Tinau (My Mother), portrays a disappearing nation through the words and memories of her Kiribatese family. We report on the climate science behind the human crisis with Elizabeth Carabine, a researcher at UK think-tank the Overseas Development Institute. She explains the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s findings about small islands and rising sea levels. Ilan Kelman, a researcher at University

This month’s podcast sheds light on the role of medical research in the current Ebola crisis. We learn about the main experimental treatment available and what the scientific institutions in the United Kingdom are doing to enable a fast and effective response to the outbreak. We then travel to Maputo, capital of Mozambique, to discover how African universities are joining up their efforts to foster a new generation of agricultural scientists — in the belief that a dynamic scientific community can better prepare society for future environmental and economic challenges. Looking at the current agenda for tomorrow’s global development we sit down with Camilla Toulmin, director of the International Institute for Environment and Development, to discuss the main points of its 2014-2019 strategy. She explains why tackling hunger doesn’t mean we must produce more food, and how fighting inequality starts with targeted action against policies that lead to inequality. And we’ll be on safari in Tanzania, where we visit

This month’s podcast features a long journey across Tanzania to discover how low-tech innovation can help developing nations eradicate poverty and meet the Millennium Development Goals. From improved cookstoves to a new system that combines sanitation and composting, small initiatives aimed at local communities can bring big leaps where limited resources and infrastructure are available. Looking at the Millennium Development Goals, we also shed light on what’s needed to reduce global carbon emissions in order to reduce global warming and prompt sustainable development. Joyeeta Gupta of the University of Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, says that countries ignoring the issue of climate change have to be isolated by the international community, while the developing world needs to find a new model of sustainable development. We then talk about conservation with the story of an award-winning vet who is trying to save the endangered grey crowned crane of Rwanda, which is being wiped out by poaching. We also meet

In this show, we also hear about global health challenges and the rising burden of obesity in developing countries.

In June's podcast, we also hear about e-learning platforms and balancing conservation and development in Costa Rica. http://www.scidev.net/global/disease/multimedia/june-podcast-dengue-vaccine.html

This edition explores sustainable architecture, the financial risks of farming and Cuba’s scientific diaspora. http://www.scidev.net/global/environment/multimedia/scidev-net-podcast-climate-change-adaptation-and-more.html

This broadcast also explores Africa’s knowledge economy and how biomedical researchers establish informed consent. http://www.scidev.net/global/education/multimedia/scidev-net-podcast-geojournalism-the-world-s-largest-radio-telescope-and-more.html

This month’s podcast explores how a data revolution can help push governments to be more accountable to meeting the Millennium Development Goals. Ndeye Fatu-Sesay of the Millenium Challenge Coordinating Unit talks about progress in Sierra Leone, and how more can be done to listen to the voices of the country’s citizens. Next, we travel to Ethiopia for the second meeting of the Africa-EU Energy Partnership. The AEEP is struggling to meet their clean energy goals by 2020, according to Jacob Waslander, head of the Climate Change and Energy Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands. The solution must incorporate small-scale local energy to reach more Africans, according to Gianluca Cescon, who builds microgrids in Tanzania and is head of country operations at Devergy. Then we hear from Anne Radl of the Humanitarian Centre about a unique event to tackle development challenges. The Innovation and Development Hackathon will team students, professionals and NGOs to develop projects that will im