Ice Clouds and Viper Venom

In this podcast from the Planet Earth Online collection and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Sue Nelson visits the ice cloud chamber in the School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences.

Scientists know that fluffy stratocumulus clouds act like a blanket on the Earth - they stop warm air escaping, but also reflect the Sun's energy back out to space. But they have no idea if cirrus clouds, which are high up in the atmosphere and made of ice, do the same.

So Dr Paul Connolly makes ice clouds inside the 10-metre-high, three-storey ice cloud chamber - which looks a bit like a giant fridge freezer - to find out. To hear how the chamber works, Sue Nelson goes to Manchester to meet him.

Also in the programme, reporters find out how a tiny wasp, just 1.5 millimetres long, can pollinate fig trees 160 kilometres apart. And after the successful launch of the European Space Agency's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite earlier this month, Professor Meric Srokosz from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, explains why he is pinning his hopes on the data.

Another investigation looks at what female guppies are prepared to do to avoid extreme sexual harassment by amorous males.

Finally, Richard Hollingham gets more than he bargained for when he visits the venomous snake facility at Bangor University. But he does discover that different species of saw-scaled vipers tailor their venom to their particular prey. Dr Wolfgang Wüster and PhD student Axel Barlow explains more about this and why it could be a life saver.

This podcast is dated 16 November 2009.

NERC is a part of the Research Councils UK (RCUK) partnership of research councils.