Material World - 27/05/2010

Quentin Cooper presents his weekly digest of science in and behind the headlines. This week, the planes are flying again, but for how long? Has Iceland and its unpronouncable volcano got more volcanic ash to send our way? Quentin talks to Dr Joseph Ulanowski from the Centre for Atmospheric & Instrumentation Research at the University of Hertfordshire who's co-author of a paper investigating the odd electrical charges found within the plume. He also talks to Dr Carina Fearnley, from University College London's brand new Institute For Risk and Disaster Reduction, which has launched itself with a report on the implications of the Icelandic eruption. A new rocket is on the launch pad in Florida. It's not an expensive NASA one, but a low-cost Falcon 9, developed by PayPal founder and head of Space-X, Elon Musk. For the first time, says space commentator Stuart Clark, the nation that claims to be the home of free enterprise is bringing the pioneer spirit back to space. If all goes well, Falcon 9 could soon be delivering cargo and eventually astronauts to the International Space Station - becoming, after the retirement of the Space Shuttle, the USA's only human spaceflight vehicle. Why and how did the giant sauropod dinosaurs get so big? Not just bigger than elephants, but ten times bigger. Martin Sander, Professor of Vertebrate Paleontology at Bonn University tells Quentin that it may have been because they didn't chew their food, giving them time to swallow more into the great fermentation vats of their stomachs. Producer: Martin Redfern.