Planetary Wobble
Listener Andrew wants to know what would happen if the earth lost it's wobble. Hannah Fry and Dara 脫 Briain explore a cascade of climate, ecosystem and evolutionary consequences.
Could you survive an eternal winter? Or is endless summer sun a more appealing prospect? Lots of us are grateful for the seasonal changes that shape the world around us, but this week Hannah and Dara are asking what life would look like without the axial tilt that brings each hemisphere closer and further away from the sun as the seasons change each year. Listener Andrew from Melbourne wants to know what would happen if the planet stood perfectly upright, no lean, no tilt, no seasons. But what else could happen? Is Earth鈥檚 23-degree slant the cosmic fluke that made life possible?
To find out, Hannah and explore how losing the tilt reshapes climate, ecosystems, evolution and maybe even the fate of the dinosaurs.
You can send your everyday mysteries for the team to investigate to: curiouscases@bbc.co.uk
Contributors
Dr Robin Smith - Climate modelling researcher at the University of Reading
Professor Rebecca Kilner - Evolutionary Biologist and Head of the Department of Zoology at Cambridge
Professor Amaury Triaud - Professor of Exoplanetology at the University of Birmingham
Aidan McGivern - Meteorologist and Senior weather presenter at the MET Office
Producer: Emily Bird
Executive Producer: Sasha Feachem
A 麻豆社 Studios Production
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- Sat 29 Nov 2025 10:00麻豆社 Radio 4
- Mon 1 Dec 2025 15:30麻豆社 Radio 4
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Curious Cases
Hannah Fry and Dara 脫 Briain tackle listeners' conundrums with the power of science!