BBC Inside Science Your science questions answered
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Jun 26, 2025 
Join Mark Maslin, a climate change expert, Catherine Heymans, Scotland's Astronomer Royal, and Penny Sarchet, managing editor of New Scientist, as they tackle fascinating questions from listeners. Discover why the Moon is barren while Earth thrives with life. Delve into the mysteries of Tesla's free electricity theories. Learn about the potential for new organisms to evolve to consume microplastics, and the environmental impact of lithium-ion batteries. This lively discussion unearths scientific curiosities with humor and insight.
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Battery Recycling Progress and Risks
- Lithium-ion batteries recycling is improving significantly, with 59% recycled worldwide as of 2023.
- Improper disposal risks soil, water contamination, and toxic landfill fires.
Tesla's Free Electricity Myth
- Nikola Tesla's concept was wireless electricity transmission, not creating free energy.
- Energy can't be created from nothing; it must be converted from available sources like solar.
Why Moon is Sterile
- The moon lacks an atmosphere due to insufficient gravity and has very little water.
- Earth’s water likely arrived later from asteroids, enabling life to evolve here, not on the moon.