This Way Up for Saturday 3 November 2012
Surfonomics
Putting a financial value on waves is proving an effective way to protect a natural resource from construction and development. Dr. Linwood Pendleton is an economist who's used the tactic to protect surf breaks in places like California and Puerto Rico.
Italy: Salvage, Venice, Vatican
We head to Italy, where the world's biggest shipwreck salvage is underway. Plus the Vatican gives the latest Bond film the thumbs-up! With Tom Kington of the Guardian.
Tech news
Peter Griffin with the latest from the world of technology. This week, vanity web searching pays off big time as Google loses a defamation case in Australia; and New Zealand becomes the first country in the world where you can apply for a passport online.
Feathers
Feathers can keep you warm, and help birds to fly and find a mate. We're speaking to the American biologist Thor Hanson about his book 'Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle'.
Naked Science
Chris Smith beams in with more naked science. This week, easy-peel medical tape, and the British Medical Journal says it won't publish research where the underlying clinical data isn't published and freely available to all.
Cooking and brain size
Why do animals with huge bodies- even primates like gorillas- have far smaller brains than us humans? The key, suggests Professor Suzana Herculano-Houzel and her colleagues at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, is cooking.