"dark breath".

[Colin Howard]

Greetings,

I reckon this may be of considerable interest, here is what the program page
associated with the item tells us:

Dark Breath

This programme will be available shortly after broadcast

Dark Breath

In July 2024 a startling scientific paper was published.

Headlined 'Evidence of dark oxygen production at the abyssal seafloor',
scientists told how they had discovered oxygen being made two and a half
miles down, at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

Their claim centred on small polymetallic nodules on the seafloor, and the
key question - could these lumps of metal somehow be making oxygen in
complete darkness?

It was an extraordinary finding that, if proven, could overturn hundreds of
years of scientific knowledge about how this crucial ingredient for life is
made. It prompted global headlines and split scientists.

But a year and a half on, are we any closer to knowing the answer? Is dark
oxygen really possible?

BBC News science correspondent Victoria Gill investigates for BBC Radio 4
and finds so much more than a scientific anomaly.

Dark Breath is the story of a scientific controversy played out in real
time. A row about science that became personal. And a discovery which
crashed headlong into the debate about whether we should mine metals from
the deep sea.

What does the story tell us about the messy and human scientific process?
And what bearing does it have on the decision to exploit some of the last
untouched parts of our planet?

Presenter: Victoria Gill
Producer: Gerry Holt
Editor: Ilan Goodman
Production coordinator: Elliott Prince
Release date: 14 January 2026

28 minutes
On radio
Wed 14 Jan 2026 15:30
BBC Radio 4
Broadcasts

Wed 14 Jan 2026 15:30
BBC Radio 4
Tue 20 Jan 2026 23:00
BBC Radio 4

Colin Howard, living in Southern England, is hoping you and your family,
acquaintances and friends have enjoyed a pleasant Festive holiday and now a
peaceful, prosperous and happy 2026.