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As federal employees many US scientists have been affected by the US government shutdown. They are not being paid, can’t talk about their work or go to scientific conferences. We look at how this US political stand-off is affecting scientific research. One of the casualties is the Hubble space telescope, in need of repairs, which cannot start until its federal employed engineers can get back to work.

Meanwhile, in Antarctica a US led team have extracted microbes, water and rock samples from a subglacial lake covered with kilometre thick ice. Their live samples may have evolved in the depths and dark of the lake, hidden from view for thousands of years.

And just how are we to feed the world in the future? One team of scientists have successfully increased the yield of their experimental plants by 40 percent. They are hoping to repeat the technique with food crops.

This comes at the same time as an investigation into China’s future food needs. While demand is high, more efficient farming methods might mean China could be self-sufficient in food in years to come.

Magma is the hot, molten rock found beneath the Earth’s crust. It’s so plentiful that it got Greek listener Dimitrios wondering whether we could harness this heat. Could we drill directly into the magma and use it to power our homes? And from Ghana, Madock also got in touch with CrowdScience to ask why there are lots of volcanoes in some areas of the world, but then none in others?

We visit Kenya - a country that is one of the biggest providers of geothermal energy in the world and home to East African Rift system. At 4,000 miles long, a string of volcanoes sits along this fault line. CrowdScience travels to a geothermal power plant to get to grips with how conventional geothermal energy works. But can our equipment stand such temperatures?

(Image: Hubble space telescope. Credit to NASA)