Main content

Alarm at Campi Flegrei, Italy

Naples lives in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius but now they are worried about a completely different, and more dangerous, volcano erupting.

Accelerating seismic tremors are raising concerns for the thousands of people living atop a volcanic hot spot close to Naples, Italy. Volcanologist Alessandro Pino has been keeping a watchful eye on the developing situation.

We stay in Naples where, almost 2000 years ago, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried Pompeii, including thousands of scrolls turned to charcoal by the immense heat. This hasn鈥檛 stopped people from trying to read the scrolls, destroying hundreds in the process. Now, computer scientist Brent Seales has deployed AI and papyrologists worldwide to decipher the burnt text.

And from ancient scrolls to rainforest soundscapes, ecologist Zuzana Bu艡ivalov谩 has also been using AI to untangle the vast array of life heard in forests, old and new, as a tool to measure biodiversity.

Presenter: Roland Pease
Producer: Ella Hubber
Editor: Martin Smith
Production Co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

(Image: A view of the fumaroles Pisciarelli in Agnano quarter of the Campi Flegrei, a volcano near Naples. Credit: Salvatore Laporta/KONTROLAB/LightRocket/Getty Images)

Available now

27 minutes

Last on

Sat 21 Oct 2023 16:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Thu 19 Oct 2023 19:32GMT
  • Fri 20 Oct 2023 04:32GMT
  • Fri 20 Oct 2023 08:32GMT
  • Fri 20 Oct 2023 12:32GMT
  • Fri 20 Oct 2023 19:32GMT
  • Sat 21 Oct 2023 16:32GMT

Podcast