This week, we hear about new research into the lives of sharks. There's news of Scratchbot the robot rat. Also, an update on Bloodhound, the super car that's being built to break the land speed record.

Adam Walton chats to Nigel Hussey a PhD student at Bangor University who has been studying sharks in South Africa. His recent work has been published in the Journal Of Animal Ecology, and concerns the "legacy" that a mother shark passes to its offspring, in the form of an initially large liver, which provides early nutrients for the baby shark

The bot's whiskers

Tony Pipe of the Bristol Robotics Laboratory joins us with news of "scratchbot" the robot rat that has electronic whiskers to find its way around, and has recently won an award for innovation.

Bloodhound gearing up for record

Ben Evans from Swansea University's School of Engineering joins the porgramme with an update on Bloodhound SSC, the rocket and jet powered super car that is being built to smash the land speed record, by taking the car to over 1000 mph in 2011. Recently the team successfully fired the car's rocket for the first time.

LINKS

• Bloodhound (BBC News)
• Scratchbot
• Shark study