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Naked Scientists, In Short Special Editions Podcast

English, Sciences, 1 season, 960 episodes, 6 days, 21 hours, 57 minutes
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Special scientific reports and investigations by the Naked Scientists team
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Making waves about coastline conservation, and plastic waste

This month the connections that human inhabitants have to the coast, why we're still in the middle of a worsening extinction crisis despite international laws and treaties designed to protect nature, the promise of pharmacogenomics and personalised medicine, the plastic pollution problem and how to tackle it, and why water management in the face of a changing climate needs more than just a single solution. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/14/202435 minutes, 53 seconds
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Bees can't taste pesticides, and how albatrosses get aloft

In the eLife Podcast this month, signs that bees are oblivious to pesticides in nectar, sea anemone stinging strategies, a new means of cell-cell communication to share growth factors and other signals, how plants make a comeback when ice sheets retreat, and how the world's biggest bird uses wind and waves to good effect to minimise the costs of takeoff... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/30/202334 minutes, 46 seconds
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Recycled plastics pollute food, and the value of water

Better awareness of the precious resource that is water, getting a grip on coastal ecosystems and the impact of pollution, why recycled plastics are a threat for food packaging and kitchen utensils, how we can help humans to step up in extreme environments, and the opportunity offered by "lived experience" when it comes to mental health all go under the microscope in this episode of the Cambridge Prisms Podcast. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/10/202337 minutes, 28 seconds
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Wildlife Trade Extinctions and 21st Century Psychology

This time we hear how many species are being driven to extinction by human trade, why clinical psychology needs an update for the 21st Century, how non-specialists can help to plug the gap in mental health services, what art can do for science and conservation of coastal habitats, and the role of epigenetics in medicine... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/20/202337 minutes, 29 seconds
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Surviving a fusion bomb

Ken Mcginley was there during some of the first tests of hydrogen bombs in the 1950s. We were lucky enough to hear his story... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/11/20237 minutes, 21 seconds
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Does our language affect our decision making?

There are many factors that might affect the way we make decisions: our age, our past experiences, even our mood that day. But now, a new study has suggested that the language we speak also plays a part in our willingness to wait for a reward. Researchers gave the choice of having an amount of money now, or a slightly greater amount later. But they put this choice to bilingual speakers, once in each language. So did the language in which the decision was put to these people affect their decision? Speaking to Will Tingle from Tel-Aviv University was Tali Regev and, kicking us off, Tamar... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/23/20235 minutes, 25 seconds
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Microbial life deep underground

Comparatively, we know an awful lot about life on the surface of planet earth. We know a lot less about the extent of life in our oceans, and we know even less about the life festering deep beneath us, in the rocks underground. Scientists estimate that 20% of the earth's biomass (that's the combined weight of all living things) are beneath our feet - microbes adapted to the extreme temperature and pressure down there. Geologists, like Andy Mitchell from the University of Aberystwyth, are determined to understand more about these microorganisms, and not just for scientific interest. If we are... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/6/20235 minutes, 51 seconds
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How the pandemic affected child development

Babies born during the Covid-19 lockdowns are behind on their language development. That's the finding of a recent study comparing infants born during the pandemic with similar children born in previous years. The reason, as the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland's Susan Byrne explains to Risa Bagwandin, is that social isolation and face masks made it harder for developing youngsters to explore, socialise and interact in the key ways that help foster their communication skills... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/21/20224 minutes, 6 seconds
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New Ultrasound Technique for Breast Imaging

A new non invasive technique to pick up breast cancer has been unveiled by UK scientists. Breast cancer is the most diagnosed form cancer in the UK. Dense breast tissue, particularly common in young women, is difficult to image using existing techniques. Now scientists at the National Physical Laboratory have developed a new technique , using ultrasound. Risa Bagwandin spoke to senior research scientist, Daniel Sarno... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/30/20223 minutes, 19 seconds
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Search and rescue rats

Apopo is a charity that trains African giant pouched rats for humanitarian purposes, with a view to combating some of the challenges faced by countries in the developing world. Originally, they trained these much shunned rodents to sniff out unexploded landmines left over from wars in countries like Mozambique. More recently, their keen sense of smell has also enabled trainers to develop them into excellent detectors of Tuberculosis carriers, so that patients can get diagnosed more quickly than before and receive treatment. Now, these Hero rats as they've been dubbed, are being prepared for a... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/15/20224 minutes, 43 seconds
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TV is influencing careers

Did you end up in your dream job? Or did you end up pursuing a career quite intensely for some reason that eludes you? Perhaps the media representation of your profession had a part to play. Shrikanth Narayanan and colleagues from the University of Southern California created a dataset to analyse 4000 professions in the subtitles of over 136,000 movies and TV shows and found that their representation may have influenced some of us to take up a career we loved watching on screen... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/7/20224 minutes, 24 seconds
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FIFA Fall Out with EA

There's news of a huge rift in the world of video games... EA Sports, who made the first ever FIFA football game in 1993, have announced that they will no longer be licensing the FIFA name. Chris Berrow, from the Naked Gaming Podcast, has been finding out why and what the consequences might be... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/17/20222 minutes, 43 seconds
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Did the lockdown make us more creative?

Now, I want you to cast your mind back to that first lockdown (if you can bear it) and to think about the ways you chose to fill all that new found free time. Perhaps, like the participants of a survey conducted by the Paris Brain Institute to learn more about the effects of the pandemic on creativity, you decided to sharpen your culinary skills, or spent more time pottering in the garden. But what can this uptick in artistic endeavours in such strange circumstances tell us about the way we react to new situations? This and more was the topic of conversation between James Tytko and... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/17/20224 minutes, 26 seconds
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Dog and Dingo DNA sequences

Dingoes are native Australian dogs, although how and when they got to Australia isn't known. They were certainly already there by the time the first western explorers visited the continent, but fossil dingo remains go back only a few thousand years. So what is the relationship between dogs and dingoes, and the wolves they're both related to? Speaking with Chris Smith, Latrobe University's Bill Ballard got into this debate under slightly unusual circumstances... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/29/20226 minutes, 29 seconds
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Coffee without the coffee beans

Coffee prices are on the rise and the plant is said to decline by 60% before 2050, meaning new coffee alternatives are being considered in order to give us that caffeine hit. Harry Lewis speaks to Charlie Shaw from Atomo coffee to find out how they've been making our favourite beverage, without the use of coffee beans... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/28/20224 minutes, 10 seconds
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Recreating smells from the past

If I asked you to give up one of your five senses, which one would you choose? Chances are, instead of giving up your ability to see or hear, your sense of smell would be in pole position for the chop. Scientists in Germany think we're under appreciative of smell in our evolution as a species, with new research from the Max Planck Institute exploring biomolecular methods to bring smells from the past back to life. James Tytko spoke with Barbara Huber... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/7/20225 minutes, 1 second
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A new method for recycling plastics

The world has a huge problem with plastics. While they are a materials scientist's dream in terms of their properties, they are an environmentalist's worst nightmare, because they don't break down naturally and are very hard to recycle. But Athina Anastasaki, from ETH Zurich, has set herself the goal of making plastics that can be recycled more easily and now she thinks getting close. Chris Smith found out more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/4/20224 minutes, 35 seconds
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Data storage in DNA

Researchers have been studying DNA as a method to store binary data. As data generation continues to increase in the information age, we need new methods to store it. DNA is extremely robust and can store data 100 times more densely compared to a computer hard drive. In order to capitalise on DNA as a data storage platform, modifications to the molecules that make up DNA are currently being studied. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/24/20224 minutes, 47 seconds
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Solving puzzles to help cancer research

Playing games may be something you do in your spare time or in the queue at the supermarket, but striving for that elusive high score can also now contribute to science! Julia Ravey grabbed her mobile and caught up with Marc Marti-Renom; he's part of a team at the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona, where they've built a game for your phone that will help contribute to cancer research... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/23/20225 minutes, 44 seconds
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Pig grunts indicate their emotions

There are over 7,000 documented languages in the world to date, and now we might have another to add to the list: the one spoken by pigs. No, this is not an April Fool come early. Elodie Mandel-Briefer, from the University of Copenhagen, has assembled a vast dataset of pig noises. And by correlating the noises the animals produced in response to positive or negative experiences, she can pin emotions on sounds. Julia Ravey got in touch to find out if the research team responsible are completely off their trotters... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/17/20224 minutes, 14 seconds
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Indoor pollution from cleaning

Researchers from Indiana University studied the reactions of volatile compounds released when cleaning with ozone in the air. They found the reactions led to formation of nanoparticles classified as indoor pollutants. Evelyna Wang speaks to Phillip Stevens about this discovery... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/11/20224 minutes, 45 seconds
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The Dangers of Nuclear Weapons

Nuclear weapons are at the forefront of news but what are they and how do they work? Anoushka Handa reports... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/10/20223 minutes, 58 seconds
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Creating Oxygen on the Moon

As NASA aims to send humans back to the moon in the upcoming years, research on how to supply oxygen to future settlements on the moon are underway. Oxygen can be genearted from lunar resources such as ice. A team of researchers including Mark Symes, from the University of Glasgow and the European Space Agency, have been studying the effects of low gravity environments on oxygen production... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/2/20224 minutes, 47 seconds
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Roman faeces housing fossilised parasites

Washing our hands has become paramount during the pandemic, but the Romans didn't seem to bestow any importance to this, leading to parasites and infections. Anoushka Handa spoke to Sophie Rabinow, to tell us more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/1/20222 minutes, 33 seconds
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Blood clot tests with smartphones

Blood clotting is important in preventing excessive bleeding, but for millions of people, it can also mean increased risk of mortality due to certain medical conditions. Blood thinning medication is required for those suffering theses conditions as well as constant blood clot monitoring. A team from the University of Washington, including Justin Chan, has developed a method to take blood clot tests at home, using only a smartphone and a small drop of blood... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/28/20224 minutes, 1 second
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Shades of Blue Stop a Mosquito Biting You

Have you ever got a horrible mosquito bite whilst on holiday and wondered 'why me again?' And was your travel buddy someone who never got one? It could very well be to do with their fashion sense. Anoushka Handa spoke to Jeff Riffell to find out more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/25/20225 minutes
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Magnetic Fields Guide Migratory Birds

There's a growing body of evidence that birds can detect magnetic fields like the one around the Earth, possibly by "seeing" them. And this, researchers think, accounts for how migrating birds, like reed warblers, manage to find their way, seemingly unerringly, half way around the planet. But it's more subtle than just using the magnetic field like a compass. What Oxford University's Joe Wynn thinks is happening is that the birds are pre-programmed by their upbringing to fly in a certain direction, but they use the angle - or inclination - of the Earth's field, to work out how far north or... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/23/20223 minutes, 49 seconds
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Car Dependence in Greenfield Housing

Greenfield housing developments are residential communities built upon land which was not previously occupied by anything else. These modern homes are often very energy efficient, but a new report by Transport for New Homes has found that these developments are offsetting their positive contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions because of a lack of planning around sustainable modes of transport. James Tytko went to see for himself... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/17/20225 minutes, 22 seconds
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Why don't plants freeze to death in Winter?

Krzysztof wrote in to ask 'Why don't plants freeze to death during Winter?' and James Tytko tracked down Professor Howard Griffiths, from the University of Cambridge, to break the ice on this question. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/14/20224 minutes, 31 seconds
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Black hole seen forming new stars

Black holes are known for their awesome destructive powers, ripping stars apart piece by piece. But now, scientists have seen evidence of a black hole helping to form stars. Using the Hubble Telescope, researchers at Montana State University have seen a massive black hole at the centre of a small galaxy called Henize 2-10 triggering star formation around it. Robert Spencer spoke to Zachary Schutte to find out more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/9/20223 minutes, 51 seconds
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Trees for the Jubilee

Planting trees has a great impact on creating a greener environment. The Queen's Green Canopy is an initiative to encourage people to plant a tree in honour of the Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee. Robert Spencer and Anoushka Handa take a dive into the science of trees to find out more about these fantastic plants and to discover what they can do around Cambridge to help... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/6/202223 minutes, 57 seconds
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Game of Life still revealing secrets

Mathematicians Ville Salo and Ilkke Toermae from Finland have solved a long-standing problem in the field of cellular automata (The Game of Life). Despite being quite simple systems to describe, these automata often show quite complex behaviour. Now, though, we are starting to find out more about situations when these systems aren't quite so dynamic. Robert Spencer has more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/3/20224 minutes, 34 seconds
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Organising our memories

Memories form a large part of human interaction. Scents, tastes and touch all can invoke us to remember particular events. But how do we know the order of these events? How do you remember that this time last week you were listening to our show... or at least we hope so! New research has shown that the human brain contains time cells to understand when an event has occurred. Anoushka spoke with Dr. Leila Reddy from the French National Center for Scientific Research... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/2/20224 minutes, 57 seconds
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Automating Blood Smears

Blood smear analysis is a repetitive, laborious, and time consuming job. Research at the University of Cambridge has led to developing a 3D printed device which both speeds up the smearing process and the quality of the blood smears. Julia Ravey talks to Samuel McDermott... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/1/20224 minutes, 57 seconds
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Making new year's resolutions SMART

It's the new year, and with that comes a tradition to commit to new year's resolutions. But the typical goals of giving up drinking, or losing weight, can be hard to achieve, especially without support from friends and family. Tricia Smith asked sport psychologist Helen Davis whether there was a smarter way to go about achieving her goal to "get fit" in 2022... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/28/20224 minutes, 33 seconds
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Ichthyosaur found in Rutland

The astonishing discovery of this jurassic era creature has been covered on our show before, but this recording features special insight into the dig itself. Mark Evans from the British Antarctic Survey and Emily Swaby from The Open University describe the significance of finding the skeletal remains of this marine reptile to Harry Lewis... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/27/20226 minutes, 18 seconds
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The Reforestation Re-evaluation

Tropical rainforests are deforested at an alarming rate to make way for cultivating crops and rearing livestock. But what happens when these forest areas are abandoned and left to recover in their natural way? Research published in the journal Science gives a message of hope, explaining how forests are able to recover to their original state on a much faster time-scale than first thought. Katie King spoke to lead author, Loorens Poorter, to find out more. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/26/20224 minutes, 2 seconds
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Sleep and Alzheimer's

Changing the way the brain controls how we sleep, as a new study suggests, might be a way to cut the risk of Alzheimer's Disease. Alzheimer's is the commonest form of a group of conditions known as senile dementia. They occur when brain cells are lost, progressively robbing us of our mental faculties. In Alzheimer's Disease it's caused by a buildup of a toxic chemical called a-beta; also known as beta amyloid. This naturally accumulates during the day and gets flushed out during a restful night's sleep. But, by studying mice that have been genetically programmed to develop a form of... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/24/20226 minutes, 31 seconds
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Do Asteroids Pose a Real Threat?

Katie King interviews Huw James, from the Royal Astronomical Society, about the reality of the chances planet-killing asteroids could collide with Earth. What these objects are, how they are found, and what methods are being trialled to prevent any potential collisions... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/19/20224 minutes, 44 seconds
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Listening vs hearing

Hearing and listening... is there a difference? I am sure that we have all been guilty of letting our minds drift out of a conversation before realising and immediately trying to tune back in. New research published in Cell Reports describes how brain activity varies during listening and hearing and how this work sheds light on neural pathways linked to attention. Katie King spoke with author Tania Barkat to find out the difference between hearing and listening... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/13/20224 minutes, 32 seconds
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Language and the Brain

Understanding the human brain and how it completes complex tasks, like processing other people's speech as well as producing its own, is a complex task in and of itself. As it stands, neuroscience isn't able to tell us the underlying computations that lead to human language. New research from the US has taken an interesting approach to working this out: instead of just studying how real, human intelligence deals with language, these researchers have been looking at how artificial intelligence does it too. Cameron Voisey spoke to Ev Fedorenko from MIT to find out more. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/12/20226 minutes, 15 seconds
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What is the impact of a black hole?

Astronomers believe that nearly every galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its centre, this being true for our very own Milky Way. These objects exert such strong gravitational forces on the matter contained within them that it cannot escape the black hole's pull. Scientists using the LOFAR telescope in the Netherlands have been studying the impact that such black holes have on the Universe on a mind-bogglingly large scale. One of the scientists working on the project, Marisa Brienza from the University of Bologna, told Cameron Voisey what they found. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/10/20224 minutes, 18 seconds
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IVF embryos are more successful than expected

During IVF or in-vitro fertilisation, sperm and eggs are mixed together in a dish to produce fertilised embryos, one or two of which are placed in the uterus where the hope is they will trigger a successful pregnancy. Previously, embryologists would pick out and use only what they judged to be the most promising looking embryos. But now new research from the reproductive genetics company, Igenomix, has found that a large proportion of embryos that were previously being overlooked can in fact lead to successful pregnancies. Katie King spoke to lead author Antonio Capalbo about these findings... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/7/20223 minutes, 34 seconds
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Making antibiotics more effective

While the coronavirus pandemic is at the forefront of our minds, it's not the only health crisis looming on the horizon. Antimicrobial resistance has been called the "hidden pandemic". One of the ways to counteract resistance is by developing drugs that make current antibiotics more effective, and new research published by the University of Oxford reveals some promising candidates. Tricia Smith spoke with John Tregoning, a researcher in infectious diseases, but not affiliated with this particular study, to talk about the past, present, and future for these critical, and often "last-resort"... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/4/20225 minutes, 18 seconds
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Omicron update: what's in store for Australia

Dr Chris Smith joins Indira Naidoo on the ABC's Nightlife programme to discuss the latest developments in science and answer questions from listeners. This time they look at the difficult decisions confronting politicians and policymakers internationally and how they should react to the omicron new variant, which appears super transmissible but potentially a lot less lethal than other existing forms of SARS-CoV-2... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/19/202134 minutes, 2 seconds
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The recent evolution of human beings

Us humans are thought to have appeared on Earth around 300,000 years ago. But how much have we changed since then? New research from Shanghai Jiao Tong University has found many of our most complex traits have continued to be tweaked, even in the past two to three thousand years. Julia Ravey spoke to Guan Ning Lin about our ancestors and how alike we really are. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/16/20214 minutes, 12 seconds
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100 years of insulin

2021 marks 100 years since insulin was first discovered. The World Health Organisation estimates that 422 million people around the world have diabetes, a disease where the body either can't produce enough insulin or doesn't respond properly to insulin. In the UK, 1 in 15 people are affected, and that's only set to rise as more and more of us are overweight or obese. So what is insulin, how was it discovered, and how have we reached a place where millions of people can safely inject themselves with it every day? Sally Le Page explains... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/15/20215 minutes, 6 seconds
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Cooling down rapidly warming cities

More than 50% of the world's population now lives in urban areas and, in recent years, many major cities have been hit with extreme weather events due to the effects of climate change, like the flooding that hit the London underground - and Queen guitarist Brian May's basement - in the summer of 2021. A key reason for this might be that the urban environments themselves are exacerbating the heating effect, as Verner Viisainen heard from Iain Campbell, from the organisation RMI and the lead author of a new United Nations guide on cooling down cities... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/14/20215 minutes
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Tree growth extended in urban jungles

Cities have been found to be warming at faster rates than the rest of the planet due to the materials used such as concrete absorbing heat more readily than organic materials. This is known as the "urban heat island" effect. One antidote, scientists have found, is to plant trees. But flipping the issue around for a moment, what do the trees make of these urban jungles? According to Lin Meng, at the University of California, Berkeley, tree growth in urban locations is different, as she explained to Verner Viisainen, based on research published in PNAS... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/13/20214 minutes, 7 seconds
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The science of hugs

As we near Christmas, we will be subjected to a fair few more hugs than usual! Some of them can be great, and others... just downright awkward. But what makes a bad hug? What makes a good hug? New research has been published investigating the most pleasant hugging style. Katie King spoke to Anna-Lena Duren to find out why hugs are an important area to study. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/9/20213 minutes, 55 seconds
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Sleep schedules & healthier hearts

We know that sleep is critical for our physical and mental wellbeing, but as it turns out, the answer doesn't simply lie in the number of hours we spend unconscious each night. New research from digital healthcare company, Huma, suggests that a goldilocks bedtime between 10-11PM is linked with a lower risk of heart disease. Katie King spoke to Dr David Plans, Head of Research from Huma to find out why we all need a bedtime... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/6/20213 minutes, 20 seconds
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Omicron, variant of concern. What do we know?

Virologist Chris Smith talks with Radio New Zealand National's Kim Hill on Saturday 27th November as the world contemplates the discovery of the Covid-19 variant that the WHO has dubbed "Omicron" and labelled as a "variant of concern". How will scientists investigate this agent, and how are policymakers responding? Will the vaccines rolled out internationally continue to work, or do they need to be updated? Is the apparent benign nature of Omicron actually a blessing in disguise? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/4/202118 minutes, 36 seconds
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Whales eat (and poop) more than we thought

Earth's largest animals, whales, need a lot of food... that goes without saying. But, new research from a team at Stanford University have found that whales need 10-20 tonnes of food on a feeding day, which is up to three times more than initially thought. Of course that means three times more poop... and as whale poop drives nutrient recycling in the oceans, this could have a big impact on marine ecosystems. Katie King found out more from the lead author Matthew Savoca... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/3/20213 minutes, 49 seconds
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NASA's planetary defence test

Now this might have flown under your radar, but last Wednesday NASA launched the DART mission, a spacecraft on a one-way collision course with an asteroid, in the world's first full-scale planetary defence test. Tricia Smith asked Space Author Colin Stuart, if life as we know it is in danger... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/2/20214 minutes, 50 seconds
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Covid Surges in Europe

Covid cases in many European countries are suddenly substantially up. But in a dramatic role reversal, the UK has gone from the standout Covid-19 bad boy of Europe to one of the better performers in terms of daily cases and hospitalisations. According to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine's Lloyd Chapman, vaccination is the linchpin, and that's where the UK stands out... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/29/20216 minutes, 6 seconds
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Why does Covid-19 vaccine protection wane?

Covid is surging across Europe, but what's causing it, and will the UK follow suit, or are Europe hot on our heels? Should vaccines be mandatory, and would vaccine passports work? Why does Covid-19 vaccine protection wane with time, and are we looking at a relentless cycle of boosters indefinitely, or will one be sufficient? Dr Chris Smith joins RNZ's Kim Hill for a catch-up all about the current state of Covid-19... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/20/202125 minutes, 23 seconds
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Fusion experiment yields new record energy

When two atoms join together, the laws of physics tell us that a large amount of energy will be released, but the experiments performed so far by scientists to achieve nuclear fusion have always yielded a lot less energy than the inputs. This week, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, which uses an approach called 'inertial confinement fusion', announced that they achieved a huge improvement in the record energy yield from a fusion experiment. Iacopo Russo heard from Debbie Callahan, a lead researcher on the project. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/17/20215 minutes, 28 seconds
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Dogs can pick out words from speech

The first part of understanding a new language is working out where one word stops and the next word starts out of a string of syllables. Researchers at ELTE University in Hungary have been looking at how dogs' brains respond to language to figure out if they can recognise words, as Sally Le Page found out from author Marianna Boros... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/16/20214 minutes, 42 seconds
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Facebook's Metaverse

Recently Facebook announced a name change for the company to Meta, which comes during the midst of a marketing plug by Mark Zuckerberg for his new take on an augmented reality universe. Facebook's metaverse. Harry Lewis finds out what the metaverse is from BBC technology editor Zoe Kleinman, but first here she is with what this rebrand means for us everyday users... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/15/20214 minutes, 37 seconds
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What does oxytocin sound like?

We talk a lot about proteins on this programme - what they do, how they work - but have you ever wondered what they sound like? A group of scientists at the National University of Singapore have been turning proteins into pieces of music, as Sally Le Page heard from author, Peng Zhang. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/12/20215 minutes, 20 seconds
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Antibiotics upgraded to tackle superbugs

Antibiotics are such an important part of modern medicine but their effectiveness has been waning in the last few decades as certain bacteria, so called superbugs, have become resistant to multiple common antibiotics, leading to the UN declaring that antimicrobial resistance is one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity. To tackle this issue, new approaches are needed and as new strains of antibiotics are hard to come by, one option is to modify existing antibiotics to make them more effective. Verner Viisainen spoke to Jennifer Payne from Monash University to find out... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/11/20214 minutes, 50 seconds
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Humans navigate inefficiently in cities

Have you ever noticed that you take one particular walking route to the shops, only to take a completely different route on the way back? If so, you might not be alone...based on recent paper published in Nature Computational Science, this is more common than you might think and could be because our brains try to always take the pointiest, not necessarily the fastest, route to their destination. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/10/20215 minutes, 18 seconds
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Humans navigate inefficiently in cities

Have you ever noticed that you take one particular walking route to the shops, only to take a completely different route on the way back? If so, you might not be alone...based on recent paper published in Nature Computational Science, this is more common than you might think and could be because our brains try to always take the pointiest, not necessarily the fastest, route to their destination. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/10/20215 minutes, 18 seconds
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Hydrogen electrolyser wins Earthshot Prize

The Earthshot Prize is an ambitious environmental program created by His Royal Highness Prince William to find and develop solutions for the climate emergency. This year's prizes were awarded last month at a ceremony in London. The prize for the Fix Our Climate category went to company Enapter, which developed a technology called "AEM hydrogen electrolyser". Iacopo Russo heard from Enapter's co-founder Jan-Justus Schmidt, and from Cambridge University engineering professor David Cebon, to find out firstly what an electrolyser is and more importantly what hydrogen can do for us in a sustainable... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/9/20216 minutes, 45 seconds
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COVID-19 nanotube-based sensor

"Test! Test! Test!" was the instruction from the World Health Organisation when the Covid-19 pandemic began to take hold around the world. Now scientists at MIT think they might have a solution, both for this pandemic and future ones: they've developed a sensor system comprising a fibre optic to which a special coating is applied that can recognise specific viruses. When it does so, it emits light of a specific colour, signalling a detection. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/4/20213 minutes, 38 seconds
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How Alzheimer's Disease Unfolds

New research published this week has turned what we know about Alzheimer's disease progression on its head. Instead of the disease gradually spreading through the brain causing symptoms to get worse, the study found progression relied more on how quickly the number of disease-associated proteins increased in individual brain regions. Julia Ravey heard from Cambridge University's Georg Meisl, the study's author, on how this may impact future treatments. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/29/20214 minutes, 28 seconds
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Potential health benefits of winter swimming

Wild water swimming is becoming ever more popular and, according to a new study published recently in Cell Reports Medicine, combining dips in cold water with time in a hot sauna could have potential health benefits. Verner Viisainen spoke with senior author Camilla Scheele to find out more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/21/20215 minutes, 38 seconds
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E-Waste Day: what to do with old electronics?

Who doesn't like to pick up a cold drink from the fridge and sit down to watch a show on their laptop or TV? Electrical appliances have made our lives easier and richer and yet, as much as we love them, we don't seem to be as good at properly maintaining or disposing of them. Thursday 14th October this year was International E-Waste Day, an event to raise awareness about the problem of waste electronics. Iacopo Russo heard from Pascal Leroy, the General Director of the WEEE Forum, the non-profit expert group which promotes the event... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/20/20214 minutes, 55 seconds
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HeLa cells: do you own your own body parts?

A form of cultured cell, known as a HeLa cell, is at the centre of a lawsuit that is being brought against a large scientific company that uses these cells. HeLa cells are named after the person they were collected from originally, Henrietta Lacks. They are an "immortal" cell line that grows continuously in the culture dish. This means that the cells that exist today stem directly from Henrietta Lacks' original cell sample, which was taken back in 1951. The use of these cells today raises ethical questions, because Henrietta Lacks did not give consent for them to be collected or used. The case... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/19/20214 minutes, 12 seconds
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New painkiller: local and long-lasting relief

Pain relief after surgery is a major headache as we don't have a lot of effective, and safe, options. Opioids in particular, like morphine, are very addictive and cause hundreds of thousands of deaths globally each year, and so doctors are desperate for alternatives. Now, scientists at the University of Buffalo have developed a long-lasting, local painkiller that can be injected into the site of injury to specifically prevent pain-transmitting nerve cells, or neurons, from passing on their painful messages to the brain. It works by stopping a process called endocytosis; this is where cells... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/13/20215 minutes, 56 seconds
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Vaccines passports in England shown the door

He said he'd introduce them, now Boris Johnson has stepped back from mandating vaccine passports across England for venues like nightclubs. But what's provoked this viral volte-face? Also, saliva tests for Covid-19, few fatal coronavirus cases among the unvaccinated, what's the role of hand sanitisers, and are Covid booster jabs the way forward? Dr Chris Smith joins RNZ's Kim Hill to discuss the latest Covid-19 news... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/25/202127 minutes, 57 seconds
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Self-assembling filter can remove fluoride

Fluoride is the stuff in toothpaste that helps strengthen teeth. But if there's too much fluoride in the water it softens bones, and children become susceptible to bone deformities. It's very difficult and expensive to remove dissolved fluoride ions from water. But, inspired by nature, scientists have used polymers to produce a membrane that can filter out fluoride, as Sally Le Page heard from Ayse Asatekin... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/23/20214 minutes, 55 seconds
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Moral outrage on Twitter is contagious

Twitter has been the subject of another study, looking at how people's tendency to post tweets in moral outrage is affected by other people on the site. Increasingly in recent years, celebrities and other well-known individuals have found themselves being "cancelled". This usually happens when they do or say something that other users disagree with. The outpourings of outrage reverberate across the social network with many piling in publicly to scorn and humiliate the perpetrator. But why do people resort to this Twitter equivalent of lobbing rotten tomatoes at someone in the stocks?... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/22/20214 minutes, 21 seconds
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bit.bio: a new source of human cells

Scientists and doctors are always after good quality human cells for research and therapeutic purposes, but these can be hard to come by in sufficient quantities. Now, synthetic biology company bit.bio has opened up new headquarters in Cambridge to start supplying multiple different cell types by reprogramming stem cells. Eva Higginbotham heard more from founder and CEO Mark Kotter... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/17/20214 minutes, 5 seconds
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Feeding birds could be causing harm

Many of us love putting out bird seed and watching birds feast away, and feel we're doing a good deed too, but a new paper out of Manchester Metropolitan University suggests we may actually be doing more harm than good. Eva Higginbotham spoke to BBC science correspondent Victoria Gill, who spoke with lead author Alex Lees previously... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/14/20215 minutes, 43 seconds
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Schools Causing Covid Surges

Most schools across the UK are open and children are heading back to their classrooms. But to what extent will this affect the Covid case rates across the country and what can we do to avoid disrupting a third academic year? In Scotland, children returned to school sooner than their English counterparts: what can we learn from their experience? Chris Smith spoke with Linda Bauld, who specialises in public health at the University of Edinburgh... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/10/20215 minutes, 54 seconds
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Long COVID in children: what we know so far

Quite soon after the pandemic first struck a significant number of people began to complain of persistent symptoms in the aftermath of being infected with the new coronavirus. These manifestations have been dubbed "long covid". What's less clear is the extent to which this is happening not just to adults but also to children, and particularly teenagers. Terence Stephenson is at the UCL Gt Ormond St Institute of Child Health and spoke with Chris Smith... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/9/20215 minutes, 6 seconds
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Water vapour found on Ganymede

We often look for water on remote planets and moons because, as far as we know, it's a requirement for life. Now a team of researchers using the Hubble Space Telescope to scrutinise Jupiter's largest moon, Ganymede, think they've found water in its atmosphere. Sally Le Page spoke with team member Kurt Retherford. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/7/20213 minutes, 40 seconds
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What can NZ do about Delta?

Is Delta more deadly, or just transmitting more rapidly? And are the vaccines we're using likely to defend against future coronavirus variants? Also, does it matter that levels of antibody dimish post-vaccination, or will immune memory make up for the shortfall? Meanwhile, are vaccinated people who still catch Delta equally infectious? Does Delta incubate at the same rate as classical coronavirus strains? And do tests work equally well against Delta? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/21/202120 minutes, 10 seconds
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Antibiotic-resistant bacteria in dogs

Researchers have reported a case of antibiotic-resistant bacteria passing between dogs and their owners. And these bacteria aren't just resistant to any antibiotic - they're resistant to colistin, an antibiotic of last resort that we use when all other treatments fail. Mark Holmes is a vet and a microbial scientist from the University of Cambridge - he wasn't involved in the research, but he took a look for us and spoke to Eva Higginbotham... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/9/20215 minutes, 56 seconds
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The UK and Freedom Day: What The Numbers Say

Chris Smith joins Radio New Zealand National's Kim Hill to talk Covid-19, including the impact of the July 19th UK Freedom Day on Covid case rates. They also touch on vaccine performance, variants, past pandemics and whether we'll all be getting boosters in future years... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/7/202132 minutes, 9 seconds
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New malaria drug cures with one dose

Although Covid-19 is dominating the headlines perpetually at the moment, it's very important not to lose sight of other significant diseases that don't yet have vaccines and do have a higher cumulative death toll. Malaria is one of them and kills half a million people, mostly children, every year. One serious problem is that the parasite that causes the disease is rapidly becoming resistant to the remaining antimalarial drugs we're using, so scientists have been searching for new ways to treat the disease. So far, more than 7 million chemical compounds have been screened to try to discover new... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/5/20214 minutes, 13 seconds
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Increasing likelihood of extreme heatwaves

Earlier this year a devastating heatwave in the pacific northwest of the United States killed almost 200 people with record-shattering temperatures; and, in 2019, the UK recorded its highest ever temperature of 38.7 degrees here in Cambridge. Alarmingly, new research from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology suggests that there's more of this to come. Eva Higginbotham heard why from Erich Fischer... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/4/20214 minutes, 31 seconds
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Hygiene doesn't harm immune development

A question we're being asked quite a lot is whether the extra lengths we're going to in terms of hygiene to protect us from COVID-19 might cause us immune problems later because we're living lives that are too clean. This is the basis of what's dubbed the "hygiene hypothesis". But a report out this week says that, actually, it's the environment we've created - rather than the way we clean it - that matters, because modern living conditions and building materials select for the wrong sorts of microbes. Microbiologist and author of the report, Graham Rook, spoke to Chris Smith... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/14/20216 minutes, 2 seconds
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Rivers don't always recover after drought

The general view is that waterways, such as rivers and underground water sources, will dry up during severe drought - but eventually recover and resume their normal flow when the rains return. But new findings from Australia pour cold water on that idea. When researchers analysed 30 years of rainfall and flow data from 161 water catchments in southeast Australia, they discovered that one-third of these water catchments had not recovered almost eight years later. Charlotte Birkmanis heard more from Monash University's Tim Peterson... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/7/20213 minutes, 12 seconds
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'Dragon Man' skull: our closest relative?

An ancient skull, uncovered decades ago in China, has recently been revealed to be possibly the closest ever relative to humankind. It's called "Dragon Man", and based on trace uranium inside the skull, it's been dated to at least 146,000 years old - but could well be much older! This puts it at a critical time period in human evolution, when our ancestors were first emerging within Africa. But there's some disagreement about whether the fossil is from an entirely new species, or is linked to other sets of fossils found in East Asia. Palaeoanthropologist John Hawks, who wasn't involved in the... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/6/20214 minutes, 56 seconds
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T-rex teens fill mid-size predator gap

Few animals inspire the imagination like Tyrannosaurus rex. And the mighty tyrannosaurs did dominate the lands that eventually became central Asia and western North America for millions of years. But during that time, fossils show that medium-sized predators all but disappeared. Why? Thomas Holtz from the University of Maryland dug deep into the records, and - as he tells Charlotte Birkmanis - thinks teen T-rexes are the answer... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/5/20214 minutes, 42 seconds
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Sharks use Earth's magnetic field as a map

Previously, researchers knew that sharks can travel back and forth across entire oceans, accurately returning to specific locations. But what we didn't know was whether they memorise these routes, or if they have some sort of inbuilt GPS. To find out how sharks navigate, Charlotte Birkmanis mapped the course with Florida State University's Bryan Keller... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/2/20214 minutes, 8 seconds
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Pesticide antidote might help struggling bees

New technology may help save bees by providing an antidote for deadly pesticides. The new solution allows beekeepers to feed their bees 'pollen patties', a pollen-sized microparticle filled with enzymes to prevent the bees from ingesting certain pesticides. Carlotte Birkmanis chatted with Cornell University's James Webb to get the latest buzz on their sweet technology. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/1/20215 minutes
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Covid viruses, vaccines and variants

Covid viruses, vaccines and variants: Chris Smith talks to Radio New Zealand National to bring Kim Hill up to speed with the latest developments on the pandemic front, including the recent case in NZ's Wellington... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/30/202128 minutes, 57 seconds
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Mouse plague in Australia

Eastern Australia is currently in the grips of a mouse plague. Mice live everywhere people do, often undetected. Right now though, highly favourable conditions have caused mice populations to explode in the eastern states of Queensland and New South Wales. A year of abundant rainfall after several years of drought has led to bumper crops, providing lots of food for mice, allowing them to not only thrive but also reproduce at an astonishing rate. Farmers are using zinc phosphide-coated wheat bait to combat the pests, the only registered in-crop rodent killer for the management of mice in... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/28/20215 minutes, 49 seconds
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Sperm and squid in space

Scientists have reported on some unusual things flying in space recently. In one paper, sperm, stored aboard the International Space Station for the last 5 years, has been brought back to Earth and used to fertilise eggs. Also, a group of glow-in-the-dark bobtailed squid headed spacewards to look at how microgravity affects their microbiome. Westminster University astrobiologist Lewis Dartnell talked Chris Smith through the different projects... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/22/20217 minutes, 19 seconds
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Cells reprogrammed to make synthetic polymers

The world is always on the lookout for new drugs - but they're not easy to make. Synthesising them is often an expensive and prolonged process. But what if we could employ a miniature assistant to do it for us? That's what a team from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology have come up with. They're managed to genetically reprogramme living cells to build complex molecules - molecules that no living thing would ever normally produce. Phil Sansom learned how from researcher Jason Chin... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/9/20213 minutes, 59 seconds
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Motherless gorillas and how hummingbirds hum

This month: how hummingbirds hum, how elephants evolved anti-cancer genes so they can sustain big bodies, gorillas that grow up without their mothers, and why deforestation causes peaks and then troughs in malaria cases... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/28/202127 minutes, 17 seconds
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New process may transform mining

For thousands of years, humans have used traditional mining techniques involving sinking tunnels or large pits to recover relatively small amounts of useful metals like gold and copper. What remains is usually, at best, a scar on the landscape, large amounts of waste material, and habitat destruction. At worst, the practices have led to environmental catastrophes. Now an international team, including researchers from the University of Western Australia, have found a way to harness the power of electricity to achieve the same mineral recovery but without the environmental costs. By placing... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/27/20214 minutes, 37 seconds
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Vodka from Chernobyl on its way to UK

If you live in the UK, you should soon be able to drink vodka... from Chernobyl! Which might sound like a radioactive nightmare, but the stuff is - supposedly - completely safe to drink. Not only do radioactive particles get removed during the distillation process, there were few originally there at all - thanks to how well much of the environment around Chernobyl has recovered since the 1986 disaster. The project is the brainchild of researchers in Ukraine alongside environmental scientist Jim Smith from Portsmouth University. They've just distilled the first batch of their vodka, but... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/19/20215 minutes, 18 seconds
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Loan applications rejected more around midday

It's often hardest to think when you've been working all day - especially if your job involves making lots of decisions. Psychologists call this decision fatigue. And evidence has shown that the phenomenon has serious, real-world consequences... beyond making you collapse on the sofa. Now, a study from the University of Cambridge seems to demonstrate that it could make the difference between your bank loan getting approved - or rejected. Lead author Tobias Baer spoke to Eva Higginbotham... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/14/20214 minutes, 34 seconds
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Camera based on shrimp eye sees cancer cells

The mantis shrimp is a sea creature with a particular party piece. While our eyes are sensitive to three colours, red, green and blue, which our brain uses to make the full rainbow of colours we see, the mantis shrimp is sensitive to 12 to 16 different colours, giving them a much wider spectrum of colours. Scientists in the University of Illinois figured this might be useful, and have created a camera that can see colours we can't. The idea is that if you tag a cancerous tumour with a fluorescent chemical that we can't see, but the camera can, it will give surgeons a quick and easy way to... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/13/20213 minutes, 30 seconds
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SciHub: are they stealing your data?

Alexandra Elbakyan is the founder of the website SciHub, and it came out this week that she is being investigated by the FBI. You see, SciHub is an illegal venture: it makes research papers available for free to people who want them, bypassing the fees and subscriptions that journals would normally charge for that access. In this respect they can claim the moral high ground: people who couldn't otherwise afford to access the material can read it. But the way SciHub obtains the journal articles it makes available is not legal; they are said to have obtained access codes from people at... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/10/20216 minutes, 5 seconds
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Plants affected by noise pollution

Noise pollution can be difficult to live with, and it turns out that plants are also impacted by too much noise, although not in the way you might expect. Jenny Phillips from Texas A&M in San Antonio has been studying the seedlings of native trees around gas wells in New Mexico. She's found that noise pollution can drive away the animals that some plants rely on to spread their seeds, as she explained to Katie Haylor... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/30/20213 minutes, 34 seconds
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Biological target for future anorexia drugs

Anorexia nervosa is a cruel, complex and serious mental health condition. It involves deliberately losing weight in order to keep body weight as low as possible. And through investigating brain circuits involved in regulating body weight and which can go awry in obesity, Roger Cone from the University of Michigan and colleagues, along with scientists from Vanderbilt University, have now shown that activating a particular receptor called MC3 in the brains of mice encourages them to eat more, whilst at the same time also suppressing fear and anxiety. And Roger thinks this has interesting... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/28/20217 minutes, 27 seconds
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Ancient DNA extracted from cave dirt

When they're trying to piece together our understanding of ancient Humans and Neanderthals, scientists often have to rely on artifacts found in caves. What scientists wish they had more of was ancient DNA, which would allow them to study how the populations of these groups changed and expanded over time. Now that's about to change thanks to Benjamin Vernot at the Max Planck Institute, as he explained to Eva Higginbotham.... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/26/20215 minutes, 7 seconds
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New treatment for paracetamol overdose

Each year 80,000 patients are hospitalised in the US for paracetamol overdose, the leading cause of liver damage in the US and Europe. The current treatment is effective at treating the liver damage, but because its efficacy is limited to being given within 8 hours since the overdose, scientists have been looking for alternative treatments. Melanie Jans-Singh spoke with clinical scientist Christof Gaunt, about the discovery of a new molecule that can treat the damage done by the paracetamol overdose to the liver... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/20/20215 minutes, 10 seconds
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Masks on the beach and in beer gardens? C'mon...

Face masks have their place, but what's really needed right now is a breath of fresh air and a dose of common sense to control Covid-19, as Chris Smith explains... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/16/20213 minutes
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Genetics behind why rabbits hop

New research has found a gene that looks to be the reason why rabbits, and perhaps all bouncing mammals hop. Using an unusual type of rabbit, called a sauteur d'Alfort, which doesn't hop, but runs on its front paws like a handstand, scientists have found a specific gene called RORB, that's missing in these rabbits. Defects in this gene may have damaging effects in all mammals though, not just rabbits. Adam Murphy spoke to Leif Andersson from Uppsala University about these bizarre bunnies... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/12/20214 minutes, 11 seconds
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Spinosaurus: was it a giant, toothy heron?

Spinosaurus was a dinosaur that was around 13 metres long, and looked a little like a T-Rex with the addition of a massive sail on its back. There's been much debate around how it lived; while it seems to be tied to the water, it's unclear how close those ties were. One theory suggests it was actually like a crocodile, living a pretty aquatic life. But new research points to features of its anatomy that suggest that it was a lot more like a giant, very toothy heron, waiting at the water's edge. Adam Murphy spoke to David Hone from Queen Mary University of London about the dino debate... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/9/20214 minutes, 41 seconds
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The world of fungi inside seed banks

We share our planet with microbes. Some do us harm, others do us good and are known as our microbiome. Plants also have a microbiome, and in a paper out recently, scientists working in a seed bank report how they got curious about what microbes could be stored away inside banked seeds. And by surveying seeds from just 1 type of plant, they found about 200 species of fungi. Katie Haylor spoke to study author Rowena Hill... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/8/20215 minutes, 24 seconds
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Eagle killer identified

In 1994, at DeGray Lake in the state of Arkansas in the USA, 29 bald eagles were found dead from a mysterious disease. Many more across the area have been found suffering from "Avian Vacuolar Myelinopathy", which causes holes in the brain and spinal cord, and erratic behaviour. Researchers now think they've cracked the mystery, as Eva Higginbotham heard from Timo Niedermeyer at Martin Luther University in Halle, Germany... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/2/20216 minutes, 22 seconds
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Industrial yeast impairs gut wound healing

Crohn's Disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (or IBD), where the immune system attacks and inflames bits of the intestines. It can cause diarrhea, pain, fatigue, and consequent disruptions to daily activities like school and work. There are treatments, but currently no cure. Now, scientists in the US have found that a fungus used industrially in foods like wine, cheese and cured meats - called Debaryomyces Hansenii - seems to be thriving in gut wounds in mice, and getting in the way of the wounds healing. And they think a similar thing is happening in the inflamed intestines of the... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/1/20216 minutes, 12 seconds
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Wildfire smoke detected in stratosphere

Fires of any scale tend to produce a certain amount of smoke - a variety of different particles including small bits of unburnt fuel, which eventually disperse into the atmosphere. And looking at data from satellites out in space, scientists in Israel have shown that smoke from the late 2019 / early 2020 Australian wildfires actually travelled up beyond the lower atmosphere (known as the troposphere) and into the stratosphere - that's above where clouds gather and planes tend to fly. Up here, these smoke particles stick around for longer, where they can absorb or scatter incoming energy from... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/31/20215 minutes, 34 seconds
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Cone snails seduce prey with pheromones

Cone snails are a group of highly venomous marine snails. Their shells are beautiful, but they pack a powerful neurotoxic punch: some members of this family are so poisonous that they can easily kill a person. But one species of cone snail, called Conus imperialis, produces a very different reaction in the worms they hunt. This snail has a venom cocktail that includes pheromones: it uses similar chemicals to the ones the worms give off when mating. Why make a worm aphrodisiac? Phil Sansom spoke to Joshua Torres from the University of Copenhagen about these strange creatures... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/17/20215 minutes, 46 seconds
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Modelling concussion with eggs

In recent years we've realised quite how bad a knock on the head can be for us, because the brain bobs about suspended in fluid inside our skulls. And if you move, or stop, the head suddenly, the brain cannons into the inside of the skull and can be injured. It's especially important in sports, but it's hard to study - and to develop effective safety equipment - for obvious reasons. But scientists have now discovered that something you commonly find in fridge door behaves in an uncannily similar way to your brain. Adam Murphy found out more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/4/20214 minutes, 18 seconds
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Diabetes drug trialled to treat obesity

In the UK, about 1 in 4 adults are affected by obesity, which is linked to diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. But recently a new study has documented the effect of giving a drug called semaglutide to 2000 people over a 1 year period. The drug mimics a gut hormone called GLP-1 to boost insulin levels and it's already used to treat diabetes. The study subjects lost an average of 15kg on the drug, suggesting that it might be an effective way to support weight loss. Katie Haylor asked Cambridge University geneticist and obesity specialist Giles Yeo to take her through the results of the... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/3/20215 minutes, 49 seconds
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Bile ducts grown in lab can repair livers

A new way to repair diseased livers has been unveiled by researchers at the University of Cambridge. They've found a way to grow the cells that line the branching system of pathways inside the liver - the bile ducts. It's a big step forward. Chris Smith heard from Kourosh Saeb-Parsy, who is part of the team behind the work... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/2/20216 minutes, 15 seconds
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COVID: seeking herd immunity by vaccination

One thing we're all hoping for is that the new coronavirus vaccines will give us 'herd immunity' - this would mean that so many people are immune to the virus that it would start to die away as it can't find new hosts to infect. But how does herd immunity work in practice, and are the vaccines we have likely to put us in this fortunate position? Eva Higginbotham spoke with Peter English, a consultant in communicable disease control, to find out... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/1/20215 minutes, 44 seconds
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Covid-19 latest and the flu surge in waiting

Virologist Dr Chris Smith catches up with RNZ's Kim Hill with an update on the Covid-19 latest news including encouraging data on the performance of the vaccines, but discouraging news on the stances of some prominent European leaders towards AstraZeneca's vaccine. Also, new Covid variants in America, and why scientists suspect flu might be waiting in the wings to make a dramatic comeback... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/28/202118 minutes, 26 seconds
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Treating osteoarthritis with antidepressants

Osteoarthritis is a painful condition caused by wear and tear to the slippery cartilage that normally coats and lubricates the bone surfaces in our joints. This doesn't repair itself very well, so, when it wears out, joint replacement is usually the only option. But recently, scientists out of Penn State University in the US have shown that the antidepressant drug paroxetine has an interesting side-effect: it encourages the cells that make and build cartilage to grow. So, perhaps, in the future we'll be able to pop a pill, rather than have a hip replacement. Fadia Kamal told Katie Haylor what... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/23/20214 minutes, 35 seconds
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An ancient freshwater Arctic ocean

About 70% of our planet is covered in water, and the vast majority of that water is in the salty oceans. But in a paper published recently, scientists from Germany propose that the Arctic Ocean was - at a relatively recent few points in Earth's history - actually entirely freshwater. Rivers and meltwater flushed out the salt, and lower sea levels worldwide at the time meant it couldn't come back, at least for a while. Getting to grips with how and exactly when this was happening is critical to our understanding of how climate change affects the Arctic, as Katie Haylor heard from Walter... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/22/20215 minutes, 47 seconds
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Traffic noise makes crickets pick bad mates

Many of us may love driving, but nature certainly doesn't love us doing it! Alongside the pollution, there's the noise of traffic, which isn't just a nuisance for humans. Lots of research shows man-made noise affects nearby animals, and now another study shows that insects are also being impacted: female crickets get so confused by road noise that they struggle to pick the best potential suitor from the pack. Zoologist Adam Bent explained the situation to Phil Sansom... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/16/20215 minutes, 10 seconds
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Australia takes on Google

In the online world, a battle is brewing between tech giants Google and Facebook and the Australian government. The government are proposing a law to force organisations like Google pay the news outlets that produce the news content they currently run for free on their websites, where it draws huge amounts of traffic. The tech companies have retaliated by threatening to withdraw their services from Australia. To explore this in more detail, Adam Murphy spoke with entrepreneur and tech Investor Peter Cowley... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/11/20214 minutes, 8 seconds
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Millipedes disrupting trains

The things we see inhabiting our planet have evolved fantastic adaptations and habits to overcome issues in their environment that get in the way of an ultimate happy ending. This week an international collaboration led by scientists from Japan, have established the first life cycle in a creature other than the famous cicadas where they erupt from the earth all at the same time to cause havoc and interrupt human lives. Martin Khechara spoke to arthropod researcher Eleanor Drinkwater from the University of York about the research... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/9/20214 minutes, 29 seconds
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Growing roots in compacted soil

Erosion is carrying away millions of tonnes of the soil we depend upon to keep our crops alive, every year. To try to prevent soil losses, farmers have moved away from some traditional techniques, like deep ploughing, and they're also planting short-lived "cover-crops" that protect the soil surface over winter. They then sow seed directly through these cover crops for the next season. The problem is that, without periodic deep ploughing, soils can become highly compacted. Plants don't tend to send their roots through compact soils so well, meaning they miss out on nutrients, and this can dent... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/5/20216 minutes, 11 seconds
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Soothing surgical patients

Anyone who's had surgery knows that recovery is often accompanied by discomfort. But scientists in Germany, writing in the British Medical Journal recently, explain how playing music and soothing words to patients while they are "under" during surgery results in less self reported pain and lower use of painkillers - specifically opioids - afterwards. Katie Haylor spoke to Ernil Hansen from Regensburg University Hospital in Bavaria... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/3/20213 minutes, 50 seconds
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COVID Vaccines: the EU debacle

Amid accusations of "despicable behaviour", the EU are backpedalling furiously. With fewer than 2% of EU citizens vaccinated compared with 12% of the UK population, Brussels faces a rising tide of disquiet from EU members as the bloc fails to get a vaccine programme on track. They blamed AstraZeneca, then invoked laws to erect a border across Ireland to block movements of vaccines made in Belgium. Many cannot believe the behaviour of the Brussels bureaucrats. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/30/202132 minutes, 12 seconds
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Cats, catnip, and curious chemicals

You've probably heard of catnip, which makes cats go crazy. There's also another plant called silver vine, which has a similar effect. Now scientists have been nailing down what in silver vine makes cats so excited, but also a surprising bonus effect of the chemical - it makes an effective mosquito repellent! Eva Higginbotham heard how from lead author on the study Masau Miyazaki from Iwate University, which has just been published in the journal Science Advances...Ref: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/4/eabd9135 Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/27/20213 minutes, 5 seconds
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Knitting: a short history

Although knitting and other handicrafts are having a bit of a moment during the pandemic as we all try to keep ourselves busy at home, the art and practice of knitting goes back a long way through history. Eva Higginbotham spoke with Loretta Napoleoni, a journalist and author who last year wrote a book about the power, and history, of knitting... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/22/20215 minutes, 35 seconds
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Flashy dinosaur fossil described

Now in the UK it is dark and dreary, but there's been a recent colourful scientific discovery to brighten up the day, as a new flamboyantly-dressed dinosaur has recently been described by scientists at the University of Portsmouth and the State Museum of Natural History in Germany. Eva Higginbotham heard the story from lead scientist on the project, Dave Martill... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/5/20214 minutes, 28 seconds
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COVID-19: can the new variant defeat vaccines

Kim Hill talks to virologist Chris Smith about Covid-19 in 2020, in retrospect and right now. What's the situation with global access to vaccines for the new coronavirus, and will the "new variant" emerging in the UK defeat the present vaccine repertoire? Where did this variant come from, what does it tell us about how viruses evolve, and is the UK looking at another lockdown post Christmas? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/23/202023 minutes, 41 seconds
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Winter traditions: scientifically speaking

Do you have any winter holiday traditions? This month, as we were gearing up for our holidays here at the Naked Scientists, we thought it would be a fun experiment to explore the science behind holiday celebrations around the world with the help of Chunendra Sahu, Cristina Rodriguez, Ljiljana Fruk, and Olgo Loblova - all researchers at the University of Cambridge... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/22/202010 minutes, 6 seconds
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Universal Flu Vaccine

The WHO estimates that up to 650,000 people globally die each year from the flu, and one of the tools in our arsenal against it is the seasonal flu vaccine. Recently there's been a huge breakthrough in the search for a universal flu vaccine, that is one vaccine that would give broad protection from lots of different strains of flu. Just published in the journal Nature Medicine, Eva Higginbotham spoke to one of the scientists behind the work: Lynda Coughlan... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/17/20206 minutes, 23 seconds
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Inhaled vaccines cross from lungs to blood

Traditionally, when someone says "vaccine", the image of a syringe and needle usually springs to mind. But injections need trained staff to administer them, and they're unpleasant, even for people who are not scared of needles. So vaccines you can inhale sound altogether more attractive. And that's what researchers at Rutgers University in the US have been working on. They've found a particular clutch of chemical compounds that are very good at passing harmlessly through the lungs and entering the bloodstream where they can interact with the immune system. What's exciting is that these... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/16/20205 minutes, 59 seconds
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Dreaming during the coronavirus pandemic

When we nod off we often dream, but many people have reported that, over the course of the pandemic, what they dream about has changed dramatically. It seems to be a real claim, and scientists are studying it. Eva Higginbotham spoke with dream scientist Alejandro Ezquerro-Nassar from the University of Cambridge... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/11/20205 minutes, 8 seconds
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AstraZeneca's Covid Vaccine

The AstraZeneca Oxford University Covid-19 vaccine results were announced recently, but something wasn't quite right: it turned out that some people in the trial had received the wrong vaccine dose, although with surprising results. Chris Smith joins RNZ's Kim Hill to review the AZ and other vaccines... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/4/202019 minutes, 33 seconds
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Alzheimer's: early detection via AI

Recently news was published of an artificial intelligence system which has analysed bits of speech from participants of a long-running study on dementia. These participants were cognitively normal, didn't have signs of dementia, at the time. The system managed to predict the onset of dementia up to 7 years earlier than human doctors. Katie Haylor asked Susan Kohlhass, director of research at Alzheimer's Research UK what she made of the announcement... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/3/20204 minutes, 15 seconds
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Octopuses taste with their tentacles

Let's dive into the depths and consider the octopus. As well as being famous for its 8 arms, and 3 hearts, octopus vision is also impressive: it helps them spy out dinner, among other things. But light isn't always in great supply when you're hunting around on the seabed, so these creatures have a fascinating ability to taste their surroundings and therefore make decisions about what to eat or not, simply by touching things. Now, a paper from scientists at Harvard explains how this touch-taste system actually works on a molecular level. By studying the cells in the suction cups of the... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/2/20204 minutes, 48 seconds
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Obesity: modelling the effects of TV ads

As part of their obesity strategy the UK government announced plans to restrict the advertising of unhealthy foods on TV. And in a paper out recently, Oliver Mytton, of Cambridge University, and colleagues have modelled the potential impact of the TV ban on rates of obesity and overweight among children in the UK. Katie Haylor spoke to Oliver. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/1/20204 minutes, 10 seconds
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Carlos Rodriguez: Founder of eSports team G2

Join Chris Berrow for this extended chat with Carlos "Ocelote" Rodriguez about running one of the biggest eSports teams in the world - G2. From League of Legends to Hearthstone, the team have had a huge amount of success across the board. So what has coronavirus and lockdown meant for the business? Find out how long a typical player's career lasts, and what happens after you retire from competitive play. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/1/202020 minutes, 5 seconds
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Drug discovery via sea squirt

When we think of drug discovery we might conjure up images of scientists in white lab coats holding test tubes, but a new study searching for drugs to kill dangerous disease-causing fungi had researchers wearing wetsuits and holding fishing nets, and so far, it's all been worth it. Eva Higginbotham spoke with Tim Bugni and David Andes, two leaders on the project... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/30/20204 minutes, 53 seconds
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Brain cells making choices: pizza, or pasta?

If you've ever wondered what's going on in your brain when choosing what you want for lunch, look no further. Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis recently published a paper in Nature where they used an experimental trick to show what was happening in the brains of monkeys as they chose which beverage they wanted to drink. Eva Higginbotham spoke with lead scientist on the project, Camillo Padoa-Schioppa, about how it works... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/27/20209 minutes, 9 seconds
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Smelling history: from AI to chemistry

Tired of just seeing and reading about history? Soon you'll be able to experience its smells as well! This is thanks to an ambitious project called ODEUROPA, which has just received a big EU grant that brings together researchers from a range of disciplines including historians, computer scientists and chemists to reconstruct the pongs of the past. Marieke van Erp is one of them; she's from the Dutch Digital Humanities Lab, and spoke to Eva Higginbotham... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/26/20205 minutes, 27 seconds
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Pfizer vaccine: an immunologist explains

Pfizer and BioNTech have concluded the Phase 3 trial of their coronavirus vaccine. The results appear to show an efficacy rate of 95%, and the developers hope to win FDA approval as soon as possible. This vaccine - a promising hope for many - works via a new methiod that's never been tried before in humans. Chris Smith asked Cambridge University immunologist Clare Bryant for her reaction... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/19/20205 minutes, 54 seconds
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MS vaccine using your own brain cells

Could an injection of your own brain cells be a way to halt multiple sclerosis - MS? That's what researchers in the US are finding in mice with the disease. In MS, the immune system attacks the brain and spinal cord, damaging a material called myelin. An extract of this myelin material, injected into the bloodstream, can permanently deactivate the immune cells that cause MS... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/17/20204 minutes, 24 seconds
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Pfizer announce Covid-19 vaccine

What do we know about Pfizer and bioNTech's new RNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, preliminary results for which were announced this week? Who was tested in the trial? And what is a genetic vaccine, why were vaccinees innoculated twice, what does 90% effective mean, and what's the reason it needs to be stored at -80º C? Joining RNZ's Kim Hill, virologist Dr Chris Smith explains... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/15/202028 minutes, 27 seconds
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COVID: The Swedish Strategy

There's been a lot of discussion about the Swedish approach to the coronavirus pandemic, and back in September, Jonas F Ludvigsson, a paediatrician and clinical epidemiologist at the Karolinka Institute, published a paper describing in detail what happened in Sweden during the first 8 months of the pandemic, so between January and August 2020. Eva Higginbotham spoke to Jonas back in October... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/14/20206 minutes, 46 seconds
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AI for infertility, and scar-free healing

This month we hear about an artificial intelligence (AI) breakthrough for infertility, how ketamine can mimic some of the decision-making difficulties seen in schizophrenia, a new device to observe and document mosquito feeding behaviour, the key to scar-free wound healing, and how open is open access publishing at the moment? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/13/202031 minutes, 9 seconds
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HFpEF: heart failure type is underserved

Have you ever heard of the condition known as "heart failure with preserved ejection fraction"? If not, then you're not alone; despite it representing hundreds of thousands of heart failure cases every year in the UK alone, a new study shows that many doctors don't really understand it, and many patients don't even know they have it. In order to better understand the condition they call "heff peff", Emma Sowden from the University of Manchester and her colleagues have been speaking to people living with it - like Mancunian Mike Wardle - as well as to Phil Sansom... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/11/20204 minutes, 35 seconds
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UK Back in Lockdown

Virologist Dr Chris Smith joins Radio New Zealand National's Kim Hill to talk Covid-19. Why is the UK back in a lockdown, and did the measure come too late? How are we testing for the virus and how many cases are we missing? What is the incubation period, and what's the prospect for long term immunity? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/9/202020 minutes, 14 seconds
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Covid control and the economy

There's been lots of talk over the last several months over how best to both protect people from coronavirus and protect the economy, and economist Quentin Grafton from Australian National University has been crunching the numbers. Back in September, he combined epidemiological models of how the virus spreads with models of the Australian economy, and found results that lockdown-sceptics might consider surprising, as he told Eva Higginbotham... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/6/20206 minutes, 35 seconds
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Ten equations that rule the world

Would you like to make more money? Understand your relationships better? Know when to trust someone, or something, or not? Well, David Sumpter's got an equation for you in his new book 'Ten equations that rule the world" as he explained to Eva Higginbotham... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/5/20205 minutes, 18 seconds
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Daylight Saving Time: a history

Were you waking up too early this week? Across Europe, we recently left summer Daylight Light Saving time and re-entered standard time. But where does this practice of changing the clocks come from, and is it still a good idea? Eva Higginbotham reports... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/4/20203 minutes, 52 seconds
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Plastic recycling: the one pot method

Plastics are useful but notoriously hard to recycle back into their component chemicals, which limits what else we can do with them. Now, scientists in the US have developed a new catalyst that can break apart common plastics and turn them into chemicals that can be used to make other products. Cambridge University's Taylor Uekert works on ways to deal with plastic waste and she talked Katie Haylor through what the US team have managed to do... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/3/20204 minutes, 48 seconds
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Glitter litter: the dark side of dazzle

We've heard news that Morrisons, Waitrose and John Lewis' own brand Christmas products will not contain glitter this year. And now, scientists at Anglia Ruskin University have looked at making little ponds in the lab with river water and sediment. Katie Haylor heard from lead author Danielle Green, who explained that all the glitters they tested had an impact on the plants and algae in these ponds... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/2/20205 minutes, 22 seconds
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How not to get fooled by graphs

If you've been paying attention to the news in recent times, you'll be very familiar by now with graphs: COVID rates, infection rates, data are being displayed in a plethora of ways. But there are, as the old saying Mark Twain made popular goes "lies; damn lies and statistics", so are there any "gotchas" we should look out for when someone shows us a graph? Adam Murphy caught up with Nira Chamberlain, president of the Institute of Mathematics... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/31/20203 minutes, 14 seconds
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Stop littering in space!

Britain recently began a diplomatic campaign to draw up new rules for responsible behaviour in space; essentially it's a "don't litter" policy intended to reduce the threat posed by decades of irresponsible dumping in orbit. But what's the scale of the problem of space littering, and how might things go wrong? Adam Murphy spoke to John Zarnecki, emeritus professor of Space Sciences at the Open University... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/29/20205 minutes, 18 seconds
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Protected land: UK facing biodiversity crisis

On the 28th September, Boris Johnson committed to increasing the area of protected land in the UK to 30% by 2030. This announcement was made at a virtual UN event, where the prime minister, alongside upwards of 60 other world leaders, signed up to a pledge to tackle the world's chronic loss of biodiversity. Sir David Attenborough addressed the event too, imploring world leaders to do more to protect our natural environment. But what does this 30% actually mean for us here in the UK? Katie Haylor spoke to the RSPB's global conservation director Martin Harper... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/28/20205 minutes, 12 seconds
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Bee microbiome smells tell nestmates apart

How do bees recognise who's a bona fide member of the nest and who is an impostor? It turns out that it's down to the bacteria they carry inside them... Eva Higginbotham heard how Cassondra Vernier at Washington University in St Louis has figured it out with her colleague Yehuda Ben-Shahar... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/26/20204 minutes
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Alien life: a zoologist's guide

Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/19/20206 minutes, 33 seconds
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Jim Gazzard: adapting teaching to Covid-19

Covid-19 is forcing educators to re-think centuries of teaching traditions and develop new ways to provide a rich but safe student experience. Jim Gazzard leads Cambridge University's Institute of Continuing Education (ICE). He joined palaeoanthropologist Lee Berger and Theo Bloom to speak with Chris Smith about how adult education and training are evolving rapidly... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/14/202016 minutes, 56 seconds
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Naked Gaming's Chris & Leigh interviewed!

Listen in to a special interview all about the Naked Gaming Podcast.Gene "Bean" Baxter from Podcast Radio (and Radio Hall of Famer!) chats to Leigh Milner and Chris Berrow about what its like being married to each other, and recording our gaming podcast.Topics include: how coronavirus has affected the gaming industry, what the best simulator of all time is, and whether Google Stadia is really worth buying. And Bean had to start off asking if Chris and Leigh were naked. Luckily they are used to fielding that question. And if you're wondering the answer was... no. They were wearing dressing... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/13/202028 minutes, 6 seconds
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UK Covid-19 second wave

As UK cases spike again, Dr Chris Smith joins RNZ's Kim Hill to discuss why some geographies are particularly hard-hit, what constitutes a "super-spreader" and who are the asymptomatic cases, what sentinel screening is telling us about the features and spread of Covid-19. Also on the table, low-cost rapid testing technology, the prospect of using testing to return the airline industry to viability, the timelines for vaccines, and why the Neanderthal in you might affect your coronavirus risk... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/8/202021 minutes, 14 seconds
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Prostate cancer prediction and bonobo culture

This month on the eLife podcast, artificial intelligence reveals a better test for prostate cancer, is the brain stuffed with neuronal stem cells, bonobos with cultural preferences, and why some insects play "follow my leader"... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/8/202035 minutes, 20 seconds
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Cambridge and Covid: a new academic year

On October 8th, about 15,000 students will return for the new academic year at Cambridge University. Other UK institutions have seen outbreaks and quarantine measures en-masse as Covid has ripped though university campuses. Cambridge Vice Chancellor Stephen Toope spoke with Chris Smith to discuss whether the student experience can be preserved at Cambridge in the face of measures required to control coronavirus... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/2/202010 minutes, 5 seconds
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The many ends of the universe

Welcome to the end of the universe. Which one will we get? Will the life drain slowly from thousands of cold, dead galaxies; or will the stars get ripped apart by a wave of strange new matter? That's the subject of a new book by astrophysicist Katie Mack, "The End of Everything". And be warned, some of the catastrophes she described to Phil Sansom make the coronavirus look like a walk in the park... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/1/20204 minutes, 27 seconds
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Magical manipulation... of animals?

Everyone loves magic. But does that extend to animals? You might have seen videos online of people performing tricks to animals, and the animals being hugely entertained by it, but do they understand what's going on. That's the idea put forth by researchers from the University of Cambridge. Adam Murphy spoke to Elias Garcia-Pelegrin about what magic tricks might be teach us about the animals around us... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/25/20204 minutes, 49 seconds
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Gene editing to reverse myotonic dystrophy

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 is a debilitating genetic disease that causes muscle weakness and wasting, amongst other problems, and there's currently no cure. It causes a toxic form of the chemical RNA - a genetic messenger molecule similar to DNA - to build up and clog up other important processes inside cells. Now, scientists at the University of California San Diego have used gene editing to reverse the disease in mice, as Eva Higginbotham heard from Gene Yeo... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/22/20204 minutes, 44 seconds
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When will we get a Covid-19 vaccine?

People everywhere are clinging to the hope that there'll soon be a coronavirus vaccine. That aspiration suffered a setback last week when AstraZeneca announced the suspension of its trial of the Covid-19 vaccine it's developing. So how are decisions to start and stop clinical trials made, and what's the present trajectory for a coronavirus vaccine? Chris Smith asked Gordon Dougan, who's overseen the development of many vaccines during his career, to explain... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/21/20206 minutes, 12 seconds
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Bradykinin and Covid-19: what's the link?

Virologist Dr Chris Smith joins Radio New Zealand National's Kim Hill for a Covid-19 update covering why AstraZeneca and Oxford University's coronavirus vaccine trial was halted and how vaccine side effects are investigated, why Boris Johnson has launched his Covid moonshot, signs that vapers are at higher risk of Covid-19, long term immunity to coronavirus infection or vaccination, and the bradykinin storm hypothesis to explain severe Covid-19 infection... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/13/202020 minutes, 25 seconds
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Dream analysis with AI

From the Babylonians to psychologist Sigmund Freud, as humans we've been fascinated by what our dreams might mean for thousands of years. Now, computer scientists have turned their hands to the art of dream divination with the development of automatic dream analysis software, as lead researcher Luca Aiello from the Nokia Bell Labs told Eva Higginbotham... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/7/20205 minutes, 33 seconds
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Why is Death Valley so hot?

There have been some record breaking temperatures lately, and Adam Murphy is hot on the trail of why one place in particular stands out... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/4/20202 minutes, 40 seconds
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Smartphones that can tell if you're drunk

Drink driving is one of the biggest killers on our roads. Brian Suffoletto is an A&E doctor in the US where he's spent the past 15 years developing digital interventions to stop people drinking and driving. Lately he's been working on a system that uses a smartphone to analyse the way a person walks to pick up on subtle giveaways that they're over the limit. Katie Haylor heard how it works... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/1/20205 minutes, 8 seconds
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Genetic risk for PTSD

PTSD is a disease that may occur after experiencing trauma, often characterised by the involuntary reliving of particularly painful memories. About 1 in 3 people who experience trauma will develop PTSD, but it's unclear why some people develop it and others don't. New research out of the University of Basel has shown that a genetic component may help explain why some people are more susceptible, as researcher Dominique de Quervain told Eva Higginbotham... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/28/20205 minutes, 20 seconds
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Covid-19 update: spread, tests and vaccines

Dr Chris Smith joins Radio New Zealand National's Kim Hill to talk about the latest news and breakthroughs around the Covid-19 coronavirus. How the virus spreads, the prospect of long-term immunity following natural infection or vaccination, how herd immunity works, what drugs do and do not look promising for Covid-19 patients, and how to stay safe on the bus... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/23/202017 minutes, 56 seconds
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Goosebumps cause hair growth

Getting cold won't just make your hair stand up, it may also make it grow. Yulia Shwartz at Harvard University and her colleagues have found that the nerves that give us goose pimples also send a message to the cells in the follicles that produce hairs, making them grow. It explains the prolific winter coat that some animals grow in the cold. Cambridge dermatologist Jane Sterling took Chris Smith through the findings... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/21/20206 minutes, 17 seconds
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Big carnivores disappear from panda reserves

Giant pandas, which for decades were endangered, finally shed the status in 2016 thanks to huge conservation efforts. But scientists have been warning that their reserves aren't well designed for the ecosystem as a whole - and now a group of zoologists have found that even though panda numbers have gone up since the 60s, big carnivores like leopards have almost disappeared. Bill McShea from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute is one of the authors of the study, and he told Phil Sansom what's been going on inside the panda parks... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/19/20204 minutes, 9 seconds
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Sperm Movement: Swim 'N' Roll

New research means we're going to have to think again about how human sperm swim. You might have seen movies of them looking a bit like tadpoles in a pond - the head carries the male's DNA and the long tail, or flagellum, propels the sperm forward. That motion was first described over 300 years ago, but now a joint team from Britain and Mexico think we might need to re-write the textbooks, as Eva Higginbotham heard from Hermes Gadelha... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/17/20204 minutes, 24 seconds
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ITER - The build begins

The world took a step towards our goal of harnessing nuclear fusion as an energy source last week when the construction officially began of ITER, the new International Thermonuclear Experimental fusion Reactor. Michel Claessens is the author of the book ITER: The Giant Fusion Reactor. He spoke to Adam Murphy about the project... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/13/20203 minutes, 47 seconds
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Covid outbreaks: local lockdowns

In early August, the UK stepped back from some of the proposed lockdown easing measures. So how are public health officials managing these situations, are we in good shape to cope with the approaching winter, and is this the pattern of coronavirus cases we should expect going forward? Chris Smith hears from Maggie Rae, president of the faculty of Public Health.... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/12/20207 minutes, 44 seconds
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Red light restores vision in aged eyes

The millions of rods and cones in the retina at the back of each of your eyes, which turn light into nerve signals to send to the brain, use a lot of energy. So the retina tends to burn out faster than the rest of the body. But now scientists have found that short bursts of a red light shone into your eyes could help reduce or even reverse this ageing process. Katie Haylor spoke to Glenn Jeffery, who's been looking at a group of 24 people with no eye disease for the study... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/6/20206 minutes, 16 seconds
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Artificial liver progress

The liver is an incredible organ that does a number of different jobs - including cleaning our blood and breaking down chemicals and drugs - to keep us healthy. And liver problems can have serious consequences, resulting in potentially needing a new one in the case of liver failure. And there aren't exactly loads of spare healthy livers around, and some people just aren't suited for transplant. But this week, scientists have published news of an artificial liver system that cleans the blood, and returns it again to the body within a matter of hours, whilst also encouraging the liver tissue to... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/5/20205 minutes, 16 seconds
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Painted fruit and veg reveal plant origins

Colourful still life paintings of bowls of fruit have been a favourite of artists for generations, and there are thousands of examples in art galleries across the world. Now, two friends from Belgium - one an art historian, and the other a plant biologist - are asking for your help to find paintings that reveal clues about how some of our modern foods came into being. This unusual project came about when the two of them were on holiday in St Petersburg, and visited a museum - as Ive de Smet told Katie Haylor... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/31/20205 minutes, 34 seconds
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Deafness gene identified

After 22 years of searching, researchers at the Radboud University Medical Centre in the Netherlands have successfully identified the genetic cause behind a certain type of inherited adult hearing loss - a defect in the so-called RIPOR2 gene. Eva Higginbotham spoke to geneticist Hannie Kremer and ear nose and throat surgeon Ronald Pennings about how they did it. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/29/20205 minutes, 26 seconds
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Covid: Are we facing a second wave?

Kim Hill catches up with virologist Chris Smith to review the Covid-19 current state of play, from Leicester's lockdown, the WHO stance on masks and aerosol spread, to long-term immunity and long-haul symptoms of Covid-19, the link between ethnicity and more severe Covid-19 disease, and whether the world's over-reacted to the coronavirus threat... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/13/202033 minutes, 8 seconds
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Is COVID-19 causing a global food crisis?

How has the pandemic affected the global food supply? That's the subject of a recent report by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation. Their message is that while there have been a few industry issues so far - overripe fruit left unpicked, spoiled batches of milk left undelivered - that's only a taste of what's to come if there's a huge global recession around the corner. Chris Smith and spoke to Maximo Torero - the organisation's chief economist - as well as University of Cambridge land economist Shailaja Fennell... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/10/20207 minutes, 59 seconds
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Mining for metals in the deep sea

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7/9/20207 minutes, 7 seconds
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Chatty chimps: we hear you!

Do you consider yourself something of a Dr Doolittle? According to new research from the University of Amsterdam, we're all actually pretty good at understanding what animals are trying to express - at least, animals that we are closely related to like chimpanzees. Eva Higginbotham spoke to Roza Kamiloglu, the lead author on the study, about her research... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/2/20204 minutes, 31 seconds
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Sugar on the brain, HIV, and science sex bias

This month on the eLife Podcast we look at how sugar takes away the pleasure of consuming and makes you eat more, we find out what loneliness does to the brain, uncover new insights into how HIV infects females, and explore sex bias in biomedical research... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/30/202036 minutes, 25 seconds
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Baby planet: image shows signs of formation

Astronomers have taken what might be the first ever picture of a baby planet being formed. It looks like a beautiful tornado-shaped spiral of light, and there's a tiny twist visible inside one of the arms of the spiral. Why is this an achievement? And how can you actually tell whether there's a planet inside that tiny point of light? Phil Sansom asked Anthony Boccaletti, who led the team from the European Southern Observatory in taking this picture - as well as University of Cambridge astronomer Carolin Crawford... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/19/20204 minutes, 16 seconds
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Do eggs prefer one sperm over another?

You might think that when you're choosing a partner to have children with that your decision is entirely yours. However it turns out that biology has an interesting trick up its sleeve, which may surprise you. It turns out that there are guidance mechanisms that, like homing beacons, can help swimming sperm get to the eggs. It's because cells in women's bodies release special attracting chemicals into the fluid surrounding the eggs, and, according to a recent paper, these chemicals seem to prefer some sperm over others, taking the decision making completely out of your hands! In reproductive... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/17/20206 minutes, 14 seconds
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Mini human livers transplanted into rats

Everyday in the UK over 40 people die from liver disease, some of whom could be saved by having a liver transplant - but there aren't enough donor livers to go around. But what if we could grow livers in a laboratory, and use those instead? A team in Pittsburgh has now done just that in rats. The livers were transplanted into animals genetically modified to prevent them from rejecting the transplant. Eva Higginbotham heard from Alejandro Soto-Gutierrez how they did it... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/15/20205 minutes, 31 seconds
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COVID-19 six months in: are we managing it?

Where are we now, six months into the COVID-19 pandemic? The official global death toll is over 380,000 with well over 6 million confirmed cases according to the World Health Organisation. Are we deceiving ourselves that we really understand it? Jonathan Ball is a virologist at the University of Nottingham who's met some exotic viruses in his time - so for an update, Chris Smith asked his thoughts on the coronavirus and its weird symptoms... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/12/202010 minutes, 33 seconds
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Storks: a cultural history

A few weeks ago some stork babies made the news as the first white stork chicks to hatch in the UK for over 600 years. Despite the very long gap, here in the UK a legacy of these large, white, migratory birds has persisted. I'm Eva Higginbotham, and I spoke to Dr Alexander Lees, senior lecturer in Conservation Biology at Manchester Metropolitan University, about the new arrivals, monogamous dating for storks, and the history of white storks in Europe. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/11/20205 minutes, 8 seconds
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Covid: conspiracies, chloroquine and immunity

Phase 2 of the hydroxychloroquine debacle, how the race to publish is leading to rapid retractions, whether Sweden's having second thoughts, did Covid come out of a lab, innate immunity and antibody responses, and how many tests prove I'm negative? Virologist Dr Chris Smith talks to Radio new Zealand National's Kim Hill... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/9/202018 minutes, 43 seconds
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Far-UVC light to kill the coronavirus

Donald Trump got a lot of stick when he talked about using disinfectant and light to kill off COVID-19 - seemingly implying people should drink bleach or shine a torch down their throats. Now a team at Columbia University has indeed discovered a narrow wavelength within UV light that they call 'far-UVC', that as well as killing viruses on surfaces, is also safe for humans because it can't get through our skin. Eva Higginbotham heard more from David Brenner... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/4/20205 minutes, 12 seconds
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8000 coronavirus cases a day in the UK

In this week's coronavirus update, the impact of blood groups on Covid risk, progress towards a vaccine, and the UK still has 8000 cases a day: what does this mean for herd immunity? Also, is Sweden's approach the wrong one, has hydroxychloroquine died a death, what actually is the Covid syndrome, what role may genes play, and how do we calculate Covid excess mortality? Dr Chris Smith talks to Radio New Zealand National's Kim Hill... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/3/202024 minutes, 59 seconds
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Goats get the point

A herd of fluffy wild Kashmiri goats made the news back in March at the onset of the lockdown when they descended on the Welsh town of Llandudno to explore where all the people had got to. Now, after an investigation by a scientist in London, it turns out that goats are not only curious creatures, but, as the first domesticated livestock species some eleven thousand years ago, they are also able to understand human gestures like pointing. Eva Higginbotham spoke to Alan McElligott from the University of Roehampton about his research... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/1/20203 minutes, 42 seconds
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Care homes: how badly has COVID-19 hit?

The UK government has come under fire for failing to protect care homes from the spread of the coronavirus. The facilities have seen more than 14,000 coronavirus-related deaths so far - that's over a quarter of the UK's total mortality, in just a tiny fraction of the population. And these figures echo a similar situation across European countries. Chris Smith spoke to Julienne Meyer - a nurse, an emeritus professor at City University of London, and an adviser to the National Care Forum... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/28/20205 minutes, 24 seconds
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Vaccines, antibodies and Covid19 in Sweden

Progress in vaccine trials, the longevity of immune responses to Covid-19 and coronavirus vaccines, animal models of Covid-19, genetic stability of SARS-CoV-2, is hydroxychloroquine a good gamble, coronaviruses on clothes, why do death rates vary, and how is Sweden faring? Kim Hill talks to Chris Smith to find out... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/25/202030 minutes, 43 seconds
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Covid-19 news update

A special Covid-19 news update: Have you had a test for COVID-19? Some results from the symptom tracker app. Also, how blood plasma from Covid-recoverees is being used to treat patients acutely ill with the virus. Do hospital and office aircon systems need a rethink to prevent disease spread in future? What happens if you catch coronavirus during pregnancy? And what are the future impacts of Covid-19 on transport? Chris Smith, Katie Haylor, Phil Sansom and Eva Higginbotham report... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/23/202027 minutes, 58 seconds
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Covid-19: Here to stay?

Will SARS-CoV-2, the cause of Covid-19, continue to circulate for years to come? What's the story with infection in children, and how is Kawasaki Disease involved? Are separate strains of the virus spreading in different countries and accounting for differences in severity? And will the virus mutate to sidestep a vaccine? Radio New Zealand National's Kim Hill talks to Chris Smith to find out... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/16/202030 minutes, 54 seconds
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Are ring-tailed lemurs sniffing out a date?

If, before a date, you like to spritz yourself to smell great for that special someone, you could be in good company, as this week, scientists in Japan have published a paper looking at ring-tailed lemurs who might be doing a similar thing. There's much debate about whether sex pheramones actually exist in humans - that is, whether we exude chemicals to stimulate some sort of sexual behavioural response in someone else. But could this be what's happening in our distant primate cousins? And what could this mean for us? Primate expert Jacob Dunn, who wasn't involved in the study and is from... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/11/20204 minutes, 50 seconds
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Cancer gene vital for heart regeneration

Sometimes scientists try to study one thing and end up accidentally discovering something else. Cancer researcher Cathy Wilson from the University of Cambridge recently experienced such good fortune. While trying to understand the function of cancer gene 'myc' in mice, a gene that goes haywire in almost all human cancers, she accidentally ended up achieving the holy grail of heart disease research - making heart cells start dividing to make more cells. Eva Higginbotham spoke to her about the happy accident... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/4/20204 minutes, 50 seconds
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Catching coronavirus twice: fact or fiction?

Scientists discover why Covid-19 causes some people to lose their sense of smell and taste, that patients probably don't catch coronavirus for a second time soon after their first encounter, why children probably are equally infectious, and remdesivir - does it make a difference? Dr Chris Smith joins Radio New Zealand National's Kim Hill for another coronavirus conversation... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/2/202027 minutes
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Cambridge University and Covid: Stephen Toope

Across the world, universities have been closed, researchers sent home and many classes are either not taking place or they've shifted online; so how does that impact the way universities are operating, and what's been the financial and scientific impact. Chris Smith spoke with Stephen Toope, Vice Chancellor of the University of Cambridge... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/29/202014 minutes, 59 seconds
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Phthalate linked to premature births

Researchers have discovered a link between certain chemicals found in plastics and the premature births. The chemicals are from a class called phthalates, and they're used in a wide variety of household products as well as in food processing lines. However, when they get into people's bodies, there's evidence that they can disrupt human hormone systems. And now American scientists have found that women whose bodies had high levels of a particular phthalate just before they conceived ended up significantly more likely to give birth too soon. Carmen Messerlian, an epidemiologist at the T.H. Chan... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/28/20205 minutes, 21 seconds
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Grow your own veg: a novice's guide

We're all spending more time at home right now, and being cooped up indoors can feel rather challenging. And with spring very much sprung here in the UK, what better time than to get those fingers green with growing stuff! So, a few weeks ago, novice gardener Katie Haylor spoke horticultural learning coordinator Sandie Cain from Cambridge University Botanic Garden. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/27/20209 minutes, 4 seconds
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Covid-19: Vaccines and facemasks

As human trials of Covid-19 vaccines kick off in the UK, what kind of protection might we expect, and when will we know. Also, the thorny issue of facemasks - do they help contain the contagion, or not? Also, children as active 'super spreaders' of the disease, strange blood clotting effects, and a distinctive form of pneumonia caused by Covid. Dr Chris Smith joins Radio New Zealand National's Kim Hill for an update on what this week has revealed about SARS-CoV-2... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/25/202033 minutes, 48 seconds
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Science Stand Up: Supernovae and Forks

Recorded back in early March for our Cambridge Science Festival event, before the current lockdown measures were put in place, Cambridge University physicist and science stand up comedian Fran Chadha-Day treated us to one of her sets. So, grab a cuppa and take a seat. Becuase, without further ado, here's Fran Chadha-Day! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/23/202011 minutes, 47 seconds
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Social distancing: is 2 metres enough?

Will a vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus be forthcoming, and what other measures are effective at fighting Covid-19? We're setting great store by social distancing, but is 2 metres going far enough? Chris Smith joins Radio New Zealand National's Kim Hill to discuss the latest developments in the evolving coronavirus situation, including the UK lockdown extension, and other therapeutic strategies to aid people stricken by the virus... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/19/202024 minutes, 47 seconds
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Covid-19: Can you catch it again?

This week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's close-call with Covid-19, reversing the lockdown, how contact tracing can control outbreaks, changing public practices around face masks, and can the exhalations of a passing jogger infect me? Chris Smith joins Radio New Zealand National's Kim Hill for another coronavirus update... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/13/202035 minutes, 57 seconds
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Can I catch coronavirus from my shopping?

The risk of bringing home coronavirus on your groceries is very low, but what's the best way to minimise the threat? Chris Smith explains... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/11/20203 minutes, 50 seconds
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Smart birds flourish in cities

As our high streets are becoming increasingly deserted by humans, it's becoming apparent that we aren't the only creatures roaming our cities. Birds are still chirping away out there. A city is not a natural place for a bird, but some species manage to thrive. Intelligence was once thought to be the deciding factor, but maybe that's not the whole story, as put forward by new research in Nature Ecology and Evolution. Melanie Jans-Singh found out more from UCL's Alexander Pigot... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/8/20206 minutes, 32 seconds
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Coronavirus: do facemasks help or hinder?

As the lockdown tightens and a quarter of the world's population are forced to stay at home, Chris Smith and RNZ's Kim Hill link up to talk about the latest coronavirus facts. They explore whether facemasks protect you or just lead to a false sense of security, herd immunity and our lockdown exit strategy, why some people suffer more severe infections than others, and if antibodies from recovered Covid-19 victims can help those dying from the disease... Also, the brilliant Coronavirus Rhapsody sung by Adrian Grimes with lyrics by Dana Jay Bein and music by Queen. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/4/202038 minutes, 19 seconds
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Is space lettuce good for you?

Space-grown lettuce may sound like something from science-fiction, but astronauts on the International Space Station, or ISS, have been enjoying their leafy greens since mid 2015, thanks to NASA's Veggie plant growth system. Megan McGregor spoke to Gioia Massa, project scientist at Kennedy Space Centre, and Howard Griffiths from the University of Cambridge... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/25/20205 minutes, 38 seconds
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COVID-19: Will lock-down work?

As the UK goes into lock-down and the government announces unprecedented spending to support businesses and workers, Chris Smith rejoins Radio New Zealand National's Kim Hill to discuss the scientific basis for these tactics, and how the story will end... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/21/202032 minutes, 22 seconds
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Seagulls prefer food touched by humans

Last year scientists from the University of Exeter discovered that staring at seagulls can discourage them from stealing your food. Not content with saving the chips of many a seaside tourist, they have now discovered that herring gulls are more likely to interact with food after it has been touched by humans. But how exactly do you test a seagull's preferred snack? Megan McGregor spoke to the study's lead author, Madeleine Goumas, to find out more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/18/20203 minutes, 47 seconds
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The World's Wasted Wastewater Potential

Every household across the world produces wastewater. While usually we think of it as waste that has to be treated, a new study by the UN Institute for Water, in the National Resources Forum, conceives of wastewater as a largely untapped resource. The scientists, led by Manzoor Qadir, have estimated the total amount of wastewater in the world. This is the first comprehensive study that includes places with little recorded data. According to its result, the total amount of wastewater produced per year globally could cover the entire land in the world (minus Antarctica) by 1 metre. Melanie... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/18/20204 minutes, 12 seconds
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Covid-19: is the UK's reaction the right one?

As the focus shifts to Europe, now regarded as the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, Chris Smith rejoins Radio New Zealand National's Kim Hill to debate whether the UK stance, currently at odds with the reaction seen across the rest of Europe, is the right one. They ask, how effective are travel bans, why Italy has been so hard hit, why children don't seem to be getting sick, and the influence of the weather on the spread of SARS-Cov-2... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/14/202033 minutes, 42 seconds
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The plants with three parents

This month, new hearing tests to spot those likely to struggle with speech in noisy environments, how your DNA is at risk from hacking on a public database, plants with three parents, researchers recreate endometriosis in mice and show that cannabis might be an effective treatment, and the nerve fibres that make us like a cuddle. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/6/202035 minutes, 47 seconds
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Covid-19: What's happening?

Chris Smith rejoined Radio New Zealand National's Kim Hill on Saturday 29th February as New Zealand declares its first case of Covid-19. So far the novel coronavirus has infected more than 80,000 people and caused over 2,800 deaths. They review the on-going situation and how the world is reacting... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/3/202036 minutes, 24 seconds
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Cannabis and False Memories

Cannabis has all sorts of effects on the body, including - it seems - on memory. A new study has shown that questioning people who are acutely high on cannabis makes them more vulnerable to forming false memories makes them more vulnerable to forming false memories; like remembering something differently to how it happened, or remembering something that never happened at all. Here, scientists from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands put high participants in a virtual reality simulation where they either witnessed or committed a crime, and then interrogated them shortly after. Phil... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/2/20204 minutes, 22 seconds
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Improving zoos

Zoos are big players in conservation, investing 750 million dollars in conserving species in the wild. Researchers from Trinity College Dublin discovered, maybe unsurprisingly, that zoos with more visitors are able to contribute more to conservation projects. But what exactly gets people to visit a zoo? Megan McGregor spoke to the study's lead author, Andrew Mooney... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/15/20204 minutes, 3 seconds
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Pop the question with a lump of coal?

Listener Paul got in touch wondering, given that diamonds are made of carbon, how big a diamond you could make if you turned all the carbon atoms in a lump of coal into a sparkler. Would it make a worthwhile engagement ring? Getting her hands dirty to find out the answer, here's Cambridge University materials scientist Megan McGregor... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/14/20201 minute, 25 seconds
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Wasp nests help date ancient aboriginal art

Ancient wasp nests have enabled scientists to, for the first time, accurately pinpoint the ages of rock paintings dating back thousands of years in a remote part of Australia. And the picture that emerges is one of the continent's earliest human inhabitants getting to grips with climate change. Speaking with Chris Smith, Damien Finch is based at the University of Melbourne but works in what's arguably one of the most beautiful places on Earth... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/13/20207 minutes, 16 seconds
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Coronavirus outbreak: where do we stand?

Chris Smith joined Radio New Zealand National's Kim Hill on Saturday 1st February in the wake of the World Health Organisation's decision to declare the Chinese coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency. They review the on-going situation and consider the likely trajectory the disease will follow around the world... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/8/202031 minutes, 3 seconds
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Coronavirus: What is happening?

Chris Smith appeared on Radio New Zealand National to speak with Kim Hill 0n 25th January 2020 to discuss the emerging coronavirus situation in Wuhan City, China. Here they discuss the origins of this virus, the risks posed by the outbreak, and the reaction of the World Health Organisation... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/7/202028 minutes, 22 seconds
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Zika immunity and falling body temperatures

Have these paralysed patients helped to reveal the brain basis of why we gesticulate when we talk? Also, new insights into how the body clock keeps track of the seasons, signs that immunity to Zika virus wanes with time, why human body temperature is lower than it was 150 years ago, and diversity in science: how can we better hold on to rare talent? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/6/202035 minutes, 56 seconds
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Should kids run a mile a day?

The Daily Mile is a programme for primary school children, that gets them to spend 15 minutes jogging or running at their own pace during the school day. The programme's name comes from the fact that for most children, fifteen minutes of running will see them covering about one mile. The initiative, which is over and above timetabled breaks and PE classes, has been adopted by 10,500 schools and nurseries world-wide. But until recently there have been no large scale studies looking at the impact of the programme. Researchers from the University of Birmingham, with the help of 40 Birmingham... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/6/20205 minutes
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Self-cleaning surfaces

Researchers at McMaster University in Canada have developed a new cling-film-like wrap that can be used to coat objects to make them bacteria-, water- and dust-repellent. Inventor Tohid Didar explains to Amalia Thomas how it works... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/2/20205 minutes, 19 seconds
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Wuhan City coronavirus: an update

An update on the emerging viral infection from Wuhan City, in China: the disease was first picked up by the Chinese in early December and notified to the World Health Organisation at the start of January. The source appears to be a food market in Wuhan City, and the virus itself is a newly-identified member of a viral family called coronaviruses. Speaking with Chris Smith, Neil Ferguson... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/30/20205 minutes, 27 seconds
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Towards an HIV cure

Around the world, millions of people are infected with the AIDS virus, HIV. And although drug treatments can successfully suppress the virus to undetectable levels, rather like taking your foot off the brake in a car parked on a hill, if you stop taking the medication, the virus rapidly returns with a flourish and regains its momentum. And that's because it has the ability to insert the genetic code of the virus into our DNA and then hide in an inactive state in various cells around the body. So if we want to rid the body of HIV we have to discover a way to flush out the virus from these... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/29/20205 minutes, 19 seconds
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Doug Cockle: The voice of The Witcher

Naked Gaming Podcast presenters Chris Berrow and Leigh Milner catch up with voice of "The Witcher" video game series, Doug Cockle to find out what he thinks of the latest Netflix TV show... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/21/202018 minutes, 42 seconds
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Motor neuron disease: a link to cholesterol

Motor neuron disease, in its many different forms, affects about one in every 2,500 people in the UK - it's incurable, and can be debilitating, as over time you lose control of parts of your body. But now scientists from the University of Exeter have a new theory about how seemingly different forms of the disease have the same underlying cause. Based on decades of their own research, they've found something in common between thirteen motor neuron disease genes: and the link is, surprisingly, cholesterol. It's a kind of Eureka moment for researching this condition, and might open the door to... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/21/20205 minutes, 10 seconds
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Smokers: less dependent, less likely to quit

One other lifestyle change people tend to embrace at this time of year is to quit smoking. And the good news is that, according to a study from University College London, you're in very good company and, on the whole, cigarette consumption is dropping. Phil Sansom spoke to the study's author Claire Garnett... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/15/20202 minutes, 51 seconds
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CO2-consuming bacteria

Scientists have found a way to make organisms not need food at all. Bacteria usually rely on some sort of sugar to survive, but a group at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel made a population of a common bacteria able to feed on carbon dioxide, very much like plants do. They did this by genetically modifying how the bacteria digests its food, and then putting them in a tank with very little food - sugar - and a lot of carbon dioxide. In only a few hundred generations, these bacteria evolved to feed on the carbon dioxide in the air instead. Amalia Thomas reports... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/12/20205 minutes, 3 seconds
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Large planet orbiting a white dwarf

And now onto something out of this World. For the first time, scientists have found evidence of a giant, Neptune-size planet orbiting a white dwarf star. This was previously not thought to be possible due to the destructive energy low-mass stars, such as our Sun, emit to the surrounding solar system as they age and expand. The findings, published in Nature by a team from Warwick University, are particularly interesting because they indicate what might happen to our solar system billions of years from now. Nadeem Gabbani speaks with Ingo Waldmann of University College London for comments on the... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/3/20203 minutes, 14 seconds
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The voice of Ash from Pokemon!

Join the Naked Gaming Podcast team for a special bonus episode, with an in-depth interview with the voice of Ash Ketchum from the pokemon TV series. What was it like getting the job, where did the voice come from, and which other characters did she play? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/30/201916 minutes, 42 seconds
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The Holly and the Ivy: why go evergreen?

Taking a leaf from the holly and the ivy's book, Katie Haylor explores the virtue of being evergreen...? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/24/20193 minutes, 4 seconds
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Why are Christmas trees a thing?

How did the popular concept of Christmas trees get started? Extolling the virtues of a real tree, including a superior short-term carbon footprint and a nicer smell, Adam Murphy explains how the tree tradition began... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/23/20191 minute, 42 seconds
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AI to Detect Tuberculosis

The lung disease tuberculosis is still one of the world's top ten causes of death. And while it's completely treatable, patients need constant monitoring to make sure the treatment is working. The monitoring is fairly labour-intensive: it requires taking a sample of phlegm and counting the bacteria inside by eye under a microscope. It's a treatment bottleneck. But now, some engineers from Cambridge Consultants have been developing a technology to get rid of that bottleneck using AI - as Phil Sansom found out from developer Matthew Murchie... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/19/20193 minutes, 21 seconds
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How measles suppresses immunity for years

Measles was thought to have been eradicated from the UK in 2017, but following an outbreak the very next wear, we lost this elimination status. Measles is a highly infectious disease that can quickly spread through the unvaccinated population with a high complication rate involving pneumonia, gastroenteritis and even encephalitis. And having recovered from that, there's a further sting in the tail: measles virus suppresses the immune system for years after the infection clears. Amalia Thomas hears why from Velislava Petrova, at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge, who has discovered the... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/18/20194 minutes, 39 seconds
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Deprivation and male depression

Mental health awareness has been improving in the past few years, but there still isn't universal, accessible support for vulnerable people. A recent study carried out by members of the University of Cambridge might help develop targeted support: it showed that the environment in which people live is correlated to risk of depression in men, but not in women. In contrast to men, women that live in deprived areas are more likely to develop anxiety issues. Amalia Thomas got the details from the lead author of this study, Olivia Remes... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/17/20195 minutes, 4 seconds
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Avalanche survivor: Lawrence's story

In 2001 Lawrence Jones set out on a freeskiing trip with his mates. It was not the first adventure trip they had been on, but it was the last one that any of them took lightly again. An avalanche turned Lawrence's holiday from fun to tragedy within the space of half an hour. On the Naked Scientists podcast episode "How to survive an avalanche" we discuss his story, and the science behind it, with two avalanche experts.Now, here's the complete tale of his lucky escape from one of the most terrifying forces of nature - as told by Lawrence Jones himself... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/10/20199 minutes, 23 seconds
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Climate change: what does net zero look like?

The UN Climate Change Conference - COP 25 - has been taking place in Madrid. The purpose of the conference is to take the next crucial steps in implementing the global carbon-cutting proposals agreed 4 years ago in Paris. But where are we on the road towards a carbon-neutral future, and what's it going to take to get there? Chris Smith talks to two climate change experts, Camrbidge University's Eric Woolf and Eliot Whittington... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/9/20196 minutes, 53 seconds
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Why planting trees isn't always a good idea

This is a response to a story we covered earlier this year about planting trees for climate change. A study in the journal Science claimed that the Earth has space for an extra billion hectares of trees; and if they were planted, it would lock away enough carbon dioxide to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050. Since then, Science has published not one - not two - but five comments and rebuttals to the original paper. They criticise various aspects of the method and results; one in particular was authored by almost fifty scientists, and said that the available area for trees was... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/28/20197 minutes, 51 seconds
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Lakes, carbon and microbes: a hidden world

While forests do a great job of taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, as soon as the trees decompose, all that carbon goes straight back up again. And a new study has investigated how that decomposition works inside freshwater lakes. Scientists have found that what was traditionally just called "carbon" in a lake is actually a hugely diverse mix of different carbon-based molecules, which supports an equally diverse mix of microbes. And the more diverse everything is, the more greenhouse gases these lakes seem to pump out - which could be bad news if different species of trees react... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/25/20194 minutes, 24 seconds
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Food micronutrient-protecting capsules

If you have access to a healthy, balanced diet, hopefully you'll be getting adequate supply of micronutrients. Going without can lead to serious health consequences. Vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of preventable blindness in kids globally, and is a major public health issue in some parts of the world. Fortifying foods is one solution, but things like heat, UV, and moisture can degrade the vitamins and minerals in the food, leaving little left for absorption by the body. This week, scientists from MIT announced that they've made a dissolvable polymer capsule which can shield... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/21/20194 minutes, 46 seconds
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Staphylococcus aureus biofilm vaccine

A vaccine that can protect against infection with the skin bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, which causes everything from wound and joint infections to impetigo and pneumonia, has been developed by scientists in the US. Apart from increasing rates of antibiotic resistance, what makes Staph infections hard to treat is that the microbes surround themselves with a slimy layer called a biofilm that protects them from the immune system and antimicrobial drugs. As she explains to Chris Smith, to prevent the bugs being able to do this in the first place, Janette Harro looked at what proteins the... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/19/20195 minutes, 10 seconds
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Bird societies

You might think we are special as humans for forming societies with complex structures. But we are not actually so different from other species in this regard. It was believed that complex social structures were a trait of large mammals only - but a recent study has shown that birds can form complex societies too. Amalia Thomas spoke to Danai Papageorgiou, who has been studying the social structure of a specific type of bird in Kenya in Africa... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/18/20195 minutes, 22 seconds
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Voyager 2: leaving the Solar System

In recent months the satellite Voyager 2, launched in 1977, became the second man-made object to escape from our Solar System and begin its journey into interstellar space. We know it's done that because it's crossed the heliopause, a bubble made by particles, called a plasma, that stream off the Sun and surround our Solar system. To learn more about this Adam Murphy spoke to Du Toit Strauss from North West University in South Africa... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/15/20194 minutes, 36 seconds
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Oil wastewater makes earthquakes stronger

Oil production has multiple environmentally-devastating consequences - including creating of billions of gallons of salty, chemical-filled wastewater. Typically, companies dispose of this wastewater by pumping it deep underground. But a growing body of evidence shows that this pumping causes 'injection-induced earthquakes', most notably the Jones earthquake swarm: thousands of earthquakes that have occurred in Oklahoma over the last ten years. And a new study demonstrates that the fluid properties of wastewater make earthquakes stronger and more common where disposal is concentrated. Matthew... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/7/20195 minutes, 36 seconds
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Glass recognises numbers just by looking

We have smartphones, smart watches, even smart fridges. But now, from a paper published in the journal Photonics Research, we could be seeing smart glass. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison created a piece of glass that can mimic machine visual perception, basically how smart phones recognize your face to unlock the device, without needing any camera sensors, computer chips, or even a power supply! All the glass needs is light and tiny imperfections called "bubbles" within the glass to direct that light appropriately. Right now it has the capability to tell, in real time,... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/4/20194 minutes, 57 seconds
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How many new mutations from Mum and Dad?

This month, join Chris Smith to hear how sleep deprivation sends your endocannabinoids skyrocketing and triggers a tendency to binge, how many new genetic mutations you inherit from your parents, the gene for behaviour that turned out to be nothing of the sort, what good and bad learners have in common with youTube influencers, and from online collective whinge to paper in eLife: the careers of newly appointed PIs. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/31/201935 minutes, 41 seconds
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Brain changes in obese children

One in five UK children are obese. The biological and social factors behind this are complex, but the long term consequences range from cardiovascular and liver disease to diabetes. Now, according to a new study, it may even affect the development of a child's brain too, with overweight children showing a thinner cortex in the parts of the brain concerned with self-control and decision-making. Speaking with Chris Smith, Cambridge University neuroscientist Lisa Ronan... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/29/20194 minutes, 54 seconds
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Old books reveal how happy we once were

Considering people's wellbeing in making policy decisions is becoming more and more important, but it's only in recent years that governments have started to record the subjective satisfaction of the population. A team of researchers is looking to fill in the historical gap for national mood by analysing the text of old books published in the US, UK, Germany and Italy and computing a National Valence Index for each of these countries. Mariana Marasoiu spoke with lead author Thomas Hills about how it works... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/25/20194 minutes, 48 seconds
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Gene boost makes cancer more visible

Immunotherapy is the term used to describe techniques that provoke the immune system to attack and remove cancer. The argument goes that because the immune system is extremely specific in what it targets, and because it has a memory and can learn and improve its action as it goes along, this is a powerful weapon for fighting malignancies. But we need to show the immune system what to attack, which is where a new development from researchers at Yale Medical School comes in. What they've done is come up with a way to find the genetic differences between cancer cells and healthy cells, and... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/23/20195 minutes, 3 seconds
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Robots in blood vessels

You're probably familiar with the 1966 science fiction film "Fantastic Voyage", where a submarine crew are shrunk to microscopic size and venture into the body of an injured scientist to repair damage to his brain. They're not quite at the stage of shrinking scientists yet, but engineers in America have invented a flexible robot - thinner than a piece of thread - that can be controlled using a magnetic field and snake its way through blood vessels to track down and remove blockages. Phil Sansom spoke to inventor Xuanhe Zhao... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/16/20193 minutes, 51 seconds
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Cooling that comes with a twist

What if the next refrigeration technology could be based on twisting and untwisting strands? A new paper published in Science by an international team of researchers explored how twisting and stretching can change the temperature of certain types of fibres, leading them to propose a new method for building fridges that are more efficient and more environmentally friendly than those used at present. Mariana Marasoiu untangled the findings with study lead author Ray Baughman... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/15/20193 minutes, 58 seconds
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Prostheses that can restore lost sensation

Can we help people who've lost a leg to feel it again? Mariana Marasoiu has this report... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/1/20195 minutes, 38 seconds
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Astronauts, geese and realistic retinas

This month, doctors doing U-turns: the medical practices without much evidence to prop them up, wind-tunnel experiments reveal how geese fly at extreme altitudes, why mating makes bees go blind, stress remodelling the brain's myelin, and what goes on during a stint aboard the International Space Station? Join Chris Smith for a look inside the latest papers in eLife... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/26/201940 minutes, 25 seconds
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Are phone masts going to get larger?

Mobile phone companies could be set to erect bigger and taller phone masts as part of government plans to roll out 5G networks and improve coverage in rural areas. How might taller masts help with connectivity - and what is 5G anyway? Tech-xpert and Angel Investor Peter Cowley explains to Chris Smith and Katie Haylor... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/5/20194 minutes, 57 seconds
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Antimicrobial resistance and future plastics

Bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to many of the agents we use to deal with them, including antiseptics. The bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii is one example and causes hard to treat skin, chest, and urine infections in hospitals. Now, a team at the University of Newcastle, Australia have discovered a gene that renders Acinetobacter resistant to the chemical chlorhexidine that's used in hand disinfectants. But the gene evolved long before the antiseptic was invented, so what was it doing previously? As well as finding out, Adam Murphy also heard from lead author Karl Hassan how the... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/21/20193 minutes, 13 seconds
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Stronger earthquakes from oilfield wastewater

A research team from Virginia Tech, led by Ryan Pollyea, has found that earthquakes 8 kilometres below the earth's surface are increasing in intensity. Published in the journal Nature Communications, the team's work has found that a super-dense liquid called oilfield wastewater is seeping deep into the sheets of the earth, causing massive pressure changes that could be increasing earthquake intensity. Matthew Hall got into contact with Ryan Pollyea and Martin Chapman from Virginia Tech to see what all the rumble is about... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/2/20195 minutes, 36 seconds
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The science behind heatwaves

A heatwave has been sweeping across Europe recently, causing record temperatures across the continent and creating a lot of consternation in the Naked Scientist office. But where do heatwaves come from. And what's going to happen in the future. Adam Murphy spoke to Manoj Joshi, professor of climate dynamics from the University of East Anglia, starting with what a heatwave even is. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/29/20193 minutes, 55 seconds
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Decoding the Minimum Genome

Your genome contains all of your genetic information, and it's pretty long - the Human Genome Project estimated that humans have between 20,000 and 25,000 genes. But according to synthetic biology, you can survive on only 473 genes! At least a very simple bacterium can. Of this "minimal genome", scientists previously didn't know what nearly a third actually did. Now Mark Wass has been telling Heather Jameson how his team at the University of Kent may have cracked 66 of the mystery genes... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/26/20194 minutes, 38 seconds
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The world's biggest patch of seaweed

The world's largest patch of seaweed appears every summer in the mid-Atlantic. And since 2011, the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt has been growing to even more monstrous sizes - thousands of kilometres long - and it's been clogging up beaches along the Americas with metres of stinking brown goo. Now, scientists in Florida and Georgia have used satellite tracking to figure out what's going on - as Phil Sansom explains... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/24/20193 minutes, 22 seconds
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The nervous systems of worms

The nervous system is a complicated network of specialised cells - neurons - that transfer information from one part of the body to another. To help our understanding of the nervous system in humans, scientists have mapped every neuron and every connection in a type of roundworm called C. elegans. Emma Hildyard asked Scott Emmons how this map was created and what it could mean... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/23/20194 minutes, 22 seconds
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Oumuamua NOT Alien Technology

You might remember from a year or so ago stories of an alien fly-by. The unidentified object was famously referred to as Oumuamua, which means "scout" in Hawaiian. Now a paper just out in the journal Nature Astronomy has revisited the story to probe whether Oumuamua really is alien technology, or just a cigar-shaped hunk of rock hurtling through the solar system. Matthew Hall got in touch with co-author Dr. Alan Fitzsimmons from Queens University Belfast... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/19/20196 minutes, 3 seconds
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Extremely Fast: The Future of Electric Racing

In June, Izzie Clarke explored the extremely fast science of speed and headed to the race tracks with McLaren in their 600LT Spider supercar. But whilst Formula 1 and petrol racing have a huge fan base, we're also seeing the rise of electric racing, Formula E. In this bonus interview, Izzie spoke with Rodi Basso, Motorsport Director of Mclaren Applied Technologies, about the future of the sport. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/2/20196 minutes, 18 seconds
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Making crops more light-sensitive

With a rising global population, and the impending impacts of climate change, we need more food, and reliable food sources safeguarded for the future. But varying light levels mean that plant growing conditions aren't always consistent, as Katie Haylor has been finding out... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/27/20194 minutes, 26 seconds
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Boaty McBoatface and the Antarctic mystery

In March 2016 the public voted to name a new polar research vessel "Boaty McBoatface", ultimately though, it was decided that "RRS Sir David Attenborough" was a more fitting choice. But the name "Boaty McBoatface" lived on and was instead given to one of the ship's autonomous submarine vehicles. And this week data from Boaty's first research mission in Antarctica has revealed a worrying new mechanism related to rising sea levels. Boaty has discovered that winds above the southern ocean, which have been strengthening in recent years, due in part to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/26/20194 minutes, 44 seconds
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Smarter, safer robots

Robots are increasingly used to take over repetitive tasks in industry and agriculture, but they are still limited in what they can do. This also means that humans still need to work alongside them and often things can go badly wrong. 13000 injuries and 60 deaths were caused by accidents due to contact with machinery between 2014-18 in the UK alone. Engineers are working on ways to make robots safer, cheaper and more efficient. Ankita Anirban speaks to Matthias Althoff from the Technical University of Munich, in Germany, about his recent work on modular robots. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/25/20194 minutes, 50 seconds
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Fish: a small world after all

The world is facing a global fish issue - a fissue, if you will. One third of all fish stocks are being overfished, and most of the efforts to prevent this involve exclusive zones in the ocean managed by individual countries. But a study released this week shows how the world's fisheries are all closely connected in a "small-world" network, and how overfishing in one zone can affect all of its neighbours. Izzie Clarke spoke with James Rising from the London School of Economics to find out how. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/24/20195 minutes, 44 seconds
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Asthma: mapping the human lung

The chest disease asthma is becoming more common. It can lead to life-threatening breathing difficulties when the airways constrict and the lung tissue overproduces mucus; this is usually an allergic reaction that can be worsened by air pollution. But our understanding of what's going on in an asthmatic lung is still quite limited. But now for the first time, scientists at the Sanger Institute near Cambridge have used a new technique to document and examine every cell in lung samples from both healthy and asthmatic patients, to discover what's changing when a person develops asthma. Chris... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/23/20195 minutes, 2 seconds
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Cracking the secret of Antarctic ice holes

Large holes in Antarctic sea ice remain a mystery to scientists despite their discovery over four decades ago. These vast areas of unfrozen water, often referred to as polynyas which is a russian term for natural ice hole, were first spotted in Antarctica's Weddell Sea during the 1970's. They can grow as large as New Zealand and last anywhere between 3 weeks to 3 years. To better understand the phenomenon, oceanographers from the University of Washington led by Ethan Campbell have analyzed decades of data on polynya development, specifically data from two polynyas that formed in 2016 and 2017.... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/20/20195 minutes, 12 seconds
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Pitch perception - a special skill?

When it comes to understanding how the brain functions, scientists have done a great deal of work on studying macaque monkeys, our evolutionary relative. We share 93% of our DNA and in a lot of ways, our brains are very similar. Even for high level operations such as learning, memory and decision-making, our brains work in comparable ways.. However, when it comes to sound, scientists have discovered that humans seem to have a unique edge in how we perceive pitch. Ankita Anirban spoke to Bevil Conway, from the National Institute of Health in Maryland, on his recent work comparing how humans and... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/20/20194 minutes, 45 seconds
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Recyclable crisp packets using nanotechnology

At the end of 2018 Walkers launched their own recycling scheme for crisp packets after more than 300,000 people signed an online petition demanding that they change to a fully recyclable material for their packaging. Crisp packets are made from plastic coated with a thin layer of metal. The metal layer is essential to prolong the shelf life of the food by providing a barrier to oxygen and water, but it makes the packets very difficult to recycle.Aiming to tackle this problem is Dermot O'Hare and his team at the University of Oxford, who have developed a new coating using nano-technology which,... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/19/20194 minutes, 24 seconds
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Higher fatal flu risk for CRISPR twins

CRISPR stands for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats. Long name, but easy to picture: the sequence is synonymous to a word processor for a book, the book being DNA, which allows scientists to not only read the book, but to also edit a specific 'passage' of the book. Using CRISPR technology, DNA edits were performed on female twin embryos by Chinese scientist Jiankui He, who has since lost his standing in the scientific community. Xinzhu Wei & Rasmus Nielsen, from the University of California Berkeley, followed up with the birth of the twins in an article published in... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/12/20194 minutes, 24 seconds
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How to mend a broken heart

Around 1.4 million people alive in the UK today have survived a heart attack, but survivors can suffer from debilitating heart failure, because the heart is damaged during the attack. Ten years ago The Naked Scientists spoke to Sian Harding from Imperial College London about some promising new "heart patches" that could be grown in the lab. Ten years on, production is more reliable and plentiful, and it's hoped that safety trials on humans could begin within the next couple of years. Heather Jameson spoke to Sian to learn more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/10/20195 minutes, 10 seconds
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An antibiotic made from metal

Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria evolve to sidestep the drugs we use to kill them. With resistance rising, we could be facing an "antibiotic apocalypse", where even trivial infections become untreatable. What's worse, almost no new antibiotics are being developed by the major pharmaceutical companies. Now, though, Kirsty Smitten has uncovered a new option based on the heavy metal ruthenium. It can destroy antibiotic resistant bacteria, including those known as gram negatives, traditionally regarded as much harder to treat... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/10/20194 minutes, 32 seconds
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Sensing air pollution

To better understand how personal exposure to air pollution can impact an individual's health, Katie Haylor met up with Cambridge University chemist Lia Chatzidiakou for a walk around central Cambridge. And to find out how air pollution can be monitored across a whole city, Katie climbed up to the roof of Cambridge University's chemistry department with Cambridge University chemist Lekan Popoola.... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/23/201911 minutes, 26 seconds
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Bacteria not slowed by obstacles

Researchers have gained new insights into how bacteria move in complex environments. Bacteria move using a system called "swim-and-tumble": they swim in a straight line for a bit, then tumble in a circle, which gives them a chance to correct their course. They can't see where they're going - they can't see at all - but they can sense and follow gradients of increasing concentration of food, like following a delicious smell into the kitchen. This type of movement is called chemotaxis, and it's been well studied in bacteria moving in a clear area. But in the real world, such as inside the human... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/23/20195 minutes, 43 seconds
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Hiroshima buildings found in beach sand

Geologists from the University of California, Berkeley, found something unexpected in sand samples from Japan. Rather than natural particles, from rocks or plants, these tiny blobs of glass seem to have been formed in an atomic blast, and they might mean that the destroyed buildings of Hiroshima have been hiding in plain sight ever since. Ruby Osborn spoke to Mario Wannier about his research, which has been published in the journal Anthropocene. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/19/20195 minutes, 50 seconds
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Reducing harassment online

Harassment in online communities is not a new phenomenon, but it is a growing one, with 40-46% of people reportedly having experienced it. Communities like reddit, one of the world's largest discussion forums, often have moderation teams responsible applying self-imposed rules which govern acceptable behaviour. These rules are not always well presented, or well adhered to. Researchers from Princeton University have collaborated with the moderation team at the reddit science discussion community "r/science", to determine how the clear presentation of the expected standards, or social norms... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/14/20196 minutes, 56 seconds
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Mystery of the miniature T-Rex

Everyone's heard of T-Rexes, the twenty-foot-tall monsters that roamed the Earth back in the Late Cretaceous Period. But you may not have heard of their miniature cousin. It's a six foot tall dinosaur called Suskityrannus hazelae, and it gives us a clue about when and how T-Rexes got as big as they did. Sterling Nesbitt is the paleontologist who found the second and most complete fossil of this new dinosaur, but it took him twenty years to put this paper together. Phil Sansom asked him how. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/13/20193 minutes, 47 seconds
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Biodegradable bags might not biodegrade

Our society uses - and then throws away - a vast amount of plastic, which then accumulates in the environment. To combat this, in recent years, new types of plastic bags have become available, labelled as "compostable" or "biodegradable."Both of these terms indicate the bag can break down and so avoid pollution, although biodegradable bags take longer than compostable bags. There's also a third type, oxo-biodegradable, which have an additive that should make them decompose a bit faster than standard biodegradable bags.So when you see a plastic bag labelled "biodegradable," how long do you... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/9/20194 minutes, 55 seconds
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Caster Semenya and testosterone limits

Caster Semenya, a South African athlete with unusually high testosterone for a woman, has lost her appeal against new regulations from the International Association of Athletics Federations. The regulations set an upper limit on how much testosterone a female athlete is allowed to have compete in middle distance running, and require any woman over this limit to artificially lower her testosterone if she wants to continue competing. Ruby Osborn discussed the story. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/9/20195 minutes, 16 seconds
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DNA unveils origins of farming in Britain

Before Britain was a nation of shopkeepers we were a nation of farmers; before that, the population were a bunch of hunter gatherers. But farming didn't catch on here until 1000 years after it had in Europe. Why was always a mystery, but now DNA technology is shedding new light on how this could have happened. Ben McAllister has been looking into the story... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/2/20196 minutes
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Premature labour: understanding the mechanics

Human babies grow inside their mothers for 40 weeks enclosed in a watery bag that expands as they do. And as the clock ticks during pregnancy, various processes kick in to thin the membrane material that surrounds the baby so that the bag ruptures at the right time to promote labour. But in some cases this happens far too early and can trigger a pre-term birth, and now scientists at Queen Mary University of London have discovered why. And if we know how it works, we might be in a position to discover how to stop it, as Tina Chowdhury explains... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/1/20195 minutes, 44 seconds
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AI predicting battery performance

Batteries are in almost everything we use. Our phones, computers, energy storage, even in transport. Typically, to see how well a battery performs, scientists have to charge and discharge them over and over until, ultimately, the battery stops working. This can take years of development and testing, plus it's an expensive process. Now researchers from MIT and Stanford University in America have turned to AI to help. Izzie Clarke spoke to William Chueh who explained how AI has stepped in Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/17/20194 minutes, 51 seconds
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EHT sheds light on M87 black hole

The multinational team behind the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), which spans the Earth by linking dishes in 8 different countries, have revealed the first images of the supermassive black hole - that has a mass 6 billion times that of our Sun - sitting at the centre of galaxy Messier 87, fifty-five million light years from Earth. For the first time we can see what a black hole - or rather the space around a black hole - looks like. Speaking with Chris Smith to discuss how this was done and what it means, and to answer questions from the Naked Scientists audience, is Cambridge University... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/14/20199 minutes, 2 seconds
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Renewable energy beats carbon capture technology

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (or IPCC) has recently issued a series of so-called "energy transition pathways". These are essentially routes that we as a society need to follow, in order to prevent global warming from exceeding the limit at which society cannot continue to function. All of these pathways rely on a technology known as "carbon capture", which would capture carbon dioxide from fossil fuel energy plants to prevent it from impacting the atmosphere. As a result, there has been a massive investment of money and resources in this technology. But, some new research from... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/14/20190
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A new look at an old star

Astronomers have used a new camera called the HiPERCAM to analyse a type of small, dim star that has proved elusive to standard cameras. The camera has allowed them to make detailed measurements of this cool subdwarf star 1500 light years away, and it's the first time they've been able to confirm the predicted model of this type of star. Ruby Osborn spoke to Dr Steven Parsons from the University of Sheffield about what makes this star so interesting, and how the HiPERCAM has helped them to study it. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/11/20195 minutes, 40 seconds
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Exotic particle discovery from LHC

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is widely regarded as one of humanity's greatest scientific achievements. The 17 km long accelerator smashes particles together at high speeds, and looks at the products to search for new physics. So far we've learned a tonne about the smallest things in nature, such as quarks - which are tiny particles that make up the atoms that compose people, planets, stars, and everything else we can see. A few years ago, physicists discovered strange new particles known as pentaquarks. We knew they were made up of five quarks bound together, but their properties and... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/2/20195 minutes, 51 seconds
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Low temperature catalysts reduce emissions

Catalytic converters are in car exhausts and convert toxic carbon monoxide into much less harmful carbon dioxide, as well as removing other pollutants. On a petrol car, they are the metal box you see just before the exhaust. Unfortunately, current catalytic converters don't work effectively at lower temperatures, usually only starting to work well when heated to about 200°C, once the vehicle has been running for a few minutes. This is what's known as the cold start problem and why the US Department of Energy have set a target to remove 90% of harmful emissions from exhausts below 150°C. A... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/31/20194 minutes, 51 seconds
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Metamaterials solve equations

Ever wondered how to get the best wifi reception in your house, given all those floors and walls which can interrupt the signal? Where to position the router and signal boosters, then where people should use their devices to get the best reception? There are so many combinations, making it labour-intensive to move things around and try all the different positions! But complex scenarios like this can be modelled by mathematical equations. Not the six minus what equals four type of equation, really complex ones. Additionally, metamaterials are materials that have a structure that take their... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/29/20196 minutes, 51 seconds
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Precision-injecting smart needle

Having an injection is an experience common to us all, and whether you are unfussed by them or they make you feel faint, the actual needle used is the same for everyone and highly standardised. But given different parts of the body are more difficult to inject than others, this is not ideal. Scientists at Harvard Medical School realised this problem and have set about creating a more adaptive solution that could lead to big changes in healthcare. Jack Tavener spoke to Jeff Karp, who co-authored the study, about the challenges his team faced... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/8/20194 minutes, 49 seconds
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Creating cannabis chemicals in yeast

US scientists have engineered into yeast the genes needed to make the key chemicals in cannabis. To find out why and what's involved, Chris Smith looked at the paper with York University's Ian Graham, who wasn't involved in the project but has expertise in this area. We last spoke with him in 2015 when he uncovered the genes needed to perform a similar feat so yeast could make morphine. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/6/20195 minutes, 21 seconds
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Climate impact of lab-grown meat

The agriculture sector is responsible for about 25% of global warming according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, so rearing livestock for meat is a significant problem. When ruminant animals such as cows and sheep digest food they burp large amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas that causes climate change. And growing the crops they are fed adds even more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. It is now possible to cultivate edible meat in a lab, rather than rearing livestock. And because of this, the new technique is often promoted as more environmentally friendly than having... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/1/20194 minutes, 59 seconds
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How bacteria physically resist antibiotics

Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem that kills hundreds of thousands of people each year, from what should be preventable diseases. Up to date, scientists have been trying to figure out the reasons in each individual case, until now A group from McMaster University in Canada has published a paper which shows for the first time the two common physical characteristics of bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Mariana Campos has been talking to Maikel Rheinstadter, who explained what they did and how this could help in the development of new and improved medications. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/25/20194 minutes, 40 seconds
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Grasses are genetic thieves

Scientists have discovered that some grass species have information in their genes that's not come from their parents, and instead think they're stealing genetic information from neighbouring plants. By genetically enhancing themselves, they gain a competitive edge, which helps them thrive in more challenging environments. The species Alloteropsis semialata, a type of tropical grass found in Africa, Asia and Australia, has changed the way it produces energy, a process known as photosynthesis. Jenny Gracie spoke with Luke Dunning from the University of Sheffield, to find out how these plants... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/22/20193 minutes, 51 seconds
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Possible new treatment for asthma

About a quarter of a billion people around the world are affected by asthma, when the lungs' airways constrict, making breathing difficult. For decades we've treated the condition with drugs that relax the muscles in the airways and damp down the immune response that makes the airways tighten in the first place. But, recently, researchers have discovered that asthmatic airways also contain bulkier muscles than they should do. This is caused, they think, by the same inflammatory signals that trigger the airways to constrict. And now they've gone on to show that an experimental drug, called... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/18/20194 minutes, 44 seconds
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Brain centre for laughter

Scientists have found a spot in the brain that, when stimulated, triggers laughter and is followed by a sense of calm and happiness that lasts 30 minutes.This discovery has direct implication for tens of thousands of people who undergo open brain surgery, and could be used in the future to treat anxiety, depression, and pain. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/12/20194 minutes, 49 seconds
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Ancient javelins

Archaeologists working in the UK and in Germany have come across rare examples of what look like ancient wooden spears that would have been used by our ancestors 400,000 years ago. But scientists were pointedly stuck on whether these weapons were just for poking, or if they could have been thrown, like javelins. To find out, Annemieke Milks built replicas of the original spears and asked six experienced, sharp-eyed javelin throwers to see if they could throw them. She told Adam Murphy how they got on Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/12/20194 minutes
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Dieting mosquitoes prevent disease

Scientists have given a dieting drug made for humans to mosquitoes in order to curb their appetite. Researchers at the Rockefeller University in New York have worked through hundreds of thousands of molecule-receptor combinations to find the right one able to suppress the mosquito's hunger. As a result, mosquitoes were not interested in seeking a human blood meal and so this method could be used to help stop the spread of deadly diseases. Jenny Gracie spoke with Laura Duvall, lead author of a paper recently published in Cell, to find out why mosquitoes bite us in the first place... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/10/20195 minutes, 14 seconds
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Hundreds of genes control the body clock

If you are a night owl, getting up in the morning is something that you absolutely dread. On the other hand, morning people jump out of bed ready and chatty. Is this something hardwired? The answer's probably got a lot to do with the genes that influence your body clock. Chris Smith speaks to Samuel Jones from the University of Exeter to find out what the connection is. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/7/20196 minutes
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Managing Cardiomyopathy

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy is a genetic disease which causes the muscle of the heart to thicken. Left untreated, it can lead to heart failure, and it's quite common. But the therapies we have available at the moment treat only the symptoms and don't alter underlying disease course. Now new research from Harvard University, published in Science Translational Medicine, has identified the molecular clockwork that actually causes the condition, and they're testing a new drug that may help to stop it. Adam Murphy spoke to Chris Toepher to hear how... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/6/20193 minutes, 38 seconds
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Improving carbon capture

A new way to capture CO2 from factories or the atmosphere has been developed by researchers in the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, located in the United States of America. The new technology uses a different molecule to 'soak up' the CO2 and it is 24% more energy-efficient than the existing technologies. On top of it, the molecules can be reused up to a hundred times, meaning even more savings. This improvement on technology may prove a big step towards large-scale adoption of carbon capture, which could help slow down the effects of climate change. Dr David Fairen-Jimenez from the University... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/5/20194 minutes, 19 seconds
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Martian rock discovery surprises scientists

There is a mountain located in the middle of a giant crater on Mars, but how it formed is still a bit of a puzzle for scientists. Investigations of the rocks below the surface of the crater have been helping piece together an answer. The Curiosity Rover currently on Mars has an advanced suite of scientific instruments able to carry out experiments on the Martian surface. Kevin Lewis is a planetary scientist from Johns Hopkins University, who along with help from colleagues, has been able to adapt some of the instruments to work in new ways. Jenny Gracie spoke with him to find out the rover's... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/4/20195 minutes, 36 seconds
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Rocking adults to sleep

Lack of sleep or poor sleep is a problem that affects 1 in 3 people in the UK and America. Insufficient sleep is not only a health issue, contributing to heart disease, diabetes and obesity, but also an economic one. There's the direct costs of treating sleep disorders and their numerous side effects, plus the costs associated with reduced productivity, time off work and injuries resulting from fatigue. With such a big problem at hand, we need to think of a solution outside the box. Mariana Campos spoke with Dr Aurore Perrault, formerly from the University of Geneva, now at the Sleep,... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/1/20195 minutes, 50 seconds
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Muscles really do have "memory"

Nearly every cell in the body contains a part called the nucleus which houses the genetic information needed to function. Muscle cells are the largest cells in the body, so they often need multiple nuclei to meet high power demands. New research from the University Massachusetts at Amherst, supports the contradiction of a widely believed theory linking large cells and nuclei numbers. Jenny Gracie spoke with Professor Larry Schwartz to find out why the relationship may no longer be true... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/25/20194 minutes, 6 seconds
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Whats inside your E-cigarette?

It's common knowledge that smoking cigarettes is addictive, and this is because of the nicotine they contain. E-cigarettes are devices that heat up a liquid and produce an aerosol or spray which is then inhaled. If there's nicotine in the e-cigarette liquid then this gives a nicotine hit. In Australia, nicotine is classified as a poison, so it's illegal to sell e-cigarette liquids containing it, they have to instead be "nicotine free". But while studying the potential health impacts of e-cigarettes, scientists have found that, surprisingly, out of 10 "nicotine-free" e-cigarette liquids, or... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/21/20194 minutes, 36 seconds
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Rare Pigment Fossilised in Teeth

Brushing our teeth keeps them clean and free from debris, but back in medieval times, dental hygiene wasn't part of your daily routine. This means that scientists can look at the teeth of skeletons to reconstruct what food they might have munched on back then and find out more about their lifestyle. But recently a team of international scientists, lead from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany, found something a little more peculiar fossilised in the teeth of a 1000 year old skeleton. Jenny Gracie spoke with Christina Warinner to unearth the mysterious... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/20/20194 minutes, 55 seconds
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Opioid overdose detection via app

Every day hundreds of people die when they accidentally overdose on opiate drugs, like heroin or morphine. These agents depress breathing, causing respiratory failure. But, if an opioid antidote is administered sufficiently quickly, then the situation can be reversed. And a team at the University of Washington have developed a system that turns a mobile phone into a sonar device that can monitor a person's breathing and then sound the alarm if something goes wrong. Chris Smith spoke with Jacob Sunshine, an anaesthesiologist and assistant professor at the University of Washington, to discuss... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/18/20196 minutes, 18 seconds
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Sleep quality and Alzheimers disease

One terrifying prediction is that, by mid-Century, up to 30% of adults will be affected by a form of dementia, chiefly Alzheimer's Disease. This happens when proteins called beta-amyloid, and tau, build up in the brain and damage nerve cells. But scientists think this begins to happen decades before a person develops Alzheimer's symptoms, meaning we might have an opportunity to intervene and change the course of the condition if we can tell who's affected sufficiently early. Now, researchers at Washington University in St Louis have discovered subtle changes in the patterns of brain waves we... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/15/20194 minutes, 7 seconds
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Podcasts: Chris Smith talks to Lawrence Jones

Back in 2001, Dr Chris Smith launched a new show, The Naked Scientists, in the hope of making science accessible. It was one of the first radio programmes to be made into a podcast and is now one of the world's most popular science shows. In the past five years, the programme has been downloaded more than 50 million times. Dr Chris has travelled the world in search of the latest science topics and trends, through which he has won numerous national and international accolades. He joins Lawrence Jones MBE to discuss bringing science to life through podcasts, how the team are engaging more people... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/1/201934 minutes, 20 seconds
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Cheers to the liver!

The Ancient Greeks understood that the liver was one of the most incredible organs humans possess when they wrote the cautionary tale of Zeus' punishment of Prometheus, in which poor Prometheus was tied to a rock where an eagle would eat his liver every day, but overnight it would regenerate and grow back, allowing his punishment to continue day after day. Now, in real life, the liver doesn't regenerate quite that quickly, but it is true that it has the ability to grow back and heal itself remarkably well. Georgia Mills spoke to liver scientist Auinash Kalsotra from the University of Illinois,... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/21/20186 minutes, 8 seconds
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Bio-inspired robot swarms

Biological systems are able to create complex shapes and patterns, like the stripes of a zebra, the shape of your hand or the dynamic displays of a flock of birds. These shapes develop in an emergent and self-organised way, relying on just local interactions between individuals. In contrast, human designed technology is usually created by an external builder. But now, a team of roboticists and biologists have come together to design robot swarms that can self-organise into complex shapes. Hannah Laeverenz Schologelhofer spoke with Sabine Hauert from the Bristol Robotics Lab. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/21/20185 minutes, 7 seconds
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New test for cervical cancer

Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers affecting young women, and it's caused by a virus called Human Papilloma Virus, or HPV, which is spread through sexual contact. The virus causes the cells of the cervix to keeping growing excessively, which eventually damages their DNA, causing cancer. Testing for this cancer can be challenging: these days it involves using DNA tests to look for traces of the virus in a sample. But the viruses are very common, and only a small proportion of people carrying them will actually get cancer; so there are lots of false positives. Now researchers at... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/20/20185 minutes, 40 seconds
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Carbon neutral Christmas!

Christmas is a wonderful time of year, but all of the additional transport and consumption adds up, and we are left with plenty of seasonal rubbish and greenhouse gases. So how can you cut down this Christmas? Georgia Mills is here to spoil all of the festive fun... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/19/20183 minutes, 31 seconds
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Harnessing sunlight to clean water

Clean water is something that we often take for granted, but making it can be a major technological and energy-intensive process. Now, thanks to a system developed by scientists at York University, Toronto, and MIT, there might be a way to do this much more cheaply in future. Hannah Laeverenz Schlogelhofer spoke with York researcher Thomas Cooper, about this new way of using sunlight to clean up water and produce superheated steam. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/17/20184 minutes, 24 seconds
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'Nano-tweezers' extract the contents of cells

How can seemingly similar cells behave differently? This is a particularly important question when a small change means that a cell does not function properly and several diseases might be the result of these small changes at the single cell level. But a cell is a complex system, and some of the important molecules inside a cell exist in very small quantities that can be difficult to detect. To address this challenge, a new tool has been developed called 'nano-tweezers'. These tiny devices can extract individual molecules from inside cells. Hannah Laeverenz Schlogelhofer spoke with Joshua Edel... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/13/20185 minutes, 24 seconds
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Language development through childhood

Language is all around us, and good language skills are important for getting on in life. But does being good in one language domain, like spelling, mean you'll be good in another, like grammar? And if your child is doing well with language as a toddler, will they still be doing well as a teenager? Recently, results have come out from a study 15 years in the making and Katie Haylor spoke to one of the authors, Rebecca Pearson from the University of Bristol. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/7/20184 minutes, 25 seconds
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Cuddly Robots Feel Hugs

When we think of robots we might think of the Terminator, West World, or even something completely different like Big Hero Six - a story about a young boy and his soft medical robot companion Baymax. Doughy and malleable, a robot like Baymax is kind of the holy grail for scientists who are working on making Soft Robots - robots which aren't made of metal or plastic but instead of stretchable, supple materials like rubber, gels, or fabric. Eva Higginbotham spoke to Ilse Van Meerbeek, a PhD student at Cornell University who recently published a paper in Science Robotics about new progress in... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/30/20184 minutes, 53 seconds
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Modelling Malaria

Every year, hundreds of millions of people contract malaria; this is a parasitic infection spread by mosquitoes. The parasite does two things when it grows in the body: either it clones itself to make millions more malaria parasites in that infected individual, and makes them sicker in the process; or, it produces a different form of the parasite that's sexually active and specialised to infect mosquitoes so it can spread to another human. And this week scientists in Edinburgh have discovered that malaria bases the decision on whether to boost its numbers in an infected person, or to try to... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/23/20184 minutes, 32 seconds
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Real fake tan fights cancer

Do you like to lie out on the beach in the summer, or are you more likely to be found hiding in the shade? Well, how you answer might depend on how quickly you seem to get sunburnt. We all know that we should wear sunscreen when out and about in the summer to protect our skin and so reduce our risk of skin cancer, but new research from the Weill Medical College of Cornell might allow us to ditch the sunscreen at some point in the future. Eva Higginbotham spoke to Dr Jonathan Zippin, a dermatologist and skin researcher, about his lab's key discovery in the science of skin. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/19/20184 minutes, 55 seconds
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Cancer-killing immune cells

When we think of our immune system, most of us will be familiar with the white blood cells that circulate around our body to target and kill the bacteria and viruses that make us sick. But, we actually also have a special type of immune cell sitting in some of our body surfaces, like our skin and our gut, and new research suggests that these cells might hold the key to future cancer and allergy treatments. Eva Higginbotham spoke to Professor Adrian Hayday from the Francis Crick Institute and King's College London, about his new paper describing the unique way these cells actually work, and why... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/19/20185 minutes, 43 seconds
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How WW1 can help head injuries

Today marks 100 years since the end of World War 1. This conflict caused the deaths of around 16 million people, and the new developments in artillery meant that new and nasty injuries were defying our ability to treat them. Ironically, this meant WW1 actually lead to huge advances in medicine, and neuroscience. But, thanks to a charity, Headway, it's also helping people with brain injuries today. Georgia Mills has been finding out how Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/13/20185 minutes, 38 seconds
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Can artificial intelligence make medicines?

We get so many good questions sent to us here at The Naked Scientists, that sadly we can't fit them all into our monthly question and answer shows. So here's an extra slice of science for you from our November 2018 QnA. Roger got in touch to ask whether artificial intelligence will be making medicines in the future, and we also heard from Sean about some rather intelligent ravens... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/9/20187 minutes, 36 seconds
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Glioblastomas Effect on Genes

Glioblastoma is an aggressive and often deadly cancer of the brain. Understanding it is vital to improving patient outcomes. In a new study published in Nature Genetics, a group in Cornell University has been sequencing genes to understand which ones are switched on by the tumours. To learn more, Adam Murphy spoke to Charles Danko, of the Baker Institute for Animal Health and the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/2/20184 minutes, 35 seconds
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Targeting immune cells to treat periodontitis

Good dental hygiene is crucial in the fight against gum disease, which can lead to a common condition called periodontitis. It comes about when changes to the bacteria in the mouth cause a reaction called inflammation in areas around the teeth, potentially destroying tissue and bone and causing tooth loss. But quite why an altered microbiome causes this inflammation isn't known, so there are no targeted treatments, and surgery is the main option for severe cases. But now scientists have spotted that periodontitis patients have higher numbers of immune cells called TH17 cells in their mouths,... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/31/20184 minutes, 49 seconds
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Cosmic Collisions: Supermassive black holes

Astronomers at the University of Hertfordshire have come up with an explanation for the wobble seen in jets of matter being blasted from regions surrounding some supermassive black holes: Another nearby supermassive black hole! Dr Martin Krause tells us how we can see them at all... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/30/20185 minutes, 17 seconds
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1000 years of Tuberculosis

Nowadays, tuberculosis takes more lives than any other infectious disease. Cases are on the decline but emerging antibiotic resistance threatens to interrupt that pattern. Tamsin Bell spoke with Professor Francois Balloux from University College London to learn about how this infectious disease evolved... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/25/20185 minutes, 41 seconds
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English youths drinking less

We all know that drinking alcohol is bad for us but in the UK we still pay a huge 3.5 billion annually for the National Health Service (NHS) to treat over 60 alcohol induced medical conditions including liver disease, pancreatitis, diabetes, heart disease and numerous forms of cancer. Fortunately, it seems that the message to put down the booze has trickled down to the younger generation as a recent study of 16 to 24 year olds shows that over the past ten years, they are drinking less. Tamsin Bell spoke to Linda Ng Fat from University College London to find out why more teens are laying off... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/11/20184 minutes, 21 seconds
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NASA: Now and Next

From right here on earth to the furthest visible parts of the universe, NASA has its eye on pretty much everything in between. Professor Andrew Coates from University College London was lead co-investigator in the joint ESA-NASA Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, and is involved in several further NASA missions of space exploration. With NASA turning 60 this month, Sam Brown spoke to Professor Coates about the fascinating missions that NASA is involved with, and what they have planned for the future... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/8/20185 minutes, 19 seconds
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Gene drive to wipe out mosquitoes

Mosquitoes spread diseases like malaria, and they are rapidly becoming resistant to the insecticides used to control them. So scientists are looking at the potential of using a genetic technique, called a gene drive, to solve the problem. This involves engineering a gene-editing system into the insects that targets and inactivates a gene called dbx - or doublesex - that is needed for the insects to develop normally. Critically though, only female mosquitoes, which are also the ones that bite, are affected by the change. This means that males are left unaffected and can spread the genetic... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/3/20187 minutes, 11 seconds
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Using gallium as an antibiotic

Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest threats facing mankind today. A new group in the University of Washington in Seattle, have been working to fight this threat. In a new study, they've been looking to poison bacteria using the heavy metal gallium, to improve the lives of those with cystic fibrosis. Adam Murphy spoke to two authors of the study. First, Christopher Goss and then colleague, Pradeep Singh... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/1/20184 minutes, 15 seconds
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Robotic Skin turns everyday objects into robots

Imagine going into space. You've got your kit, you're blasted into darkness, you're ready to discover the unknown but then your equipment doesn't quite fit the task required. How can you prepare for that? This is a reality that space engineers and robotic experts are trying to facing every day. Now, researchers from Yale think they've got an answer. They've developed something called "Omniskin" - a sheet of material that can animate everyday objects and turn them into robots. Izzie Clarke spoke to study author Joran Booth. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/25/20184 minutes, 31 seconds
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New conductive and magnetic material

You may have heard of graphene, the so called wonder material set to revolutionise electronics but the difficulty to consistently add extra properties and scale up cheaply limits industrial use! Scientists have been looking for easy to make alternatives, such as a new class of materials called metal organic frameworks or MOFs. As the name suggests, they're made by combining two components: a metal and something called an "organic chain" which contains carbon with some other elements. These can be used to create new materials with exciting properties.The big problem is that scientists have not... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/23/20185 minutes, 11 seconds
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Bonobo Apes Won't Share Toys

Do you share food or do you bite the hand off anyone who tries? Chimpanzees, one of our closest relatives are in the latter category: they'll gladly share tools, but food's a no no. New research published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B has been looking into our other close relatives: bonobo apes. Bizarrely, while they'll gladly share food, woe betide anyone who touches someone else's tools or toys! So what does this say about us? Adam Murphy spoke to Christopher Krupenye, from the University of St. Andrews to learn more. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/20/20184 minutes, 36 seconds
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Back to School: Mistakes help us learn

We've all been there at some point - you raise your hand in class, answer the question, and get it utterly, utterly wrong. These school-day humiliations may stay with us many years later, in fact - I'd love to hear yours, but as our kids are all headed back to school this week, we're trying to find out if perhaps these mistakes are good for us! Georgia Mills is on the case, but only after finding out some of our listeners biggest dunce moments! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/13/20185 minutes, 50 seconds
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Audio cues improve driver safety

These days, many of us are heavily dependent on our trusty sat navs to get where we want to go, but looking at these devices whilst driving is incredibly dangerous and can lead to car accidents. Psychologists from Anglia Ruskin University are hoping to minimise the dangers of using this technology by incorporating audio cues with in-car GPS to forewarn the driver of the lay of the land. Tamsin Bell met with Helen Keyes to hear what's driving their work... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/5/20185 minutes, 17 seconds
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Goats prefer happy people

Goats can tell apart human facial expressions and - what's more - prefer to interact with happy people, according to a new study from scientists at Queen Mary University of London. We knew work animals like dogs and horses could do this, but no-one knew if animals domesticated for food products would be able to. Georgia Mills spoke to lead researcher Alan McElligott to find out how they did it Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/4/20184 minutes, 36 seconds
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Origins of childhood kidney cancer

Most of the people who develop cancer are adults, although a significant number of children succumb too. The signs are though that childhood cancers could have a different origin than the adult disease, which might also mean they can be treated in a different way. Cambridge University's Sam Behjati suspects that tumours in children form from foetal tissue that has failed to mature properly. And by comparing the genetic instructions operating in normal and cancerous kidney cells from children and adults, he's tracked down evidence to support his theory and found a host of new avenues to explore... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/31/20184 minutes, 21 seconds
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The Science of St John's

From artificial photosynthesis to the art of statistics, the Naked Scientists take Jenny Zhang and Richard Samworth, two of St John's College's leading scientists, for a trip down the river to hear all about their work. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/30/201813 minutes, 29 seconds
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Testing for Tuberculosis

Doctors think that one third of the world's population have been exposed to the bacterial infection TB, or tuberculosis. It can damage any tissue in the body, infect the skeleton and joints, and even cause meningitis, but most people develop chest disease and a cough, which is how it chiefly spreads. A major problem with controlling the infection is that the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria can be very hard to culture in a laboratory, and they grow extremely slowly, which holds up diagnosis and also makes it tricky to tell quickly whether someone is actually responding to the treatment... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/15/20185 minutes, 32 seconds
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How did early life evolve?

We often hear about the search for life on Mars, but could life begin outside our solar system? Izzie Clarke discussed the chemistry involved with astrophysicist Paul Rimmer... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/13/20185 minutes, 6 seconds
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Evolution of the Skeleton

Since Darwin's time scientists have been studying the skeleton of a type of fish that lived 400 million years ago called Heterostracans. These fish were covered in a tough exoskeleton, but scientists couldn't decide exactly where it came from. Was it a precursor to bone? To teeth? New research is suggesting all those old theories may be as dead and buried as the fish fossils, and this exoskeleton is just another way of making bone. Adam Murphy spoke to Joseph Keating of the University of Manchester to learn more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/9/20183 minutes, 49 seconds
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Circumcision Prevents HIV

HIV is a global pandemic. Worldwide, about 37 million people are living with the virus, and there are between 3 and 5 thousand AIDS deaths every day. More worrying is that, despite intensive public health and safe sex campaigns, there are a further 3 to 5 thousand new HIV infections occurring every day, and despite decades of effort, scientists still have not yet managed to develop an effective vaccine. But one very powerful way to prevent infection is for men to be circumcised, which reduces their risk of picking up the virus by up to 80%. So is this a cost effective strategy to halt HIV... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/26/20185 minutes, 2 seconds
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Chemputer: Chemistry goes digital

Mixing chemicals together causes reactions and produces new molecules. With so many different chemicals in existence, there are infinite combinations that can be made, and millions of chemical reactions yet to be tried. But doing these tests is very time consuming, laborious and has a low success rate; it's also very susceptible to human failings, like bias and fatigue. To surmount this, University of Glasgow chemist Lee Cronin has invented a robot to test his chemical combinations for him. What's more impressive is that this robot can actually learn. By testing random chemical combinations... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/20/20184 minutes, 29 seconds
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Blocking immune memory cell survival to cure vitiligo

Vitiligo is an autoimmune condition, in which the immune system attacks the pigment-producing cells of the skin, leaving behind pale white patches. Although not dangerous in itself, vitiligo can be disfiguring, causing a great deal of distress to people suffering from it. There are treatments available for vitiligo - these include topical creams that suppress the immune attack on skin cells, and phototherapy, which uses UV light. However, these treatments are time- and effort-consuming, particularly if large areas of the skin are affected. Another problem is that they only work temporarily -... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/19/20185 minutes, 2 seconds
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Growing new blood vessels

Heart attacks come about when blood vessels in the heart are blocked, and without a supply of oxygen-rich blood, the heart muscle can die. This is called ischemic injury, and can also occur in other places in the body, potentially leading to tissue death and even limb amputation. But what if it was possible to re-build the blood vessels in the heart or in other areas of the body, to kick-start the circulation and prevent tissues from being starved of oxygen, and dying? This is what Jo Mountford is trying to do at the Scottish National Blood Transfusion service, as she explains to Katie... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/9/20185 minutes, 38 seconds
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Why the high-life can shrink your arms

People all around the world are living the high life. That's to say, living their whole lives at high altitude. This lifestyle has an impact on their bodies, including upon how their bones grow. And one adaptation, Cambridge University's Stephanie Payne has found, is to alter the relative lengths of the arms. Katie Haylor and Chris Smith found out more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/3/20183 minutes, 40 seconds
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Should we be worried about asteroids?

Scientists want to raise awareness to protect the Earth from dangerous asteroids. June 30th has now become Asteroid Day where people from around the world come together to learn about asteroids, the impact hazard they may pose, and what we can do to protect our planet, families, communities, and future generations from future asteroid impacts. Izzie Clarke spoke to Matt Bothwell and Adrian Currie at the University of Cambridge to learn more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/1/20186 minutes, 18 seconds
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From Tiny to T-Rex: Why Life Got Large

4 billion years ago, life on earth looked nothing like it does today. In fact, the oceans contained only single-celled microbes. At some point, these single-celled organisms began to work together, forming complex, multi-celled creatures, which then suddenly became much larger. The question is, why? Emily Mitchell studies one of the earliest animals believed to exist, and explained to Marika Ottman why she thinks these creatures got bigger when they did Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/28/20184 minutes, 54 seconds
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Dementia in a Dish

In recent years, we've woken up to the massive problem that is dementia. This is where people progressively lose their cognitive faculties and Alzheimer's Disease is one well-known example. But scientists are increasingly realising that injury done to the brain by damaged blood vessels is probably the leading cause of dementia, but it's also the one that we know much less about. It happens when the very small blood vessels deep within the brain become narrowed, stiffened and leaky, which leads to progressive damage to the adjacent brain tissue, although we don't understand how this happens, or... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/27/20185 minutes, 22 seconds
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A new method of diagnosing osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis, a condition which damages the cartilage in joints, is a painful, debilitating condition. Millions suffer every year, and with an ageing population, that number will only increase. Therefore, improving diagnosis is an important goal. Adam Murphy spoke with Tom Turmezei from Cambridge University, to learn more about osteoarthritis and his Wellcome Trust funded project which aims to improve diagnosis... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/25/20183 minutes, 52 seconds
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World's first robotic eye surgery

If robots really are the future, then said future is certainly one step closer as of this week. For the first time ever, a robot has been used in surgery on the human eye. To find out more about this incredible feat of engineering, Isabelle Cochrane spoke to Dr Tom Edwards, the lead author of the study... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/21/20184 minutes, 29 seconds
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CRISPR-Cas9: Cure or Carcinogen?

CRISPR makes it possible to snip out undesired bits of DNA from our cells. This process holds the potential to cure genetic conditions such as cystic fibrosis. However, it seems that doing this isn't without risk. Marika Ottman went to the University of Cambridge and spoke with biochemist Jussi Taipale to learn more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/17/20184 minutes, 3 seconds
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Regenerating tooth enamel

Researchers have found a way to regenerate the enamel - or apatite - that's damaged by tooth decay. Katie Haylor spoke to Alvaro Mata from Queen Mary University of London...Sound effects from www.zapsplat.com Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/7/20184 minutes, 14 seconds
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"Fish Elevator" Invented to Study Deep Sea Fish

We know more about the surface of mars than we do about the depths of our own ocean, but scientists from the California Academy of Science created an invention that allows researchers to bring never-before seen species from coral reefs in the deep sea to the ocean's surface. In the spirit of World Ocean's day tomorrow, Marika Ottman spoke with lead author Bart Shepherd to learn more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/6/20184 minutes, 40 seconds
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How are new robots helping with surgery?

Millions suffer from osteoarthritis, a condition that causes joints, especially knee and hip joints, to become stiff and painful. Luckily these joints can be replaced by an implant with usually good results. However, scientists are going one step further, bringing robots into the operating theatre to improve precision, and patient outcomes. The Nuffield Hospital in Cambridge recently brought in one of these robot helpers, and Chris Smith spoke with the director of the hospital, Adrian Connolly... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/4/20185 minutes, 40 seconds
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Active commutes may improve heart health

Any activity on your daily commute, like walking to the bus instead of just hopping in the car, might reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, says a new study from the University of Cambridge, published in the journal Heart... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/24/20184 minutes, 47 seconds
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Kangaroo care: the science of snuggles

We all love a good hug, whatever our age! Babies are no different. There's growing evidence that skin-to-skin contact is beneficial for babies, so Katie Haylor spoke with Laura Baird and Kelly Spike from Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge to find out what it's all about... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/23/20186 minutes, 34 seconds
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An update on Hawaii's eruptions

Hawaii's Big Island has been experiencing a series of volcanic eruptions. What's causing them, and how is it likely to change in the future? To find out, Chris Smith talked to Jessica Johnson, a volcanologist at the University of East Anglia... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/20/20186 minutes, 18 seconds
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Could exercise at work be bad for you?

Exercise is good for us, it's one of the best things you can do to keep your mind and body healthy for a long age. But perhaps not all exercise is equal. A new analysis out in the British Journal of Sports Medecine reports that exercise at work is associated with an increased risk of early death in men. So what's going on? Georgia Mills spoke to study author Pieter Coenen, of VU University in Amsterdam. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/17/20184 minutes, 10 seconds
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Where is Earth's Freshwater Going?

Knowing where Earth's freshwater is accumulating, or perhaps more critically, disappearing is of paramount importance. A new study in Nature has analysed changes in freshwater across the entire planet. To learn more Adam Murphy spoke with Matthew Rodell, from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Maryland... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/16/20184 minutes, 30 seconds
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Understanding neurodegeneration mechanisms in disease

Neurodegeneration is a process involved in several serious and debilitating diseases, for which there is often no cure. One of the first steps on the journey towards a treatment to stop neurons dying is understanding how and why they do so. Now, scientists from Cambridge University and the University of Toronto have announced a mechanism that explains how neurons die in two diseases, motor neurone disease and a type of dementia called fronto-temporal dementia. Georgia Mills spoke to Cambridge University chemist Michele Vendruscolo. First, Georgia asked, what actually are neurons? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/3/20185 minutes, 46 seconds
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Can birds cope with the extreme spring weather?

Are you struggling to know what to wear for the weather at the moment? One day in the UK it's freezing, the next rain, the next a veritable heat wave. Apart from playing havoc with BBQ plans, this extreme variation in weather is also affecting local wildlife. Georgia Mills went for a stroll along the river Cam with the RSPB's Richard Bradbury to find out more. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/2/20184 minutes, 49 seconds
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Tackling Cancer in Tasmanian Devils

Tasmanian devils are black, carnivorous, scavenger marsupials that live - perhaps unsurprisingly, on the island of Tasmania. In recent years an intriguing type of cancer has been decimating their numbers, pushing the animals to the brink of extinction. Known as "Devil Facial Tumour Disease" - or DFTD - the cancer is spread when an affected animal bites - and literally implants - some of the tumour from its own mouth into the face of another devil. The tumours avoid detection by the immune system by switching off key markers that would normally label the tissue as foreign. Now, by studying the... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/26/20184 minutes, 32 seconds
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Why are some people tastier to mosquitoes?

Every year millions of people contract malaria, which is a blood parasite infection spread by mosquitoes. And part of the reason why the infection spreads so successfully, scientists now know, is because the parasite makes an infected human over-produce certain skin odours that are irresistible to a mosquito. Chris Smith spoke to Ailie Robinson, researcher at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the lead author on the new study that's uncovered how this happens Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/22/20185 minutes, 3 seconds
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Mice with Motorneurone Disease

Motorneurone Disease (MND), which is also known as ALS and Lou Gehrig's Disease, is caused by the death of the motor nerves that convey movement instructions from the nervous system to muscles. We don't understand why this happens, but up to 10% of cases appear to be genetic. Now Babraham Institute researcher Jemeen Sreedharan has genetically engineered into a mouse the same genetic change that causes MND in humans. His animals are now providing us with new insights into the pathological process that underlies MND, as he explains to Chris Smith...Jameen - Motorneurone disease is an... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/22/20187 minutes, 27 seconds
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A new model for motor neurone disease

Motor neurone disease (MND) is a degenerative disease affecting around 5,000 people in the UK. It attacks people's ability to move, speak and breath, and usually is fatal within two years. At the moment there is no cure, but scientists are trying to find out more about what causes MND and how we might one day treat it. This week, a paper out in Nature Neuroscience describes a new model for MND, which has revealed some unexpected clues about how the disease operates, and may even lead to a target for treatments. Chris Smith spoke to one of the authors Jemeen Sreedheren, from Cambridge... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/20/20188 minutes, 45 seconds
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Ivory, bear bile and tiger skins: Confiscated contraband

When people take wildlife products over a border that is under the control of CITES. Some of it is illegal, and this is when Border Force step in, confiscating the items in question and when possible, returning them to the wild. But what do people bring through? Georgia Mills was shown the Dead Shed, by senior Border Force officer Grant Miller, a horrific stash of animal and plant products that had been confiscated at Heathrow Airport. This content may be upsetting to some people. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/7/201820 minutes, 24 seconds
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Reprogramming Skin Cells to Treat Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis, or MS, affects hundreds of thousands of people. It's a condition where the body's own immune system attacks a protective layer around nerve fibres called myelin. This prevents messages being conveyed quickly and faithfully through the brain producing symptoms that can include difficulty with vision, movement, speech, balance and sensation. In recent years scientists have begun to explore the use of stem cells to combat the progression of the disease. As author Stefano Pluchino, from Cambridge University, explained to Chris Smith. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/26/20186 minutes, 11 seconds
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My whiskers! Faster stroke recovery in mice

Scientists in the US have uncovered a surprising potential treatment for strokes: short-term sensory deprivation. Strokes occur when the blood supply to the brain is interrupted; this destroys the affected nerve cells, and robs the victim of the function of the affected brain area. But it is possible to achieve some degree of recovery by encouraging other, adjacent healthy parts of the brain to rewire themselves and take over from the damaged area. Working with mice, Washington University neurologist Jin-Moo Lee has found that this can be promoted by temporarily depriving a patch of brain... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/7/20185 minutes, 51 seconds
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Is walking with friends better than walking alone?

Was exercising more one of your new year's resolutions? Has it ended up a broken promise at the bottom of your to-do list? Georgia Mills spoke to Catherine Meads from Anglia Ruskin University, who may be able to help. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/5/20184 minutes, 21 seconds
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New treatment for heavy periods

Up to a third of women experience debilitatingly heavy periods. This can cause significant disruption. It can also lead to depression; time off work; and, in severe cases, even lead to a low blood count or anaemia. Currently, heavy periods are treated hormonally or surgically, but these options have side effects and can affect fertility. So is there a better treatment? Edinburgh University's Jackie Maybin thinks so. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/29/20184 minutes, 54 seconds
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Toothpaste Ingredient Fights Malaria

Scientists have shown that a toothpaste ingredient could be used as an anti-malarial drug. Spread by mosquitoes, malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites, and kills over half a million people every year, 70% of them children. In recent years the parasite has also become resistant to most of the existing anti-malarial compounds. This new discovery, by researchers at the University of Cambridge, was aided by Eve, an artificially-intelligent 'robot scientist'. Chris Smith was joined by Steve Oliver who was part of the investigation. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/22/20185 minutes, 24 seconds
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Find out about the Flu

It's winter time again in the northern hemisphere and the influenza virus - the 'flu - is making its seasonal rounds. The virus infects millions of people every year, and vulnerable individuals with underlying health complaints including heart disease, kidney problems and diabetes, as well as pregnant women, the very young and the over 65s are at higher risk of developing a severe infection. To find out how flu spreads and causes disease, and how you can protect yourself, Naked Scientists Connie Orbach and Khalil Thirlaway have been investigating this microbial assailant... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/18/201810 minutes
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Tinnitus therapy trial success

Around one in ten people have to live with tinnitus, this is a persistent noise ringing in the head when there's nothing external causing it. The severity of tinnitus can range from irritating to completely life-changing, by making it nearly impossible to work or sleep, and there is no cure. But now, scientists have come up with a way to reduce the severity of symptoms, by stimulating parts of the brain responsible for causing the phantom sounds. Georgia Mills spoke to Susan Shore, from the University of Michigan. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/10/20186 minutes, 10 seconds
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Could lifes building blocks have formed in space?

The question of where life began is a difficult one to answer. While many scientists believe that life began on earth, others believe that life, or at least its building blocks, first formed in space. A recent study from the University of Sherbrooke, in Canada, has shown how complex organic molecules could form on icy comets - from nothing more than simple molecules and radiation. And it's possible that this could explain how complex molecules like amino acids - which are the building blocks of proteins - could have originally formed billions of years ago and led to the beginning of life on... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/21/20175 minutes, 31 seconds
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Environmental implications of healthier eating

In the run up to Christmas, shops are bursting at the seams with delicious treats, appealing platters and indulgent morsals, which can make sticking to a healthy diet rather unlikely. And food consumption has consequences for our "waist" in more ways than one! According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the UN, over a third of all the food made globally each year goes un-used, that's around 1.3 billion tonnes. But could adhering to a healthier diet in the food we do eat make a difference to the environment? Paul Behrens and colleagues from Lieden University in the Netherlands have... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/15/20175 minutes, 8 seconds
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Falcon-inspired drone technology

New research shows that peregrine falcons hunt their prey using strategies similar to those used by guided missiles. Could this information be useful in downing drones that are flying where they shouldn't? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/11/20175 minutes, 2 seconds
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The corals that matter most on the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is a huge system of over 3,800 individual coral reefs - making it the largest coral reef system on earth. Located off the northeastern coast of Australia, it is home to thousands of species. However, in recent years, the Great Barrier Reef has come under threat. Rising sea temperatures have led to a number of problems, including mass coral bleaching, and a huge increase in the number of crown-of-thorns starfish, which eat corals. Now, a new study has shown that some reefs may be more important than others, in terms of the recovery of the Great Barrier Reef. Lewis Thomson... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/4/20175 minutes, 2 seconds
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The future of HIV research

December 1st is World AIDS Day. HIV AIDS affects 35 million people worldwide, and although the number of new infections is slowly decreasing, last year it still caused one million deaths. The virus, HIV, attacks the body's immune system by infecting white blood cells, also called "lymphocytes". Lewis Thomson has been finding out what the future holds for treatment, and what it's like to be diagnosed with the virus, and met with Professor Andrew Lever from the University of Cambridge, who researches the virus. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/1/20175 minutes, 18 seconds
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Could reflective particles limit climate change?

This week the UN Climate Change Conference has been happening in Bonn. This meeting is the next step for governments to implement the Paris Climate Change Agreement, which entered into force last November and sets out strategies to try to limit the rise in global temperatures to below 1.5 degrees C. With these targets in minds researchers the world over have been exploring various ways to reverse global warming. One suggestion is to spray about 5 million tonnes of reflective sulphur particles into the high atmosphere to temporarily reduce the intensity of sunlight and cool things down.... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/22/20175 minutes, 59 seconds
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Type 2 Diabetes Reversed in Rats

Last year, Diabetes UK reported that almost 4 million people in the UK are living with diabetes. Around 90% of these cases are classed as Type 2, which is often linked with obesity. Interestingly, Type 2 diabetes has been reversed in people undergoing weight loss surgery, who have been able to leave hospital after only a few days no longer needing their diabetes medication. Studies have suggested it's not the surgery itself, but the calorie restricted diet that follows which is responsible. Now, a team at Yale University has investigated the mechanisms by which this reversal is made possible.... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/15/20174 minutes
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Sleep and fear learning

Traditionally, researchers have recognised the importance of sleep in modulating the fear learning response when the sleep occurs after fear learning. To understand how sleep, prior to a fear learning task, may be important; researchers looked at the sleep of participants in the lab and at home by measuring brain wave activity. They discovered that a particular stage of sleep called rapid eye movement stage sleep may be protective against fear learning when it occurs prior to fear learning, something which may have implications for protecting against the development of post traumatic stress... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/2/20174 minutes, 50 seconds
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AI learning without human guidance

In 2016, the world champion Lee Sedol was beaten at the ancient boardgame of Go - by a machine. It was part of the AlphaGo programme, which is a series of artificially intelligent systems designed by London-based company DeepMind. AlphaGo Zero, the latest iteration of the programme, can learn to excel at the boardgame of Go without any help from humans.So what applications could AI learning independently have for our day-to-day lives? Katie Haylor spoke to computer scientist Satinder Singh from the University of Michigan, who specialises in an area within artificial intelligence called... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/30/20176 minutes, 8 seconds
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Voice in the crowd

Imagine it's a Friday night, you're in the pub it's and really noisy. Your friend though is telling a great story, and you really want to hear it. But how do you separate their voice from the din going on around you? This week scientists at Imperial College have sussed out the answer. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/19/20174 minutes, 58 seconds
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Good cholesterol protects heart cells against damage

A drug based on a form of cholesterol might be able to reduce the damage done by heart attacks. Working with experimental mice, scientists in Australia have found that so-called good cholesterol, also known as "HDL", if injected into the bloodstream shortly after a heart attack can prevent heart cells from dying. The experiments suggest that the HDL temporarily alters the way heart cells burn glucose, giving them more energy and improving their survival. Chris Smith spoke to Sarah Heywood, who carried out the work at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/19/20174 minutes, 38 seconds
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Kidneys in a dish

Scientists in the US have discovered a way to recreate the condition polycystic kidney disease using stem cells in a culture dish. The new culture system means that researchers can now begin to screen thousands of potential drug molecules to find ways to prevent the disease from progressing in humans. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/17/20175 minutes, 34 seconds
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LiFi one step closer to our homes

We all use Wi-fi nearly every day. It is short for wireless fidelity, using microwaves frequencies to transmit data to and from your phone. But, visible light can be used to for the same purpose - with a technology being developed at Edinburgh University called Li-Fi, which would be faster and more secure. It works by making the lights in a room flash incredibly quickly to send signals. It's too fast for us to see, but does it nonetheless affect us, or the performance of the lights? Georgia Mills spoke with Wasiu Popoola from Edinburgh University to find out... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/17/20175 minutes, 12 seconds
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Molecule dashes hopes for interstellar signs of life

Astronomers are trying to understand where our solar system came from, how life got started here, and where else in the galaxy life may be lurking. Chemistry is very important in these processes both in terms of providing chemical building blocks from which things can form, but also providing chemical signatures that highlight that something - like life - is happening. We had thought that one compound, called methyl chloride, was a surefire sign of life, but now astronomers in America and Denmark have detected the same chemical around a star without any planets, as well as on a comet in our... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/11/20174 minutes, 13 seconds
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Neonicotinoids in majority of worlds honey

Three quarters of the world's honey is laced with neonicotinoid insecticides, a new study from scientists in Switzerland has shown this week. The findings are based on an analysis of nearly 200 honey samples collected from around the world with the help of citizen scientists on every continent (except Antarctica!). Neonicotinoids are the most widely used pesticides in the world now and scientists suspect that, by getting into pollen and nectar, they're also having off-target effects on pollinators, like bees. This the first comprehensive global study to look at how widespread these effects... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/8/20175 minutes, 13 seconds
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Making robot muscle

Natural muscle plays an important role in our human ability to control our movements, so could we give this ability to robots? Katie Haylor spoke to Aslan Miriyev from Colombia University in New York, who's developed a soft, synthetic muscle that can substantially expand and contract alongside being strong. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/2/20173 minutes, 42 seconds
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Algal protein may boost crop growth

By 2050, it is estimated that we will need around a 50% increase in crop yield to feed our rapidly growing population. However, it turns out that algae - the slimy green layer often found on the surface of ponds in summer - may provide a solution to this problem. Stevie Bain chatted with Luke Mackinder from The University of York about how a better understanding of algae may allow us to engineer fast-growing crops Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/25/20175 minutes, 21 seconds
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How do tissues grow?

The complex branching patterns seen in the growth of tissues in the lungs, kidneys and pancreas have an elegantly simple mathematical solution... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/24/20175 minutes, 22 seconds
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Microbes in Saliva

We never really notice oral hygiene, except when it's bad. The latest research shows that we can't really blame genetics for this, but rather the oral hygiene of everyone else in your household. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/21/20174 minutes, 13 seconds
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Baby-like skulls are key to bird success

From elaborate peacocks to seagulls by the shore, birds are found in a wide range of habitats on every corner of globe and a recent study suggests that the key to their world domination may all be in their heads. Stevie Bain chatted with Arkhat Abzhanov to find out more Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/21/20173 minutes, 37 seconds
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Measuring Tectonic Plate Strength

One major goal of scientists has been to measure the strength of tectonic plates. However, laboratory estimates of plate strength vary widely and in general seem to overestimate strength compared to real world observations. Thus, there has been a fundamental lack of understanding about how plate dynamics work, until now. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/19/20175 minutes, 4 seconds
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New antimicrobials show promise in battle against superbug

C. diff - or Clostridium difficile - is a superbug that can cause major problems in hospitals. It leads to life-threatening diarrhoea and intestinal inflammation in patients who catch it, it spreads easily, and patients who do recover often relapse many times afterwards because the spectrum of so-called "good bacteria" in the bowel also goes off-kilter when you treat the infection. What's needed are highly-targeted antibiotics that can hit exclusively c. diff and not affect the good bacteria that we need to keep us healthy. Luckily, Sheffield University's Joe Kirk is on the case... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/15/20175 minutes, 10 seconds
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Where do New Drugs come From?

Finding new drugs for our various diseases and ailments is one of the biggest industries in the world. But how does so called big pharma operate - how do they choose what to work on and how does an idea get from the lab to your local chemist? Astra Zeneca, one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, have recently moved to Cambridge, so Chris Smith took the opportunity to ask Mene Pangalos, Executive Vice-President of AstraZeneca's Innovative Medicines and Early Development Biotech Unit, about how a company like his invents and markets medicines in the modern era... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/14/201715 minutes, 1 second
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Old maps highlight new understanding of coral reef loss

Known as the 'forests of the ocean', coral reefs represent an entire underwater ecosystem, teeming with life. But this ecosystem is under threat. Researchers from The University of Queensland and Colby College in the USA have used old 18th century nautical charts and compared them to modern satellite data as a novel way to understand coral loss over a period of 240 years. Michael Wheeler spoke with lead researcher Loren McClenachan, assistant professor at Colby College to find out more. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/13/20174 minutes, 50 seconds
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Uterus age may affect pregnancy success

It's well known that older mothers have more complicated pregnancies. For a long time scientists thought that old eggs were the reason for this and many women have made the decision to freeze their eggs to circumvent this problem. But new research from the Babraham Institute in Cambridge suggests that the age of the uterus is important too. Alexandra Ashcroft spoke to Laura Woods to find out more Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/12/20173 minutes, 53 seconds
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Can bacteria affect the sex life of animals?

Bacteria produce a molecule that stimulates sexual reproduction in the closest living relatives of animals, according to researchers at UC Berkeley and Harvard Medical School. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/31/20174 minutes, 59 seconds
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Our hairy insides

Our hairy insides protect us from the full force of fluids racing through our bodies and may inspire future robotic design Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/24/20174 minutes, 5 seconds
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Whats behind the rise in osteoarthritis?

Osteoarthritis is a common, painful joint condition that affects about 8 million people in the UK, and many others across the world. It stems from a breakdown of the protective cartilage at the ends of bones causing pain, swelling and movement problems, commonly in the knee. Osteoarthritis cases have been on the rise, but not for the reasons you might think. Katie Haylor spoke to palaeoanthropologist Ian Wallace from Harvard University, who has taken a historical perspective on finding out why... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/22/20175 minutes, 26 seconds
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Foraging for food

What kinds of food might you be able to forage in a city green space? Katie Haylor went out to explore what wild food Cambridge in the UK has to offer with lifelong forager Antony Bagott.... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/20/201711 minutes, 27 seconds
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The link between cellular garbage disposal and Alzheimers disease

More than half a million people in the UK suffer from Alzheimer's disease. Symptoms of this disease, including memory loss and communication problems, are due to sticky protein build ups within the brain, called amyloid plaques. These plaques cause damage to nerve cells and are a hallmark feature of the disease. Currently, there is no cure for Alzheimer's disease. However, researchers at Yale University School of Medicine have made a striking discovery about the role of cellular garbage disposal units, called lysosomes, in the formation of these plaques. Lead researcher on the study, Shawn... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/13/20175 minutes, 24 seconds
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Violence weakens short term memory

Short term memory is incredibly important in day to day life, whether you're driving to work, having a conversation, or reading through the Naked Scientists website. However, scientists from Princeton University have found evidence that exposure to violence reduces short term memory, even if the violent incident occured more than a decade ago. Alexandra Ashcroft spoke to Pietro Ortoleva to find out more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/27/20175 minutes
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How Does Sleep Affect Dementia?

Alzheimer's Disease is one - very common - form of senile dementia. It usually affects older people and progressively robs them of their mental faculties. It occurs because a protein called beta amyloid builds up in the brain forming harmful deposits called plaques, which are toxic to nerve cells. What's confusing though is that the brain naturally makes beta amyloid all the time but seems to wash most of it away when we go to sleep. But what aspect of sleep is important for this clean-up process, and what are the implications for people who are chronically poor sleepers? At Washington... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/20/20175 minutes, 31 seconds
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Searching for super-fast stars

Scientists now think they can explain why the hypervelocity stars - that's stars going at 600 - 1000 km per second are only spotted in one part of the sky, in the constellation of Leo, and it's down to their explosive origins. Douglas Boubert is a second year PhD student in the University of Cambridge, and he and his team used a computer model to try and work out what was going on. Georgia Mills heard what they found. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/10/20174 minutes, 37 seconds
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Can brain training slow the progression to Alzheimers?

Millions of people worldwide are affected by Alzheimer's Disease; Terry Pratchett was famously a victim of the condition, which progressively robs sufferers of their mental faculties. At the moment, no therapies are available to halt the disease, but it might be possible to keep patients functioning well, for longer, with a bit of brain-training. Cambridge University neuroscientists have invented a memory-boosting app called GameShow. Katie Haylor went to see the game's co-inventor Barbara Sahakian and lead scientist George Savulich... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/9/20174 minutes, 43 seconds
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What Causes Coastal Erosion?

Our coasts are constantly changing. And whilst human impact can have a significant impact Mother Nature also plays her part, tides and storms can change a beach overnight. Continuing with Marine Month, Chris Smith spoke to Oceanographer Simon Boxall from the University of Southampton about what's driving these changes and can we prevent them? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/6/20175 minutes, 19 seconds
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Magnetic control of vision

If you're up for a bit of practical experimentation, give this a go. Hold your finger out in front of your face, fix your gaze on the tip and then shake your head from side to side, or nodding up and down. Without you having to think about it, your eyes stay locked on their target by precisely matching the movements of your head. But for some people, maintaining a steady gaze like that is impossible because their eyes rhythmically drift off. Luckily a British team of doctors and eye surgeons have come up with a solution based on an implantable pair of magnets. Chris Smith spoke to Parashkev... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/29/20175 minutes, 57 seconds
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What Lies Behind an Egg's Shape?

Many of us enjoy a boiled egg or two for breakfast, but why are hen's eggs round at one end and pointy at the other? Katie Haylor caught up with Mary Stoddard of Princeton University, who's trying to find out why eggs look the way they do. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/28/20174 minutes, 32 seconds
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The Rise of Deadly Heatwaves

The third week of June had everyone searching for the suncream as temperatures reached record breaking heights. But while most of us enjoy fun in the sun, prolonged heatwaves can have significant health risks and can even be life-threatening. Izzie Clarke investigated just what is causing the surge in dangerous heatwaves and how we can stay cool as things start to heat up. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/28/20175 minutes, 28 seconds
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What is Wannacry?

In May 2017 hundreds of thousands of computers across the world were hit by a massive ransomware attack called Wannacry. The perpetrators encrypted the contents of users' computers and demanded payment to unscramble their data. What made the threat worse was that it had the ability to literally spread virally across the Internet by exploiting connections between computers on networks. But where did it come from, what can we do to mitigate the threat, and who is at risk of attacks like this? Chris Smith, Kate Feller and Andrew Holding put these questions to cybersecurity expert Paul Harris,... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/21/201712 minutes, 33 seconds
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Ancient protein thwarts virus attack

When viruses attack our crops they can wipe them out, and in some parts of the world, this can be a death sentence. So naturally, scientists are keen to find a way to provide protection against these infections. Viruses usually attack by using parts of the victim's own cell machinery against it, so in theory, if you can change this component or protein, the virus won't recognise it, and its attack will have been neutralised. But, if you fiddle about with the stuff inside a cell too much, the cell won't be able to use it and will die anyway. Now, a group from the University of Granada in Spain... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/16/20175 minutes, 18 seconds
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Methane to Methanol

Methane is 20 times worse than C02 as a greenhouse gas, so when it's created as a byproduct in oil rigs it's burned. This is better than releasing the methane into the atmosphere but it's not an ideal solution as it creates more C02. Jeroen Van Bokhoven and his team at ETH Zurich have found a new way to convert the methane into something cleaner, and a bit more useful. Tom Crawford found out what it's being turned it into Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/10/20174 minutes, 25 seconds
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Blood test for autism

Looking at biochemical markers found in blood samples of those with autism and those without, researchers are looking to develop a blood test that could serve as a diagnosis tool for autism spectrum disorders. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/20/20175 minutes, 57 seconds
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Dental detectives shed light on ancient diets

How the plaque found on the teeth of Neanderthals sheds light on their diets and lifestyles. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/10/20174 minutes, 54 seconds
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Making Goodwill Go Viral

Promoting social causes online can mobilise millions and raise huge sums of money. But it only leads to long term changes if the campaigns don't fizzle out prematurely. Social psychologist, Sander van der Linden, University of Cambridge, thinks he's found the formula for social media campaigns to be effective in the long run, detailing what he calls "viral altruism" in a study published in Nature Human Behaviour. Ricky Nathvani went to go find out exactly what it is... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/21/20174 minutes, 54 seconds
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The battery powered by stomach acid

A tiny sensor capable of transmitting information from inside the body and powered by stomach acid has been unveiled by US scientists. The device was tested in a pig over the course of a week wirelessly transmitting its body temperature every twelve seconds to an external receiver. The MIT and Harvard-based team behind the work, which was published this week in Nature Biomedical Engineering, say this represents a step towards safer, cheaper ingestible sensors that could even be used to dispense drugs inside the body. Dr Giovanni Traverso of the Brigham and Women's Hospital at Harvard Medical... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/16/20174 minutes, 16 seconds
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Sex-specific virulence in viruses

Some viral infections are more lethal in men than in women. This is usually linked to differences between male and female immune systems. However, mathematical modelling of the different ways some viruses can spread in men and women suggests it may, in fact, benefit the virus to tailor its aggression based on who it is infecting, as Vincent Jansen from Royal Holloway University explains to Tom O'Hanlon... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/8/20174 minutes, 26 seconds
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Plankton Change Genes to Combat Climate Change

2016 was another record-breaker in terms of global temperatures, and it's part of a longer-term trend which has seen 15 of the hottest years on record occur since 2001. One victim of this warming is the Artic, where sea ice is steadily retreating, which means that the habitats for species that live there are also radically altering. So are these organisms equipped to cope with the change? Thomas Mock, from the University of East Anglia, has been studying one marine species which use a genetic trick to achieve considerable resilience, as he explained to Tom Crawford... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/24/20174 minutes, 41 seconds
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Shark chemical wards off Parkinson's Disease

A chemical found in sharks can block the process that leads to Parkinson's Disease, scientists at Cambridge University have found. Know as squalamine, the substance prevents a protein called alpha-synuclein from accumulating on and damaging the membranes of nerve cells in the brain. Dosing with squalamine protected cells cultured in a dish as well as microscopic worms that have been genetically altered to make them develop a Parkinson's-like syndrome. Chris Dobson explains... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/23/20175 minutes, 12 seconds
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Big Brains Boost Deer

Us humans boast about our big brains but until now, evidence has been scant to suggest that animals also benefit from having larger brains. Cambridge University's Corina Logan measured the skulls of 1314 red deer from the Isle of Rum to see if the brainy stags and does were more successful. She explained her results to Naked Scientist Tom O'Hanlon... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/6/20175 minutes, 17 seconds
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Dissecting a Cheetah

What's your usual Thursday night out? The cinema maybe, or a gig? Well how about a live cheetah dissection at the Royal Veterinary College in London? Don't worry if that's not quite your cup of tea because we sent Connie Orbach along for you... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/19/20165 minutes, 33 seconds
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Climate 'Clamity'

As the saying goes, "if you don't learn from the past you're doomed to repeat it," or words to that effect; which is why understanding what has happened to the Earth's climate in the past is critical if we are to make accurate predictions about our the effects of climate change in future. So how might clams help? Well, they are among the oldest living animals on Earth, surviving for 500 years in some cases. Georgia Mills spoke to lead researcher David Reynolds from Cardiff University... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/15/20164 minutes, 43 seconds
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Antidote to Silent Killer

Carbon monoxide poisoning is the common form of poisoning worldwide. Just in the US tens of thousands of people are killed or hospitalised every year by this odourless and colourless gas, which in is boiler, stove and vehicle exhausts and is also produced during house fires. At the moment, the only treatment is oxygen, but it's not very effective and often is administered too late. Now researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have developed an antidote molecule that can circulate in the bloodstream and pull the carbon monoxide from tissues to make it safe. Mark Gladwin told Chris Smith how... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/14/20165 minutes, 51 seconds
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Does deforestation drive disease?

An area of rainforest the size of Panama is lost every year to deforestation and we know habitat loss is probably the leading factor driving extinction today. However, another potential problem could be an increase in certain disease-causing organisms which benefit from the changing habitat. Ecosystems are complex and changes to the conditions each species needs to survive can impact on each other and throw it out of balance. Aaron Morris, from Bournemouth University and the IRD in France, has been looking at how changes in the local environment have affected populations of the bacterium... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/12/20162 minutes, 41 seconds
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Dark Energy Mapped

Dark energy, the mysterious unknown entity which permeates all of space makes up 68% of the universe's total energy. Despite being such a large proportion of existence we still can't directly detect it. An international group of scientists is trying to map dark energy in our night sky. But how do you map something that you can't see and what precisely is dark energy? Liam Messin spoke to Joe Zuntz from the University of Edinburgh who is involved in the project Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/9/20165 minutes, 21 seconds
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A new dimension for graphene production

2D materials are objects that are only one or two atoms thick. Graphene is the most well known of these but many incredibly thin substances exist. These exotic materials are strong, flexible, semi-transparent and great conductors of electricity. But before they can be used in novel technologies we need efficient ways of making them. Graphite, as found in pencil leads, is made up of many layers of graphene and to isolate graphene all these layers have to be peeled away one by one until only a single layer is left. Researchers at UCL have found a new method of obtaining single 2D sheets from... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/7/20164 minutes, 39 seconds
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Bullying increases overweight risk

We've just come to the end of anti-bullying week and with 25,000 children using Childline's counselling sessions in 2015 to talk about bulling it clearly is still a problem for the UK. This problem appears to go beyond playground trauma with research published this week showing that bullied children are more likely to be overweight at age 18. The study's lead author, Jessie Baldwin, explained to Liam Messin what they did Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/18/20164 minutes, 22 seconds
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Malaria's drug-resistance genes found

Malaria parasites in Cambodia are showing resistance to the front line drug Piperaquine making current treatment useless and putting lives at risk. Dr Roberto Amato, and his team, uncovered the genetic basis for this resistance; he took Liam Messin through the study starting with how they collected parasite samples Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/16/20163 minutes, 58 seconds
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How to be an astronaut

When you were little did you ever dream of becoming an astronaut? Well Michael Foale did and he actually made it happen. Born in the UK Foale completed both his undergraduate and doctorate degrees in Cambridge before joining NASA and going on to become the most experienced UK-born astronaut. Well he was back in Cambridge to talk about his experiences at a Pint of Science event and Connie Orbach went along to find out how a UK lad got to be a NASA astronaut... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/15/20164 minutes, 47 seconds
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Quantum leaps in quantum technology

Quantum mechanics describes the properties of light, atoms and the even smaller particles inside atoms, like electrons and protons. On these tiny scales, we observe strange effects that contradict our everyday experience and we are beginning to harness these effects to build technologies that seemed impossible before. Kerstin Gpfrich went to the 2016 National Quantum Technologies Showcase in London to find out about the latest quantum leaps in quantum technology. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/11/20165 minutes, 58 seconds
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Bionic plant sensors

Plants can be good for the planet, nice to look at and often pretty tasty. But what if they were also high tech sensors that we could harness to detect harmful chemicals and even explosives in groundwater or the air around them? Michael Strano and his group from MIT have produced just such a "bionic" plant by engineering spinach plants to produce more, or less, infrared light in the presence of certain chemicals. Connie Orbach heard how... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/10/20162 minutes, 50 seconds
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Lunar Origins Explained

Compared to a lot of the objects in our solar system the Earth's Moon is a bit unusual. A new theory, published in the journal Nature, explains how the Moon got to where it is today. Professor David Rothery, from the Open University, wasn't on the paper but he took Liam through what Matja Cuk, the study's lead author had done. He started by explaining what makes the Moon such a space oddity... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/10/20164 minutes, 57 seconds
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Ice-free summers in the Arctic?

The Paris agreement is an international climate change treaty signed earlier this year by 192 countries and it aims to mitigate man-made global warming. It kicks in from this week. But will its targets be sufficient? Over half of the Arctic sea ice area has been lost in the past 40 years and we may yet lose all of it. That's according to a new study from the Max Plank Institute for Metrology in Hamburg. Kerstin Gpfrich spoke to study's author Dirk Notz. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/9/20164 minutes, 58 seconds
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Are aliens out there?

Now is there anybody out there? Or should I say is there anybody out there? Graihagh Jackson phones home to BBC broadcaster Dallas Campbell Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/8/20168 minutes, 1 second
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Non-invasive prenatal DNA screening

Conditions like Down's Syndrome, which are caused by babies carrying the wrong numbers of chromosomes in their cells, affect about one pregnancy in every 500. There are also many other inherited disorders that run in families but can't be diagnosed without a sample of the developing baby's DNA to test. But obtaining that DNA is risky; pregnant women have to undergo tests like an amniocentesis, where a needle is used to obtain cells from around the baby. When doctors do this, there can be up to a one per cent risk that the woman will have a miscarriage. These tests also cannot be performed... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/7/20165 minutes, 50 seconds
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How small lies escalate

White lies are widely accepted as an integral part of our everyday lives. And yet history has taught us how a series of small transgressions can snowball with detrimental outcomes. But can we really get desensitised to lying, and if so, what happens in our brains? Tali Sharot from University College London answered this question in her new study and Kerstin Gpfrich wanted to know more about it... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/27/20167 minutes, 23 seconds
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First ever fossilised dinosaur brain found

When most people think of dinosaurs they'll likely conjure up images of the stabbing teeth of the T-rex or the cutting claws of a Velociraptor but what about the squishy bits of dinosaurs? To find out more Liam Messin went to the University of Cambridge's Earth Science Department to speak with Dr Alex Liu. Alex was co-author of a recent study detailing a fossilised dinosaur brain. Liam started by asking Alex precisely what he and his colleagues have described in the paper Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/26/20165 minutes, 17 seconds
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UK opiate deaths double

According to the Office for National Statistics, the ONS, in England and Wales deaths involving heroin and morphine have more than double since 2012. The ONS say this is partially driven by a rise in heroin purity and availability over the last three years. Age, they say, is also a factor because heroin users are getting older and they often have other conditions, such as lung disease and hepatitis that make them particularly vulnerable. But are these the only reasons? John Middleton, president of the UK's faculty of public health, in an editorial in this week's British Medical Journal,... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/24/20164 minutes, 35 seconds
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Gender equality in STEM

We all know that men aren't really from Mars and women aren't really from Venus, we are both from Earth and there are more similarities between sexes and genders than there are differences. But, even after many decades of campaigning there are still issues with gender equality across many areas of life from equal pay for equal work to shared parental leave or even just differences in ways of working. One topic that's really important to us here at the Naked Scientists is the balance of men and women in STEM research, that's Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, so to delve into this a... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/23/20166 minutes, 11 seconds
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Practising Medicine

On the 13th of October Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge turned 250 years old. As an established teaching hospital, it trains hundreds of medical students with the final three years their time spent on clinical placements. Connie Orbach went to meet up with some of these students to hear how they're getting on. Starting with 4th year Keerthi Senthil who Connie grabbed on his lunch break, only weeks into his first placement on the wards... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/17/20169 minutes, 41 seconds
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A powerful duo against HIV

Over 35 million people worldwide are living with HIV. Treatments cost billions and don't come without significant side effects for the individual. Now, researchers from Emroy University may have found a new drug duo to eliminate the need for debilitating lifelong HIV treatments. Kerstin Gpfrich spoke to Prof Aftab Ansari to find out how it works... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/16/20165 minutes, 18 seconds
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Hospital Histories

Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge celebrated its 250th birthday this week. To find out more about the history of the renowned hospital, Georgia Mills was shown around the archives by Hilary Richie, uncovering stories of naughty nurses, torturous medical tools and deathbed champagne. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/13/20166 minutes, 9 seconds
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Balancing the methane budget

Levels in the atmosphere of the greenhouse gas methane released accidentally by the oil and gas industry might be up to 60% higher than climate scientists had budgeted for. A new method combining long term atmospheric measurements of methane levels with a way of fingerprinting where the gas has come from has enabled scientists at the University of Colorado to make more accurate predictions of the status quo. Grant Allen is an atmospheric scientist at the University of Manchester and wrote a commentary on the new study for the journal Nature, where it's been published this week. Chris Smith... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/9/20165 minutes, 22 seconds
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Genes linked to friendly dogs

What makes dogs man's - or woman's - best friend? Scientists in Sweden gave a pack of dogs an impossible task to do: pushing along a plate that was actually stuck to the floor. The dogs that sought help from their owners were set up a different way genetically from dogs that like to be more wolf-like and independent. Georgia Mills spoke to researcher Per Jensen to hear what he's sniffed out... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/6/20165 minutes, 28 seconds
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Bee Happy!

Now you'd "bee" forgiven for thinking that bees are just simple insects that buzz about collecting nectar and fertilising flowers. But it turns out they have emotions just like us. Chris Smith spoke to Clint Perry, who works at Queen Mary University of London... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/5/20165 minutes, 17 seconds
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Is the Bermuda Triangle really cursed?

For this week's mythconception, Kat Arney investigates the many mysteries surrounding the notorious Bermuda Triangle. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/4/20164 minutes, 12 seconds
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Are humans born violent?

There is a centuries old debate about violence between people - is it something we're born with, or a product of our environment? Understanding the causes of violence is important if we want to try and reduce it, and so there have been hundreds of social experiments trying to establish this. But this week, some scientists have taken a different approach, and looked across all mammals for answers, and found that throughout human ancestry, we have been becoming progressively more violent. Laura Brooks spoke to Professor Mark Pagel of the University of Reading, who had been looking into the... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/4/20165 minutes, 15 seconds
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Good fat fights bad fat

Since the 1970s scientists have condemned fats - or lipids - as the culprits that cause heart attacks. But while that's certainly true of some fats, it's not the case for all of them. Because one, called palmitoleic acid, can potently protect arteries against becoming clogged. When it's fed to mice it cuts their levels of arterial disease by over 30 per cent. Ebru Erbay, at Bilkent University in Turkey, is sufficiently impressed with the performance of palmitoleic acid on her mice that she now even eats it herself as she told Dr. Chris Smith. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/3/20165 minutes, 31 seconds
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Older drivers drive safely

We live in an increasingly mobile society, with many of us owning cars and driving around the place for all kinds of reasons - work, leisure, or visiting family perhaps. And this doesn't change as we get older, especially if we all have to keep working much later in life. But what does change is our ability to drive safely. Yet although there might be the perception that older drivers are less safe on the roads than younger ones, this actually isn't true, as Kat Arney found out when she spoke to Swansea University researcher Charles Musselwhite. She started by asking him why old people need to... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/14/201613 minutes, 20 seconds
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How pollution harms your lungs

Air pollution is a growing problem in many parts of the world, as is an increasing incidence of lung and breathing problems. Although the link is clear, it's not known exactly how air pollution damages our lungs at a molecular level. Kat Arney's been finding out. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/7/20164 minutes, 23 seconds
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Dawn of the Anthropocene

Is this the dawn of a new era? Or, more accurately, epoch? This week scientists internationally have been voting to create a new geological time defined by our human existence. They're dubbing it the Anthropocene and Chris Smith wanted to find out what it means for our present and our future Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/6/20166 minutes, 35 seconds
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Gold from garbage

How much gold have you got sitting in your desk drawer or up in the attic? Probably more than you think because a surprisingly large amount of the world's gold supply is tied up in old electronics. But getting it back out is chemically very tricky, meaning large amounts of the precious metal is actually ending up in landfill! Maybe not for much longer though, because researchers from the University of Edinburgh have developed a chemical solution to the problem, as Connie Orbach heard from Professor Jason Love Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/5/20165 minutes, 30 seconds
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The secrets of Ceres

NASA's space probe Dawn has been orbiting the dwarf planet Ceres, which sits between Jupiter and Mars, for the past eighteen months. The probe is sending back data on this small body, which we previously knew almost nothing about. Last week, a whole constellation of papers detailing Dawn's discoveries were published in the journal Science. Laura Brooks asked David Rothery, Professor of Planetary Geosciences at the Open University, to take her through the results... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/4/20163 minutes, 51 seconds
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See-through rats bare their brains

Scientists often study disease by examining thin sections of biological tissue under a microscope - a bit like watching a film in 2D. That's fine for some, but an organ like the brain is really complex, with neurons crisscrossing left, right and centre. Cutting it into thin sections to study diseases like dementia means you lose all that complexity. In an ideal world then, scientists would be able to don 3D glasses and see the intact brain. Fortunately, Ali Ertuerk and his team at LMU Munich's Acute Brain Injury Research Group have found how to make a whole rat see-through, and image its... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/25/20164 minutes, 49 seconds
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Meet the Octobot - the soft robot octopus

Imagine a robot. I'm guessing, after decades of droids and terminators, that the machine you're picturing is something metal, rigid and human-shaped. But this type of robot can only do so much. What we need are soft-skinned robots and this is precisely what a team of Harvard University researchers have built: an autonomous, 3D printed octopus-shaped soft robot nicknamed "octobot." Lucka Bibic spoke with Michael Wehner about their latest invention Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/24/20165 minutes, 5 seconds
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Empathy speeds up learning

Although empathy is often associated with traits like helpfulness and generosity, not a lot is known about how helpful behaviour and empathy might be linked in the brain. Now, scientists have pinpointed part of the brain thought to drive us to learn how to be more helpful. The findings also suggest that people with higher levels of empathy are quicker to learn what they need to do to help. Patricia Lockwood and her team measured participants' brain activity in an MRI scanner while they tried to win money - either for themselves, or for another person, as she explained to Laura Brooks... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/22/20164 minutes, 23 seconds
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Why does female fertility fall with age?

It's a well-known fact that, as a woman ages, her chances of falling pregnant drop. And this seems to be driven by a fall in the quality of the eggs that she produces. Why this happens though, in an otherwise healthy individual, is a mystery. Now Francesca Duncan, who studies female fertility at Northwestern University, has discovered that older ovaries contain large amounts of fibrous tissue produced by inflammation, and this appears to be harming the ability of the ovary to nurture healthy eggs Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/11/20165 minutes, 11 seconds
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Sunflowers dance to their own beat

It's summertime and fields are filled with sunflowers, devotedly following the rising sun. But why do they do it? This is a question that scientists at the University of California, Davis, have striven to answer and Dr Stacey Harmer thinks she has the answer as she explained to Lucka Bibic... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/10/20164 minutes, 46 seconds
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Dinosaurs stuggled with arthritis

For the first time, scientists have found a type of arthritis in dinosaurs and this is important because these creatures have an amazing ability to heal themselves from diseases that would normally kill you and me. So, if we can look to animals like this, we might come up with a way to aide and abet healing in groups such as our own, the mammals. Graihagh Jackson caught up with Dr Jennifer Ann, who made the discovery Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/9/20165 minutes, 48 seconds
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Great Red Spot storm warms up Jupiter

Jupiter is the largest planet in our Solar System - a massive 318 times heavier than Earth - and it has been quite the 'hot spot' for news recently. NASA's Juno probe entered into orbit around Jupiter at the beginning of July, while in a new finding, it appears the famous 'Great Red Spot' is kicking up a bigger storm than first imagined. Telescope in hand, Claire Armstrong sought to catch a glimpse of the gas giant in the night sky, as explained by NASA's Jack Connerney and David Rothery from the Open University. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/8/20166 minutes, 48 seconds
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Zika vaccine breakthrough

Cases of Zika virus infection in Florida are continuing to rise, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have issued travel advice urging pregnant women not to travel to certain parts of the country. The good news is that scientists testing three new types of Zika vaccine have found that they all work safely and rapidly in monkeys. One of the vaccines is made from killed virus grown in culture, another is based on a small piece of DNA containing the genetic information coding for the outer coat of Zika, and the third is made by adding part of that same outer coat to a common cold... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/8/20164 minutes, 39 seconds
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Data Mining Helps Pneumonia Diagnosis

Childhood pneumonia is the number one killer of children under the age of five worldwide. The disease is a particular challenge for those living in developing countries, where there is a lack of clinical expertise and appropriate equipment to diagnose the disease. Adopting a technique called machine learning, scientists at Oxford University have taken clinical data from children with pneumonia to 'teach' a machine to identify critical symptoms and diagnose future cases. This machine can be something as easily distributed as a mobile phone, giving those who don't have easy access to doctors... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/4/20164 minutes, 26 seconds
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New anti-cancer patch

One in 20 people develop colorectal cancer in their lifetime, making it the second-most common form cancer in Europe. Surgery is an option for treatment, but this can result in incomplete removal of the tumour. Now, researchers from MIT have developed a hydrogen patch with three types of therapy applied directly to the tumour itself. Their anti-cancer patch was tested on lab mice and caused the cancer to go into complete remission. Lucka Bibic attempted to uncover some of the patch's secrets from researcher Dr Natalie Artzi from MIT... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/3/20164 minutes, 16 seconds
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Chewing robot lives on a paleodiet

Researchers at the University of Helsinki have developed a chewing robot to study the tie between tooth wear and the dietary patterns of animals. Their shiny stainless-steel chewing machine with 3D printed parts can now show how the paleodiet of the animals and their tooth wear rate affected their lifespan as Aleksis Karme explained to Lucka Bibic. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/20/20164 minutes, 21 seconds
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Power of positive thought

People who feel well tend to live well. They have a better immunity against infections and lower susceptibility to ill-health. Stress and depression, on the other hand, are linked to poorer functioning of the immune system, weaker responses to vaccination and, overall, higher rates of morbidity. But how a healthy mind makes for a healthy body wasn't known. Now, by artificially stimulating the reward circuitry in the brains of mice, scientists in Israel have shown that one of the nerve pathways in the body - called the sympathetic nervous system - can directly manipulate the immune system.... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/12/20163 minutes, 44 seconds
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Electronic nose senses pesticides and terrorism threats

The most sensitive "electronic nose" ever has been built by scientists in Belgium. The portable "E-nose" uses spongy structures called metal-organic frameworks to pick up minute traces of molecules including harmful nerve gases. Lucka Bibic spoke to inventor Rob Ameloot... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/11/20165 minutes, 15 seconds
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Royal Society Summer Exhibition

It's summertime again and along with ice cream, sunburn and our other favourite British traditions, it's time for the Royal Society's Summer Science Exhibition, in London. We've been to see what's been going on Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/10/20167 minutes, 21 seconds
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Cyborg Cardiac Patch

A system for growing heart cells on a microscopic silicon grid that can eavesdrop on their electrical behaviour is giving scientists a much clearer picture of how the heart works and providing a way to test new drugs much more safely. Long term it could lead to the creation of a cardiac repair patch that could be "pasted in" to replace or control damaged heart tissue. The work's taking place in the lab of Harvard's Charles Lieber and he told Chris Smith about what they've been up to... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/7/20164 minutes, 29 seconds
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Getting every last drop

Days of squeezing the last drop from your shampoo bottles are over! Thanks to researchers from the US, we now have a material which allows sticky liquids to flow freely AND this has big implications for recycling, as Philip Brown explained to Lucka Bibic... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/6/20163 minutes, 42 seconds
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Life-saving helium discovery

Helium is the stuff that goes into party balloons and is also an essential ingredient in hospital MRI scanners. Most people have heard of helium but not many realise that we're in danger of running out of it. Luckily, Jon Gluyas from Durham University, has come up with a new way of finding it. Claire Armstrong spoke to him to hear how... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/5/20163 minutes, 21 seconds
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Juno probe plunges into Jupiter

Today, NASA's Juno spacecraft has plunged into uncharted territory, flying closer to Jupiter than we've ever been before. Graihagh Jackson spoke to co-investigator of the Mission, Professor Stan Cowley from Leceister University... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/4/20164 minutes, 54 seconds
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Two Zika vaccine candidates discovered

Back in February the World Health Organisation declared the zika virus epidemic in Brazil to be a public health emergency of international concern. At the top of the list was the link between Zika infection and babies being born with microcephaly or an abnormally small head. Now scientists in the US have taken the first steps towards developing a much-needed vaccine, which they've so far tested successfully on mice. Dan Barouch from Harvard University spoke to Chris Smith... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/3/20164 minutes, 46 seconds
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Mini-guts for testing cystic fibrosis theraphy

Cells collected from the intestines of patients with the disease cystic fibrosis can be grown in the laboratory dish to produce balls of cells that scientists are calling mini guts. These can be used to test a series of new cystic fibrosis drugs that are now entering the clinic. But because these agents don't work on everyone, finding out who will benefit can mean a laborious trial for the patient. Mini guts on the other hand take just a few weeks to grow and give results in just days or hours. Jeffrey Beekman, from the Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, Utrecht, invented the technique... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/29/20165 minutes, 15 seconds
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Silky sounds - making violins from silk

When it comes to making musical instruments, there's as much science in today's violins as there is art. While many manufacturers around the world are still creating wooden violins, others are turning to alternative materials such as carbon fibre. But, as Kat Arney discovered, the natural world may provide even more options for making instruments with exciting new sound properties. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/29/20165 minutes, 1 second
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Solar powered jet makes historic crossing

Solar Impulse is a unique plane, powered not by jet fuel, but solar energy and it is currently on a record-breaking tour around the world. But how does that plane work and what is it like to fly? What happens when the sun begins to fade and the nigh falls over the ocean? Can a solar plane keep flying? Lucka Bibic caught up with co-pilot Andre Borschberg to ask about his green aviation mission. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/29/20165 minutes, 3 seconds
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Iron Up Against Heart Failure

Chronic Heart Failure is the inability of your heart to effectively pump blood around your body and affects over half a million people in the UK alone. So what causes it and could treatments lie in something as simple as iron? Doctor Paul Kalra is a cardiologist from Portsmouth Hospital and he gave Chris Smith the lowdown. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/21/20165 minutes, 24 seconds
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Sudden cardiac death in the young

Sudden cardiac death in the young, that's an apparently healthy person dying unexpectedly from heart-related issues under the age of 35, is rare but devastating. It is also something of a mystery to many scientists. So how can we try to prevent young people from dying unexpectedly like this? Could genetic screening be the answer? Georgia Mills caught up with Michael Ackerman, from the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, at the British Cardiovascular Society Conference 2016. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/15/20166 minutes, 11 seconds
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Turning Carbon Dioxide Into Stone

Carbon dioxide is a problematic greenhouse gas contributing to global warming. Power plants are major emitters of carbon dioxide, but unfortunately, current methods of capturing and storing excess carbon dioxide have not been very effective. Only a small amount of carbon dioxide actually gets stored permanently. But researchers at Columbia University have demonstrated that their unique carbon capture and storage process can actually convert carbon dioxide into environmentally friendly limestone in less than two years. Fanny Yuen spoke with Dr. Juerg Matter to hear more about his pilot study. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/10/20163 minutes, 47 seconds
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The Longest Tunnel Ever Built

On June the 1st, Switzerland announced the opening of the world's longest tunnel. Called the Gotthard tunnel, it runs under the Alps to link Northern and Southern Europe; and at 57.5 km, it's fair to say, you certainly wouldn't be able to see the light at the end of it! Our resident technology expert Peter Cowley talked Connie Orbach through the project. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/7/20164 minutes, 11 seconds
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Immune System Surprisingly Adaptive

Immune cells are essential to the maintenance and repair in our bodies. However, an over-active immune system can lead to diseases such as arthritis, chronically inflamed wounds and atherosclerosis. Therefore, it is imperative to understand and carefully control our immune system activity. Our innate or non-specific immune system, acts as our body's first line of defence, these cells quickly reach the site, form a barrier, remove foreign material, and activate our more sophisticated adaptive immune system. Until now these non-specific immune cells were believed to have no memory and act in a... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/6/20164 minutes, 31 seconds
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Fish Prefer Pastic Over Food

Earlier this year, the US banned microparticle beads from personal care products, but Europe has yet to follow suit. Now, researchers from Uppsala University are increasing the urgency as for the first time, they have been able to show that fish actually prefer to eat microplastic particles rather than their own food of zooplankton, causing disastrous effects to their survival. Fanny Yuen and spoke with Dr. Oona Lnnstedt to better understand the issue. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/6/20163 minutes, 35 seconds
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Universal Cancer Vaccine

A vaccine that can teach the immune system to attack any type of cancer is being developed and tested by scientists in Germany. Cancer affects one person in every three. It's caused by genetic damage to our cells, which leads them to grow in an uncontrolled and invasive way. But because the cancer cells are part of our own body, the immune system normally ignores them because they're regarded as non-hostile. What Ugur Sahin and his colleagues are doing is to identify a series of chemical markers that are unique to a patient's cancer cells and then turn these into a genetic message that is... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/5/20164 minutes, 39 seconds
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Does salt increase blood pressure?

As a nation, the UK are above the intake guidelines for salt, which, for an adult, is 6g per day. To put that into perspective, there's about half a gram in a small packet of crisps, or one ham and cheese sandwich. But what does salt do to our insides? Viknesh Selvarajah from Addenbrooke's Hospital, in Cambridge, researches the impacts of salt and has a very unique perspective on the effects of high blood pressure, as he explained to Chris Smith. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/26/20169 minutes, 22 seconds
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Botox Effects are More than Skin Deep

Botox is a popular cosmetic treatment where Botulin toxin-A injections paralyse your facial muscles, which relaxes smile lines and makes your skin appear younger. In comedies, it is often joked about for giving patients frozen expressions. But now, researchers say that having Botox not only makes your face difficult to read, but also impairs your ability to read the emotion of others. This stems from the theory of embodiment. For a person to process an emotion that they see, they are required to mimicking that emotion. When we see our friend smile, our face automatically smiles a little as... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/22/20163 minutes, 51 seconds
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Boiling Frogs?!

This week we're tackling a myth sent in by listener Tim who says, "For many years I heard management gurus talking about the boiling frog syndrome.If you throw a frog into a pot of hot water it will immediately jump out. But If you put it in cold water and slowly heat it, it will boil to death " He also adds "Please don't harm any frogs disproving it!" Fortunately for Tim - and the frogs - someone has already done this experiment, or at least got as close to it as they feel ethically able to, without actually boiling any frogs alive. Kat Arney gets into hot water finding out... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/19/20163 minutes, 47 seconds
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500 Years of Robots

Robots are everywhere, from the machines that work in factories to pop culture icons like the Star Wars droids BB8, R2D2 and C3PO. but this is nothing new. Humans have been creating robots for centuries, and a new exhibition at the Science Museum in London will be showcasing our love of these Metal Mickeys, although sadly we'll have to wait until next year for it to open. Kat Arney went along to get a sneak preview of one of the shining metal stars of the show, and also to the exhibition's human curator, Ben Russell. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/18/20164 minutes, 21 seconds
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Mouse Model Shows Zika Causes Birth Defects

On February 1, 2016, the World Health Organization declared Zika virus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern with the virus' continued spread through the Americas. Zika, which was previously considered to be fairly harmless, has been linked to birth defects and miscarriages in a dramatic shift that scientists are unable to explain. However, we are now one step closer to understanding this virus as the development of a new mouse model may have solved one piece of the puzzle. Connie Orbach spoke to lead researcher Michael Diamond from Washington University in St Louis. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/15/20165 minutes, 12 seconds
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The Maths of Gambling

From maths hacks to poker playing bots, could there be a science to help you win big at the casino? Georgia Mills has been practising her poker face with help from Adam Kucharski... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/15/20166 minutes, 58 seconds
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New link in how life began

The origins of life on earth has been a mystery since, well since life began. Researchers from Germany this week have found a crucial link in explaining how we got from the soup of chemicals on early earth to the very first cell, lending support to the so called RNA world theory. Lead researcher Professor Thomas Carell spoke to Emma Sackville about what RNA theory is and how their research supports it... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/15/20163 minutes, 43 seconds
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Limbs from Gills?

Could limbs have evolved from fish gills? While it might sound fishy, scientists from the University of Cambridge have discovered that the same genetic programme, triggered by a gene called Sonic Hedgehog, is involved in the development of limbs, fins and gills. The idea that the formation of gills and legs might be linked is actually not a new one and was first proposed more than a century ago based on the similarities in appearances of the two structures, but scientists abandoned the notion as fanciful thinking. Connie Orbach went to see researcher Andrew Gillis, who has discovered that the... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/24/20165 minutes, 11 seconds
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Archaeology Undisturbed?

In Archaeology is it better to keep an object in the ground or dig it up? Connie Orbach spoke to curators of the Fitzwilliam Museum's Death On The Nile exhibition Helen Strudwick and Julie Dawson and physicist Nishad Karim to find out how techniques from physics are allowing us to visualise objects without damaging them... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/20/20166 minutes, 52 seconds
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Brains: the bigger the better?

Humans are awesomely clever, right? We've colonised the world, manipulated our environment, developed incredible technology and can even make brilliant science radio shows like this one. And it's all thanks to the squishy grey stuff in our skulls - our brains. It's often said that humans have unusually big brains, which explains our exceptional intelligence, but it turns out that may not strictly be true. Kat Arney looks at the popular myth that a bigger brain means a higher level of intelligence... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/19/20163 minutes, 17 seconds
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Will your doctor be prescribing LSD soon?

The drug LSD, or lysergic acid diethylamide, was first made in the 1930s in Switzerland by chemist Albert Hoffman, who also tried the agent on himself and described his psychedelic experience. LSD was widely used until the 1960s when it was made illegal, so very little research has actually been done using modern neuroscience techniques to look at how LSD affects the brain and how it might be useful therapeutically. Until now, that is. Imperial College's Robin Carhart-Harris has been administering the drug to volunteers, as he explained to Chris Smith... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/17/20165 minutes, 49 seconds
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Have STIs led to monogamy?

We might have sexually transmitted infections to thank for our modern-day monogamous society, according to a new study from Canada this week. Between ten and fifteen thousand years ago, as agriculture was established and humans swapped a hunter gatherer lifestyle for life in larger group settlements, our ancestors also appear to have embraced monogamy - having a single partner, rather than multiple wives. Mathematician Chris Bauch has designed a computer simulation that suggests that, as populations increase in size, the threat of sexual disease drives the switch to monogamy, and the desire to... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/17/20164 minutes, 47 seconds
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Invisible allies: the future of satellites

Without satellites operating above us, we would be in considerable trouble; even ATM machines don't work without them! So this week, Graihagh Jackson has been at the Royal Academy of Engineering, where leaders in satellite and space technology have been meeting to discuss what's up there Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/25/20164 minutes, 40 seconds
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New Horizons reveals Pluto's secrets

This week, we've had a first glimpse at the wealth of data sent back by the New Horizons probe, which reached Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, last summer. Open University space scientist David Rothery has been taking a look at the papers charting some of the discoveries, which were unveiled this week in the journal Science, and he went through the findings with Chris Smith... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/23/20164 minutes, 48 seconds
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New stroke rehabilitation technique

Strokes are a major cause of permanent disability and they affect millions of people every year. The cause is usually a lack of blood flow to one part of the brain, which destroys the affected brain area and robs the victim of the ability to perform whatever tasks that brain area used to process. But an electrical current applied to the head for a short time, even years after a stroke, appears to open up new circuits in the brain, restoring some of the lost abilities, as Oxford University's Heidi Johansen-Berg explained to Chris Smith... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/22/20165 minutes, 15 seconds
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ExoMars spacecraft launches successsfully

ExoMars 2016 launched successfully last week, but why are we going back to the red planet? This mission aims to seek out methane, which could be a crucial clue to whether there is life on Mars. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/21/20164 minutes, 8 seconds
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What's killing the bees?

It is that time of year again when we should start to see bees buzzing around gardens but populations of bees have been declining recently as disease and lack of food stores are hitting them hard. With a third of global food supply coming from crop species that are to some extent dependent on bees it's important that we halt this decline. Felicity Bedford went to Cambridge University's King's College to meet Kristen Treen, who looks after the honeybees there, and see how their beehives have been getting on this winter Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/26/20165 minutes, 53 seconds
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Coercion - It's easy to be bad

Back in the 1960s, US researcher Stanley Milgram stunned the world with a study showing that members of the public were prepared to inflict potentially lethal electric shocks on supposedly innocent volunteers, if a lab-coated scientist ordered them to do so. In fact the recipients of the shocks were actually actors, who escaped unharmed. Milgram's experiments raised many ethical questions - not least about whether it was right to do them at all - and Patrick Haggard from UCL is now trying to find out to what extent people feel a sense of responsibility or control when they're ordered to do... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/25/20165 minutes, 50 seconds
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Game changing cancer cure?

Results that scientists are describing as "unprecedented" in the treatment of cancer have been announced at a conference this week. A team led by Stanley Riddell, a researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in the US, have developed a method to reprogramme the immune system to selectively target cancer cells. This means that, unlike traditional chemotherapy, which can't tell healthy and tumour tissue apart - and this is what causes unpleasant side effects - the immune system acts with surgical precision, selectively weeding out rogue cancer cells while leaving healthy tissue... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/24/20165 minutes, 34 seconds
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Mapping climate change

Many people make the assumption that climate change means that places will become warmer; and indeed some will. But more important in some ways is how the climate in a particular geography might become more variable. Because, if the temperatures, cloud cover and rainfall become less predictable and operate over a greater range than they have historically, this could affect how the ecosystems - the web of plant and animal life - in those areas can operate. And this week scientists took the first steps towards studying whether this is a real risk and highlighting those areas we need to worry... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/19/20163 minutes, 38 seconds
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Here Comes Science: They Might be Giants

American band They Might be Giants, famous for charting singles 'Birdhouse in your Soul' and 'Istanbul', have also made an album all about science. It's called 'Here Comes Science', and aims to teach children about things like biology and physics, featuring songs like 'My Brother the Ape' and 'I Am a Paleontologist'. The band dropped by Cambridge as part of a tour promoting their new album 'Glean', so Naked Scientist Georgia Mills took the opportunity to speak to founding member John Linnell about songs, science and controversy... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/18/20163 minutes, 19 seconds
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Gravitational Waves Discovered!!

100 years after Einstein predicted them, scientists have finally discovered gravitational waves. For 25 years, hundreds of scientists across 16 countries have been trying to detect these elusive ripples and yesterday, the LIGO team announced they had finally detected them. Graihagh Jackson went to the announcement and met with the British scientists on the LIGO team... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/12/20162 minutes, 16 seconds
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Zika declared public health emergency

Last week, the outbreak of Zika virus in Brazil prompted the World Health Organisation to declare a global health emergency. The virus is spreading fast and has been linked to microcephaly, in which children are born with underdeveloped brains. Consultant virologist Tim Wreghitt spoke to Chris Smith about the situation... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/10/20165 minutes, 26 seconds
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Gene editing human embryos

This week, a British researcher got the green light to genetically modify human embryos - this is the first time that gene editing has been approved in embryos. However, it hasn't been met with open arms by everyone, with some arguing this is the first step to 'designer babies.' Graihagh Jackson spoke to Geneticist Andrew Wood to find out what exactly gene editing involves... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/8/20163 minutes, 46 seconds
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What beached the sperm whales?

Sperm whales are renowned for being the biggest toothed whales of our seas, migrating thousands of miles every year. But this week, photos of cetacean carcasses were splashed across the media.16 of these majestic creatures have beached across the UK, the Netherlands and Germany Some arrived alive, some were already dead and there's a lot of speculation as to what caused it to happen Graihagh Jackson's been investigating with the help of marine ecologist Bill Amos Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/3/20164 minutes, 54 seconds
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Could conspiracy theories be true?

Science is full of conspiracy theories, the moon landings were faked and climate change is a hoax, but how many of them are likely to be true? Felicity Bedford spoke to Dr. David Robert Grimes from Oxford University who has given conspiracy theorists the benefit of the doubt and built a mathematical model to test whether, if these conspiracies were real, they would still be a secret... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/2/20165 minutes, 8 seconds
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Behind the scenes at Call the Midwife

Call the Midwife is one of the UK's best loved TV shows, and the new series has just started on the BBC. But as well as its empathetic characters and gripping story-lines, what makes the show special is its attention to detail when it comes to historical and medical accuracy, such as when it tackled the Thalidomide scandal from the late 1950s. Ginny Smith recently had the opportunity to visit the set of Call the Midwife and talk to those who make the show happen, both on and off the screen. She started by asking Executive Producer Dame Pippa Harris about just what it is that makes the show so... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/27/20165 minutes, 54 seconds
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Free radicals - a miracle cure?

Hibernating animals put their bodies through huge amounts of stress but seem to remain unharmed. Professor Rob Henning from Groningen University explained to Connie Orbach how mimicking their protective mechanisms might be the key to human health. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/25/20165 minutes, 46 seconds
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National Security Algorithm

The current threat level from terrorism in the UK and many other countries is set to severe, and police and security forces acknowledge that their jobs are being made much harder because today's terrorists have at their disposal a range of communications and social network tools to help them to form alliances, attract new recruits and orchestrate terror campaigns. But, the associations that terrorists make through these channels can also help to identify them, if police are able to screen this sort of data routinely. Most people, though, are justifiably concerned about privacy. Now Michael... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/18/20165 minutes, 12 seconds
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New Leukemia Therapy

Leukemia is a cancer of the white blood cells that normally fight infection. About one person in every 200 will develop the disease, a common form of which is called AML, or acute myeloid leukemia. At the moment it tends to have a relatively poor prognosis and over the past 40 years there have been relatively few new treatments for the disease. A bone marrow transplant is often the only chance an individual has. But this week an international team of scientists led by researchers in the UK announced the discovery of a new way to control the disease by blocking the signals that drive the growth... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/18/20165 minutes, 49 seconds
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Why Do Dogs Slurp So Sloppily?

Dogs drink in a very distinctive way, lapping up water and, more often than not, making a huge mess. But, until now, the exact way they did this has been a mystery. Thankfully, scientists at Virginia Tech wouldn't let sleeping dogs lie and they've worked out the physics behind how dogs drink. Georgia Mills caught up with lead researcher Sunny Jung, who explained how they did it. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/22/20154 minutes, 13 seconds
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COP21 The Results

"195 Nations Set Path to Keep Temperature Rise Well Below 2 Degrees Celsius" were the headlines issuing from Paris in the wake of the Conference of the Parties - or COP21 - meeting. So how will this be achieved, can it be achieved at all, what has the UK signed up to do? Manchester University climate scientist Alice Bows-Larkin was there to hear the verdict... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/21/20155 minutes, 1 second
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Tim Peake Rockets To Space

On Tuesday the UK Space Agency's first official astronaut, Tim Peake embarked on the trip of a lifetime to the International Space Station. The launch was broadcast live on the BBC and watched around the world. Connie Orbach went to join the celebrations at the Science Museum in London... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/21/20156 minutes, 6 seconds
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Science Breakthrough of the Year 2015

What was the most momentous bit of science that you heard about this year? Every December the journal Science asks its editorial staff this question and they eventually crown one discovery their "Breakthrough of the Year". Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/18/20158 minutes, 54 seconds
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Plants communicate to trade with fungi

A plant protein used to communicate with friendly soil fungi has been identified by Cambridge University scientists. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/18/20154 minutes, 7 seconds
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ARM: 25 years as Britain's biggest tech company

How an Acorn grew into, amongst other things, an Apple: What began as a business making home microcomputers now turns out the processing brain behind 95% of the world's smartphones. Mike Muller has been at the firm since its inception; he explained to Graihagh Jackson how he and 11 other engineers turned the business into one of the world's largest tech firms... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/15/20154 minutes, 47 seconds
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Can genetics help you stop smoking?

Researchers have linked a gene with your ability to stop smoking, but not all of the scientific community is in agreement... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/7/20154 minutes, 50 seconds
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Why loneliness can kill

People with the best social networks, who sing in choirs; play instruments; go to church and take part in team sports, all live longer and tend to be happier, studies have shown. People who feel lonely, or isolated, on the other hand, fare less well and are more prone to ill-health. Now a new study, published this week in the journal PNAS and examining the immune systems of lonely people and monkeys has revealed why this might be. John Capitanio revealed all to Chris Smith... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/2/20155 minutes, 14 seconds
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Sex addicts hooked by online porn

Compulsive sexual behaviour, more commonly known as sex addiction, is driven by the huge novelty provided by online material, a new study has found. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/1/20153 minutes, 56 seconds
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Supergenes can determine behaviour

The choices we make are often down to past experience and the circumstances, including picking partners. However, for a bird called the ruff, the way it picks up ladies is determined genetically. Some ruffs are territorial and impress using dramatic neck feathers. Less common are the 'girlfriend stealers' who display on the edge of territories and attempt to lure females away. Finally, female mimics or 'cross dressers' approach mates in disguise. Jon Slate from the University of Sheffield explains to Felicity Bedford how genetics played a part in the evolution of these complex behavioural... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/27/20153 minutes, 50 seconds
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Sounds to make you emotional

Music can have a huge impact on your emotions. Research published this week in PNAS has shown that if you apply the same sound properties that convey emotion in music and voices to environmental sounds such as a car engine they will also make people feel emotional. Daniel Bowling, a neuroscientist from the University of Vienna spoke to Rosalind Davies about what the researchers had done, and what these sound properties are. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/13/20154 minutes, 48 seconds
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Puberty Timing and Health

Can you remember when your voice broke? According to conventional wisdom most men can't, but women have very strong memories of their first period. This means that studies of puberty timing have struggled to investigate effects in men. However, new work from the University of Cambridge has shown that men have much more reliable memories than once thought as Dr Felix Day explained to Connie Orbach. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/13/20155 minutes
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How Random are DNA Mutations?

Cambridge has a rich history of making discoveries about DNA - the genetic code inside each and every one of us. In the 50s Watson and Crick announced that they had unravelled the structure of DNA - the famous double helix shape. Now, 60 years later, another Cambridge scientist - Bill Amos - has made a further DNA discovery - this time about the way the genetic code changes or mutates to allow evolution to happen, as he explained to Graihagh Jackson. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/11/20153 minutes, 35 seconds
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Cambridge Graphene Technology Day

Back in August we did a show all about the super material graphene. At the molecular level, a sheet of graphene looks a bit like chicken wire and is only a single atomic layer thick, if you were to pile up lots of these single layers you'd get graphite, just like the led in a pencil. For the first time in the UK more than 40 companies from around the world came together to show the latest in graphene related technologies. Connie Orbach went along to see what she could find and started by talking to Gaute Juliussen from the graphine production company Graphitene. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/11/20156 minutes, 39 seconds
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Can we prevent breast cancer?

At the beginning of November, Kat went up to Liverpool for the annual NCRI Cancer Conference, bringing together scientists, doctors, nurses, patients and more from the UK and around the world to talk about the latest progress, ideas and issues in cancer research. On the first night, the charity Breast Cancer Now hosted a heated debate discussing whether after spending so much money investigating the causes of breast cancer as well as treating it, it's now time to focus efforts on preventing the disease in the first place. Sarah Hazell, Senior Research Manager at Breast Cancer Now, gave Kat a... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/10/20155 minutes, 29 seconds
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How Healthy are E-Cigarettes?

E-cigarettes seem to be everywhere nowadays. Invented by a Chinese pharmacist and patented in 2004, they first went on sale in 2010 and are now the most popular way to quit smoking in the UK. But although there's no smoke, there's certainly a fire of controversy around e-cigs, as Kat Arney found out when she spoke to Linda Bauld, professor of health policy at the University of Stirling, who chaired a panel discussion about e-cigarettes at the NCRI Cancer Conference. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/9/20154 minutes, 37 seconds
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New Vaccine For RSV

Respiratory syncytial virus or RSV is a virus of the respiratory system that infects people of all ages during the winter causing colds, however in infants and young children it can lead to much more severe illnesses like pneumonia. Despite it's huge global impact we still don't have a vaccine for RSV and Dr Ruth Karron from John Hopkins University explains why to Chris Smith. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/9/20155 minutes, 2 seconds
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Eye drops to treat cataracts

Cataracts are caused when proteins inside the lens of the eye come together. It's a condition that clouds the vision of approximately one hundred and eighty million people worldwide, with surgery to replace the lens with a plastic one currently the only solution. Twenty million sufferers around the world are blind because they cannot access surgical treatments. But help could be on it's way, as a potential non-surgical treatment method has been described in the journal Science this week. It follows another advancement in cataract science published recently in Nature. Roy Quinlan from the... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/7/20154 minutes, 11 seconds
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The problem with childbirth

Despite the hundreds of thousands of babies born every day, we still know relatively little about childbirth and how hormones play their key roles in it. A stress hormone, known as cortisol, is involved in inducing labour in animals, but doesn't seem to work the same way in people. A paper this week published in Science Signalling has suggested a potential way cortisol does have a part to play in human childbirth. Georgia Mills caught up with Professor Joe Herbert, from Cambridge University, to discuss the study. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/30/20155 minutes, 4 seconds
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Frost prevented by new material

As Winter approaches in some parts of the world, so does the colder weather and the threat of ice on the roads and on your car windscreen. But help is at hand from Kansas State University's Alexander van Dyke. As he explains to Charis Lestrange, he's created what's known as a "biphilic" material that can stop frost from forming so easily on a surface. It consists of two types of material: one hydrophilic, which attracts water, and the other hydrophobic, or water-repelling. Placed in a certain pattern, these can keep water droplets moving so they don't have time to freeze... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/28/20152 minutes, 38 seconds
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Is personality linked to birth order?

There have been many exaggerated reports this week that birth order, whether you are a first or last born, affects how intelligent you will be compared to your siblings. However, the researchers at the University of Leipzig found that this difference in intelligence is very small and the more important finding was about birth order and personality. Charis Lestrange spoke with lead author Julia Rohrer to find out more. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/24/20154 minutes, 28 seconds
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Slippery steel that repels bacteria

Steel is used to manufacture a wide range of products from tiny surgical tools to huge ships. However, it can become corroded or contaminated when liquid comes into contact with it. A new method to coat steel with the compound tungsten oxide has been reported by researchers from Harvard University in Nature Communications this week. It enables liquid to slip off the surface while keeping the steel strong. Dr Ben de Laune, a materials chemist from the University of Birmingham, explains to Rosalind Davies why this is so important. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/24/20153 minutes, 29 seconds
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£21m for Engineering Grand Challenges

This week the UK science minister, Jo Johnson, was in Cambridge where he announced an initiative to pump 21 million into seven key research programmes intended to tackle some of the leading scientific and engineering challenges facing the world. The funding will come from the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the EPSRC. Professor Philip Nelson is the EPSRC's chief executive, and he spoke to Kat Arney about how the projects were selected... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/20/20154 minutes, 35 seconds
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Do people spread disease?

Every day millions of people are moving around the world by air, land and sea, but they may be bringing with them more than just their luggage. For example, during last year's ebola outbreak, there were concerns that air travel would spread the disease from west Africa to other countries, sparking a global pandemic. But were these worries justified? By studying the patterns of 187 diseases in 225 countries, Kris Murray and his team at Imperial College have discovered that it's geography, rather than air travel, that's the most important factor, as he explained to Kat Arney. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/8/20154 minutes, 56 seconds
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How are our lives are mapped on our brains?

The Human Connectome Project has collected data of hundreds of individuals ranging from brain imaging to genetic and lifestyle information. Now researchers from the University of Oxford have used this information to see how much our lifestyle choices and personality traits are reflected in our brains. Karla Miller explained their findings to Connie Orbach. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/8/20154 minutes, 30 seconds
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Getting high from marathon running

You know when after a run you feel great? Well previously scientists thought this runners' high was down to endorphins, but this may not be the case. Johannes Fuss from the University of Heidelberg found that mice that ran around all day felt less pain and less anxiety - key features of a runner's high. However, this feel good sensation wasn't down to endorphins, but endocannabinoids - the same chemicals that come from smoking cannabis! Rosalind Davies jogged on over to find out more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/8/20153 minutes, 6 seconds
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Extinct animal colours revealed

Fossils have long been used to help us piece together the size and shape of extinct animals, but the colours of these animals has, until now, been something of a mystery. Now researchers from the University of Bristol have detected the chemical signatures of the original melanin pigments in ancient bat fossils. Charis Lestrange spoke with Jakob Vinther to hear how... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/7/20153 minutes, 21 seconds
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Concussion and the Rugby World Cup

This week, with the Rugby World Cup in full swing, the sports chief medical officer, Martin Raftery has called for changes to be made to the rules in order to cut the number of concussions suffered by players. Concussion occurs when the brain is shaken around inside the skull. This damages nerve cells and blood vessels, and the effects of the damage are worse if a person is already suffering from a prior concussion. Finding ways to spot who is concussed, and when it's safe for them to play on, is a priority. Ginny Smith spoke to two scientists studying concussion. First, Michael Grey, from the... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/29/20155 minutes, 54 seconds
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Fidgeting could prolong your life

Sitting for long periods of time has long been associated with negative health effects and is thought to slow down your metabolism. However new research suggests that the movements linked with fidgeting could offset these negative effects. Charis Lestrange spoke with Professor Janet Cade about how fidgeting could potentially prolong your life. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/28/20153 minutes, 23 seconds
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A cooling layer for solar cells

Solar power is growing in popularity around the world, with huge solar farms springing up all over the place. Obviously, solar panels need as much sunlight as possible, but this also means that they heat up, limiting their efficiency at converting sunlight into electricity. This conundrum may now be solved, thanks to a clever coating designed by Aaswath Raman and his colleagues at Stanford University. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/28/20154 minutes, 34 seconds
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Extremely Large Telescope

Earmarked for 2024, the European- Extremely Large Telescope will be the biggest telescope in the world. The primary mirror is 39 metres across and capable of collecting as much light at once as all the other telescopes that mankind has ever built put together. The University of Oxford have been awarded the contract to build the telescope's new spectrograph, an instrument called HARMONI. Connie Orbach spoke to HARMONI'S principal investigator Niranjan Thatte to find out what it will do. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/27/20154 minutes, 42 seconds
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3D-printing body parts

Scientists have announced a revolution in 3D printing. Rather than building things up layer by layer, which is the traditional approach, University of Florida scientist Tommy Angelini prints things inside a gel material using a hollow needle. The gel contains tiny particles that mean it moves easily when pushed by the needle but otherwise remains as a solid, supporting whatever has been printed inside it. Right now it reproducibly prints tumours for testing anti-cancer drugs; long term, entire human organs look likely. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/25/20156 minutes, 3 seconds
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Paralysed man walks again

Scientists in America have helped a paralysed man to take his first steps in over 5 years. They've done it by developing a system that eavesdrops on the patient's brainwaves and can detect when he wants to walk. The computer then activates a stimulator system that can signal the patient's leg muscles to move, enabling him to stand, and then walk unaided. The device, which is the first of its kind, provides a way for patients paralysed by spinal cord injuries to bypass the roadblock preventing the flow of instructions from the brain to motor nerves and muscles and recover their ability to move.... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/24/20156 minutes, 4 seconds
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A new insight into parasites

You may never have heard of the disease lymphatic filariasis, but it affects 120 million people in 70 countries around the world, causing dramatic swelling of the limbs and other parts of the body, known as elephantiasis.It's caused by tiny parasitic worms, transmitted between people by mosquito bites, which can lie low in the body for many years, hiding from the immune system.But how do they do that? Kat Arney spoke to Michael Kimber from Iowa State University to find out. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/24/20155 minutes
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Good beetle parents die younger

Does being a good parent shorten your lifespan? It turns out the answer is yes, at least if you're a burying beetle. Results from researchers at The University of Cambridge published this week show that beetles can sacrifice their own fitness for the good of their offspring. Rosalind Davies went to speak to Professor Rebecca Kilner to find out more. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/23/20154 minutes, 40 seconds
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Does stress affect elephant fertility?

It has been found that endangered Asian elephants age faster and have fewer offspring if their mothers are stressed when they are born. Researchers at the University of Sheffield measured a hormone associated with stress to determine the time of year that the elephants most feel the pressure. Charis Lestrange spoke with lead author Hannah Mumby to find out more. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/22/20153 minutes, 53 seconds
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Lovey-dovey finches

People can spend their lives looking for love. We go on awkward dates and let our friends set us up with complete strangers. All in the hope of finding 'the one'.But what's the point of it all? Why do we bother? If all we're supposed to do is continue our species surely we're better off just picking someone half-decent and making do.Now scientists in Germany have found that, for zebra finches at least, there is a point to love... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/17/20154 minutes, 55 seconds
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Age related diseases associated with 'biological age'

Early intervention is likely to be critical for preventing many age-related diseases; but detecting these diseases at a sufficiently early stage to make a difference is often problematic. Now this may be about to change, because scientists in the UK have identified a molecular signature present in our cells that corresponds to our biological age - in other words, how well "lived in" our bodies are. Joanna Kerr spoke with researcher James Timmons to hear how it works... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/14/20154 minutes, 20 seconds
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Dusty farms protect children from allergies

A well known benefit of growing up on a farm is the reduced chance of developing allergies. Evidence shows that children who are exposed to a dusty farm environment from an early age have fewer allergies than those who don't. Now researchers have discovered that it is a special property of the dust found on dairy farms which protects the lungs from allergies. Sam Mahaffey spoke to Professor Bart Lambrecht from Ghent University to find out more Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/5/20154 minutes, 43 seconds
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Green Highways

This month, Cambridge based company Innovia Technology have taken charge of the "Mission Zero Corridor Project". This project aims to make a 12 mile stretch of highway in West Georgia completely sustainable, with no carbon footprint! This will be the first road of its kind, and hopefully will encourage others to jump on the carbonneutralbandwagon. The project is inspired by Ray C Anderson, the late CEO of a carpet manufacturing company in the USA. He aimed to reduce the carbon footprint of his company to zero a target they are on track to achieve by 2020. Andy Milton from Innovia Technology,... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/26/20153 minutes, 15 seconds
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Keeping clocks accurate

Getting accurate clocks is really important for all kinds of technologies, especially when monitoring the distant heavens. But even if the clock itself is accurate, how do you know that the right time is being transmitted across to other devices, so for example telescopes? David Gozzard from the University of Western Australia has found a new way to make sure that disturbances in the transmission from a clock are accounted for, meaning that multiple high-precision clocks aren't needed. He was speaking about his work at the Perth Science Festival, and Georgia Mills wasted no time in finding out... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/25/20152 minutes, 27 seconds
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Hidden memories explained

It's long been known that traumatic memories forged in stressful situations can lie buried in the subconscious, yet they can bubble to the surface unexpectedly, triggering strong reactions, flashbacks and more serious psychological problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Researchers have discovered that memories made under such conditions - or under the effects of drugs or alcohol - tend to only be recalled when a person is back in that state again: something known as state-based learning. By putting mice under the influence of a drug called gaboxadol, a team of scientists... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/24/20154 minutes, 15 seconds
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Dogs evolved with climate change not prey

In the UK we are a nation of dog lovers but how did man's best friend become the speedy, bouncy animal we know today? Well for a long time it has been thought that dogs got faster as their prey did, in a sort of arms race, but new research from Professor Christine Janis and a team at Brown University has shown that actually, long term climate change may have been the key. Connie Orbach finds out more. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/23/20153 minutes, 54 seconds
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Premature birth affects personality

New research has shown that babies born severely prematurely or underweight are likely to suffer in adulthood with a socially withdrawn personality. Amy Goodfellow met with Professor Dieter Wolke from the University of Warwick to find out more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/10/20154 minutes, 35 seconds
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GCSE success: it's in your genes

Scientists at King's College London have discovered that genetics makes an unexpectedly large contribution to children's GCSE grades across a wide range of subjects. Kat Arney met with Professor Robert Plomin to find out more. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/4/20154 minutes, 21 seconds
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A pill on a string!

About 8000 people in the UK develop a cancer in their oesophagus - the tube that connects the back of the throat to the stomach - every year. The majority of these people have detectable changes in the cells lining the oesophagus for many years before they develop the cancer. These changes are referred to as Barrett's oesophagus. But only a minority of people with Barrett's - which is actually relatively common - will actually go on to develop cancer, which makes screening for the disease an expensive headache. Now Rebecca Fitzgerald, a physician from Cambridge, has developed a sponge - packed... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/3/20156 minutes, 16 seconds
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Can de-worming really improve school attendance?

A decade ago a landmark study was published showing that treating Kenyan children for worm infections could increase their attendance at school, as well as bringing health benefits. Since then, many development agencies across Africa have taken the idea on board, as it seems like a cheap, effective and simple way to boost attendance. However,researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine have been taking a closer look at the original data, and found that the benefits of de-worming may have been overstated, as Alex Aiken explained to Kat Arney. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/2/20154 minutes, 14 seconds
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Music tastes linked with brain type

How does the way you think influence the music you choose to listen to? Scientists at Cambridge University have developed a test that marries up a person's personality traits including how empathic they are, and how systematically they think, with the tunes most likely to resonate with them. Tom Crawford went to see the lead researcher David Greenberg to discover what the test revealed about his own musical tastes... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/31/20154 minutes, 40 seconds
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Sugary drinks increase diabetes risk by 20%

Fizzy drinks are often very high in sugar, and doctors suspect that they're likely to be linked to the growing rates of obesity in many countries. Now, by bringing together data from all of the previously published studies in the world, public health doctor Nita Forouhi has uncovered a strong link between sugary drinks and type 2 diabetes. In fact, as she explained to Amy Goodfellow, regularly consuming one sugar-rich drink boosts your diabetes risk by up to 13 per cent... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/30/20154 minutes, 46 seconds
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Rocket-powered Punting

Punting is one of the most typically 'Cambridge' of activities, with hundreds of tourists being punted lazily along the river Cam at any one point during summer. Now, though, the Cambridge Science Centre has decided to liven things up a little with a rocket-powered punt, running on Chelsea buns from local cafe Fitzbillies. Yes you read that correctly! James Farr spoke to John London, the world's first 'punt-onaut' Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/30/20154 minutes, 23 seconds
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Growing Human Hearts

Growing a human heart from a single cell may seem like science fiction, but scientists at the Gladstone Institute at the University of California San Francisco, have taken a huge step forward, by producing the first three-dimensional, beating, human heart chamber. Previously, it had been possible to produce a two dimensional sheet of beating heart cells, but to really gain an understanding of heart formation in a developing foetus and perhaps more importantly, how drugs given to women during pregnancy may affect this development, a three dimensional structure was needed. By treating stem cells... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/23/20153 minutes, 29 seconds
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Volcanoes may have ended the Roman Empire

Volcanic eruptions can be both beautiful and destructive at the same time, but now scientists have found evidence they may have also been linked to plagues, and even the fall of the Roman Empire. When a volcano erupts, chemicals are released into the atmosphere in huge quantities, which reflect light away from the earth and therefore cause climate change, in the form of summer cooling. These chemicals are also locked away in the ice, providing a snapshot of the time of an eruption. Now scientists have dated the ice cores, and the records of summer cooling, from tree rings and have found they... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/16/20154 minutes, 32 seconds
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Benefitting medically from marijuana

Marijuana has a reputation for helping people who are in pain. But achieving the analgesic effect comes at a cost: users of the drug complain of memory loss and mood disturbances. Now, by identifying the pathway in the brain that is responsible for these psychoactive side effects, University of East Anglia researcher Peter McCormick has found that in experimental mice it's possible to isolate just the pain killing actions Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/14/20154 minutes, 13 seconds
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Climate change is bad news for bees

It's hard to miss the fact that bees are in trouble, with worrying news of colony collapse disorder devastating bee numbers, and concerns about the effects of pesticides on our most important pollinators. Now there's something else for our buzzing friends to worry about: climate change! Jeremy Kerr and his colleagues at the University of Ottawa have been using museum specimens to track how bee populations have shifted over the past century. What they've discovered is that bees and climate change don't mix... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/13/20154 minutes, 10 seconds
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Why do our brains age?

One of the key factors that makes the brain age has been uncovered by scientists in the US. Young mice infused with the blood of older animals developed a drop in their cognitive abilities. This is down to a chemical made by the immune system called beta2-microglobulin. Why it has this pro-ageing effect, we don't know; but, encouragingly, removing it reverses cognitive decline, and promotes the growth of stem cells throughout the body and brain. Chris Smith spoke to Saul Villeda and the University of California, San Francisco to find out more.... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/13/20155 minutes, 16 seconds
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Predicting depression and anxiety

More than a quarter of people are affected by anxiety or depression each year. But are some people more at risk than others? By studying groups of rhesus monkeys, Dr Ned Kalin from the University of Wisconsin in Madison found that individuals displaying a trait known as "anxious temperament" may be up to 50% more likely to go on to develop anxiety disorders later in life, and the same seems to be true in humans... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/12/20154 minutes, 55 seconds
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RoboCabs: the key to curbing emissions?

How does being driven around in a robotic taxi grab you? Currently, cars contribute 13% to our greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. However, a new study has found that were we to switch to using a fleet of electrified, autonomous taxis - dubbed "robocabs" - we could reduce our emissions to next to nothing.Graihagh Jackson debated the merits of these self driving vehicles with the author of the study, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Jeffrey Greenblatt... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/12/20155 minutes, 10 seconds
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Men and women may feel pain differently

It's an age-old debate, who feels more pain, men or women? Scientists at McGill University have taken us one step closer to answering this question with a study using mice. Jeff Mogil and his team have discovered that the biological pathway that causes chronic pain is completely different in male and female mice. If the same is found to be true in humans it could lead to gender specific, or 'his n' hers', painkillers in the not too distant future. Tom Crawford spoke to Jeff Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/3/20154 minutes, 37 seconds
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What do fish and aircraft have in common?

What do fish and aircraft have in common? Well, water and air are both fluids. And when fish move their tails and bodies from side to side, they push against the surrounding water and leave behind a mini whirlpool or vortex, which contains information about the drag forces experienced by the fish as it moved along. And if you can wind back the events that produced the vortex you can work out how it formed in the first place and therefore how much drag the fish felt. This is what Florian Huhn, from the German Aerospace Centre, has managed to do. And because aeroplanes produce very similar... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/2/20152 minutes, 35 seconds
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Just give me a second...

Rejoice because at midnight tonight, a second will be added to clocks across the world. Seeing as you now have all of this extra time, here's Naked Scientist Tom Crawford with everything you need to know about the leap second... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/29/201559 seconds
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PPI's Increase Heart Attack Risk

One of the world's most widely-used classes of drugs could significantly increase your risk of suffering a heart attack; that's according to a new study by researchers at Stanford University, in California and published in PloS One this week. Nick Leeper and Nigam Shah used a computer programme to identify patients who were using so-called proton pump inhibitors or PPIs; these block stomach acid production so they're useful for treating conditions like heartburn. But there might be serious side effects, as Nick Leeper explains to Chris Smith... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/22/20154 minutes, 35 seconds
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75 million year-old Dinosaur Cells found

While Jurassic World may be wowing the crowds at the cinema, a new study from researchers at Imperial College has been making waves in the world of real-life dinosaurs. Although scientists have previously found evidence for soft tissues, such as blood, in very well-preserved dinosaur fossils, this has been controversial. Now cutting-edge microscopy techniques have revealed what looks like blood cells and even protein fibres in fossilised bones dating back 75 million years. Kat Arney took a trip to the Natural History Museum to meet the fossils - as well as researcher Susannah Maidment - to dig... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/21/20155 minutes, 8 seconds
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Hawkmoths Shadowy Existence Uncovered

Hawkmoths live a shadowy existence; they stick their tongues down the flowers' neck, all the while being tossed about in the wind. And as if that wasn't enough, they do it all in the pitch black. With tiny brains and even tinier eyes - they seem to defy what's physically possible. So how do they do it? Simon Sponberg has uncovered the secret and explained his findings to Graihagh Jackson Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/21/20154 minutes, 42 seconds
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Self-unrolling Brain Implant

Scientists in the US have developed a new brain implant that can be used to record information from nerve cells, and also to transmit signals into the nervous system, to stimulate parts of the brain. Unlike existing electrode devices, which can trigger a scar to form around the implant that eventually prevents it from working, the new device is made from a polymer-coated nickel mesh resembling miniature chicken wire, which can be rolled up before it is introduced into the brain. Chris Smith spoke to Harvard's Charles Lieber... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/21/20153 minutes, 57 seconds
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Exploring Saturn's Newest Ring

Saturn is one of the most well-known planets in the solar system, perhaps owing to its distinctive set of rings. The largest of these rings, the H-ring, was only discovered as recently as 2009 and cannot be seen from Earth. Now, using images taken by NASA's WISE spacecraft, scientists at the University of Maryland have given us the first insights into the structure and formation of Saturn's outermost ring. Thomas Crawford spoke to lead researcher, Doug Hamilton, to try to remove the shroud around Saturn's most mysterious ring... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/14/20154 minutes, 52 seconds
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Ending Earthquakes With Water

Earthquakes occur at faults, or fractures, in the Earth's crust - where two big slabs of rock meet. Movement under the surface tries to push the rocks past each other but the rough edges get stuck together until enough stress builds up to jerk them past each other - and this violent jerking can cause devastating quakes. But a new instrument, and an experiment in France, has shown that we might actually be able to relieve this stress using fluid injection, as Jean-Philippe Avouac explains to Heather Douglas Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/11/20154 minutes, 46 seconds
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Coffee staves off depression

Coffee is an essential part of life for many of us, but could it help to cut depression? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/11/20157 minutes, 16 seconds
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Sequencing Schizophrenia

The specific genes that cause schizophrenic symptoms have been found by researchers at Cardiff University. A huge study of the DNA of over 10,000 schizophrenics and 15,000 controls helped identified the genes involved, and determine that they are in fact the cause rather than an effect. Chris Smith spoke to Professor Michael Owen about the impact these findings could have on our understanding of this mental illness... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/4/20156 minutes, 57 seconds
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Selective Hearing

How our ears screen out sounds so that we can listen selectively only to those sounds we want to hear - like a friend's voice across a noisy room for instance - has been revealed by scientists in Australia. Gary Housley, from the University of New South Wales, has found that the inner ear, known as the cochlea, contains a population of sound-sensitive "hair cells" that communicate with the brain and work like miniature amplifiers to control the sensitivity of the ears to different sound frequencies... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/17/20158 minutes, 24 seconds
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Winter Immune Blues

The incidence of many diseases, including heart attacks and multiple sclerosis, peaks in winter time. Now it looks like this could be an unfortunate throw-back to our prehistoric origins. Cambridge University scientist John Todd has found that the immune system goes through annual cycles of activity, with peak levels of inflammation coinciding with winter time. Historically, this would have protected our ancestors, but in the more luxurious modern era we inhabit, it's boosting our disease risk, as he explained to Georgia Mills... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/17/20155 minutes, 40 seconds
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Choose Your Treatment Wisely

A campaign to combat "over-treatment" of patients has been announced by doctors' leaders this week. Called "Choosing Wisely", the initiative promotes more open conversations between doctors and patients, rather than an obsessive - and frequently financially incentivised - adherence to targets and guidelines. Consultant cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra authored the report, which was published this week in the British Medical Journal... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/17/20158 minutes, 26 seconds
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A Study in Scarlet

Dressing in red around the office might have your colleagues seeing you in a different light! A new study from Durham University's Robert Barton has found that when the same person is shown wearing a red-coloured top, rather than a blue one, they tend to be rated as dominant, aggressive, and even more anger-prone by others Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/17/20156 minutes, 48 seconds
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Baboon Buddies

Humans, like all other primates, are a sociable bunch and we tend to pick friends who are fairly similar to us in terms of education, religion, personality and so on. Now researchers studying a troop of wild Chacma baboons living in Namibia have discovered that these animals pick their buddies in the same way, tending to hang around with animals that share similar personality traits. To find out more about these cliquey monkeys, I took a trip to London Zoo to meet primate expert Guy Cowlishaw, who was part of the study team. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/17/201510 minutes, 22 seconds
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Cells Turn Inside-Out

Plants and animals are incredible constructions, built from the fundamental building blocks of cells. But how are we made? By modelling how algae cells literally turn themselves inside out, researchers are hoping to understand how our own bodies are formed. Heather Douglas spoke to Professor Raymond Goldstein, Schlumberger Professor of Complex Physical Systems at the University of Cambridge, to find out how Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/14/20154 minutes, 9 seconds
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Facebook leads to biased views

Content curation and news filtering by Facebook, as well as other social media websites, likely leads to ideological biases in the information individuals see and read, a new study has shown. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/14/20155 minutes, 18 seconds
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Males donate competitively

If you are thinking of raising money for charity, what's the best way to ensure you hit your fundraising target? According to Nichola Raihani from UCL, you need to be an attractive woman so men will compete with each other to donate the most to your online giving page. Kat Arney went to find out why this is the case... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/23/20153 minutes, 49 seconds
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Modern lifestyles reduce gut bug diversity

You are not alone! Your body is home to a whole host of bacteria that live in and on you: your microbiome. You might be slightly repulsed by this idea, but these tiny organisms are really important for our health. There is now growing evidence that our microbes at risk from our modern lifestyles? Comparing samples of human bowel bugs from America with remote populations in Papua New Guinea, a research team have identified significant differences between the two microbiomes, and what's more, they think they know why. Georgia Mills spoke to Jens Walter from the University of Alberta Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/21/20153 minutes, 17 seconds
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How do we hear time within sounds?

While you listen to a noise, nerve cells in your brain are busy processing sound information and helping you make sense it. One big mystery in the world of hearing research has been how we perceive repeated sounds that hit our ears slowly - like the tapping of a woodpecker on a tree - compared to much faster noises that seem to blend into a continuous tone. UCL's Daniel Bendor has been investigating how the cells in our brains manage to distinguish these different types of sound, and hopes his findings could lead to the development of better hearing aids. Kat Arney went to hear what he had to... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/20/20155 minutes, 35 seconds
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GM Salmonella shrinks cancers

Salmonella bacteria can be modified to make a safe anti-cancer treatment, scientists have shown. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/20/20153 minutes, 59 seconds
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Dark matter may not be completely 'dark'

Druham Universtiy's Richard Massey takes Chris Smith to a galaxy far, far away; or, more accurately, several galaxies over, which also happen to have just collided with each other, providing in the process new insights into one of the Universe's biggest enigmas, dark matter... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/19/20154 minutes, 54 seconds
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How the Moon was Made

How the Earth came by its Moon has always been something of a mystery: Scientists had theorised that a Mars-sized planet, called Theia, crashed into Earth and that the moon formed from the debris. But, analysis of the rock chemistry from the lunar surface reveals that the moon and Earth are practically identical. There appeared to be no chemical trace of Theia. So where did it disappear to? This chemical conundrum has thrown a lot of doubt on the impact theory. But a series of papers in the journal Nature suggests that the theory still holds up. Using simulations and isotope measurements,... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/13/20153 minutes, 51 seconds
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Evidence of dinosaur cannibalism

Evidence has been revealed that a type of dinosaur fell victim to occasional cannibalism. Daspletosaurus was a member of the tyrannosaurs group, and relative of the famous T. rex. A skull was found to have scratches matching the teeth of a predator around the same size, leading researchers to conclude that they did occasionally have the odd snack on one another. Georgia Mills spoke to Dave Hone, from Queen Mary, University of London, to find out more. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/12/20154 minutes, 31 seconds
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Yeast: Rising from the bread

A favourite Easter tradition are hot cross buns, but there's one particular ingredient which no bread can do without: yeast. What is about this strange powdery ingredient that makes it so useful? Philip Garsed took some freshly baked hot cross buns to molecular biologiest Lia Chappell to find out. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/1/20153 minutes, 20 seconds
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Listening to the bat highway code

If you've ever seen huge flocks of birds or a shoal of fish, you might have wondered how they are all able to move together without ever colliding. Now scientists at the University of Bristol believe they have been able to explain how flocks of bats are able to avoid collisions, by using just a few simple traffic rules. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/26/20154 minutes, 8 seconds
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When humans made their mark on the world

Geologists like to divide up history into epochs, or eras, separated by events that leave an indelible mark in the geological record of the earth - for example, the meteorite strike that finished off the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, whose impact is written in rocks across the globe. Similarly we humans have made our own irreversible impact on the planet, ushering in what's become known as the anthropocene era. But when did it actually start? Simon Lewis spoke to Kat Arney about how he's has been figuring it out. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/15/20154 minutes, 29 seconds
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How light can transmit WiFi

Anyone who has struggled with a lousy WiFi connection in a busy public space knows only too well that there are limits to how much data can be beamed over the airwaves like this. Now scientists have come up with a new technology that uses the room lighting to transmit data: effectively by causing the lights to blink billions of times per second using a form of visual morse code. Mark Peplow spoke to Chris Smith and shed some light on the process... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/15/20153 minutes, 53 seconds
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Adapting to Arsenic

In a remote area in the Andes mountain there exist perilously high levels of arsenic: one of the most toxic substances known to man. But people have been living there for thousands of years, and it has now been discovered that this population has adapted to this dangerous environment. The group have a DNA mutation associated with a fast metabolism- this means they can flush arsenic out of their system much more quickly than most people. Georgia Mills spoke to researcher Karin Broberg to find out more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/9/20153 minutes, 31 seconds
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Sophie the Stegosaurus

Dr Kat Arney meets Sophie the Stegosaurus, and Natural History Museum researcher Charlotte Brassey. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/7/201516 minutes, 28 seconds
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What can we learn from NASA's Dawn probe?

After a seven and a half year journey, and with a price tag just shy of half a billion Dollars, NASA's Dawn spacecraft finally has the asteroid Ceres in its sights. Ceres is a massive asteroid which sits among a clutch of much smaller boulders, pebbles and dust out beyond the orbit of Mars. This field of debris is the rocky rubble left over from the time when the inner planets, including the Earth, were first forming, about 4 and a half billion years ago. This means asteroids like Ceres can help to uncover the origins of Earth and the minerals and materials, including the water, that we have... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/6/20153 minutes, 20 seconds
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FameLab: the snapping shrimp

FameLab is a competition where scientists battle it out to be the best at giving engaging short talks on their favourite areas of research. Six Cambridge-based finalists have been chosen by a panel of judges and we're hearing from a selection of them. In this episode we meet Daphne Ezer and hear about the fascinating (and terrifying) snapping shrimp... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/25/20154 minutes
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Holes give diamonds their colour

Using a new super powerful electron microscope, scientists have discovered tiny holes are responsible for giving brown diamonds their colour. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/22/20154 minutes, 47 seconds
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Space Worms

Worms are about to help scientists to boldly go where no researcher has been before, by venturing into space to help us to understand how changes in gravity might affect our DNA. Although scientists don't think that the physical genetic letters of DNA can be altered by low-gravity space travel, or living on the Moon or another planet, there are signs that chemical markers, called epigenetic modifications, which control the activity of certain genes and can be passed on from parents to their offspring, can be altered by exposure to low gravity environments. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/15/20154 minutes, 42 seconds
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Detecting dark matter

It makes up most of the stuff in our universe, but we can't see it or weigh it - but we know it has to be there. This elusive substance is dark matter, and according to a new paper in the journal Nature Physics this week, it's all around us in our own galaxy - the Milky Way. To find out more about dark matter, and what this new map of the dark matter in our galaxy might tell us, Kat Arney went to speak to UCL astrophysicist Chamkaur Ghag, who's working on ways to detect dark matter here on earth. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/13/201517 minutes, 42 seconds
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Positive thinking improves your health

Has anyone ever told you to lose a few pounds? Get a bit more active? Work harder in school? We can sometimes become a bit defensive when given this type of advice even if we know it's probably the right thing to do. Now scientists have revealed how a simple activity - called self-affirmation - can improve the way we react to this type of advice, which can have positive effects on our health. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/7/20155 minutes, 37 seconds
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Differences between male and female brains

Your brain is more complex and powerful than the world's biggest supercomputer, built while you're a baby growing in the womb from the recipes encoded in your genes. But how do your growing brain cells know which genes to use? The answer comes from epigenetic modifications - the special chemical markers that are put on your genes that help cells switch them on or off at the right time and in the right place. Helen Spiers from Kings College London has been finding out how these epigenetic changes are involved in building the brain, and how they could explain some of the differences between... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/6/20154 minutes, 7 seconds
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From venom to medicine

A novel approach to detecting interactions between scorpion venom and its target molecule could aid in the discovery of new drugs for treatment of a wide range of nerve disorders. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/6/20153 minutes, 10 seconds
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Mitochondrial Diseases: 3 Parent Embryos

What are so-called "3 parent embryos", and what are the arguments for allowing it? Hannah Critchlow discussed the issues with MP Julian Huppert, who supported the recent motion to permit the process in the House of Commons... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/4/20159 minutes, 10 seconds
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Chicks can count too!

Humans do it. Primates do it. And now it's been found out that birds can also do it - 3 day old chickens have been shown to order numbers low to high, from left to right - just like on a ruler! The findings, published in Science, could indicate that this numerical ability is a feature of evolution, rather than culture - and could help explain why we pay more attention to things presented to our left... Zoologist Hannah Rowland from the University of Cambridge put Graihagh Jackson's numerical skills to the test... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/2/20156 minutes
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How close are we to the next mass extinction?

Around 250 million years ago our world was a very different place. Rather than the different continents we know today, there was only one giant land mass - Pangea - covered with plants and animals. But then something went horribly wrong. Over a few million years, more than 95 per cent of all species on the early earth were wiped out in an event known as the Permian mass extinction. So what caused it? One researcher who thinks he might know is Mark Sephton from Imperial College London and, as he explained to Kat Arney, this wasn't the first time that our world has come to the brink of disaster. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/2/20154 minutes, 20 seconds
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Nano-Scale Quill Pen

Quill pens might be about to make a comeback - but not in a stationers! Because researchers have developed a nano-scale ink pen that can be used to control the shapes of polymers that can be used to make superfast computers. Polymers are are giant chemical structures made by linking lots of smaller molecules together, and what Imperial College's Alex Perevedentsev and his colleagues have discovered is that, with a dab of nano-ink delivered in the right way from their nib-pen, they can make polymers adopt specific shapes that alter the way light passes through them. And as he explained to Kat,... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/27/20154 minutes, 46 seconds
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Super-slippery, water repellent surfaces

A new breed of super metals, that are extremely water repellent have been created. Their potential applications range from rust and frost free aircraft to self-cleaning toilets. Danielle Blackwell spoke to Prof. Chunlei Guo from the University of Rochester to find out more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/24/20153 minutes, 36 seconds
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Sea turtle sat nav

Sea turtles follow unique magnetic signatures to return to their home beaches to lay their eggs. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/17/20153 minutes, 55 seconds
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Crashing Cars

Over 3000 people are killed on the world's roads every day with further 20-50 million people left injured or disabled. And whilst the number of serious injuries have come down - one type of injury -damage to the spinal cord - has remained stubbornly high. The car company Volvo have announced that are aiming to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured in one of their vehicles in exactly five years time - to zero by 2020. Graihagh Jackson went to their HQ in Gothenberg, Sweden, to hear how... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/16/201511 minutes, 24 seconds
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Geese fly over the Himalayas like a roller coaster

Bar-headed geese reach altitudes of several thousand meters in their annual migration across the world's highest mountain range. A new study shows that they have a peculiar way to save energy on this long journey, as Khalil Thirlaway finds out from Dr. Charles Bishop of Bangor University... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/16/20154 minutes, 53 seconds
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Can cycling keep you younger?

A common New year's resolution is to hit the gym and get fit. But while most people might give up and return to the comfort of the sofa by February, research suggests that being physically active for your whole life has big health benefits. But can it slow down the ageing process? One problem with studying this is that most older people are pretty inactive, or sedentary, and tend to do little if any physical exercise at all. As a result, it's difficult to know whether some of the health issues seen in ageing, such as heart and lung problems or loss of muscle and bone, are just the result of... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/13/20157 minutes, 28 seconds
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Could a brain scan predict your future?

Could a brain scan predict your weight, your school grades and your happiness levels two years down the line? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/12/20154 minutes, 46 seconds
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Cartoons are deadly (for lead roles)

Whether it's an outing to the cinema or gathered in the living room, films are a great way to spend time as a family at Christmas. If children are involved, the choice of title will often be made with them in mind. Reservoir Dogs might be shelved in favour of Shrek, perhaps. We tend to assume that films aimed at children are less likely to involve complex, frightening or upsetting themes, such as death. Not so, according to a recent study published in the British Medical Journal which found two and a half times more death in children's cartoons than grown-up films. Khalil Thirlaway talks to... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/24/20144 minutes, 49 seconds
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Has Curiosity found life on Mars?

Last week scientists attending the American Geophysical Union meeting in California unveiled measurements made on Mars by the Curisoity rover, which has been exploring the red planet for the last 2 years. What Curiosity has uncovered are organic molecules and also periodic puffs of methane gas, both of which might be signs that life is, or once was, present on Mars. Chris Smith spoke with the Open University's Professor of Planetary Science David Rothery to hear more about what these findings might mean... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/20/20146 minutes, 19 seconds
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Feeling old shortens your life

People often talk about feeling their age, but how old you say you feel is strongly linked to your life expectancy. A new study at UCL in London has shown that people who feel their age, or feel even older than their real chronological are almost 40% more likely to die than someone of the same age who - in their head at least - feels younger, as Andrew Steptoe explains to Chris Smith... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/19/20147 minutes, 11 seconds
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Machine makes people more empathic

There's the old saying that if you want to understand someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. But what if you could walk in their actual body? Thanks to virtual reality headsets, this is now - at least virtually - possible. And by fooling people into thinking they have a child's body, or one belonging to someone of a different skin colour, Mel Slater and his colleagues in Barcelona discovered, as he explained to Kat Arney, that this changes their behaviour too... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/19/20145 minutes, 29 seconds
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Foraging for Fossils

How do we know about the ancient animals that used to roam the Earth? If all life got its start in the sea, then why do most animals now live on land?Sara Sjosten went behind the scenes at the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Science with Sarah Finney to find out more about where fossils come from and one special little creature from 360 million years ago... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/15/20145 minutes, 4 seconds
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reCAPTCHA with Luis von Ahn

Luis von Ahn invented CAPTCHA - the system that uses a picture of a word to determine whether you are a human or a computer. But when von Ahn realised just how much time was being wasted by filling in CAPTCHAs, he wondered whether that man-power could be used for something good. Now the very same process is digitising millions of books, that are available for free, as von Ahn told Chris Smith. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/30/201411 minutes, 7 seconds
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The science behind fasting

What's the science behind the so-called 5:2 or intermittent fasting diet? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/27/201418 minutes, 21 seconds
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Does your dog understand you?

Does your dog pay attention to what you say? Thinking back to the last time it rolled in something stinky, or ran off with your socks, you may not be convinced. But new research from the University of Sussex shows that man's best friend is at least listening; and not only to what we say, but how we say it. Georgia Mills spoke to Victoria Ratcliffe, who tested over 200 willing canines... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/27/20144 minutes, 45 seconds
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The fight against Ebola

Marie Blackman Northwood is a biomedical scientists normally based in Cambridge,who is currently in Sierra Leone, lending her hand to the fight against Ebola. She spoke to Chris Smith about her experiences. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/17/20147 minutes, 3 seconds
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Shift Work Shafts Brains

Researchers say that doing anti-social shifts over many years can dent your brain power. In other words you can't think straight. The team collected data from three thousand workers in France, who underwent memory and other tests of brain function. Individuals who had worked shifts for over ten years had the same results as someone six and a half years older than them. But here's the good part. Luckily the effect may be reversible. Chris Smith spoke to study author Philip Tucker, from Swansea University, to find out more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/14/20144 minutes, 19 seconds
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How wildcats became kitty cats

Just a handful of genetic changes are what turned wildcats into domestic pets, scientists have now shown. And many of these changes are linked with genes that affect how the brain processes rewards and pleasure. In other words, humans won over cats by appealing to their desire for kitty treats and stroking. Over time, those that responded best to this nurturing were more likely to be bred by humans, leading to increasingly docile, domesticated pets. Graihagh Jackson has been hearing from some cat lovers but first she spoke to one of the researchers - Bronwen Aken from the Wellcome Trust's... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/14/20145 minutes, 47 seconds
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Body Clocks

Are you a morning person or a night owl? Whichever you are, your daily rhythm is determined by your circadian clock - powered by a small group of cells in the brain - and it tells you when to get up and when to sleep. Now Professor Bill Wisden and his team at Imperial College have discovered a second biological clock in the brain, located in a little cluster of nerve cells that produce a chemical called histamine, which helps to wake us up. Kat spoke to him to find out more about this molecular alarm clock. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/14/20144 minutes, 3 seconds
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Religion and nature

Religion and nature might have more to do with each other than you thought. In the biggest study of its kind, a team of evolutionary biologists, anthropologists, linguists and religious scholars examined the religions of societies from around the world to see if there was any link between where they lived and what they believed. They found that they can predict which societies will worship moralising high gods - gods who are believed to have created the earth and who care about how humans treat each other - based on how harsh the environments are that people live in. Sara Sjosten spoke to lead... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/14/20144 minutes, 41 seconds
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Women in Science

Tim Bussey, professor, budding rock star and performer explains to Hannah Critchlow how he's addressing scientific gender inequality with a re-release from the 80s... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/10/20143 minutes, 14 seconds
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Healthy-Looking Leaders

Would you prefer your prime minister, president, or beloved leader to look healthy, intelligent, or both? Researchers from the VU University of Amsterdam say that given the choice, people prioritise healthy-looking candidates over intelligent ones. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/10/20142 minutes, 22 seconds
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Imaging the Genome

The quest to understand the fundamental rules governing life has taken another step forward, as new research from the University of Cambridge reveals. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/31/20144 minutes, 28 seconds
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Foreign species invading the UK

As international trade increases, particularly by sea, we're seeing more stowaways; but not of the human variety. Scientists are reporting that animals and plants are hitching rides around the world on boats - and even on fishing tackle. They then setup home in other countries where, with nothing to eat them, they can become dangerously invasive. Timothy Revell spoke to David Aldridge an expert in invasive species about the UK's most recent arrival. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/20/20145 minutes, 45 seconds
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Detection dogs

Whilst Magic - a young golden retriever - may love chasing a stick, curling up on a rug and enjoying a biscuit as much as the next dog, he is certainly no ordinary dog. Trained by Milton Keynes based organisation Medical Detection Dogs, he can sniff out when his owner Claire Pesterfield, a sufferer of Type 1 diabetes, is about to suffer an attack brought on by low blood sugar levels, that could lead to her losing consciousness. By alerting and getting assistance, this extraordinary dog helps Claire lead a more ordinary life.Amelia Perry spoke to Claire, at Addenbrooks Hosptial, where she is... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/14/20145 minutes, 34 seconds
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The smartest part of our brain

Which part of our brain helped us become the social and (for the most part) intelligent creatures we are today? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/29/20144 minutes, 54 seconds
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How plastic pollution may harm marine life

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: Tamara Galloway, Matt Cole and Ceri Lewis of the University of Exeter talk about their research on the effects of fragments of plastics from food packaging, drinks bottles and even facial scrubs on marine wildlife. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/29/201410 minutes, 16 seconds
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The price of alcohol

Thousands die due to alcohol consumption each year, did raising the price of alcohol in the UK reduce these costs? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/29/20143 minutes, 54 seconds
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Your nose knows death is imminent

Until recently when technology took over, a coal miner's best friend was a caged canary that would warn of a build-up of life-threatening gases. Now US scientists are saying that the sense of smell is the coalmine canary of human health, with people who fail a smell test being at much greater odds of dying within the following 5 years. Jay Pinto, from the University of Chicago, tested over 3000 over 55s on their ability to correctly identify rose, leather, fish, orange, and peppermint smells. He told Chris Smith about how he followed them up five years later, of those who failed the smell... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/29/20146 minutes, 19 seconds
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How dinosaur arms turned into bird wings

You can forget Jurassic Park because actually dinosaurs are all around us! And I'm not joking because the fact is that when you see a chirping bird, you're actually looking at a modern dinosaur. Evidence has been growing for some time that our feathered friends are descended from small carnivorous dinosaurs called therapods. For example, the arrangement of bones in a bird's fingers, encased in the wing, is very similar to the bones in fossilised therapods. But there are still some biologists who study early development, as a chick grows in an egg, who aren't convinced by the dinosaur story.Now... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/28/20142 minutes, 53 seconds
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New solar cells

Hydrogen is regarded as an excellent candidate future fuel on the grounds that it is relatively easy to store and it burns cleanly to produce only heat and water. But present methods of production involve fossil fuels and are energy intensive, offsetting any benefits of the hydrogen. Instead, scientists would like to use electricity from renewable sources to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, with solar power being one obvious choice. Unfortunately, current silicon-based cells cannot produce a sufficiently high output voltage individually, meaning that several of them need to be linked... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/28/20144 minutes, 34 seconds
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Common cold and asthma

During an asthma attack, inflammation in the airways leads to breathlessness, and severe cases can end up with sufferers being hospitalised or even dying.One culprit that can make asthma worse is the virus that causes the common cold, known as rhinovirus. But why does a cold mean a runny nose and feeling a bit grotty for most people, but can lead to dangerous breathing problems in asthmatics?Kat spoke to Imperial College's David Jackson, who's one of a team that has been finding out. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/28/20144 minutes, 35 seconds
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Do baby fish speak?

We've all heard that whales and dolphins have a highly developed way of making sounds to communicate with each. However when it come to ordinary fish you'd have thought they're pretty silent things. But you'd be wrong. Marine biologist Erica Staaterman from the University of Miami believes that most animals in the ocean including crabs, lobsters, shrimp and fish make sounds. In a new study she shows, for the first time, that 30 day old baby gray snapper fish speak to each other in order to stick together in the sea. Hannah Critchlow's been hearing from Erica, and her little snappers, over... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/27/20143 minutes, 40 seconds
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Best place for cardiac arrest

A cardiac arrest is when a person's heart stops beating and they collapse. It affects 30,000 people every year in the UK.The majority of these occur outside the hospital setting and they're frequently fatal. But how should they be managed - by attempting to resuscitate the victim at the scene, or by rushing them to hospital in an Ambulance?Emergency Medicine specialist Bruce Adams, from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio says bringing the patient in is the best call, but Bristol-based emergency medicine consultant Jonathan Benger disagrees and says that calling an... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/25/20145 minutes, 16 seconds
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Strategic decision making revealed

Are you a strategic decision maker? Is your brain anterior cingulate cortex switched off or on? Are random decisions being made or are you basing them entirely on past experience?Alla Karpova discusses decision-making... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/24/20144 minutes, 8 seconds
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Worrying world population

World leaders had been planning for a world population of about 9 billion by 2050. But now a new analysis, based on fresh data and more advanced statistical methods, suggests that this estimate might be wildly inaccurate and that the real figure might be more than 12 billion, which means population policy might need a major rethink. Adrian Raftery at the University of Washington is the author of the new study... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/18/20145 minutes, 12 seconds
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Ant-sized radios

Wireless connections are everywhere now. Perhaps you're listening to us through your smartphone or laptop, or maybe you have one of those new-fangled smart fridges connected to the internet.Technologists now talk about the internet of things, where objects around us are all connected up using wireless radio technology, and the potential applications are wide-reaching, from labelling banknotes to tiny bio-sensors for monitoring health.But one limiting factor is the size of the radio transmitter - a problem that may have now been solved by engineers in California. They've developed a... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/16/20143 minutes, 44 seconds
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Modifying mice memories

Scientists have been able to alter the emotional associations of memories mice by using a technique called optogenetics, which involves shining lights inside the brain. Roger Redondo explained to Georgia Mills how they reversed emotions at the brain cell level, and what this could mean for treating emotional trauma in humans. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/15/20143 minutes, 41 seconds
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Sex and back pain

The karma-sutra for back pain may soon be arriving. Within the UK and abroad, there are striking percentages of men and women that report experiencing back pain, especially in later life, and this may be causing the bedroom to take a backseat for these couples. Now, recent research carried out by Natalie Sidorkewicz from the University of Waterloo, may help bring back the intimacy... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/13/20146 minutes, 21 seconds
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Mental health support online

Something bothering you? Don't want to visit a doctor to talk about your problems? An online tool called 'myGRiST' due to be released early next year to the public, aims to assess your risks and help to identify areas where you could improve your overall mental health. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/10/20144 minutes, 41 seconds
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EPSRC's Rising Stars

From 'plastic' solar panels to flexible electronics, and quantum mechanics to regenerative medicine, we found out about the exciting research of the nominated rising star scientists at the British Science Festival... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/9/20144 minutes, 26 seconds
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Unlocking Stonehenge's secrets

Previously undiscovered monuments surrounding the stone circle have been found, using highly advanced geophysical tools and laser scanners in order to search the landscape and identify what lies beneath Stonehenge... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/8/20146 minutes, 9 seconds
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Parkinson's 'pocket-doctor'

A 'pocket-doctor' smartphone app may now help to diagnose Parkinson's, a degenerative motor disease, that was previously very difficult to assess. With symptoms such as voice tremors and walking abnormalities, how does the phone application work? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/8/20144 minutes, 58 seconds
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Bereavement suppresses the Immune System

Have you ever heard of someone dying of a broken heart? In fact, it is remarkably common for elderly people who were previously healthy to die soon after their spouse. But why? New research from the University of Birmingham has discovered that it is down to reduced functioning of the immune system during times of stress. This leaves older people susceptible to bacterial infections like pneumonia, which can be deadly. At the British Science Festival, Ginny Smith caught up with Dr Anna Philips and asked her why she had decided to study the health of people after they had lost a loved one. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/8/20146 minutes, 27 seconds
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Sudden death in athletes

You may have heard reports of seemingly healthy young athletes suddenly dropping down dead in the middle of a game. Professor Paulus Kirchhoff from the University of Birmingham studies the genetic defects that lead to this condition- a rare form of heart disease which exercise actually makes worse.At the British Science Festival, Ginny Smith wanted to find out more. She started by asking him how big a problem this condition really is. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/8/20146 minutes, 34 seconds
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Colour changing cuttlefish

Octopuses and cuttlefish are well known for their astonishing ability to change colour almost instantaneously. Can we copy this system to create a camouflaging material? John Rogers from the University of Illinois reveals all... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/7/20144 minutes, 58 seconds
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Your Immune system vs Cancer

Cancer is one of the world's biggest killers, and current treatments often have terrible side effects. So scientists have begun looking into ways to help the body's own defenses fight back. When have a bacterial or viral infection, our immune systems go into overdrive to tackle the invader and protect our bodies. If it were possible to harness this line of attack and use it against cancer, this could open up a whole new method of treating the disease.At the British Science Festival, Ginny Smith talked to Louise and Vanessa, both PhD students at Birmingham University, about their research on... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/7/20146 minutes, 11 seconds
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The problem with passports

Have you ever seen somebody in the street and thought you know them, until you get closer and realise it's a different person entirely. Matching faces to memories or pictures is easier for some people than it is for others. But what happens if you're job is dependent on being able to tell the difference between a 2D face in a photo and a person standing in front of you? Hannah Tooley spoke to Dr Rob Jenkins from the Department of Psychology at York University. He's been studying passport control officers in Australia to see how good these professionals are at it, and the results might surprise... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/26/20144 minutes, 47 seconds
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Star dust

Stardust returns Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/19/20145 minutes, 5 seconds
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A Wired Society

Memory boosting drugs, the military, the legal system and enhancing athletes mental focus and muscle tone. Where should neuroscience stop? How a revolution in technology is bringing an unprecedented flood of information about the brain and with this, concerns over use. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/19/201430 minutes, 31 seconds
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The evolution of the British peppered moth

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: Ilik Saccheri and Arjen Van 't Hof of the University of Liverpool describe how the British Peppered Moth changed from peppered to black during the Industrial Revolution in northern England. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/19/20149 minutes, 49 seconds
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Our leaky ancestor

Going back through the generations, eventually you come to the ancestor of all life on earth, something scientists call LUCA (last universal common ancestor).LUCA lived on a hydrothermal vent deep under the ocean, and probably used energy from the natural acidic gradient to survive and reproduce, using a generator called ATP-synthetase. But now Victor Sojo and his colleagues at UCL have come up with an explanation for what might have gone on, suggesting LUCA has a leaky membrane, which might explain some mysteries surrounding bacteria and archea. Kat Arney asked Victor how this leaky membrane... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/18/20143 minutes, 15 seconds
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How to make energy from oil-eating microbes

One of the remarkable things about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico four years ago was the fact that a lot of the contamination was cleaned up by bacteria which simply ate the oil.Now there's more understanding of how microbes exist in oil which could lead to new technologies for extracting energy from oil deposits deep underground.A group of scientists have been studying an asphalt lake in Trinidad and Tobago where it was previously thought microbes couldn't live because of the lack of water, but now microbes have been found.Professor Joel Kostka from the Georgia... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/8/20146 minutes, 23 seconds
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Remembering to live to a ripe old age

Hello I'm Naked Scientist Hannah Critchlow and I'm concerned about aging. Alzheimer's disease affects around half a million of us in the UK alone, and this number is predicted to increase as the population gets older. However, this week a study suggested that up to a third of cases could be preventable just by changing the way that we live. I spoke to Carol Brayne, Professor of Public Health at Cambridge University. In a collaboration spanning countries, researchers analysed data published from decades of research on 10000s of people across the world and identified several risk factors that... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/5/20147 minutes, 5 seconds
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In Conversation with Martyn Poliakoff

Type "mad scientist hair" into Google and the number one result is this man, who is one of the country's leading lights in green chemistry but has also attracted a fan base of thousands online with a youtube presence devoted to bringing chemistry alive for the masses. We catch up with the inspirational Martyn Poliakoff. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/4/201417 minutes, 13 seconds
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Is there a genetic link to schizophrenia?

A large international study has uncovered the strongest evidence yet for a genetic link to schizophrenia. The study, published in Nature this week, is the work of a large collaborative group of scientists known collectively as the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium and based at institutions around the world. The new findings highlight important new avenues for exploring and furthering our understanding of schizophrenia, as science reporter Smitha Mundasad explains Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/28/20144 minutes, 31 seconds
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Will reading as a child make you a smarter adult?

Were you a bookworm as a child? If you were, it might be making you smarter as an adult, according to a new study of identical twins, revealing that better reading ability at a younger age is linked to higher intelligence later in life.Kat spoke to psychologist Stuart Richie from the University of Edinburgh, who led the research, to read between the lines. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/28/20144 minutes, 14 seconds
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Do you own a jealous dog?

Dogs may become jealous if owners pay more attention to another dog. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/28/20145 minutes, 45 seconds
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The true cost of farming?

When you're deciding what to have for dinner tonight, you might like to think about the environmental impact the food you're choosing. It's long been known that vegetarian crops take up less room, and need less energy to grow than meat from farm animals. But which are the worse offenders and what are the numbers involved? Now new research is showing that beef from cows is doing a lot more damage than anything else. Georgia Mills spoke to Ron Milo of the Weizmann Institute of Science to find out more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/27/20144 minutes, 2 seconds
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How windfarms affect seals?

Seals are using windfarms and under sea pipelines as bases for their hunting and fishing exploits. St Andrews University scientist Deborah Russell and her Dutch colleagues glued GPS trackers to the fur of seals living along the coastlines of Germany and the UK near two active windfarms. The tags beamed back high-resolution data on the movements of the animals which the team were able to plot on maps. It then helped them understand how the seals and their prey are interacting with the windfarms and other new structures in their environment. She spoke to Chris Smith to explain... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/27/20146 minutes, 22 seconds
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Gut bacteria seek out injuries

Marshall Montrose, of the University of Cincinnati, explained to Chris Smith how these gut bacteria, present in half the population's stomachs, can cause problems. Small wounds in the stomach lining, caused by things like aspirin, are quickly and effectively converged upon by these tiny microbes. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/17/20144 minutes, 40 seconds
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Obesity affects learning

Ifat Levy from Yale University explains to Kat Arney her recent study which looked at participants ability to learn in a task which exposed them to images of money and food. Obese women who were exposed to images of food during the task, showed impaired learning. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/16/20144 minutes, 18 seconds
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Is your sleep account in credit?

Fruit flies to understand getting our sleep bank account in credit, how we perceive passing of time to help make up our minds in tricky situations. Plus in the news, people prefer shocks to thought. How long could you be left alone with your thoughts? 10 seconds? A minute? Reporting from the Federation of Neurosciences Society Forum in Milan on the hot breaking neuroscience research. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/7/201426 minutes, 38 seconds
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Morality and Motivation

Would you kill a person to save five others? Does religion evade morality by omission? And can you tweak people's motivations? Reporting on Morality and Motivation in Milan, with breaking hot neuroscience research presented at the FENS 2014 conference. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/5/201430 minutes, 19 seconds
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People prefer shocks to thoughts!

How long could you be left alone with your thoughts? 10 seconds? A minute? Well, according to a new study published in the journal Science, people really don't like to be left alone with nothing to do other than think. In fact, when participants of this study were given the choice of thinking for up to 15 minutes or giving themselves a painful electric shock, 67% of men and a quarter of women would rather electrocute themselves. So why do people find thinking so un-enjoyable? Professor Timothy Wilson, psychologist at the University of Virginia, led the study and he spoke to Graihagh Jackson... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/2/20145 minutes, 36 seconds
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The Summer Science Exhibition 2014

Every year the Royal Society hosts the Summer Science exhibition, where members of the public get a chance to see some of the amazing work being done by scientists around the UK. The Naked Scientists take a look around to meet the world's clumsiest dinosaur and find out more about 3D selfies... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/2/20144 minutes, 57 seconds
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'Neonics' linked to honeybee decline

Neonicotinoids are a group of chemical used as a pesticide on crops. In fact, they're so effective at killing pests, they're currently the most widely used insecticide in the world.These chemicals target the nervous system by mimicking the actions of nicotine, a natural plant toxin. They block signals between nerve cells, causing paralysis and death.However, a study commissioned by the International Union for Conservation of Nature has concluded that these neonicotinoids also are deadly to many beneficial creatures - from earthworms to sparrows - and have even been linked to the decline of... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/27/20143 minutes, 47 seconds
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Can we use faces as passwords?

Passwords are a tricky business, with thousands of people forgetting them every day, and some being hacked or guessed. The University of York has tested the idea of using recognisable faces which are unique to us, instead of written passwords, as proof of our identity. Rob Jenkins, a psychologist who lead the study, tells Kat Arney more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/26/20145 minutes, 20 seconds
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Mobile Microbiomes

It's not just conversations that we share with our mobiles, but also our bacterial blueprints! According to Oregon scientist James Meadow, every time you interact with your phone you deposit a bug fingerprint unique to you. And this means that our mobiles could actually be used to track how we pick up and exchange microbes with the world around us and even screen doctors and nurses to see who might be carrying potentially harmful bugs.Chris Smith spoke to James Meadow to find out more. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/25/20146 minutes
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UK government bans 'Qat'

As of midnight on Tuesday, the herb "qat" became a Class C drug. Users chew the leaves of this east African flowering plant to achieve a buzz which, some say, is similar to caffeine. The ban is surprising because the UK's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs have argued that there isn't sufficient evidence that qat causes health problems to justify a ban. David Nutt is professor of neuropharmocology at Imperial College London and spoke to Chris Smith about the stimulant. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/25/20147 minutes, 42 seconds
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Do we need another whooping cough vaccine?

Whooping cough, also known as pertussis or the '100 day cough', kills around 300,000 people per year, but is one of the most common diseases that can be prevented by vaccine. Children in Britain are vaccinated several times before starting school. But, scientists at Oxford University have discovered that these vaccines might not be doing enough. When examining children seeing their GP about a persistent cough, one in five of them actually had a case of whooping cough, including children who had been vaccinated against it. Kay Wang, who lead the study, told Chris Smith more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/25/20144 minutes, 27 seconds
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Cheaper Solar Panels

Using a cheap chemical used normally to make tofu stick together, scientists at the University of Liverpool have stumbled upon a much more environmentally-friendly and cheaper way to manufacture very light-weight solar panels called thin film photovoltaics. Science writer Mark Peplow explains the significance of the find to Chris Smith... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/25/20144 minutes, 58 seconds
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Why stress causes heart attacks

You've probably heard the idea that stress gives you a heart attack, and we certainly know that it is a risk factor, along with things like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and smoking. But exactly how stress affects the body to increase the chances of having a heart attack is a bit of a mystery. Now a team of US and German scientists think they might have figured it out. It turns out that stress increases the number of immune cells, known as white blood cells, in atherosclerotic plaques - the fatty blobs that clog up your veins and give you a dicky ticker. Lead researcher... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/25/20145 minutes, 19 seconds
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Why Salamanders can't get legless

Salamanders can grow back entire limbs if they lose them. A team at University College London lead by Dr Max Yun are looking at the genetic pathways that enable these amphibians to regenerate their arms and legs. This could help us understand how human healing can be improved, as Victoria Gill explains to Chris Smith... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/23/20145 minutes, 14 seconds
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The Science of Making Colour

The latest digital imaging techniques are literally throwing new light on the ingenious variety of materials that have been used over the centuries to create artists' paint pigments. A new exhibition at the National Gallery in London is looking at the history of colour making over time. Jane Reck has been finding out how preparations were given a helping hand with a state-of the art positioning easel that provides the ability to examine great works of art in unprecedented detail. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/22/20144 minutes, 9 seconds
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The Future of Flooding in Britain

Six months after some of the worst flooding witnessed in Britain, Professor David Dermeritt from Kings College London explains to Graihagh Jackson how these deluges have changed Britain's policies on how we manage rivers, risks and rising water levels. What is the future of flooding? Will climate change worsen it? And how will the government protect property? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/20/20143 minutes, 47 seconds
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Mountaintop blasted to build largest telescope

This week, 3000 metres up a Chilean mountain, scientists pressed the button to blow up half a million tonnes of rock. The mountain's called Cerro Armazones and the reason it was being blown up was to create the site for what will become the world's biggest most powerful optical telescope. With typical scientific understatement its known as the European Extremely Large Telescope or EELT. Isobel Hook an astrophysicist from Oxford University told Chris more about the project. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/19/20144 minutes, 50 seconds
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Renewable Bioplastics

Bacteria that can degrade the woody material in plant waste and turn it into an oil-free material for plastics manufacture have been developed by scientists at Warwick University in Britain. Professor Tim Bugg told Chris more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/18/20144 minutes, 23 seconds
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One-two punch for evolution

There's a new theory this week claiming that men's faces evolved to take punches. It comes from researchers at the University of Utah and goes against a previous theory that craniofacial evolution was driven by a diet of nuts, seeds and vegetables.The Utah team think that extra-thick bones and muscles in the jaw and brow helped to protect our ancestor's faces when they got into punch ups, presumably while fighting over women.But although it's a neat story, and a different way of looking at the evolution of skulls, there are some problems with the idea, as Kat Arney found out from Julie... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/8/20145 minutes, 31 seconds
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Massive Super-Earth

Has the likelihood of alien life existing just become a lot more likely? Astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics announced this week that they have found what's being dubbed the "Godzilla of Earths" - it's a rocky planet orbiting a distant star over 500 light years away. But it's over twice the diameter and 17 times the mass of the Earth. So it's exciting for two reasons - first, space scientists had thought that planets could only be that big if they were made of gas, like Neptune or Jupiter, rather than rock, like Earth; and, second, the star this planet is orbiting is... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/6/20144 minutes, 11 seconds
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Seabirds Chase Ships for Food

Gannets are using fishing boats as fast-food outlets, chasing them for miles over the ocean. Thomas Bodey explains to Chris Smith how GPS tracking on both the birds and ships shows that the gannets can tell trawlers from yachts. But there might be a downside to this kind of convenience cuisine. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/5/20144 minutes, 54 seconds
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Does Nicolas Cage cause drownings?

Does Nicolas Cage cause people to drown in swimming pools? Does margarine consumption lead to divorce? Tyler Vigen looked at relations between seemingly unrelated statistics to highlight how correlation can be misleading. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/5/20143 minutes, 18 seconds
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The Battle of the Sexes

The course of true love never did run smooth and this can be seen across the animal kingdom too. The Malacological Society of London held their annual meeting and this year it was all about sexual selection. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/16/20144 minutes, 46 seconds
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Selecting Species to Save

With as much as 30% of all species potentially at risk of extinction, there is a 'Noah's ark' problem of selecting which species to save. This week the Royal Society held a meeting to discuss extinction risks and the best strategies to prioritise conservation. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/14/20144 minutes, 51 seconds
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The Naked Mole Rat

The peculiarities of the naked mole-rat: what can we learn from them? Cambridge University pharmacologist Ewan St John Smith hosts this meeting of Cafe Scientifique, Cambridge, kicking off with an interview about the naked mole rat with Chris Berrow... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/27/201414 minutes, 20 seconds
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David Willetts AAAS Audio Blog

UK Universities and Science Minister, David Willetts, becomes his own radio presenter; here, on a tour organised by the UK's Science and Innovation Network, he charts his meetings with scientists and entrepreneurs in Chicago, including discovering how researchers are trying to develop new batteries, he meets MIRA the Argonne supercomputer, attends a synthetic biology convention, talks to technology start-up CEOs, addresses the AAAS fellows forum and talks in depth to his travelling companions, Nottingham chemist Martyn Poliakoff and Edinburgh Vice Prinicipal Mary Bownes... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/20/201433 minutes, 30 seconds
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David Willetts Speech to the AAAS

Addressing the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2014 meeting in Chicago, David Willetts, UK Minister for Universities and Science, outlines how the special relationship between Britain and the US, coupled with competition and collaboration, is driving discovery and the next generation of technology... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/15/201421 minutes, 27 seconds
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Packing Up a Museum

Moving house is one of life's most stressful events; so imagine packing up 4 million artifacts of a museum collection. That's exactly what they are doing at Cambridge University's museum of Zoology. Harriet Johnson went to find out how they're getting ready for the 3 year project to update and improve the museum, and also sneaked a look at some of the best bits of the collection before it all gets packed away... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/12/20146 minutes, 7 seconds
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Can we eradicate Polio?

Polio might not have been seen in Britain since the 1980's, but despite worldwide efforts the potentially fatal disease is still endemic in three countries. Kate Lamble caught up with the Director of Immunisation at the Department of Health, Professor David Sailsbury as he visited St Johns college in Cambridge to speak about the global effort to eradicate the disease. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/27/20146 minutes, 39 seconds
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Naked Scientists Guide to Genetics

In The Naked Scientists Guide to Genetics, Simon Bishop explores some common genetics terms, meets a creature from the depths of the sea floor, and befriends a family of fancy rats! The terms DNA, genes, chromosomes and inheritance are explored PLUS are humans really 50% banana? Music featured: Adventure, Darling by Gillicuddy http://freemusicarchive.org/music/gillicuddy/; Dan-O, at http://danosongs.com. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/13/201326 minutes, 54 seconds
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#genes2shape: Asymmetry... in snails

Recorded at the 2013 Genetics Society Autumn Meeting 'From Genes to Shape', Simon Bishop meets Harriet Johnson, who works on the genes behind left-right asymmetry... in snails. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/28/20132 minutes, 47 seconds
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#genes2shape: Tubby - from obesity to drought tolerance

Recorded at the 2013 Genetics Society Autumn Meeting 'From Genes to Shape', Simon Bishop meets Marco Reitz, who works on the conserved gene 'Tubby'. So-called because mutant Tubby creates obese mice, the gene has a very different role in plants - salt and drought tolerance. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/28/20133 minutes, 40 seconds
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Afghanistan on the brain

The mental scars left after trauma and how ecstasy can help treat post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/27/20136 minutes, 31 seconds
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A weather forecast, for the dinosaurs

Could plankton hold the key to understanding ancient climate conditions? New research suggests ocean temperatures from 200 million years ago could be encoded in sea shell chemistry. Simon Bishop spoke to Professor Simon Redfern from the University of Cambridge, about the work. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/21/20135 minutes, 35 seconds
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Bodyguard drugs and TB

Tuberculosis is a major world problem, but extremely difficult to treat - vaccines are toxic to humans, and the disease-causing bacteria have a habit of hiding in the very cells tasked with destroying them. Immune system bodyguard drugs that fend off TB before it can hide could soon be possible, according to new research. Simon Bishop speaks to Professor Kurt Drickamer about the work. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/1/20135 minutes, 56 seconds
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Packing plants with eco energy

Super energy-rich biofuels could soon be possible because of new research, dramatically reducing the environmental impact of intensive farming. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/23/20134 minutes, 45 seconds
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How important are the microorganisms all around us?

Dr. Jack Gilbert explains some of the surprising effects that microorganisms can have on our lives. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/22/20137 minutes, 34 seconds
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Diagnosing Emerging Disorders

How do you look for the cause of a brand new medical problem? Simon Bishop speaks to Professor David Goldstein about using genetic sequencing to uncover the cause of new disorders. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/15/20135 minutes, 2 seconds
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Stopping HIV Spread

HIV attacks the immune system, invading one type of cell called a CD4 lymphocyte. The virus encourages infected cells to sidle up alongside healthy, uninfected cells before making them unload an infectious cargo of HIV, passing on the virus. Now researchers have discovered that a molecule called ADAP plays a critical role in this process. They've found a way to alter this ADAP molecule so that it can still do its normal job inside an immune cell - so the cell stays healthy - but it can't cooperate with HIV, stopping the virus spreading. Chris Rudd from Cambridge University is the lead author... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/5/20135 minutes, 26 seconds
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Red-tailed Black Cockatoo Conservation

One of Perth, Western Australia's best-loved and most striking birds - the red-tailed black cockatoo - once common, is now in severe decline. Victoria Gill met Murdoch University's Dr Kristen Warren who has been trying to find out why, by using tracking devices... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/2/20136 minutes, 45 seconds
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Tackling the tangles in Alzheimer's Disease

Until recently, it has been extremely difficult to track the progression of Alzheimer's disease, as the neurons of the brain which are affected by the disease are impossible to view directly. However this week a Japanese research group, writing the the Journal Neuron, announced the development of a new radioactive compound which could be used, in conjunction standard medical imaging, to track the progression of Alzheimer's in the brain. Naked Scientist Priya Crosby spoke to lead author on the paper, Dr Makoto Higuchi, to find out more about this exciting new possibility for Alzheimer's... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/25/20135 minutes, 49 seconds
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2013.09.17 - British Science Festival 2013: Ancient Parasites Treat Allergies

Ancient parasites could be used to cure severe allergy sufferers according to new research from the University of Cambridge. Matt Burnett discovers how Dr Piers Mitchell has unearthed which parasites infected our ancient ancestors. Doctors could use these parasites, which have co-evolved with us, to divert the attention of an overactive immune system away from allergens. This could be the best way to treat patients with severe allergies like asthma and hay fever, and may even have implications for other diseases like inflammatory bowel disease. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/16/20134 minutes, 50 seconds
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British Science Festival 2013: Victorian Science

The Victorian Science Spectacular came to Newcastle as part of the British Science Festival, and Ginny Smith went along to see what it was all about, and caught up with some of the performers afterwards. Dr Aileen Fyfe and Prof. Iwan Morus showed what new technologies the Victorians would have been astounded at, and discussed why we need to think about the past when doing science. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/16/20136 minutes, 23 seconds
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British Science Festival 2013: Ugly Animal Preservation Society

This week after public vote, the Blobfish was announced to be the world's ugliest animal. The poll was run by Ugly Animal Preservation Society, a group of comedians and scientists who are part of a comedy show aiming to champion some of nature's more aesthetically challenged creatures. Naked Scientist Priya Crosby spoke to president of the society Simon Watt, along with some other members of the cast, to find out more about the project.Warning: This podcast contains one instance of strong, manure-based language. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/12/20135 minutes, 27 seconds
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Diabetes Management - On your phone!

Is real-time blood sugar monitoring on your phone a pipe dream? Not according to Professor Mike Trenell at Newcastle University. Matt Burnett finds out about the diabetic athletes testing a new diabetes monitoring system on a 2100km bicycle tour from Brussels to Barcelona... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/11/20134 minutes, 24 seconds
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British Science Festival 2013: Sugata Mitra's School in the Cloud

Sugata Mitra's 'Hole in the Wall' experiments in a New Delhi slum showed how easily children can learn using the internet, with no adult supervision or guidance. He terms this Minimally Invasive Education, and has since repeated the experiment in many different countries. This year, he has been awarded the TED prize to develop his idea further, so Ginny Smith tracked him down at the British Science Festival to find out more about how children can learn, without a teacher. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/11/20136 minutes, 11 seconds
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Self-Healing Concrete

Inspired by biological systems that can self-repair, Diane Gardner is working on polymer 'ligaments', micro capsules of regenerative fluid and even embedded bacteria that can help concrete to repair itself when it cracks. The technology has the potential to dramatically increase the lifespan of concrete instillations, reducing their carbon footprint and maintenance costs. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/10/20136 minutes, 19 seconds
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Autism and dancing

Dancing is a complicated skill, and learning a new routine changes the brain. Ginny Smith caught up with Antonia Hamilton and Emily Cross at the British Science Festival to find out more about their research, and how it might be shedding light on the differences in the way children with autism learn. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/10/20136 minutes, 9 seconds
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British Science Festival 2013: Healthy Life Simulation

The population of the modern world is ageing. However, not everyone's quality of ageing is equal and simple factors, such as where we live, can have a major impact on how healthy we are in to old age. Peter Gore, Professor of Practice for Ageing and Vitality at Newcastle University is part of a group which is using real people in a simulation to investigate how we can improve our quality of life in to old age. Naked Scientist Priya Crosby spoke to Professor Gore at the British Science Festival 2013 to find out more about how this simulation could change the way that we cope with ageing. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/10/20138 minutes, 10 seconds
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British Science Festival 2013: Cosmic Rays and Technology

Physicist Chris Frost explains, at the British Science Festival 2013, how cosmic rays disrupt the everyday technologies we rely on, as he outlines for Naked Scientist Priya Crosby... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/9/20137 minutes, 39 seconds
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British Science Festival 2013: Ceri Brenner, Lasers

Rutherford Appleton Central Laser Facility scientist Dr Ceri Brenner enlightens Ginny Smith about the world of lasers at the British Science Festival, 2013. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/9/20136 minutes, 54 seconds
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The Science of Spin Bowling

Today marks the first day of the fourth test in the Ashes and while England have already retained the urn, they're hoping that their spin bowlers, including the likes of Monty Panesar can help secure a series win.Dominic Ford wanted to find out the science behind spin bowling so he visited the Australian 'spin doctor', Professor Hugh Hunt to bounce some balls around in his office at Trinity College Cambridge Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/8/20136 minutes, 54 seconds
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Diamond Lasers - Just a James Bond fantasy?

Diamonds are the new best friends of laser scientists.A new world of lasers is now being created through research which is harnessing the exceptional qualities of diamonds. It will open up new possibilities in the way that lasers can be used in areas such as medicine.Jane Reck from the EPSRC has been finding out more.... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/8/20136 minutes, 28 seconds
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The Science of the Working Lunch

We are often encouraged to relax during our lunch break, but research suggests that this can do interesting things to our minds. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/1/20136 minutes, 3 seconds
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What Makes Plumes on Enceladus - Matt Hedman

Enceladus, the tiny Saturnian satellite, regularly issues jets of salty water from its south pole that reaches kilometres in height above the moon's surface. But what drives this process? Gravitational tidal forces caused by an eccentric orbit, it seems. Cornell scientist Matt Hedman has analysed where in the Enceladus orbit the plumes are most pronounced... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/1/20135 minutes, 17 seconds
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Cycle Safety

How can you make sure you are safe when you cycle? It might be more difficult that you think to ensure cars spot you... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/29/20136 minutes, 55 seconds
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Exercise away the risk of stroke?

Scientists at the University of South Australia have shown that regular exercise can dramatically reduce your risk of having a stroke in later life. Priya Crosby spoke to first author on the paper, Dr. Michelle McDonnell to find out more. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/29/20135 minutes, 22 seconds
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Brain scans to improve autism diagnosis

Last week, a group at the University of California, Davis, released a paper which highlights the potential for the use of MRI brain scans in the diagnosis of autism in children. Priya Crosby spoke to first author of the paper, Mark Shen, to find out more. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/18/20135 minutes, 29 seconds
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Giant Water Lily

The Cambridge Botanic Gardens play host to a giant water lily, with leaves a small child can stand on, and a flower that undergos an overnight sex change. Ginny Smith went to talk to Alex Summers about this incredible plant. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/13/20136 minutes, 45 seconds
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National Astronomy Meeting: Thursday

Dark matter has long been needed by cosmologists to explain how structures like galaxies remain so strongly bound together. Catherine Peymans from the University of Edinburgh tells me about the latest models of dark matter, meanwhile Benoit Famaey and Hongsheng Zhao tell me how they believe that cosmological models can be constructed that don't have any dark matter at all. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/3/201333 minutes, 24 seconds
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The Enigma Machine

Last week marked the 101st birthday of the code-breaker and computer scientist Alan Turing, so Ginny Smith met up with James Grime, from the Enigma Project, to find out more about the German code machine that Turing and his colleagues at Bletchley Park worked so hard to crack... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/2/20136 minutes, 19 seconds
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National Astronomy Meeting: Wednesday

What will the last remaining lifeforms on the Earth look like as the Sun swells to become a red giant star? And why might future robotic explorers of the Moon find themselves engulfed in dust? Both of these questions were discussed at the National Astronomy Meeting today, meanwhile I also had a chance to catch up with some of the amateur astronomers at the conference. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/2/201331 minutes, 31 seconds
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National Astronomy Meeting: Tuesday

I find out how the British Geological Survey is investigating the threat that solar storms pose to the world's electricity grids. David Southwood, President of the RAS, tells me that astronomy is about much more than just understanding the Universe: it also has a huge economical impact. And, how is the Dark Energy Survey pinning down the make up of the Universe? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/1/201330 minutes, 21 seconds
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National Astronomy Meeting: Monday

David Southwood, President of the Royal Astronomical Society, tells me why NAM is so important to him. I hear about plans to double the size of the Liverpool Telescope, the sparkles in the Sun which have only recently come to light, and how gravitational lenses can produce magnified images of distant quasars. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/30/201331 minutes, 41 seconds
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Technology and Tennis

Technological advances in racquets and balls are changing the way tennis is played, including allowing us to reach incredible 163mph serves. To find out how, Ginny Smith visited a tennis court in Fulbourn to speak to Dr Alison Cook from the sports engineering consultants Cook Associates... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/29/20136 minutes, 6 seconds
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How do we make the right decisions?

Clinical Neuropsychologist Barbara Sahakian explains why some people find it difficult to make decisions that are beneficial to them, and how drugs could help. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/25/201317 minutes, 44 seconds
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Catalysts

Catalysts Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/16/201329 minutes, 38 seconds
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Naked in Cheltenham

Ginny Smith talked to scientists performing at Chetenham Science Festival, as well as trying out some hands- on activities. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/13/201335 minutes, 14 seconds
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What is Random?

We were discussing on the radio today how random numbers are generated, and how could it be proved - to the satisfaction of a mathematician - that the number really is random? Evan Stanbury explains... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/16/20135 minutes, 4 seconds
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Science Toys, for Boys?

A campaign has been launched to stop science toys being sold by some stores as "toys for boys". But what does science say on the matter? Introduced here by BBC 5 Live's Dotun Adebayo, Ginny Smith has been investigating... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/12/20137 minutes, 40 seconds
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Touching Up On Art Restoration

Continuing from our podcast Restoring the Masters, Sally Woodcock, a PhD student from the Hamilton Kerr Institute talks about how we restore old oil paintings to their former glory. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/2/20137 minutes, 19 seconds
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Science In-Situ

This month we explore science 'in action' as we discover how researchers at the synchrotron are experimenting with implants, industrial catalysts and engine materials In-Situ! We discover how manipulating materials as they form can help create longer-lasting body implants and how catalysts are being visualised during their reactions to improve their efficiency. Plus all the latest news from Diamond including new ways to maintain ancient architecture and new materials for stronger buildings in the future... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/25/201327 minutes, 5 seconds
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BANG! Naked Science Festival

Breasts, bazookas, bosons and bombs: The Naked Scientists take to the stage for the Cambridge Science Festival 2013. An explosive mix of fertile conversation and kitchen science... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/17/201359 minutes, 43 seconds
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Tidal energy, turtle mating habits

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: a look at the potential to generate up to 20 per cent of the UK's electricity from tidal energy; and why understanding the nuts and bolts of turtles' sex lives could help protect those most at risk. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/12/201319 minutes, 53 seconds
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What does DNA sequencing do for me?

Cambridge chemist and biotechnologist Shankar Balasubramanian discusses DNA sequencing and its implications for health and disease. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/12/201318 minutes, 10 seconds
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Ice-Quakes in Svalbard

We spoke to Emma Smith, a PhD student with the British Antarctic Survey about her work whilst she was based in the icy noth of Svalbard... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/11/20137 minutes, 47 seconds
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Benedict Cumberbatch

Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch is the Cambridge Science Festival's guest director this year, meaning he's been assisting the Cambridge University festival team with putting together the programme for the two-week event, which launches on March 11. He spoke with Naked Scientist Ben Valsler about his interest in science and his role in the festival... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/6/201324 minutes, 57 seconds
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Our ancient ancestors, deep sea worms

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: why textbook illustrations of our early ancestors may have to be re-drawn; and why underwater canyons contain a wealth of life, including some rather ugly-looking worms. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/19/201319 minutes, 2 seconds
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Using Genetics to Save the Ash Tree

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: decoding the ash tree's entire genetic sequence to produce a strain which is more resilient to ash dieback; the challenges of extracting biofuels from algae; and the latest news on Planet Earth Online. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/5/201320 minutes, 43 seconds
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Pseudomonas aeruginosa - Martin Welch

Researchers at Cambridge University announced the discovery of a new way to attack the bacterial "superbug" Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which accounts for 6% of all hospital acquired infections and can be very hard to treat, particularly for patients with lung diseases like cystic fibrosis. Ben Valsler went to meet the man behind the breakthrough, Martin Welch... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/1/20135 minutes, 35 seconds
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Avian pox in UK great tits, top conservation issues

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: how a virus brought to the UK by insects poses a worrying threat to the country's great tit population; and which new technologies could affect global biodiversity in 2013. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/22/201319 minutes, 45 seconds
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Climate tipping points, basking sharks, primates

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: why understanding where plankton congregates can help us protect basking sharks and other marine creatures; how primates planning ahead tells us about our own intelligence; and how to predict dangerous climate tipping points. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/8/201319 minutes, 55 seconds
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Protecting Nerves from Damage

How can we protect neurons from degeneration? In this podcast from Cambridge Cafe Scientifique, we hear how understanding transport of proteins and other chemicals within individual nerve cells may be key to keeping the cell alive after injury... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/5/20138 minutes, 22 seconds
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Planet Earth Podcast highlights from 2012

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: a look at some of the highlights from 12 months of the Planet Earth Podcast, including: a hairy crab; earthquake monitoring in Turkey; air quality around London before the Olympics -- and early disease detection; Europe's oldest cave art; what the first creatures to walk on land looked like; and seabirds. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/26/201225 minutes, 33 seconds
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The Best of Synchrotron Science in 2012

This month, we look back at Diamond's ten year anniversary celebrations to discover novel ways to store hydrogen gas, analyse the risks of a toxic mudspill and engineer tissues to prevent premature labour. We also get an overview of science at the synchrotron in 2012 and hear the UK science ministers thoughts on the research taking place at Diamond... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/21/201224 minutes, 59 seconds
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Extra Questions - The Science Behind Broadcasting

How does a radio broadcast work? We must have been on your wavelength this week, as we had more questions that we could fit in Naked Scientists Show! Here are the extra bits... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/18/201213 minutes, 7 seconds
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Citizen science projects, plants and greenhouse gases

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: how you can get involved in any one of the wealth of UK citizen science projects that have taken off recently, and why a little-known gas given off by many trees, ferns and mosses, could be contributing to global warming. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/11/201220 minutes, 10 seconds
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Bat calls, weather balloons, telomeres and ageing

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: an online tool to identify bats is helping to protect them, and it could make a scientist of us all. Also, an audio diary from a researcher from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science who's on the Isle of Arran in Scotland; and why there's more to ageing than telomeres. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/27/201222 minutes, 3 seconds
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Solutions to urban flooding, peatland carbon storage

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: a look at potential solutions to urban flooding, and why scientists are so keen to measure carbon dioxide flow through the UK's Norfolk Fens. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/15/201218 minutes, 35 seconds
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Stories from the Synchrotron

Fiction and Science collide this month as we discover the stories lurking beneath the surface of the synchrotron. We open up the books to investigate a disease outbreak on the grounds of Diamond and experience the onset of dementia first hand through some of the winning entries from Diamond's Light Reading competition. We also discover how neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer's are being researched using X-rays, reveal the structure of a protein that could help improve our crops in the future and bring you all the latest news from the light source! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/15/201232 minutes, 11 seconds
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Unique plants in Bristol, contraceptives and fish

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: how conservationists are using science to help protect rare plants found only in Bristol's Avon Gorge, and are feminised fish changing wild fish populations? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/30/201220 minutes, 30 seconds
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Man-made salt marshes, ground heat, storms

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: why salt marshes are so important, but are difficult to recreate; how storms are made; and why the ground beneath our feet could provide decades of natural heating. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/19/201221 minutes, 50 seconds
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Sir John Gurdon, Nobel Laureate

Sir John Gurdon, from Cambridge University, talks to Chris Smith about the set of experiments that resulted in the award on the 2012 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/12/201222 minutes, 46 seconds
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Future-proofing forests, noisy gannets, Antarctica

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: the steps scientists are taking to make sure the trees we plant today can cope with tomorrow's warmer climate; tracking gannets to find out how environmental change might affect them; and a tropical Antarctica. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/3/201220 minutes, 13 seconds
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Forecasting solar storms, fish personalities

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: why accurately forecasting solar storms is becoming increasingly important; and how understanding how fish shoal could interest economists. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/18/201221 minutes, 18 seconds
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Entering the Infra-Red Zone

This month, discover how seeing red can help restore works of art and probe the origins of cancer. We delve into the world of Infra-red spectroscopy to reveal the creation and preservation of ancient pieces of art and the building techniques of ancient civilizations. We also search for cellular fingerprints to enable the identification of stem cells and earlier diagnosis of cancer in the future! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/9/201233 minutes, 24 seconds
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BSF 2012 - Subglacial Lakes & Food on the Brain

In the final of our special series of programmes from the British Science Festival, we find out how researchers will be drilling through over 3 kilometres of ice to find out what's hiding in subglacial Lake Ellsworth. Plus, how a high fat diet may alter the brain... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/6/201227 minutes, 27 seconds
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BSF 2012 - Finding Higgs and Mining Heat

In this special edition of the Naked Scientists from the British Science Festival, we get the latest news from the Large Hadron Collider, including their scientific shopping list, and find out how heat pumps could extract household heating from abandoned mines... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/5/201233 minutes, 47 seconds
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BSF 2012 - Seeing through Clothes and Water Voles

In the second special programme from the British Science Festival in Aberdeen, we discover the technology for seeing through your clothes and find out why "Lonely heart" teenage water voles can save whole populations. Plus, we discover why NASA is returning to the Van Allen Belt, and explore the diet foods of the future, which will make you feel fuller for longer. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/4/201233 minutes, 14 seconds
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BSF 2012 - Caring Technology and Colourful Fossils

In this, the first of a series of special podcasts from the British Science Festival, we discover the Wang Particle, find out how technology can help people stay more able until later in life, and how fossils are revealing their true colours... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/3/201230 minutes, 41 seconds
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Monitoring your Mobile Phone

With 40% of adults in the UK now using smartphones, and similar figures worldwide, we discover how easy it is to track and profile peoples' movements using information given away in public by their mobile phones. We learn how hackers can use your phone's wifi connections to track where you go, who you contact and even get images of where you live! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/3/201213 minutes, 13 seconds
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Early tetrapods, upland rivers, North Anatolian Fault

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: what the first creatures to walk on land looked like; the connection between the biodiversity of upland rivers and the ecosystem services they provide; and in an audio diary from Turkey, a University of Leeds researcher on the North Anatolian Fault. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/3/201219 minutes, 16 seconds
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Saving Satellites

Satellites are essential, and not just for the latest television. Nation states rely on satellites for reconnaissance, navigation and secure communications. But satellites are under threat, from natural phenomenon like Space Weather events through to nefarious attacks from cyber criminals. We visit the UK's Defence Science Technology Laboratory to find out how we keep our satellites safe... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/31/201211 minutes, 48 seconds
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Bees and sex, acid rain's legacy, cold water corals

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: sex and the survival of honey bee colonies; why rivers are still recovering from the legacy of acid rain; and collecting coral from the Atlantic seabed. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/14/201221 minutes, 19 seconds
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Mars Curiosity Extra

NASA's David Blake from the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover team and the Open University's Cassini-Huygens space probe pioneer John Zarnecki answer your questions about planetary exploration. This special podcast is an addendum to the August 5th 2012 episode of the Naked Scientists Podcast and contains extra material not included in the published programme. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/5/20129 minutes, 16 seconds
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Early African dairy farming, seabird migrations

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: how dairy farming in Africa 7000 years ago led to the speedy evolution of the gene that lets us digest milk; and how climate change could be having a detrimental effect on seabirds and fish in the Southern Ocean. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/31/201218 minutes, 44 seconds
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Brown water, bats and streetlights, plant methane

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: how browner drinking water presents problems for the water companies; the effect of street lighting on bats and their commuter routes; and how ultraviolet light makes plants emit methane. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/18/201220 minutes, 35 seconds
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Exciting new technologies that are revolutionising neuroscience

Find out about the exciting new technologies that are revolutionising neuroscience, providing scientists with the tools to unlock the mysteries of the mind and nervous system and paving the way for better treatments for patients. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/16/201211 minutes, 5 seconds
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The Naked Scientists unravel the connections in your brain

We find out what happens when your immune system attacks the brain, how a protein providing the architecture of brain connectivity may help to treat people with autism, explore how scientists are using the power of light to cause, and then treat, addiction in mice and get to grips with the potential of neural stem cells in Alzheimer's disease treatment. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/15/201210 minutes, 17 seconds
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The Naked Scientists strip down the brain in Spain

The Naked Scientists strip down the brain in Spain - attending the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies conference in Barcelona. We find out how your brain computes information, ask if watching worms can tell us about human social interaction, and we explore how we make up our minds when faced with life's choices. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/14/201210 minutes, 9 seconds
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Urban heat, ancient cave art, bold birds

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: a look at how urban heat islands will alter under climate change, and how these changes might affect your health, as well as our railways, roads and energy supplies. Also: why Europe's oldest cave art might not have been painted by humans at all. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/4/201221 minutes, 6 seconds
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Making a Material World

This month, we get materialistic to discover how X-rays are being used to improve light emitting diodes , how probing piezoelectric materials could provide a less toxic future and how solar cells are being made more efficient, using DNA! We also celebrate the launch of Diamond's annual report and bring you the latest news and events from the synchrotron including new insight into the movements of comets in our solar system... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/4/201238 minutes, 31 seconds
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Bees, nanomaterials, and methane on Mars

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: how knowing exactly which bees pollinate which crops may help us grow food more sustainably; and a look at the effects of tiny particles called nanomaterials on the environment and our health. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/19/201220 minutes, 55 seconds
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Medical diagnostics, the value of nature

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: a look at how technology designed to measure air pollution may soon be used to smell disease on a patient's breath; and the steps British researchers are taking to put a value on all the benefits of nature that we often take for granted. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/5/201219 minutes, 2 seconds
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Cold water corals, meteorites, new greenhouse gases

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - scientists describe why the planet's least understood but most diverse species of coral is under threat. Also, what the meteorite strike that wiped the dinosaurs out would've been like; and why co2 isn't the only greenhouse gas we should be worried about. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/23/201220 minutes, 23 seconds
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Drought and record rainfall, indoor avalanches

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: researchers explain why, despite record rainfall, England is in drought. Later, how scientists are using indoor avalanches to figure out where to put buildings and roads. Finally, news of ice loss in Antarctic, and the benefits of bat dung. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/9/201220 minutes, 20 seconds
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How Intelligence Happens

This month, Professor John Duncan explores human intelligence and the neurons and circuits in the brain that enable us to have the thoughts, cognition and problem-solving abilities that set us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/7/201219 minutes, 37 seconds
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Microscopic plants, using volcanic ash for dating

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - we take a closer look at tiny marine plants, which underpin the entire marine food chain and play a vital role in the Earth's climate. Also, how scientists are using volcanic ash called tefra to tell how people may have responded to rapid environmental changes in the recent past. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/25/201218 minutes
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Fungal threats, hydrothermal vents, green buildings

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast, how fungal infections could threaten our food security as well as the planet's amphibians; work under way to understand the ecosystems around the hydrothermal vents in the Southern Ocean; and how it's people, not buildings, that use energy. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/15/201219 minutes, 45 seconds
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Air pollution, dwarf elephants and water footprints.

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast, Richard Hollingham hears about new air-quality monitoring that could help mitigate the effects of bad-air days; the effect of climate change on Mediterranean dwarf elephants; and exactly how many litres of water it took to make his morning coffee. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/27/201220 minutes, 32 seconds
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Ten Years of Diamond

This month, we celebrate ten years of Diamond and discover what it takes to get from green field site to functioning synchrotron. We take a look at the wide range of science that's taken place from the probing of viruses to develop vaccines and the exploring of meteorites to understand the formation of our solar system. We also come back to the present day to bring you the latest news and research from the light source... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/25/201232 minutes, 22 seconds
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What happens when we screw with our sleep patterns?

Cambridge Neuroscientists Dr Michael Hastings and Dr Akhilesh Reddy spoke at the annual Cambridge Neuroscience Seminar about their work on sleep.They discuss the importance of sleep for learning and memory, preventing cancer, the health of your heart, mopping up toxic waste in your body, winning that Olympic Gold medal and why you shouldn't have that midnight kebab! Dr Hannah Critchlow from the Naked Scientists went along to the seminar to discuss their work with them........ Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/22/201212 minutes, 8 seconds
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Invasive signal crayfish, shags, night-shining clouds

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: Richard Hollingham finds out why the American signal crayfish is driving out one of the UK's native species; in our latest audio diary, Hannah Grist from the University of Aberdeen talks us through her research on European shags; and what noctilucent clouds tell us about our changing climate. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/14/201220 minutes, 34 seconds
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A global classroom brings the oceans alive

Marine biologist Dr Joshua Drew from the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago is using cutting edge communication technologies to bring the oceans alive in two very different parts of the planet. By connecting teenagers in Fiji and inner city Chicago, he's inspiring the next generation of marine scientists and galvanising them into conservation action. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/7/201214 minutes, 27 seconds
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River Thames pollution, Arctic freshwater bulge

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast, Sue Nelson goes to the River Thames in central London to find out why nitrate pollution has trebled since the 1930s. Later on, she talks to a researcher about an unusual freshwater bulge in the Arctic, and asks if we should be concerned. Finally, we hear a round-up of some of the news from the natural world. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/5/201220 minutes, 47 seconds
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Mental Maps in the Brain

What's your sense of direction like? And how good are you at reading a map? It turns out, these skills are down to two particular regions of the brain that keep track of where you are in relation to a destination and how longs it's going to take you get there. And to find out more, we took to the mean streets of Soho in London... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/28/201210 minutes, 10 seconds
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Cambridge Cafe Scientifique - Opening up Your Mind

This Month, Dr Hannah Critchlow opens up the mind to reveal the neurons controlling the inner workings of our brain and how we perceive the world around us... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/21/201217 minutes, 13 seconds
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Testing satellites on Earth, hedgerow wildlife

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: Sue Nelson visits RAL Space at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire to find out how scientists check if the scientific equipment they put on satellites will work properly once in space. Later she goes to Buckinghamshire to hear how simple changes to hedgerow management could significantly improve winter habitats and food supplies for wildlife. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/17/201221 minutes, 4 seconds
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Revitalising urban rivers, hot conservation topics

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - Richard Hollingham goes to the River Wandle in south-west London to find out how scientific research is helping to revitalise this heavily-used river; later he goes to Cambridge to hear about some of the hottest conservation topics for 2012. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/31/201220 minutes, 24 seconds
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Day to Day Diamond

This month, we step inside to explore what, and who, it takes to run the synchrotron. We meet the people that keep the electrons accelerating to produce light beams 100 billion times brighter than the Sun, every day! We explore the health and safety needed when working with high levels of radiation, the equipment used to ensure every inch of the machine runs smoothly and the industries using Diamond to produce our everyday products. Plus we hear how the facility if run from the top down as well as bring you the latest news and events from Diamond. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/23/201229 minutes, 24 seconds
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The Hoff Crab, North Sea fisheries, flood prediction

It's not often that science news goes viral, but when researchers dubbed a new species the 'Hoff Crab' more people than usual seemed to take notice! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/17/201221 minutes, 33 seconds
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Discovering the world's deepest deep sea vents

Deep sea researchers Doug Connelly and Jon Copley led the team that discovered the deepest and possibly hottest undersea volcanoes on the planet. In a special edition of the Naked Scientists they talk to Helen Scales about their findings, including the extraordinary chemistry and biology they uncovered 5 kilometers beneath the waves in the Caribbean Sea. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/13/20129 minutes, 33 seconds
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Brain Control of Appetite and Body Weight

This month, Dr Lora Heisler discusses the brain mechanisms controlling our appetite and subsequent body weight. She explores the many drivers behind hunger and appetite control and how these differ from person to person as well as how obesity can be avoided by increasing our energy expenditure... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/10/201222 minutes, 47 seconds
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Parkour and orang-utans, risks from solar storms

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - Sue Nelson goes to Birmingham to find out how the James Bond film Casino Royale and orang-utan conservation are linked; later she meets a scientist from the British Geological Survey to learn which parts of the UK power grid are most at risk during solar storms. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/9/201219 minutes, 14 seconds
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The Thames Barrier, the colour of prehistoric birds

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - Sue Nelson goes to the Thames Barrier to find out how engineers use science to decide whether or not to raise or lower it, helping to stop storm surges from flooding London; while Richard Hollingham meets a scientist who developed a technique that reveals the colour of truly ancient fossilised birds. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/12/201121 minutes, 12 seconds
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How Nicotine Switches the Brain onto Cocaine

How does nicotine open a gateway to cocaine addiction? A new study indicates that nicotine primes the brain for cocaine - by altering the structure of a gene linked to learning, memory and addiction. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/5/201110 minutes, 44 seconds
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Chemistry at the Synchrotron

This month, we celebrate the international year of chemistry by exploring the wide range of chemical discoveries and research taking place at Diamond. We investigate the role of chemistry in pitting erosion, photovoltaics and nanowires as well as reveal how Diamond has been used to unearth a new source of mercury poisoning...plus all the latest news and event from diamond including a wake up call revealing the benefits of caffeine! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/5/201134 minutes, 23 seconds
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The Ozone Hole, Starlings in Fair Isle, Forest Fires

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - Richard Hollingham talks to one of the scientists behind the discovery of the ozone hole to find why it's still there; how research on starlings on an island famous for its sweaters could help bird conservationists; and why forest fires in North America affect people thousands of miles away in Europe. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/22/201120 minutes, 8 seconds
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The Biology of Behaviour

Professor Tony Holland provides a window into the biology of behaviour and how genetic syndromes are helping open this window to provide greater levels of insight into violent behaviour, appetite control and Alzheimers disease... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/22/201124 minutes, 4 seconds
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Contagion Special

In this infectious special podcast, we explore the science behind Stephen Soderburgh's latest film, Contagion, which depicts the series of events that unfold with the outbreak of a new strain of flu. The film has quite serious scientific credentials - Ian Lipkin, Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia univeristy was on hand every step of the way to ensure the film's scenarios were realistic. We find out more about the role of a scientific advisor, and what kind of public health measures we have in place should an outbreak like this really happen any time soon... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/11/201117 minutes, 17 seconds
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Treating snakebites, and European shags

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - Sue Nelson visits the largest collection of venomous snakes in the UK to find out how researchers are developing antivenoms to help African snakebite victims; and what scientists are doing to understand why populations of the European shag are declining. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/8/201120 minutes, 53 seconds
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Neanderthal mammoth hunters in Jersey

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: Richard Hollingham meets scientists and archaeologists who are working to preserve one of the most important Neanderthal settlements in north-west Europe to find out how they lived; later on, he visits the local primary school to find out what schoolchildren make of the Neanderthals. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/2/201119 minutes, 46 seconds
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HIV, Haemophilia and Muscular Dystophies

In this final podcast from the BSGT Conference we hear how genes could be targeted to develop a new drug for HIV as well as long awaited treatments for Muscular dystrophies and Haemophilia. We also discover how a good insight into the workings of a virus can help you exploit them to deliver genes more effectively and discuss the research highlights that have taken place over the past few days... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/30/201117 minutes, 42 seconds
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Cancer and Ocular Gene Therapies

Today we hear how cancers, retinal degeneration, spinal chord injury and liver disease can all be targeted using gene and stem cell therapy techniques. We also explore a variety of methods to deliver genes to a desired location within our bodies... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/28/201117 minutes, 57 seconds
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Respiratory Disorders and Muscular Dystrophies

In today's podcast we hear how gene therapy can be used to target a variety of respiratory disorders such as Cystic Fibrosis and how scientists are trying to grow organs such as lungs in the lab. We also discover how alternative methods of therapy could be used to treat muscular dystophy and how pancreatic cells are being created, by the re-programming of other cells, in a bid to treat diabetes... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/27/201113 minutes, 16 seconds
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Public Engagement in Gene therapy

In this first podcast from the 2011 BSGT/ESGCT Conference in Brighton we bring you the highlights from the Public Engagment day including an introduction to gene therapy and stem cell therapy, life from the perspective of a haemophiliac, public opinions on gene therapy and how a DNA race can help teenagers get to grips with DNA fingerprinting... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/26/201116 minutes, 13 seconds
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The deep sea, ancient proteins, Arctic research

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - how scientists find out about life in the oceans' deepest trenches; how identifying proteins from 50 milion year old reptile skin could help us store radioactive waste; and studying the effects of climate change in the Arctic. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/10/201120 minutes, 30 seconds
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Cambridge Cafe Scientifique - NHS Rationing

Dr. Linda Sharples gives an insight into the workings of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and how new medical treatments, drugs and procedures are analysed and assessed for use within the UK National Health Service... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/10/201120 minutes
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Spreading aliens, Arctic experience, and Antarctica

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast, how hikers and walkers could be unwittingly changing the landscape by spreading alien species; what it's like to work as a marine biologist in the Arctic in temperatures of minus 40C; and exactly how stable is the West Antarctic Ice Sheet? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/27/201121 minutes, 3 seconds
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Looking into the Light!

This month we look into the light to discover how Diamond's new Imaging and Coherance beamline is helping scientists see with greater clarity than ever before! We hear how the beamline works to provide greater resolution imaging, how rocks deep beneath the earths surface can be analysed for potential storage of carbon dioxide in the future, and how imaging the internal structure of metal alloys could help recycle them on a greater scale. Plus, the latest news and events from Diamond including new eye-opening research on the cornea and the family history of the virus! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/18/201133 minutes, 22 seconds
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Engineering the climate to tackle climate change

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: in a geoengineering special edition, we take a closer look at some of the technologies we may have to resort to using to avert dangerous climate change. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/14/201121 minutes, 17 seconds
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Australopithecus Sediba Special

Reader in evolution at Wits University, Lee Berger, made a life-changing discovery when he uncovered the remains of a new species of hominid, Australopithecus sediba, in South Africa. Here, Chris Smith gets to meet the newest addition to the human family tree... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/7/201137 minutes, 9 seconds
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Stonehenge, microscopic plants, and baboons

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast, why scientists are working with the National Trust to restore the chalk grasslands around Stonehenge; how researchers are using satellites to study microscopic plants; and the etiquette of dining and bullying in baboons. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/23/201119 minutes, 41 seconds
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Where do all the salmon go, and making CO2 bricks

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast, how scientists are using fish scales to figure out why the UK salmon population is falling; and how carbon dioxide emissions from power stations could be used to make household bricks. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/12/201117 minutes, 32 seconds
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How Plants Attract Bats

A species of tropical vine attracts its bat pollinators using acoustic signals, rather than bright colours or smells, according to a study published in the journal Science this week. In this special podcast, Dr Marc Holderied discusses this unique discovery. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/28/20115 minutes, 47 seconds
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Searching for life in Lake Ellsworth

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: why scientists are planning on drilling three kilometres beneath the Antarctic ice sheet in one of the most ambitious exploration projects ever undertaken; and how worms that feed on dead whale bones at the bottom of the ocean may be distorting the whale fossil record. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/26/201119 minutes, 36 seconds
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Rip Currents and Carbon Capture

This week, why understanding rip currents at Perranporth in north Cornwall could help save lives; how exactly does carbon capture and storage (CCS) work and how can scientists be sure that carbon will be stored forever? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/12/201118 minutes, 14 seconds
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WWII bunkers, thugs and aliens, and calving glaciers

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast, why weathermen are using a converted World War II bunker to monitor clouds; how thug species such as bramble, nettle and bracken can be just as damaging to woodlands as alien plants; and why scientists are going to Greenland to deploy a network of sensors in some of the country's glaciers. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/7/201119 minutes, 54 seconds
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Inside Diamond

This month, we venture into the synchrotron along with members of the public to bring you a glimpse of the Inside Diamond open days. We meet the engineers and technicians that design the components of the synchrotron to keep it running smoothly, hear from Diamond CEO Gert Materlik about the main highlights of these open days. Plus, we talk to a scientist working on one of Diamonds latest Beamlines, I-24, that's enabling research that wasn't possible before including new insight in the fight against allergies! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/6/201130 minutes, 32 seconds
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Bumblebee declines, microbes, and amazing birds

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - what UK farmers are doing to protect the country's vanishing bumblebees, butterflies and other pollinating insects; how scientists are trying to figure out how many types of microbes there are on our planet and why they all matter; and why birds are more amazing than we ever imagined. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/17/201120 minutes, 20 seconds
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Learning about Sheep Learning

Professor Jenny Morton provides new insight into the cognitive abilities of the supposedly dim-witted sheep and explains how these quick learning animals can be used to model Huntington's Disease... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/13/201117 minutes, 40 seconds
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The Pressures of the Deep Sea

Anything in the deep sea, whether that's the microbes that live down there, or the research vehicles sent down to take samples of them face the same challenges from being way down deep. So why study the deep ocean depths? And how do we do it? For this naked scientists special, Sarah Castor-Perry went to Scripps Institution of Oceanography to find out, from Professor of Marine Microbial Genetics, Professor Douglas Bartlett, and engineer extraordinaire Kevin Hardy. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/9/201126 minutes, 48 seconds
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Cuckoos at Wicken Fen, snow, and radiocarbon dating

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - the cunning tricks the cuckoo uses to get another bird to do the parenting, why researchers are studying snow in Sweden, and how an improved radiocarbon dating technique may put a few scientists' noses out of joint. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/3/201120 minutes, 59 seconds
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Picturing the underwater world

One of the biggest problems when it comes to caring for the ocean realm is that it is out of sight and out of mind. It's hard to care about something you don't know about, and most people, most of the time, don't have a chance to see ocean life for themselves. Underwater photography is helping to bridge that gap between people and the oceans. In this special podcast, Helen Scales chats to National Geographic photographer Brian Skerry to find out about the challenges of taking pictures underwater, from the technical constraints of taking electrical equipment into salty water to finding ways of... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/1/201111 minutes, 13 seconds
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Taking a lobster's view on the oceans

How do marine animals hear, see, touch, and smell the world around them? Life underwater is obviously very different to life on land and it can be difficult for us air-breathing humans to imagine what goes on down there beneath the waves. But understanding how animals find their way around the ocean plays a vital role in our efforts to conserve marine life. In this special edition of the Naked scientists, Helen Scales meets sensory biologist Jelle Atema from Boston University to find out what we know about the ways marine animals build a picture of the world around them. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/31/201117 minutes, 38 seconds
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Exploring the wonders of the deep

The saying goes that we known more about the surface of the moon than we do about the deep sea - and that's probably true. But modern technologies are opening up the mysterious depths allowing scientists to venture further than ever before into this alien realm. In this special podcast, Helen Scales explores the wonders of the deep with biologist Tim Shank from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the US. He recently led a pioneering expedition into the deep sea around Indonesia where his team discovered dozens of new species and shed light on extraordinary ecosystems in the dark depths... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/30/201115 minutes, 58 seconds
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Flood defences, the Southern Ocean, and whiter clouds

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast, why removing some man-made coastal flood defences might not be such a harebrained idea, what it's like studying gas exchange in the wilds of the Southern Ocean, and, in what could be the first case of 'natural' geoengineering, how forests could be whitening the clouds right above them. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/24/201118 minutes, 52 seconds
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Cambridge Cafe Scientifique - Zero Degrees of Empathy

This month, Professor Simon Baron-Cohen explores human empathy and explains what empathy is, how it differs amongst the population and the neurological and environmental causes of these differences... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/16/201121 minutes, 4 seconds
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Science from a plane, and forecasting space storms

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: how a specially-designed twin turboprop research plane is helping scientists in a huge range of subjects from archaeology to ecology, and why a violent space storm could spell trouble for communications systems across the world. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/5/201121 minutes, 24 seconds
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Volcanic ash and sediment time machines

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast, how last year's eruption of the Eyjafjallajkull volcano in Iceland gave scientists an unparalleled opportunity for research, and why sediment from rivers like the Thames can act like time machines to bygone eras. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/26/201119 minutes, 12 seconds
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The Power of Magnetism

This month we attract your attention to the power of magnetism as we explore just what magnetism is and how it can be induced. We also explore the role of magnetism in superconductors, as well as a class of materials known as multiferroics! Plus, we bring you the latest news and events from the light source. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/17/201126 minutes, 45 seconds
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Um, How Toddlers Learn Language

Traditionally viewed as a poor verbal practise, the ums and ers uttered by parents may in fact play a critical role in helping toddlers to learn new words, as Rochester University researcher Richard Aslin, publishing in the journal Developmental Science, discovered recently... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/14/20118 minutes, 51 seconds
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The Earth's magnetic field, snow, and Chernobyl

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: how scientists plan to measure the Earth's magnetic field from space, why one researcher is in the frozen town of Churchill in northern Canada, and how the Chernobyl disaster still affects Northern Ireland 25 years on. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/7/201120 minutes, 45 seconds
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Fish poo, dead whales, and the Japan earthquake

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: how the famous White Cliffs of Dover could be made of fish poo (at least partially), why one researcher is so interested in dead whales, and why the Japan earthquake was so powerful and devastating. Join Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson to find out more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/23/201120 minutes, 6 seconds
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Reefs at Risk Revisited

Coral reefs are vibrant ecosystems packed with spectacular underwater life that protect coastlines and provide food and income for millions of people. But coral reefs are at risk. How threatened are reefs today? Why are they in trouble? And what hope is there for the future of reefs? In this special podcast, Helen Scales meets the people behind Reefs at Risk Revisited, a groundbreaking new study that draws a global map of reefs and the problems they face today. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/10/201129 minutes, 11 seconds
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Carbon capture and storage, floods, CryoSat-2

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: how carbon capture and storage works and why it's here to stay, the effect of floodplains on water pollution, and how exactly do you measure the thickness of polar ice from space? A pub isn't an obvious place for a discussion about taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and storing it in rocks deep underground, but the venue for this week's Planet Earth Podcast isn't any old pub. This pub is set into the sandstone rock in the centre of Nottingham and is the perfect place to demonstrate exactly how the technology works. Richard Hollingham visits Ye... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/9/201120 minutes, 3 seconds
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Tracking insects with a Big Dish, Australian floods

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: how tracking insects can help scientists forecast summer storms and floods, and the role one of Europe's key satellite missions played in the recent floods in Queensland, Australia. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/1/201118 minutes, 11 seconds
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Alzheimers on the Mind

For this month's Cafe, Graham Fraser, from the Medical Research Council, discusses the prevalence and causes of Alzheimers disease as well is his research on the disease and the possible methods of treatment or prevention in the future. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/17/201117 minutes, 7 seconds
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Smart Way to Rehab

Fewer than one third of patients who suffer a heart attack attend rehabilitation sessions, despite evidence that this follow-up support can be vital in reducing the risk of further heart attacks and improving a patient's quality of life. Now Brisbane-based researcher Dr Charles Worringham has pioneered a way to solve the problem, with a preprogrammed smart phone... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/11/20119 minutes, 46 seconds
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Romans recycling, dinosaur colour, gravity mission

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - how the Romans recycled glass, dinosaur colour, and what Europe's gravity mission tells us about ocean currents. Did you know that the height of the world's oceans can vary by as much as 200 metres? These huge differences depend almost entirely on very slight changes in gravity across the world. Sue Nelson goes to the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton to find out more. We also hear that even the Romans recycled glass. But were they being green, or did they have other reasons? Richard Hollingham goes to Norwich to meet the archaeologists... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/10/201121 minutes, 7 seconds
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Spectacular Synchronous Coral Spawning

How do you go about finding a mate if you can't go and look for one? This is the problem corals, which are rooted to the seabed, have found a spectacular way to solve - mass spawning. But how do they make sure they all do it at the same time? And what happens after all the eggs and sperm are released into the water? In this Special podcast, Sarah Castor-Perry finds the answers to these questions and more from James Guest of the National University of Singapore. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/10/201114 minutes, 17 seconds
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An Optimist's Tour of the Future

What does the future hold for us? Is the future bright, shining and brimming with opportunity, or a dark, dystopian drudgery? Recent scientific advances suggest there may be much to look forward to. In this special postcast, Kat Arney speaks to Mark Stevenson, author of An Optimist's Tour of the Future. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/7/201121 minutes, 58 seconds
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Eroding Coastlines and Holy Grails - A look back at 2010

This month we look back at Diamond's scientific highlights of 2010 to reveal how microbes are eroding away our coastline and how metal organic frameworks could help find the holy grail of chemistry! We also hear how the synchrotron was improved to provide more beamlines as well as bring you the latest research from these beamlines including stresses on jet engines and the never-ending fight against antibiotic resistance. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/31/201130 minutes, 26 seconds
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Noisy coral reefs, melting ice sheets and whale speak

In this latest watery-themed Planet Earth Podcast, Richard Hollingham hears how the underwater world isn't the soundless place you might imagine. From chirping, gurgling and snapping sounds from busy coral reefs to clicking sperm whales, scientists are finding that all sorts of marine life use sounds to find a suitable home, to find a mate, to avoid being eaten or to communicate. First up, we hear from a marine biologist from the University of Bristol who explains how manmade noise might not affect just whales and dolphins, but also much smaller creatures that live in and around coral reefs.... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/28/201118 minutes, 43 seconds
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Essex coral reefs, malaria in the UK, and Antarctica

As the UK winter continues to bite, Sue Nelson tries to escape it all by going to visit a coral reef. Unfortunately for Sue, the coral reef is not in some sunny clime. Instead, it's an indoor coral reef at the brand new Coral Reef Research Unit at the University of Essex. Researchers are using the reef to look at the effects of ocean acidification on coral in a unique experiment. Sue meets David Smith and David Suggett from the Unit to find out exactly what they're up to. Later, Sue talks to Andy Morse from the University of Liverpool. Andy's an expert on the effects of climate change on... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/12/201118 minutes, 28 seconds
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An audio diary special edition

This is a special edition of the Planet Earth podcast, featuring some of our favourite audio diaries from the past year. We've got scientists using cannons to study geese in Ireland, researchers collecting mongoose poo in Uganda, Darth Vader impressions from beneath Antarctic ice and tiger leeches in a researcher's pants. In the first feature, Tim Cockerill from the University of Cambridge gives us an insight into studying insects in pristine rainforests of northern Borneo, describing some of the downsides. Next, Michael Cant, also from the University of Exeter tells us how cooperative - or... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/5/201121 minutes, 23 seconds
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Back in the Saddle: Getting Paralysed People Riding and Rowing

In this special episode of the Naked Scientists podcast, we explore the world of Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES), a technology allowing people paralysed from the waist down to row and cycle by using external electrodes to stimulate leg muscles. Michele Vanoncini investigates how it works, what benefits it can bring and meets some of the people who have used it to go for gold... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/26/201017 minutes, 26 seconds
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Light Shed on Dark GRBs

Dark gamma ray bursts have puzzled astronomers for over a decade. The energetic gamma ray events, known as Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs), all have an afterglow visible in the X-ray part of the spectrum, yet only half were visible at optical wavelengths. The half that were not visible in optical light, known as dark gamma ray bursts seemed to indicate that there may be a new class of GRBs not previously understood. Louise Ogden spoke to Dr Patricia Schady of the Max Planck Institute in Munich, whose team has found that dark gamma ray bursts are not in fact all that exotic... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/21/20105 minutes, 59 seconds
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Animal Pathology - National Pathology Week 2010

In this podcast from National Pathology Week 2010, we join Dr Alun Williams at the Natural History Museum to discover the importance of veterinary pathology. With some incredible examples from the animal kingdom, we'll explore the some of the conditions that animal pathologists help to diagnose, and find out how understanding animal disease can help make humans healthier. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/9/201023 minutes, 5 seconds
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Red squirrels and a tropical Antarctica

Red squirrels used to be the most common squirrel in Britain. But since the grey squirrel was introduced from the USA as an illegal immigrant in the late 1800s, their numbers have nose-dived. This is partly because the greys out-compete red squirrels for food: they feed on the ground and can digest unripe acorns, which red squirrels can't. But it's not just food; grey squirrels brought a deadly virus with them, which has hit red squirrel populations hard. Sue Nelson goes to a National Trust wood near Liverpool, one of the last red squirrel strongholds in the country, to find out how they... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/9/201017 minutes, 50 seconds
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Pathologists in Pregnancy - National Pathology Week 2010

We explore the role of pathologists in pregnancy and childbirth in this podcast from National Pathology Week 2010. We discover what we can learn from an ultrasound as well as other tests that can be run on an expectant mother. Plus, we discover the importance of newborn screening programmes and the prevention or diagnosis of conditions that can alter the course of a pregnancy. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/8/201028 minutes, 35 seconds
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Arctic Expedition Special

In this podcast Richard Hollingham reports from an unusual and somewhat cold location - onboard the British Antarctic Survey's RRS James Clark Ross which was stuck in the ice for two weeks 1000 kilometres from the North Pole. He talks to researchers on the ship about their work, finds out exactly how dangerous polar bears can be and hears what it's like to dive in freezing cold waters. He also learns that the Arctic isn't the desolate, barren place you might at first imagine. No, it's full of life. Not just big stuff like bears, seals and gulls, but algae and microorganisms that literally... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/7/201019 minutes, 41 seconds
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Behind the Scenes at Great Ormond Street - National Pathology Week 2010

We go behind closed doors in this special podcast from National Pathology Week 2010, visiting the pathology labs at the world famous Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. We'll discover the role that pathologists play in diagnosis and treatment of childhood diseases, including how metabolic diseases are identified and the role of newborn screening. Plus, we explore the labs themselves to see pathologists in action. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/7/201026 minutes, 33 seconds
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Palm oil plantations, charcoal, and a flea circus

Does your shopping basket contain chocolate, biscuits and shampoo? If it does, you may be unwittingly contributing to the destruction of the some of the world's pristine rainforests. Manufacturers now use palm oil in a huge range of products, because it's so cheap. But virgin rainforest in some of the planet's last wildernesses is being destroyed at a dizzying pace to make way for palm oil plantations to keep up with our voracious appetites for the products the stuff is in. Richard Hollingham meets Tim Cockerill, who's just come back from Borneo, to find out how the plantations affect the... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/23/201022 minutes, 37 seconds
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Science through Structure!

This month we probe down into the world of structural biology to find out just what this field is and the molecules it can enable us to see. We discover how visualising molecules such as DNA and proteins can help us understand the development of our nervous system, the repair of our DNA and find better treatments for conditions like hypertension and pre-eclampsia, as well as bring you the latest news and developments from Diamond. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/17/201031 minutes, 33 seconds
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Leeches, earthquakes and weird sea-life

It seems that hardly a week goes by without a major earthquake striking somewhere in the world, which may be why many people have been asking scientists at the British Geological Survey if earthquakes are getting more frequent. Richard Hollingham talks to expert seismologist Brian Baptie from BGS, who uses clever musical software to give us the answer. We also hear from Plymouth Marine Laboratory scientists on a boat off the coast of Cornwall in the UK. They're sampling seawater and sediment from the seafloor to try to understand how marine ecosystems change from one month to the next,... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/16/201019 minutes, 44 seconds
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Kew Gardens, Antarctica and ancient trees

In this Planet Earth podcast, Sue Nelson reports from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew where she finds out that some plants like the Snake's Head Fritillary have enormous amounts of DNA in their genomes. These plants struggle in extreme environments, so how will they cope under climate change? We also hear from the British Antarctic Survey's medical doctor Claire Lehman in one of our unique audio diaries. Claire joins the diving team for a refreshing dive under the Antarctic ice. Later, Sue meets a fossil-tree expert at Cardiff University. Chris Berry describes how he went about identifying... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/10/201020 minutes, 47 seconds
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Cambridge Cafe Scientifique - DNA and Cancer

In this month's podcast Professor Ron Laskey discusses the links between our DNA and cancer to reveal how changes to our DNA can cause cells to become cancerous, how DNA can be targeted as a method of treatment and also how we can analyse markers in our DNA for earlier diagnosis. Plus we answer audience questions including the effectiveness of vaccines against cancer and the difference between cancerous and pre-cancerous cells. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/9/201023 minutes, 10 seconds
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Splitting Earth, space weather and robotic dolphins

In this Planet Earth podcast, Sue Nelson hears about the birth of an ocean in the Afar depression in the Horn of Africa. The continental crust is being ripped apart at a phenomenal rate - one metre every year over the last five years. In the not too distant future - well, not too distant in geological terms - we may see a new ocean in that region of Africa. That's if we're still around in ten million years' time. Plus Richard Hollingham goes to Edinburgh to find out about the damage our nearest star wreaks on our planet during its unruly phases. Later Sue hears about 'mechanical dolphins'... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/8/201019 minutes, 56 seconds
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Bowerbirds, a yellow sub and measuring CO2

This week, Richard Hollingham finds out that bowerbirds are not just brilliant at making elaborate bowers, they're also good at mimicking other birds and pretty much most sounds they hear - including human voices. He also goes to a Scottish forest to meet researchers from the University of Edinburgh who are using a 220-metre high TV tower to measure greenhouse gas concentrations from across Scotland and all the way to Ireland and even as far as Canada. Lastly, during Richard's recent trip to the Arctic onboard the RRS James Clark Ross, he spoke to a scientist who explained how a small yellow... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/4/201017 minutes, 23 seconds
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Barrel jellyfish and supercooled water

Unless you've never seen the sea, you've probably seen a jellyfish. And even if you haven't seen one, you will almost certainly know what they look like. Despite this, scientists know surprisingly little about them. Which is why British and Irish researchers are in the middle of a project to tag them to find out things like where they go during the winter, how long they live and why they congregate around our coasts during the summer months. Sue Nelson goes to Swansea to find out more. Later, we learn something about water most of us had no idea about. Richard Hollingham goes to Leeds to... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/27/201018 minutes, 21 seconds
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The risks of following the herd and banded mongooses

Have you ever noticed that when you cross a busy road, as well as clocking the traffic, you subconsciously follow what your neighbours do? Scientists have recently put a figure on this and worked out that we're 2.5 times more likely to cross if our immediate neighbour makes a move to cross. Richard Hollingham goes to Leeds to meet the researcher behind the study to find out why we have such kamikaze tendencies, and how the research helps us understand shoaling, herding and flocking behaviour. Later on, we get up close and personal with banded mongooses in Uganda. Hear what the researchers... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/20/201018 minutes, 26 seconds
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Cambridge Cafe Scientifique - Dementia and an Ageing Population

This month, Professor Carol Brayne discusses the consequences of our ageing population and looks into the symptoms, diagnosis and prevention of dementia and other diseases related to ageing. We also hear how ageing can be studies using populations and find out audience opinions on the event including any information that surprised them from the talk. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/19/201011 minutes, 5 seconds
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Butterflies, buoys and the English Channel

In this Planet Earth podcast, Sue Nelson goes to the Eden Project in Cornwall, southwest England and to the South Downs in southeast England to find out what butterfly research is telling us about climate change. As you might expect, there's some bad news to report, but surprisingly there's also hopeful news - at least for the silver spotted skipper. Meanwhile Richard Hollingham goes to Plymouth - also in southwest England - to hear how long-term monitoring buoys in the English Channel have helped reveal, among other things, that the water has gradually been getting warmer. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/17/201017 minutes, 46 seconds
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HIV Treatment in Rural Africa

Sixty percent of all HIV sufferers in the world live in rural Africa, but practical and economic obstacles can prevent many of these people from accessing the anti-retroviral drugs that they desperately need. A recent clinical trial investigated this problem to try and improve HIV treatment in rural Africa. Julia Graham speaks to Diana Gibb from the MRC's Clinical Trials Unit in London to find out more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/11/20104 minutes, 11 seconds
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Orangutans, green buildings and an Antarctic GP

With efforts to improve energy efficiency focussed on green transport to sustainable power generation, growing your own food to reducing waste, it's often easy to forget that the very buildings we live and work in could also be made energy efficient. But how do you retrofit old buildings without ruining their architectural character? One researcher from the UK Energy Research Centre explains where you might start. Scientists at the University of Birmingham tell Sue Nelson how they're trying to understand when and why humans developed the ability to walk on two legs; with the help of some... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/10/201019 minutes, 38 seconds
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Plastics in the oceans and tracking satellites

Scientists recently found plastics floating in some of the most remote and inaccessible seas in the world - just off the coast of Antarctica. Although it clearly looks ugly in such a pristine environment, scientists are more concerned about the major role plastics play in moving alien species around the world. Richard Hollingham goes to the north Norfolk coast to speak to an expert on ocean plastics from the British Antarctic Survey to find out more. Later, Sue Nelson goes to the Natural Environment Research Council's Space Geodesy Facility at Herstmonceux in Sussex to find out how it uses... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/7/201019 minutes, 14 seconds
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The Psychology of Shopping

How do supermarkets convince you to part with your money? In this special edition of the Naked Scientists, Smitha Mundasad goes shopping with author on consumer psychology, Philip Graves, to discover the tricks of the trade. We'll find out how special offers, colours, odours and music can all affect your spending behaviour... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/7/201022 minutes, 6 seconds
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Breaking the GM Taboo

This is a podcast by the Society for General Microbiology, recorded at a session they sponsored, at the 2010 Times Cheltenham Science Festival. Through genetic manipulation, scientists have created microbes that provide us with medicines, foods and vaccines as well as animals that can be used as model organisms for the study of human disease. The genetic manipulation of organisms and their use is one of the most controversial scientific developments of recent times. We hear about the practical applications of GM microorganisms, then the audience is asked to decide - When is GM acceptable? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/6/201041 minutes, 33 seconds
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Lake Windermere and walking with dinosaurs

British Geological Survey scientists have completed the first full geological survey of Lake Windermere in the English Lake District since the Royal Navy made a survey in the 1930s. Among other things, the survey will help researchers understand how quickly the ice retreated after the last Ice Age, how the lake evolved and which parts the Arctic Charr prefers to live in. Richard Hollingham went to visit scientists on the BGS's research boat the White Ribbon on the lake to talk to the scientists involved. Next up, Richard speaks to a dinosaur expert at London's Natural History Museum who is... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
10/4/201018 minutes, 2 seconds
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Earthquakes: Past, Present and Future

The recent devastating earthquakes in Haiti and Chile were reminders of the power of the Earth and what terrible damage can be caused by such tremors. But what do we know about earthquakes? And can we predict when they might occur? A special event was held to discuss these questions at the 2010 British Science Festival in Birmingham, bringing together scientists from across the UK. Julia Graham speaks to quake experts, Professors Roger Musson, Barry Parsons and Ian Main to find out more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/30/20107 minutes, 53 seconds
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Protecting our Environment

In this edition we find out how the synchrotron can be used to understand and clean up our environment. We investigate a new form of solar cell, using plastics, which could make solar power more accessible as well as find out the use of microbes to clean up arsenic contaminated groundwater. We also discover an alternative form of rust which could prove useful in the fight against nuclear contamination and reveal a biological side to weathering! All that plus the latest news and events from Diamond including the unveiling of the world's largest diffraction pattern! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/26/201033 minutes, 49 seconds
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Malaria - The Gorilla's Gift

Where did malaria come from? Analysing over three thousand samples of faeces from gorillas, bonobos and chimpanzees, scientists have found an answer to the origins of a disease that plagues millions of lives each year. But this answer stirs up new questions - why did it jump from the gorilla into us? And will it continue to do so? Smitha Mundasad talks to Professor Paul Sharp to find out more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/23/20107 minutes, 34 seconds
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Rockpools and ocean acidification

Everyone loves a rockpool, and Sue Nelson nearly takes a dive into one in this week's podcast while finding out about the riches they contain.She visits the Anglesey coast of north Wales to learn what these mini marine laboratories can tell us about the value of biodiversity.The effects of climate change range from rising temperatures and higher sea levels to extreme weather and mass extinctions. Richard Hollingham reports from the Plymouth Marine Laboratory where scientists are investigating another, hidden process - increasing ocean acidification.And finally we learn how scientists are using... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/22/201016 minutes, 6 seconds
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Computing with a Quantum Walk

New research into the incredible properties of objects at the quantum scale has brought the aim of quantum computing far closer to reality. Ben Valsler speaks to researchers from Bristol University to find out how "quantum walk" will enable us to understand systems that even the fastest modern supercomputers would find impossible... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/16/201014 minutes, 31 seconds
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Antarctica, wild geese and ash plumes

You could be forgiven for thinking the freezing seas around Antarctica are pretty barren and lifeless. But, as Richard Hollingham soon finds out, this couldn't be further from the truth.The Census of Marine Life is building up a picture of the richness and diversity of life in the world's oceans and has so far found thousands of species on shelves around the frozen continent. Incredibly, scientists are still finding new species.At this rate, researchers will soon have documented 17,000 species living on coastal shelves in the region. Richard meets British Antarctic Survey researcher Huw... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/11/20108 minutes
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Hi-tech physics, toxic soils and mussel shells

In this week's Planet Earth podcast from the impressively-named Diamond Light Source in Oxfordshire, England, hear how two researchers are using hi-tech physics to study different aspects of the environment.The Diamond synchrotron is like a giant, silver doughnut, is more than half a kilometre around and - according to the blurb - you could fit eight St Paul's cathedrals inside.You might imagine a huge machine like this is used only for physics experiments. But it turns out it's used to study everything from the nature of matter to food and new medicines.One researcher explains how his studies... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/10/201017 minutes, 21 seconds
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Climate science, Vikings and other invasive species

Look around the English countryside and you'll find animals and plants that shouldn't be there - from Muntjac deer to Mitten crabs, Harlequin ladybirds to Tree of Heaven.So-called invasive species are reckoned to be one of the world's greatest threats to native wildlife. And when you factor in a changing climate, the situation gets even more complicated.Richard Hollingham meets an invasive species expert from the Centre for Ecology Hydrology who tells us not only what we can expect, but also what you can do to help.We also hear from a climate expert at the UK Met Office to find out why he... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/9/201015 minutes, 12 seconds
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Oil palm plantations and coral reefs

Coral reefs are among the most beautiful habitats in the world. As well as being rich in biodiversity, they're vital for the local economies that depend on them for fishing, tourism or protection from storms.While most of us are aware that ocean acidification is bad for coral reefs, scientists are now finding that coral communities are facing other threats from climate change.Richard Hollingham meets three coral reef experts to find out more - not in some tropical paradise but in the basement of a 1960s towerblock at the University of Essex.Later in the programme we hear from two insect... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/9/201056 minutes
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A New Look for Corneal Transplants

This week we take a closer look at corneal blindness. With corneal transplants in short supply, the recent development of synthetic corneas offers hope in the fight against this leading cause of vision-loss worldwide. Smitha Mundasad speaks to Dr May Griffith about her team's work - creating corneas in a lab. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/5/20105 minutes, 13 seconds
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The Royal Society Summer Exhibition

This month we bring you the highlights of Diamonds events at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition including hydrogen cars, stressed-out bacteria and science in extreme conditions. We also explore how understanding our gut bacteria could lead to personalised diets in the future as well as hear what the rest of the exhibition is all about! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/21/201029 minutes, 21 seconds
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Cambridge Cafe Scientifique - Synthetic Biology

Synthetic biology goes under the microscope in this month's Cafe Scientifique, as Gos Micklem describes how to build "sick" viruses to act as vaccines, and discusses recent advances in artificial life. We'll explore concerns about releasing modified organisms into the wild, and if synthetic biology is likely to be used for evil. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/13/201021 minutes, 39 seconds
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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Henrietta Lacks died in 1951, but her cells have gone on to become one of the most important tools in medicine. Rebecca Skloot explains how the story of these cells inspired her to write her bestselling book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/17/201016 minutes, 29 seconds
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Cambridge Cafe Scientifique - Gambling and the Brain!

In this month's Cafe Scientifique, Dr Luke Clarke from the University of Cambridge explores the effect gambling has on our brain. He reveals why gambling is so addictive, how 'near-misses' make us gamble more and how gambling stimulates the same pleasure centres in our brains as chocolate and sex! We also answer audience questions including why gambling on the lottery seems less risky, whether there are differences between regular and internet gambling, and whether there are differences in addiction between men and women. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/15/201026 minutes, 51 seconds
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Diamond Light Source - Entering the Clinic

This month we enter the clinic to discover how clinicians at hospitals across the UK are using Diamond to investigate a variety of medical concerns. We discover why some women may be prone to pre-term labour, and why metal-on-metal hip replacements cause inflammation in some patients and not others. Plus, we've got the the latest news and events from Diamond! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/3/201032 minutes, 18 seconds
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Cambridge Cafe Scientifique - Do Our Genes Cause Obesity?

In this months Cafe Scientifique Dr Giles Yo from the Institute of Metabolic Research at the University of Cambridge askes the question: Are my genes to blame when my Jeans don't fit?. He explores the behind our metabolism and fat storage and asks if these play a more crucial role than our environment in determining our weight. We also answer audience questions that reveal how our weight may also be affected by what happens when we're in the womb and how twin studies are crucial in understanding the role of our genes. Plus, we give you a heads up on what to expect at next months event! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
5/18/201025 minutes, 23 seconds
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Cambridge Cafe Scientifique - Ape Research in Indonesia

This month we investigate the conservation of apes and the threats they face in the tropical peatland forests of Kalimantan in Indonesia. We look into the issues facing the Indonesian peatlands and how conservation efforts can address these problems. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/27/201022 minutes, 2 seconds
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Cambridge Cafe Scientifique - Jumping to Delusions!

In this podcast from the March Cafe Scientifique in Cambridge, we investigate how our brain takes shortcuts to understand the world around us and how it jumps to delusions! We meet event speaker Dr Paul Fletcher to find out how our brains process the masses of information coming in from the world around us by using shortcuts and how changes in these shortcuts can lead to delusions . We also answer your questions such as what the scale of these delusions are and whether knowing this about our brains means eye witness accounts are less reliable. All that plus a heads up on what to look forward... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/24/201020 minutes, 18 seconds
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Cambridge Cafe Scientifique - Our Place in the Cosmos!

In this podcast from the February Cafe Scientifique in Cambridge, we look out deep into our universe to investigate our place in the cosmos. We meet event speaker Dr Carolin Crawford to find out how astronomers look out into our universe and what they understand about our stars and galaxies so far. We also answer your questions such as how we much of our universe we can see, what dark matter and dark energy are, and we also investigate the likeliness of other life out in space! All that plus a heads up on what to look forward to at the March event. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/24/201026 minutes, 38 seconds
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Communicating with Patients in Persistent Vegetative States

Can brain scanners enable us to open a new channel of communication with patients apparently in persistent vegetative states? Brain researcher Adrian Owen, from the Cambridge MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, explains how an experiment with fMRI revealed that a head injured, vegetative state patient could communicate: by changing his thoughts... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/7/20108 minutes, 2 seconds
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Cambridge Cafe Scientifique - Pandemics: Where Do New Infections Come From?

In this podcast from the January Cafe Scientifique in Cambridge, we look into the threat of emerging infections to find out where they come from, how they spread and how they become a pandemic. We bring you the main presentation by virologist Dr. Chris Smith as well as your questions on the threat of pandemics such as SARS returning, concerns about HIV and Tuberculosis, and whether swine flu is something to worry about. All that plus a heads up on what to look forward to at the February event! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/27/201047 minutes, 52 seconds
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Diamond Light Source - The Machine

This month, we step away form the research and bring you the science behind the synchrotron! We investigate how a machine like Diamond is designed to create X-ray beams that are stable down at the micron level, as well as reveal how the high speed electrons are controlled and manipulated to produce intense beams of light. Plus we bring you the latest news and events, including how scientists are using Diamond for earlier diagnosis of lung cancer! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/22/201030 minutes, 54 seconds
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Heart Transplant - National Pathology Week 2009

In this 2009 Royal College of Pathologists National Pathology Week podcast we explore the process of getting a new heart. We find out why you may need a transplant, who is involved and why this relatively simple operation needs a team of pathologists, coordinators and surgeons. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/17/200938 minutes, 41 seconds
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Anatomy of a Heart Attack - Pathology Week 2009

In this 2009 Royal College of Pathologists National Pathology Week podcast, we get a behind-the-scenes view of a heart attack. Through a virtual autopsy, and dissection of a pig's heart, we learn more about this incredible organ and how it can go wrong. With the help of pathologists and cardiologists we get to the heart of the genetics, biochemistry and anatomy of cardiac disease. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/16/200950 minutes, 14 seconds
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Think Heart - Pathology Week 2009

In this 2009 Royal College of Pathologists National Pathology Week podcast we find out why thinking "heart" could save a baby's life. We'll examine three heart conditions - duct-dependent lesions, viral myocarditis and arrhythmias - and find out why these go unidentified in many babies, often with tragic consequences. Parents, nurses and pediatricans join the Royal College of Pathologists to raise awareness and encourage us all to "Think Heart". Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/15/200939 minutes, 9 seconds
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The Art of the Heart - Pathology Week 2009

In this 2009 Royal College of Pathologists National Pathology Week podcast, we look at the art and ethics of modern healthcare. We hear how the structure of the heart has inspired works of art and we take a dip in the murky waters of medical ethics: who has the right to decide if a teenage boy should be given a new heart? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
12/14/200922 minutes, 53 seconds
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Cambridge Cafe Scientifique - Nanofoods Archived

This is the archive of the Cambridge Cafe Scientifique Nanofood event. Join us to hear the entire presentation about how nanotechnology gets into your food, as well as your questions on the benefits of Nanofoods, whether Nanofoods have a role in a heathy balanced diet and the problems with classification and testing. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/12/200932 minutes, 5 seconds
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Cafe Scientifique - Nanofoods

In this special podcast we join the Triple Helix Society for a Cafe Scientifique. We explore how nanotechnology gets into your food, the benefits of Nanofoods and the problems with classification and testing. The Triple Helix Cambridge Cafe Scientifique is sponsored by the Medical Research Council, and this podcast was produced with support from the Learning Revolution. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/11/200910 minutes, 53 seconds
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Diamond Light Source - Engineering our Industries

This month, we peer into the world of engineering to see how scientists are exploring and improving materials for industry, including how the structure of metals can be modified for greater resilience and how an understanding of corrosion could be crucial for the storage of nuclear waste. Plus, we investigate how to prevent crack formation in aeronautical materials as well as bring you the latest news and events from Diamond. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
11/6/200934 minutes, 3 seconds
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Diamond Light Source - Probing our Cultural Heritage

This month, we dig deep into the world of archaeology to learn how scientists at Diamond are investigating our cultural heritage. We find out how scanning samples of the Dead Sea Scrolls can help decipher them, how probing timber from the Mary Rose can improve its conservation and how studying pigments in paintings could protect major pieces of art! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/15/200927 minutes, 29 seconds
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Conversations from the Darwin Festival - Sandra Herbert

This week historian Sandra Herbert tells how she retraced Darwin's footsteps to the Galapagos in search of rock samples to prove his volcanic theories were right... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/24/20096 minutes, 33 seconds
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WCSJ 2009 - Development Strand

What challenges do science journalists face in the developing world? In this special documentary covering the Development strand of the World Conference of Science Journalists, we discuss the challenges of getting the right coverage for your region, and how to find credible sources without neglecting the trailblazers. Plus, the big issue of Climate Change and how to link researchers with journalists... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/12/200938 minutes, 10 seconds
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Conversations from the Darwin Festival - Sir Terry Pratchett

This week we're in conversation with Sir Terry Pratchett, author of the multi-million selling Discworld series. We find out what inspired 'The Science of Discworld 3: Darwin's Watch', get Richard Dawkins into holy orders and explore a world without Darwin... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/12/200910 minutes, 7 seconds
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WCSJ 2009 - New Media Strand

What is the Internet, new technology and increasing citizen journalism doing to the world of science publishing and reporting? In this special documentary from the 2009 World Conference of Science Journalists, London, Chris Smith talks to the reporters at the leading edge of the new media wave, as well as freelancers who are worried they might get washed away by the tide of content... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/11/200938 minutes, 19 seconds
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Reporting Biomedical Science

The Wellcome Trust supported a series of events discussing the reporting of biomedical science at the World Conference of Science Journalists. Kat Arney takes us through the opportunities, responsibilities and controversies of biomedical science in the media... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/5/200927 minutes, 26 seconds
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Conversations from the Darwin Festival - Brian Rosen

Darwin's first book was on coral reefs. Brian Rosen, from the Natural History Museum in London,takes up the story... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
8/3/20098 minutes, 55 seconds
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Conversations from the Darwin Festival - Sir John Sulston

This week we're in conversation with Nobel laureate Sir John Sulston, the man behind the human genome project. He tells how he went from chemist to biologist to work on a tiny worm, C. elegans, that laid the foundations for the sequencing of the human genome. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/27/200910 minutes, 31 seconds
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Conversations from the Darwin Festival - Ruth Padel

Poet and Darwin-descendent Ruth Padel talks about how the history books led her to write "Darwin, a life in poems", an anthology of fifteen poems charting the major events of Darwin's life. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/20/200912 minutes, 13 seconds
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The Rap Guide to Evolution - Darwinian Hip Hop

Award winning Canadian hip hop artist Baba Brinkman brings us his Rap Guide to Evolution, an hour of clever, witty and scientifically accurate rhymes that will have you seeing Darwin from a whole new perspective. Baba explores the history and current understanding of Darwin's theory, combining hilarious remixes of popular rap songs with clever lyrical storytelling that covers Natural Selection, Artificial Selection, Sexual Selection, Group Selection, Unity of Common Descent, and Evolutionary Psychology. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/15/200959 minutes, 56 seconds
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The Daily Darwin - Friday - From The Naked Scientists

We tie up the Darwin Festival with predictions on global warming and the future of the human species. Plus, we find out about cultural selection and how tricky it is putting together an exhibition on science and fine art! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/9/200914 minutes, 51 seconds
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The Daily Darwin - Thursday - From The Naked Scientists

The fourth day brings together geologists and an exploration of Darwin's early scientific forays. We also find out how we have the power to solve climate change in a generation, why we should make friends with yeast and how the Obama government will promote science research. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/8/200914 minutes, 26 seconds
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The Daily Darwin - Wednesday - From The Naked Scientists

Day three of the festival and if you've ever wondered what a Darwin rap sounds like, this show is for you. We also explore Darwin's foibles, nice scientists, first cousin marriages and evolutionary poetry. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/7/200914 minutes, 9 seconds
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The Daily Darwin - Tuesday - From The Naked Scientists

We catch up with festival attendees and speakers on the second day of the Darwin Festival at Cambridge. Today we search for the origins of religion, meet the man who got the Human Genome Project going and speak to Terry Pratchett about shaved cats... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/6/200913 minutes, 48 seconds
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The Daily Darwin - Monday - From the Naked Scientists

This week sees Cambridge University celebrate the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. Each day our team will bring you highlights from the events and exhibitions that make up the Darwin Festival. Today Richard Dawkins explains why scientists can't practise religion, we hear how butterflies imitate each other to survive and discover the genes that separate us from chimps! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/5/200914 minutes, 18 seconds
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Embargoes, Pharmaceuticals and Blogs at the World Conference of Science Journalists

In this final podcast from the WCSJ we discuss the public image of the pharmaceutical industry and the role of the media in shaping public opinion, as well as debate the use of the embargo system in science journalism. Continuing the investigation into the role of new media, we look into the impact of the science blogger. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/2/200913 minutes, 16 seconds
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Peering into the Nano World - The Diamond Light Source Podcast

This month we peer into the nanoworld to find out how synchotrons can assist in the development of a new way to store data and revolutionise computer memory. We also hear how the chemical by-products of bacteria can be used to make industry good deal greener and we bring you a round-up of the latest news from the light source, including the launch of 2 new beamlines. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/2/200930 minutes, 1 second
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Public Relations and Investigative Journalism at the World Conference of Science Journalists

Today we reveal the winner of the bid to host the next WCSJ conference in 2011 as well as discuss the role of public relations and investigative journalism in the media. Plus we debate if the British Media know their science! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7/1/200912 minutes, 22 seconds
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Predicting the Future of Science Journalism

In today's podcast we hear about the current state of science journalism in countries like the US and predict the future of the profession given the increasing emergence of new media such as online news and social network sites. Plus we uncover the hurdles faced by science journalists in developing countries and how they cover contentious topics like creationism. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/30/200912 minutes, 46 seconds
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World Conference of Science Journalists

The World Conference of Science Journalists is an international gathering of science journalists from across the globe who have come together to debate and discuss the scientific issues affecting the world today and how they should be reported. In this first podcast we bring you the highlights from the pre-conference workshops and meet some of the conference delegates at the media party to find out what they hope to get from the week ahead. Join us each day to find out the best bits the conference had to offer, to ensure you don't miss a thing! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/29/200910 minutes, 21 seconds
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World Hepatitis Day

This special podcast celebrates the World Hepatitis Day events held at Birmingham University. We find out why World Hepatitis Day is so important, hear about the latest clinical and scientific developments, and find out how it feels to live with the disease. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
6/9/200934 minutes, 44 seconds
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The Diamond Podcast - Life Science Special

This month we find out how the Diamond synchrotron is revolutionising research in the life sciences. We hear how the synchrotron's beamlines are helping to identify potential treatments for foot and mouth disease as well as uncovering the causes and new ways to diagnose Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease. We also touch on the latest news from Diamond, including the announcements made at this year's AAAS conference in Chicago. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/29/200926 minutes, 34 seconds
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The Diamond Light Source Podcast

Welcome to the first Diamond Light Source podcast! This month we introduce the Diamond Synchrotron: what is it, what can it do, and how does it work? Plus we also catch up with some of the key research that took place in 2008, including revelations about the composition of comets and the secret soil-cleaning powers of the humble earthworm. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2/9/200919 minutes, 43 seconds
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National Pathology Week - The Autopsy

In the final National Pathology Week podcast, we address the ultimate surgical operation - the Autopsy, or Post Mortem. Dr Suzy Lishman and Dr Alison Cluroe shed light on the often misunderstood operation that not only tells us how a person died, but provides vital information to help the living. We get the chance to guess what different autopsy tools are used for (and spot the kitchen-based red herring!), and go through the process of a genuine post mortem. This is a fascinating and unique view behind closed doors, and not for the faint of heart. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/4/200920 minutes, 8 seconds
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National Pathology Week - Self Testing

Self medical testing is a controvercial topic - some believe we should be free to monitor our own health, while others are concerned about the risks of inaccurate results and the strain that this can put on the NHS. The Royal College of Pathologists assembled a panel of experts from medicine and industry to ask the question - is self-testing safe? In this podcast, we examine the issues so you can make an informed decision. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/3/200925 minutes, 30 seconds
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National Pathology Week - Plague Outbreak

How would you cope with an outbreak of Plague in London? In this podcast from National Pathology Week, we call in the experts from the Royal College of Pathologists and the Natural History Museum to find out how to diagnose and contain an outbreak before it goes medieval! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/2/200916 minutes, 26 seconds
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National Pathology Week

In this National Pathology Week Podcast, we find out what the week was all about and discover the varied and vital role of pathologists. We speak to Professor Adrian Newland, Ruth Semple and Dr Suzy Lishman about the events taking place throughout the week, and the driving forces behind it. Plus, we celebrate the success of CamPath, a drug developed by pathologists which is the first drug shown to reverse the effects of MS. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
1/1/200922 minutes, 39 seconds
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Getting Wet and Seeing Stars - The Cambridge Science Festival Podcast

On todays Cambridge Science Festival podcast we look to the heavens and find out what to see in our night sky during the festival and we also find out about a 100 year project to create the largest Wetland in the East of England.We also reveal what happens in our brains in the face of danger and analyse what happens to us when we see disturbing images. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/20/200820 minutes, 33 seconds
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The science of happiness, love and everyday life-The Cambridge Science Festival Podcast

In today's cambridge Science Festival Podcast we learn why happiness may not be as important as we think, find out if it's possible to die from a broken heart and discover the effect emotions have on our health. We also find out why we find jokes funny, a method of successful speed dating and reveal the magic of 3D glasses. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/19/200820 minutes, 11 seconds
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Building Brains and The Science of Dr Who - The Cambridge Science Festival

On todays Cambridge Science Festival Podcast we learn what our brains are made of and find out whether it's really possible to travel in time by looking into the science behind Dr Who.We also learn how we can use skateboards to understand maths, find out the science of beer, discover spoons that clean themselves, and hear Festival patron Carol Vorderman's thoughts on the festival. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/17/200826 minutes, 59 seconds
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Revealing our Memory and Holidays in Space- Cambridge Science Festival 08

On todays highlights we reveal the processes in our brains that enable us to form memories. We find out how soon we'll be able to ditch the beach and head out of this world for our holidays.We'll also find out what school groups have learned about the science of sport and answer todays festive question. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/15/200818 minutes, 48 seconds
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Renewable Energy and Venetian Acoustics - The Cambridge Science Festival Podcast

On today's Cambridge science festival podcast we find out the best solutions to kick our fossil fuel habit and meet our energy needs in the future. We also find out that ancient architects were also scientists as we investigate the acoustics of Venetian renaissance architecture. We'll also see what school groups have been up to during the festival and answer your festive questions. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/13/200814 minutes, 18 seconds
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Revealing our Minds and Saving our Planet.

In the first of the Cambridge Science Festival podcasts we find out a bout a BIG experiment taking place in East London and reveal new roles for testosterone in the human mind. We also find out where to go in the festival to find out your carbon footprint and discover a natural way to reduce carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere. We will also be answering the questions you've always been curious about in our Festive Questions as well as give you a heads up on what to look forward to during the rest of the festival. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/11/200815 minutes, 14 seconds
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Cracking Physics, Countdowns, and Drunken Fleas - Cambridge Science Festival

Ben Valsler goes in search of some cracking physics, Meera Senthilingam joins a school group counting down to engineering mayhem, Chris Smith talks to some researchers about the the mathematics of chicken disease, and Sabina Michnowicz finds some drunken water fleas. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
4/1/200719 minutes, 30 seconds
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Chemistry, Bacteria and Eyeballs - Cambridge Science Festival

In this episode Anna Lacey finds out what is exciting about chemistry, Chris looks at the bugs in Dr Gillian Fraser's mouth, Ben avoids getting eaten by dinosaurs with time truck, Meera looks at the power of vegetables, and Chris looks a sheep in the eye. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/26/200724 minutes, 18 seconds
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DNA and Cosmic Rock Guitar - Cambridge Science Festival

In this episode Mark Looney uses rock guitar to explain the mysteries of the universe, festival-goers extract their own DNA, and find out what you get when you cross a sheep with a jet engine... We also peer inside the wacky world of the Ig Nobel Prizes, where research into woodpecker headache avoidance and a novel cure for hiccups makes people laugh, and then think. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/22/200721 minutes, 21 seconds
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Silent Aircraft, Astronomy and Robots - Cambridge Science Festival

This episode stars Nicola Buckley the festival coordiator, Dr Tom Hynes talking about silent aircraft, Dr Claire Rocks showing teenagers the nuts and bolts of robots. Also, Tom Hynes airs his views about silent aircraft of the future, and our own Sabina Michnowicz braves the dark to explore the heavens at the Institute of Astronomy. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
3/19/200720 minutes, 30 seconds
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BA Festival of Science - Thursday - Animal Emotions and Deep Sea Hydrothermal Vents

The fourth of five special editions of the Naked Scientists recorded live on location at the BA Festival of Science, Norwich. In this programme we get the inside information on pet hates and jealousy with Paul Morris, and insights into the science of the deep sea with Crispin Little. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/6/200642 minutes, 26 seconds
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BA Festival of Science - Wednesday - Volcanoes and the Big Bang

The third of five special editions of the Naked Scientists recorded live on location at the BA Festival of Science, Norwich. In this programme we get the inside information on volcanoes and eruptions with Madeleine Humphreys, and wind the clock back to the beginning of the universe with Peter Coles. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/5/200640 minutes, 15 seconds
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BA Festival of Science - Tuesday - Diet, Exercise, Health and Antibiotics

The second of five special editions of the Naked Scientists recorded live on location at the BA Festival of Science, Norwich. In this programme we look at the effect of diet, exercise and lifestyle on health and disease with Cambridge University's Dr Nick Wareham, and the science of superbugs and antibiotics with Professor Tony Maxwell Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/4/200643 minutes, 23 seconds
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BA Festival of Science - Monday - Superstition and Sport

The first of five special editions of the Naked Scientists recorded live on location at the BA Festival of Science, Norwich. In this programme we look at the science of superstition with Bruce Hood, and the science of sport with Claire Davis. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9/3/200639 minutes, 51 seconds