Question of the Week, from the Naked Scientists

If you were swallowed by a whale, could you swim out and up through the oesophagus or would you be digested by the stomach acid? Plus, we ask about the future of flight: Are we going to be forever stuck in this air speed? What are the constraints of aerodynamics? Are noise rules the issue? Can a supersonic jet be ever built with decent fuel economy? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Facial hair a different colour to that on your head? We stroke our beards to ponder why. Plus we ask, what happens when you get swallowed by a whale? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Will we cause our own demise by burning the candle at both ends? Or will it be something like the giant impact that caused the dinosaurs to go extinct? What do you think? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Why do leaves turn red in the autumn? And how do they know when it is time to drop? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Listener Ahmed has been struck by lightning twice! Is he prone to attracting lightning, or just unlucky? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

How many people have lived on Earth? We do some number crunching. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Windows, computer screens and phones that never get grubby? What's the chemistry making that self cleaning glass possible? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We hack our heads to find out how we can make a secure password. Plus we scrub up the issue and ask: how does self-cleaning glass work? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

If you accidentally relocate a bee in your car, what happens? Would it join another colony or would that be it for the lost bee? For the answer to this insterest-sting question, we spoke to Henry Ferguson-Gow from the Zoological Society of London. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Could we get solar power from space and if so, how would we be able to transmit this energy back to Earth and use it? We spoke to John C. Mankins from Artemis Innovation Management Solutions to find out... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Humans are the only animals that cry tears of emotion as well as pain. But does each type of tear differ in its chemical composition, and can you tell why someone was crying from looking at this? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Music: a concentration aid or a complete distraction? Why do some people find it helpful and others disruptive? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we tackle the burning issue of spontaneous human combustion. Reported cases of people bursting into flames nowhere near a fire. Is there any scientific explanation for this? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Which organs are vital and which are luxuries of life? We asked Elena Teh, Medical student at Cambridge University, for the gory details... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Star Trek fantasy or scientifically feasible? We find out with NASA! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We sniff out the science asking does sneeze volume and sound indicate personality type? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Can you combat brain fogginess and help with french homework by munching sweets? We find out if there is any scientific rationale for this sweet toothed strategy to deal with brain fatigue. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Would a scattering of your beloved's ashes be good for plant growth? Or could it be toxic? We take this question to Cambridge University's Botanic's Head Gardener. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Are there antimatter planets out there? What would they look like? And how would we tell they exist? We find out! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

What's the difference between aspirin, paracetamol and ibuprofen? We turn to a Professor of Pain for the answer. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We light up our brains with this burning question, igniting the issue with a Professor of Chemistry and Fire Science, Richard Hull, from Lancaster University. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Do you feel tired, irritable and bored during the week? Yet full of beans and enthusiasm at the weekend? We find out why this could be! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Why does my PC need more data storage than my DNA? Surely human processing power is greater than a computers? We crunch into the data to find out! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Is technology changing at too fast a pace for our genetic material? Has human evolution halted? We find out! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Could we banish planes and instead use the Earths natural spin to help long distance travel across it's surface? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

When lightning strikes the sea, does it electrocute fish nearby? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We zoom into MRI scanning to find out why it is so low resolution and ask, if it was improved could that help diagnosing disorders of the brain? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We find out if other animals exhibit handed'ness. Plus what does it mean to be left handed and right footed? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Does the colour of your snot signify the severity or stage of your cold? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

What causes deodorant stains on clothing, and what's the best way to get rid of them? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

There's not that many bugs around this time of year, but those that are seem to collect by by kitchen light. Why is that? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Why don't electrons crash into the centres of atoms? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Does a fly evolve faster than a toad? A whale slower than a barnacle? And if so, how does our bodies immune system keep up with bugs? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

So sweat. Do the birds and bees do it? And even educated fleas? Or is sweating just limited to humans and err, horses? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We find out how our thoughts get overloaded so that we experience visual cortex blindness and overlook the obvious! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We find out why some humans squirt saliva from their mouth as a fine jet of spit. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We find out if raising your baby to be bilingual is a good or bad thing for brain development. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We often see headlines that foods like red wine and veggie curry might decrease your likelihood of catching cancer. Is that true? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Why do I fart after cottage pie? And what exactly is a fart? Do certain foods and cooking techniques affect fart frequency and potency? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Could you pass the flu onto your pooch? Could your dog then sneeze over your Great Aunt Mildred? We find out! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week we dig into our pasts and uncover how related we are to Bronze Age locals. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We examine whether Earth can sustainably support this many humans. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Does the cycle of the moon affect your sleep patterns? We find out! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

What are the relative risks of e-cigarettes, nicotine patches and snuff? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Why is pregnancy associated with high sensitivity to smell? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Would it kill you to have a penny dropped on your head from the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai? We find out with Dr Hugh Hunt, Engineer at Cambridge University! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We find out what happens in our brains as we dream, why we have them, and what nightmares are all about. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We find out why ice cubes can make fizzy drinks bubble over, by asking a French champagne specialist! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Could other planets make a substance like diamond? We ask a deep space mining expert. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We find out if dark matter can clump together to form dark planets, dark suns, or dark moons. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists