The Naked Scientists Podcast

It's Q&A time! We've picked a selection of the best science questions from listeners, like: are lottery numbers really random? Is there still a hole in the ozone layer? And crucially - why do some bananas peel into three sections and some into four? Here to answer them is our expert panel: tech journalist Tim Revell, geneticist Hannah Thompson, climate scientist Ella Gilbert, and physicist Jess Wade... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

In this week's special episode, Katie Haylor, Adam Murphy and Phil Sansom take a trip down memory lane, month by month, reflecting on some of our favourite moments from a whole year's worth of sensational science sought out by The Naked Scientists office in 2019... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Merry Christmas! In this special edition of the show, discover how many presents are really coming your way on the 12th day, hear which medical specialists are most likely to get caught speeding, and help us track down the real Santa using stats! Plus, Naked Gamers Chris Berrow and Leigh Milner bring us up to date with what's hot in the gaming world this Christmas... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

NASA have stated that they are heading back to the Moon in 2024. This week we're finding out why, and what's in store for us as we head up there. Plus, in the news, cave paintings dated to 40,000 years ago, the strange magnetic fields found around the Sun, and the 3-D printed rabbit with its own DNA... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week we're exploring a terrifying force of nature: avalanches. Why do they happen? How do you avoid them? And if you encounter one, how could you survive it? We speak to Lawrence Jones, who 20 years ago was caught in an avalanche - and lived to tell the tale. Plus, in the news: measles cases triple, we ask whether physicists have really discovered a new fundamental force, and the scientifically-proven solution to hangovers (sort of) - we've tested the recipe... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week: Is fat worse than sugar? Can you die of a broken heart? Is the universe really expanding? We've assembled a panel of experts to take on your science questions: diet and genetics guru Giles Yeo, immunologist and wine expert Clare Bryant, physicist Francesca Chadha-Day, and cardiologist James Rudd. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, artificial organs! How close are we to growing life-saving hearts, kidneys and livers in the lab? Plus in the news, how hospital computer systems can save lives by spotting subtle signs doctors haven't picked up on yet; also the nano-coating to keep your toilet squeaky clean, and most importantly using half the amount of water! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, the deadly serious science of custard, including the chemistry of eggs, sports bra tehcnology, custard powder explosions, and that most important question of them all: is custard better hot or cold? Plus, in the news, a revolution in solar panel science, did hiccups evolve to help babies learn, 3d TV coming to a screen near you, and sex in the city: why urban living means dad might not be dad at all... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we're looking at the future of medicine, phenomics! Including the toilet that analyses what you put down it! And in the news, sending wine to space, new insights into the origin of life, and why a lack of sleep gives you food cravings! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Computer models are everywhere and we use them to gain an understanding of the world and make predictions about the future, such as the spread of diseases, whether a rocket will get into orbit, and even whether it will rain tomorrow. In this special documentary, Adam Murphy discovers what a model is and why we need them, how scientists develop models in the first place, and how computer scientists can help to strip out the bugs to make them work better, faster and more efficiently... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week - How do glow worms glow, and can they do so indefinitely? Why don't birds fall out of trees when they sleep? And space tourism: when can I book my ticket to orbit? We've assembled an expert panel to answer your science questions - Richard Hollingham, space and science journalist; Keziah Latham, optometrist; Peter Cowley, tech investor, and Sophie Mowles, behavioural ecologist. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week we're diving into the bins and sorting through the rubbish to figure out: what's going on with recycling? Many countries like the UK produce far more recyclable waste than they can deal with, and ever since China stopped importing most types of rubbish last year, we've seen crisp packets and margarine tubs piling up in illegal dumps abroad. So is our recycling system still working, and what does the future hold? Plus, in the news, a new drug that tricks the flu, and the artificial leaf that can turn carbon dioxide into fuel... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we're taking a look at blood, from regenerating blood vessels, to one of our team going to their first blood donation! Plus in the news, concerns that Ebola might be back with a vengeance in future: 60% more often and with 4 times the impact; plus NASA's first all-female spacewalk: we hear from one of the astronauts involved... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

The Rugby World Cup is taking place in Japan, and FIFA 20 has just been released, so this month it's a sport special! Including Virtual Reality Go Karting... yes really. And we meet the author who was inspired to write poetry by playing Super Mario! New reviews include Mario Kart Tour, Trine 4 and Untitled Goose Game. For Retro Revival it's Darksiders 2 on the Nintendo Switch and Apple Arcade. With Chris Berrow and Leigh Milner. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, computers are supposedly there to help us - but how easy are they to use and programme if you're disabled? We're looking at how to make computing as inclusive as it can be. Plus, news of the Nobel Prizes announced this week, a new test to find out whether chemotherapy will work for your individual cancer, and the whales that whisper to their young! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Half a million genomes. That's how many the UK Biobank has, stored as blood samples in freezers up in Manchester. And in September 2019 they announced a project to sequence every single one of them. It's the obvious next step for the UK Biobank, the research study that began in 2006 and now consists of an enormous biological database: the personal and medical information of its 500,000 volunteers. That data is available to any researcher who applies to use it. But how is this, the biggest whole-genome sequencing project ever, going to work? Who's coughing up the hundreds of millions of pounds... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

It's Q&A time! This week - is AI a threat to humanity? What's a panic attack? And why does being scared make your legs wobble? We're answering your questions about science, technology, and medicine with our panel of experts. We've got university of Cambridge AI specialist Beth Singler; Naked Scientist and host of Naked Genetics Phil Sansom; Olivia Remes to chat to us about anxiety and mental health; and physiologist Sam Virtue, also from the University of Cambridge. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week - gene therapy. We talk to researchers using DNA technology to prevent blindness, halt muscular dystrophy, and even potentially cure HIV. Plus, what climate change means for the state of the world's oceans, a new satellite to take the Earth's temperature, and scientists discover the world's first baby bottles - and the milk that was in them - from thousands of years ago... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

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

This week, we're taking a look through the window, or rather, at the window: we're looking at glass! Coming up, how do you make glass, how does stained glass work, and is bullet-proof glass really bulletproof? And in the news: Why birds are in big trouble, swimming the channel, scratching an itch, and treating tinnitus... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We're making codes and breaking ciphers this week as we look at the world of cryptography! Coming up, Cold War spy rings, and how does your computer keep your data secure? Plus in the news, why it's hard to keep the weight off when you get older, and seagulls are stealing more than our chips, they're stealing our superbugs... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week: How long can someone hold their breath and can you train for this? Who are fitter - footballers or rugby players? And what's the most intelligent insect? We've assembled an expert panel to take on your science questions - University of York animal behaviour scientist Eleanor Drinkwater, exercise physiologist Dan Gordon from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge University physicist Fran Day, and Cambridge University mathematician and University Challenge icon Bobby Seagull! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We're stripping down sexual health and sexually transmitted infections! Coming up, will we soon have a vaccine for chlamydia? And what happens in a sexual health check up? And in the news, the fires in the Amazon rainforest, and a new weapon against malaria... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week: How does the internet affect us? What does it mean for our security, our wallets, and ourselves. We're taking a deep dive into the world of all things cyber... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, Chris Smith and Izzie Clarke explore the helpful materials that keep us healthy. How are dental implants made and fitted? Bacteria-resistant plastic coatings; and what hip implants have in common with plastic bags. Plus, in the latest science news, why pancreatic cancer is so aggressive - and how we might stop it, signs that something ten times the size of the Earth slammed into Jupiter, and more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

In this month's QnA show we're asking: why are fridges harder to open again after you just closed them? What's the best way to wipe the memory of a smart phone? And what might climate change mean for chocolate? We're answering your questions with the help of an expert panel - neuroscientist Duncan Astle, techxpert Peter Cowley, food security expert Nadia Radzman and engineer Livia Souza... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week we're taking a spin around the electron! How does a fridge magnet stay stuck? And how can quantum physics help us in battling cancer? We'll find out. Plus in the news, the chemistry of breaking down microplastics, exploring bacterial infections resistant to last line antibiotics, and we're going back to school P.E lessons! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, The Naked Scientists are taking off into the future of aviation: will flights get faster? Could we see a fully electric plane? And can a Naked Scientist land a commercial aircraft? Izzie Clarke and Adam Murphy find out... Plus, in the news, a new way of disguising cancer drugs as fat, sharks are in danger, and how do you make a bad joke funnier? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week a special show celebrating 50 years since man first walked on the Moon! How did we get there, what happened on the Moon, and will we ever go back? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, could we be living in The Matrix? We're talking about the power of computer simulations, and we're asking are we all living in one! Plus, in the news  - making diabetes treatment smarter; diagnosis by an electronic doctor - would you be comfortable with that? And the world's first robot that picks lettuces... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, Alzheimer's Disease goes under the microscope: What is it? Why do people get it, and can we cure it? Plus in the news, why the planet needs more trees, a breakthrough in storing computer data, and the science of a good excuse! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We're rounding off our month of extreme shows with some extremely high science - coping with altitude, flying over Everest, high energy physics and screaming in space! Plus, sniffing out Methane on Mars, and the scientists making sweet music with proteins... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Extremes month continues, and this week we're going extremely deep; Chris Smith takes a trip to one of the world's deepest mines in search of gold. Plus, in the news, the GM mosquito that wipes out its own population, and would you return a lost wallet if you found one? We hear which is the most honest country in the world, and who's the least honest. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

For extremes month we have an extreme QnA! This week we're joined by astronomer Carolin Crawford, nanoscientist Colm Durkan, Haydn Belfield from the Centre for Existential Risk, and chemist Ljiljana Fruk. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we're continuing our month of science at the extremes, by looking at extreme cold. Including expeditions to the poles, what happens at absolute zero, and the animals that can survive temperatures we never could. Plus, in the news, the massive death risk from climate change, a prize for mapping the sea bed, and a new piece of the puzzle in the story of human migration... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we're kicking off a month of science at the extremes. From fast acting venom to vehicles, speedy space to tennis serves... We're getting up to speed on Extreme Speed. Plus, in the news, weaponising a fungus to stamp out malaria, the smart glove that's taking a hold of touch technology and we celebrate an important centenary in the world of physics. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Safer, cleaner, and more efficient. That's the aim for the roads of tomorrow, but are we there yet? This week, Katie Haylor hits the road on a journey to discover how science is helping us build the highways of the future... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week we're putting on our swimsuits and diving deep into the choppy waters of the world of vaccines, how do they help us, and why are people becoming so hesitant to get them. Plus in the news, A new kind of Moon lander, the true cost of streaming videos, and how good are we at spotting postnatal depression in men! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week - the mysterious stuff that's passing through you right now, and it literally holds the galaxy together... but we have no idea what it is. We talk to the scientists trying to find out. Plus in the news, the 100 year old technology that's helping us fight infections we can't currently treat. And evidence that wasps can size things up... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

It's Q&A time: We've got a panel of scientists ready and waiting to tackle the questions you've been sending in. Izzie Clarke was joined by plant ecologist Howard Giffiths, chemist and writer Kit Chapman, reproductive physiologist Bill Colledge, and physicist Ben McAllister. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week; horse racing, equine flu, a hedgehog hospital and a trip to the local zoo - we're looking at how vets keep animals healthy and why that's good news for humans too. Plus, how a dose of caffeine perks up a solar panel, cell transplants to boost wound and tissue repair, and a gene breakthrough for obesity... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Chris Smith and Adam Murphy head to Edinburgh Science Festival to bring you the best - and the bizarre - from the wonderful world of science. Joining them are Chris Johnson, Head of Computer Science at Glasgow University, Sophie Goggins, Curator of Biomedical Science at National Museums Scotland as well as astrophysicist Beth Biller and microbiologist Luke McNally, from the University of Edinburgh. Plus the team were also be joined by Sir Ian Wilmut, one of the brains behind the pioneering work of Dolly The Sheep.This show was produced by Izzie Clarke. For more podcasts by The Naked... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week a Naked Scientists exclusive: we're putting a brand new type of oven to the test - can it really, as the inventors claim - roast a raw chicken in 35 minutes? Plus, the brave scientists who've attached cameras to Great White Sharks, and what does a black hole really look like? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

It's time for our Q&A, this time from Edinburgh! This week, what happens if you get pregant in space? How do chemists make new molecules? And how do antidepressants work? Chris Smith is joined by our panel of experts to answer your questions: Space doctor Christina Mackaill, geologist John Underhill, chemist Lee Cronin and psychiatrist Stephen Lawrie. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Spring has officially sprung! There are newborn lambs prancing around in the fields in the UK, and we've recently celebrated Mothering Sunday. To celebrate, we're taking a trip down the road of pregnancy and birth, stopping off along the way to chat with experts about some of the science involved in bringing babies into the world. Plus, the person who can smell Parkinson's Disease, and a way to halve how much water plants need....Want more Naked Scientists shows? Check out our website - nakedscientists.com. Plus, we'd love your feedback and support, why not leave us a review wherever you get... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Bonjour! This week we've been to Paris; we've been attending Hello Tomorrow, the summit that showcases world-changing emerging technologies that are about to make it big. This week: A tiny microphone that lets you zoom in on individual voices in a conversation, the perks of dissolving your mobile phone, and from kites to kilowatts: a new form of wind power. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, Chris Smith and Izzie Clarke are taking you to the cutting edge of materials science including how blacksmiths made incredibly tough swords to how defence scientists make bullet-proof armour today. Plus, news of a better way to manage prostate cancer, how fingerprints might replace chip n pin, and how scientists are using cold lightning to keep fruit fresh for longer.For more podcasts by The Naked Scientists, head to nakedscientists.com, find @NakedScientists on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and subscribe to "The Naked Scientists" on your favourite podcast app.**Edinburgh Science... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, could we colonise a planet beyond our own galaxy? What's the greenest way to heat my home? And why do bright lights make some people sneeze? It's QA time! Chris Smith is joined by a panel of scientists to take on the questions YOU'VE been sending in. Joining him are chemist Ljiljana Fruk, physiologist Sam Virtue, mathematician and technology journalist Tim Revell and our very own physics boffin Adam Murphy.This episode was produced by Katie Haylor and Izzie ClarkeFor more podcasts by The Naked Scientists, head to nakedscientists.com or search "Naked Scientists" on your favourite... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we're being invaded! Izzie Clarke and Katie Haylor explore invasive species: how they sneak in, why they disrupt nature, and how to fight back! Plus, in the news, scientists turn carbon dioxide back into coal, researchers have uncovered an alarming new way criminals are trying to hack you and the mice with infrared vision.For more science podcasts and the latest news, head to nakedscientists.com. You can also find us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook: @nakedscientists.This show was produced by Mariana Campos and Izzie Clarke, with thanks to the South Georgia Heritage Trust for... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week we get off the couch to talk about the science of running. What does it do for our bodies, and our minds? Why did we ever evolve to do it in the first place? Can a man outrun a horse? Plus in the news, a potential kill-switch for tuberculosis, landing on an asteroid, and we tackle the myth of alcohol warming you up... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists