The Naked Scientists Podcast

Celebrating two hundred years since the devastating eruption of Indonesia's Mount Tambora, this week, accompanied by music from Michael Levy, we explore the science of volcanoes. We find out what causes volcanoes, we ask whether eruptions can be predicted, how we can keep people safe, and we re-create the physics of an eruption in the laboratory. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, the science at play in an industry that dwarfs both Hollywood and the music world: computer games. We hear how video games are altering the brains of players, why lovers of the shoot-em-up could be carving out a niche for themselves in the military, and whether adrenaline-fuelled sessions on a console can be addictive. Plus, why you might need a DNA test before going on holiday in future, evidence that bees are attracted by insecticides, and how colour can affect your body clock... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, you pit your wits against the Naked Scientists team and challenge us to answer your science questions. Is there an evolutionary reason why humans have rhythm? Do people sneeze in their sleep? Why do crabs walk sideways? And how do stinging nettles sting? Chris Smith, Carolin Crawford and Ginny Smith join Kat Arney get their teeth into your conundra, and take a closer look at the stories hitting the headlines, including a sieve that separates oil from water, how you can sniff happiness in sweat, and the Hubble telescope celebrates its 25'th birthday... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

The impact of modern medicine is drastically changing our concept of death. Increasingly, people are being resuscitated successfully, sometimes hours after they first died. So this week we toe the line between life and death, learn lessons from those who survived without oxygen for hours, discover how we could live immortally as robots, and hear about a very special type of cryo-ambulance to prep you for long term storage. Plus, news that the Dutch have grown nearly a foot taller in 2 centuries, what your fingers say about your marathon prospects, and the secret language of gibbons... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

The Naked Scientists take a special holiday look at some egg-cellent Easter science, including a breakthrough in how to unboil an egg, the genetically modified chickens that can't catch bird flu and why the Easter bunny might be knocked off his perch by a toucan. Plus, is a chocolate teapot really useless? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

From crime scene to court room and all the evidence in between. Join Chris Smith and Ginny Smith at our reconstructed crime scene to find out how science is used to help solve a forensic investigation, including dissecting pig organs, testing for drugs, planting false memories into our audiences' brains and trying out the world's first lie detector suit... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, how rogue antibodies turned one woman's existence into a living nightmare of delusions, hallucinations and paranoia, we examine the evidence that ME - or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) - might be an autoimmune disease, and why the blues might be down to a hostile immune response. Plus, how tracking eye movements can be used to influence decisions, why remembering causes you to forget, a new 3d-printer inspired by Hollywood's Terminator, and the genetic map of the UK: apparently the Romans didn't fancy breeding with us very much... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Is it a particle? Or is it a wave? This week we're looking at light. From its earliest origins and what it can reveal about the Big Bang, to why Newton prodded his eye with a needle to probe the origins of colour, how the brain decodes the visual world and bionic implants to reverse blindness. Plus, in the news, a revelation in the remarkable colour-changing capabilities of chameleons, how an ultrasound can combat Alzheimer's Disease, and what people do with their fingers following a handshake... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, the world of parasites. We find out what's living in you and on you, how these invaders hijack your immune system and how they can even control the behaviours and body shapes of their hosts. Plus, in the news, the oldest remains of our first human ancestors are uncovered in Ethiopia, scientists weigh a stegosaurus and NASA's Dawn probe reaches the dwarf planet Ceres, but what awaits it there...? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

From Archimedes leaping from his bath shouting Eureka, to Isaac Newton's falling apples and Volta's piles that produced electricity on tap, this week we recreate some of the scientific experiments that changed the way we view the world. Join Ginny Smith and Chris Smith on a journey through two thousand years of discovery that includes bricks on ropes, a singing Solar System, a hydrogen detonation and a spectroscope... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Cannabis is as controversial as it is complicated. Does smoking it cause schizophrenia, and can chemicals from the plant cure cancer? Plus in the news, the new breed of chemicals that are putting our ozone layer at risk and why teenage sperms are more likely to be mutants. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, how we're haemorrhaging personal information through our smartphones. We hear how snoopers can eavesdrop on your mobile signals while you're out in public to track down your home address. A computer scientist tells us what he discovered on a bunch of second-hand mobile phones picked up off eBay, and the website that grades the threat's you face from any app yu install. Plus, the stories making the headlines from the world of science and technology, including figuring out how much dark matter is in the Milky Way, and a breath test to diagnose Parkinson's Disease... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, how to hack online dating, the way to maximise your chances on that crucial first date, what makes couples compatible, and the giveaway signs of fertility in the female voice. Plus, in the news, how late-night texting and Facebook-checking is affecting the sleep of young people, the Dutch chimps that now speak Scottish, and why chemistry teachers have a lesson to learn about one of the world's most popular classroom experiments... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, why we're passengers in our own bodies, outnumbered by our resident bacteria. We explore how these bugs can alter your brain and behaviour, and "trans-poo-sion": the poo-transplant process that might save your life! Plus, why the chances of ET existing have rocketed this week, and signs that birds count the same way we do... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Last year, 100 million tonnes of plastic were produced by industry. At the same time sufficient waste plastic was found floating in the world's oceans to make a string of bottles long enough to make it to the Moon. This week we find out what plastic is, how it is made, how to recycle it and why, in the future, it might literally grow on trees. Plus, reading Roman scrolls buried 2000 years by a volcano, how the magnetic history of a meteorite sheds light on the early Solar system, and an antidote to radiation... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Most people spend around a third of their lives asleep, and yet we know almost nothing about what goes on in the land of nod. So this week we're going "under the covers" to investigate the science of sleeping including hearing from sleep talkers, probing the world of lucid dreaming and finding out what sleep deprivation does to the brain. Plus, in the news, the missing Beagle 2 probe is pinpointed, how the ingredients for life on Earth could have been cooked up in comets, and the computer that knows you better than your best friend... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Are you sitting comfortably? You might want to stand up, because we'll be hearing why, in health terms, sitting is the new smoking! We're also taking a look at the science behind weight loss and why shedding extra pounds is so difficult. Plus news of why colds really do prefer the cold, why most of the world's fossil fuels need to stay in the ground if we're to meet climate change targets, and home from home: how scientists have discovered Earth's twin, deep in outer space... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Dissolving teaspoons, plants that sunbathe, stopping multiple sclerosis, the ARGO floats that monitor the oceans, global warming in Antarctica, and using computers to find Kiwis. Chris Smith and Simon Morton meet some of Wellington's finest researchers, including nanoscientist Nicola Gaston, plant scientist Jason Wargent, MS specialist Anne La Flamme, ocean scientist Philip Sutton, climate researcher Tim Naish and computer scientist Ed Abraham... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We all have an inner voice. Most of us know they're not real. But, for up to 15% of the population at some points in their lives, they can take on a different tone, as a terrifying experience that cannot be distinguished from reality. Where do they come from, and what do they say to sufferers? And how can the symptoms be treated? In this special guest episode, the Wellcome Trust's Chris Chapman hears the stories of schizophrenics affected by voices and explores a new approach to giving sufferers control over their experiences... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Seasons Greetings from the Naked Scientists! We invite you to spend the next hour with us as we explore the Science of Christmas. We'll be looking at why crackers are, or aren't, all that funny, the chemistry of Christmas and what makes the ultimate roast dinner as well as whether wine really is the best medicine. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Mass Extinction! 250 million years ago nearly all life on Earth ended. Back from the brink, history then repeated itself with the disappearance of the dinosaurs 60 million years ago. So are we next? Plus news of how a comet smash could have kick-started life on Earth, whether e-cigarettes are safe, and why science and medical reporting in the media might be untrustworthy... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

From the honking of cars to music blaring out of someone's bedroom window, the world around us is saturated with sound. But what exactly is sound, and how do we hear it? From mimicking an owl's wing for quieter aircraft to creating more effective cochlear implants and the science of opera singing, our panel of experts turn up the volume to 11 to answer your questions on anything audible... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week we delve into the Dark Web, a hidden arm of the Internet where Google doesn't dare to search and where drugs, guns and hitmen are offered up for sale. We explore how the World Wide Web works, and ask whether it can remain unregulated, free and open as it is now? Plus, in the news this week, the worm found lurking in a patient's brain, how scientists have grown pain nerves in a Petri dish, and what do dogs hear when we speak to them? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Travel by air has increased by over 60% in the last decade and annual global air traffic is expected to reach 3.6 billion passenger journeys by 2016 meaning that there are at least 1 million people airborne aboard planes at any moment in time. But, as air traffic grows, so do concerns about smuggling and security. So keeping people safe is a major priority; but the processes can be intrusive and can also cause unpleasant delays at airports. This week we're looking at how technology - both old and new - can help to alleviate the hold ups and improve safety. Plus, in the news, the science behind... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Ebola has rocked the world in 2014, but why has this outbreak been so devastating? This week we get inside Ebola to find out about the virus itself, and how it causes disease and spreads. We talk to healthcare and charity workers on the ground in West Africa to find out how what is being done to stem the epidemic; we catch up on progress towards a vaccine and we hear how the virus is also crippling gorilla populations. Plus, in the news, the latest on the Rosetta mission to comet 67P-Churyumov-Gerasimenko and how Wikipedia can reveal what diseases are circulating and where... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, the latest breakthroughs in cancer including blood tests to pick up the disease much earlier, new genetic treatments to trigger tumours to kill themselves, and a laser technique to zap cancers in hard-to-reach places. Plus, in the news, why working the night shift can curb your intellect, a super-enzyme that could cut millions off energy bills and the gut bacteria that keep you trim... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Do you believe in ghosts? For Halloween the Naked Scientists take a look at the spooky science of the supernatural. Is there evidence that paranormal beings exist and why do so many people believe in them? How do out-of-body experiences happen? What causes coincidences? Where did werewolves and vampires come from? And what tricks do magicians use to fool your senses? Join us for an eerie exploration of how the mind can create nightmarish experiences and mysterious beliefs... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Over the next 50 years, getting to work on time or heading out to the hinterlands for your family holiday will become much, much easier - and perhaps, even pleasurable. We're journeying into the not so distant future, to a world where cars drive themselves, drones deliver your pizzas, planes are bigger, faster, stronger and even see-through, and people holiday in space. The next generation of transportation is very nearly here, and we're taking a magnifying glass to some of the most exciting developments. Plus, we shine a new light on diabetes treatment, a cheap and quick test for ebola, and... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Continuing the theme of the future of humanity, this week we take a look at what we can expect from our towns and cities in the years to come. Will we be living in wooden skyscrapers, amongst crime fighting lampposts or have our own personalised pollution sensors? Plus, in the news, invasive shellfish, the amphibian version of Ebola, making the mind young again, why new brain cells are essential for learning, and advice to brush your teeth to boost your physical fitness... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

What does climate change have in store for the future? What will it mean for the man, or woman, in the street? How will it hit the global economy, and what can businesses do to fight back? This week, we hear the perspectives of a climate specialist, an economist, a psychologist and a technologist as we ask, "what are the costs of climate change?" Plus, in the news, the emerging ebola crisis, tastier beers coming on tap thanks to fruit flies, and a breakthrough in prosthetic arm technology... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

For years we have relied on fossil fuels to produce the light, heat and energy we need to live and work. But these supplies are diminishing, and polluting our environment. So can renewable resources step into the breach annd produce enough energy to power the world? In this special Naked Scientists show, live from the Cambridge Science Centre, we talk to some of the researchers trying to do just that, as well as conducting some energy-related experiments of our own... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, is there anybody out there? We're pushing at the boundaries of science in the search for ET. We take a magnifying glass to the big questions: what is life, where can we find it and could we ever communicate with it? Plus, the blood test that can tell you how long you'll take to recover from surgery, a new mussel-inspired glue that even works underwater and, 76 years after penicillin was first discovered, how scientists are combating antibiotic resistance Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, are we on the verge of being able to print a new kidney or liver? And will every home soon have a machine in it to make medicines so we don't need to head off to the chemist for a dose of antibiotics? This is the world of 3D printing and we'll show you what it promises to deliver... Plus, in the news, is fracking contaminating underground water or is it just leaky pipes? And a new breakthrough therapy for multiple sclerosis... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Have you been hacked? This week we examine the risks from public WiFi, why the Internet of Things is jeopardising the security of your home, the threats frequently lurking inside innocent-looking documents, what your mobile phone says to cybercriminals without your say-so and the new method of marketing: you compromise your competitor's website. Plus, in the news, an update on ebola, do bereaved people really die of a broken heart, and DNA points the finger at a Jack the Ripper suspect... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week we're looking to nature to solve some of today's biggest problems - from climate change to water shortages. We hear how spiders hold the key to making the strongest material known to man and how insect ears have inspired the world's smallest microphone. Plus, why Bruce Willis might be making you fat, the Arctic ice sheets that are melting despite headlines to the contrary, and why thousands of languages are on the brink of extinction... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we're exploring Nuclear Fusion, the power source of the sun. What is it and how can it help us on Earth? We visit the JET fusion facility to watch a test firing, we hear how lasers can be used to kickstart the process and how a new spherical fusion system could be outputting power within a decade. Plus, in the news, what lights up the Universe, how people are no smarter than pigeons when it comes to gambling and how the eyes can forewarn of forthcoming dementia... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Dr Chris Smith goes down under for this special report from New Zealand. In this podcast we discuss lasers that are helping us understand how molocules are formed, using viruses as antibiotics and the possibility of life on Mars. Plus, looking at video game therapy, where Ebola and HIV came from, and the world of bumblebee real estate. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week we're talking about gene sequencing and how to keep that information safe. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

The Naked Scientists have food on the brain this week, as we hear about how sound can affect taste, why our mood can be changed by what we eat, and we try out some unusual flavour combinations. And in the news; why grizzly bears may help us in the fight against diabetes, the comet chaser that has finally reached its target, and self-assembling origami robots... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we hear how one of the brightest lights in the Universe is helping scientists to build better jet engines, fight off antibiotic resistant bacteria and read the biochemical make-up of long-dead dinosaurs. Plus, how fears and phobias can pass from parent to child in a smell, why first impressions really do count, and also the physics of being a lead guitarist... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week why whales get dandruff, what seabirds think of wind farms, the plight of coral reefs, we take a look at some giant sea spiders and look at water that can stay liquid below freezing temperature. Plus, we use science to perfect the recipe for a superior sandcastle... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Will wooly mammoths roam the tundra once more? This week we ask whether improvements in genetic technologies mean extinction is no longer the end, as well as meeting moss that came back to life after 2000 years buried in permafrost, and the million-year-old microbes lurking in the ice of Antarctica. Plus, news that our genes control who we make friends with, how fossil sea urchins hold the key to finding your lost car keys, and what ancient tooth plaque is revealing about the diets of our ancestors... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission by asking, should we return to the moon? We discover what scientific knowledge is still to be gained by going back, what robot missions are being planned as part of the Google Lunar X prize, and do commercial companies hold the key to funding research? Plus, in the news, the electronic lables that can be printed by inkjet, the genes which control how good you are at Maths, and can elephants cry? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Chimps use gestures, climate change stops fish finding friends, gut cells reprogrammed to make insulin, and people prefer shocks to thoughts! Plus Saddle Up! - we look at the science of cyling as the Tour de France comes to the UK, including seeing how long an amateur cyclist can sustain Tour de France speeds, hearing how the bike came by its spokes, and visiting a wind tunnel to learn about the art of aerodynamics... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

From levitating trains and humans to giant, climate-altering balloons, super-steels and earthquake-proof buildings, this month's live show panel reveal the latest advances in extreme engineering. Plus, we get engineering for ourselves, including taking a blowtorch to a paperclip to make metallurgy happen before your eyes... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

England might be out of the World Cup this week, but thousands of fans are still cheering their teams on across Brazil. But how does chanting change the behaviour of a football crowd? Why do free kicks and penalties still come down to good old physics? And how can economists use data from the pitch to see whether discrimination still exists in the beatuiful game? Plus, in the news, why scientists have blown up a mountain in Chile, why you could get addicted to sunshine, and are electronic cigarettes safe? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Alois Alzheimer, who described the first case of the disease now named after him, would have been 150 years old this week. But what have we discovered about the disease since he presented the first Alzheimer's case over 100 years ago? And how can fruit flies, arm hair and video games untangle the most significant threat to our generation? Plus, in the news, how making mosquitoes male could reduce malaria, protecting astronauts from solar radiation, and why is beetle sex a sticky situation... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Freeze Dried Blood! Every day the likes of probiotic "good" bacteria in yoghurts, and even the enzymes in washing powder, give us a helping hand. This week we investigate how scientists are designing new ways to protect and guard these tiny helpers, including new techniques to freeze-dry human blood. Plus, news of how sleep boosts learning, the effects of foetal nerve transplants for Parkinson's, tree-hugging koalas and why negative Facebook friends can make you moody. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Making brainwaves: from how babies' brains develop, to how children learn language and even unravelling the adolescent mind, this month's live show panel of guests walk us through how we learn to learn! Plus, popping balloons shows why teenagers take risks, and some practical tips to improve your short term memory Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We often hear about amazing new medical developments which could improve disease treatment. But what about the ethical considerations involved in deciding how to use these advances? Hannah Critchlow and Ginny Smith discuss how we decide which drugs we can afford and what the limits are on designer babies. Plus how DJ's help get you in the groove, the risk of dengue fever at the World Cup, and how you can win the 10 million Longitude prize! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists