The Naked Scientists Podcast

We've whipped up an appetising take on the science of food and cooking for you this week. With a main course of cookery in the kitchen served up by a cake-baking physicist followed by a microbiological look at the cheese board and then the bacterial basis of the Best Before Date for dessert, this three-course scientific combo is an absolute academic feast. Also on the menu this week, how scientists are using brain scanners to reconstruct the movies we see in the mind's eye and we ask whether Einstein was wrong as scientists report particles apparently moving faster-than-light... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we're chilling out in the world of cryogenics, the science of the super-cold. We'll find out what happens to living tissue when it freezes, and how we can use low temperatures to keep organs, and maybe even one day whole bodies, in suspended animation. We also talk to the company behind an attractive new design of super-efficient fridge that runs on magnetism. In the news we hear how computer gamers have contributed to a breakthrough in HIV, why humans are programmed for overconfidence, and how the nervous system controls the immune system. Plus, we ask, is modern medicine altering... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we seek the science of supercomputers! We find out how they work, and how they can answer some of the biggest questions in science. We also hear about the World Community Grid, which offers scientists computer time donated by volunteers worldwide. In the news we hear how computer aided design can help breast restoration, why special stem cells with just one set of chromosomes can aid geneticists, and how Earth's precious gold may have come from outer space. Plus, we explore the workings of the humble calculator in Question of the Week! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

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

Why do some animals poo wherever the fancy takes them, whilst others are more fussy about the locations of their lavatory actions? What triggers pins and needles? How do some fish survive in both fresh and saltwater? And how are new nerve cells born in the adult brain? We burn through your best science questions this week as well as taking a look at Hubble's successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, and hearing how a computer model of a heart can revolutionise cardiac drug design and reviewing the evidence that bacteria were already antibiotic resistant over 30,000 years ago... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, Chris explores some of the cutting edge research taking place in Aberdeen. We meet a scientist making new cannabis-like chemicals that lack the side effects of the real thing, talk to a man exploring the deepest part of the Pacific - 7 miles down - to find out what's living there. Plus, thalidomide - 50 years on. Scientists now know why it had the damaging effects it did on unborn babies, but can they make a safe form of the agent so it can be used to treat cancers, leprosy and HIV? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the "plane". Or so the saying goes, but new research has confirmed that aeroplanes do cause clouds to dump their contents prematurely, often around airports, and in this week's show we explore this weather-altering effect of aviation. We also ask industry leader Rolls-Royce to explain how a jet engine works and how their designers have cut noise pollution from planes by over 99% since 1960. In the news, we hear how scientists are forecasting more accurate space weather predictions thanks to a new way to spot sunspots before they even erupt, a new study finds a... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Are designer molecules poised to take us into a new chemical dimension? This week, we explore how, long before the bunsen burner gets lit, computer aided chemistry can enable us to create in silico imaginary new molecules, reactions and designer catalysts. We also delve into how chemicals are manufactured on a massive scale with a visit to a plant making zeolites. And in the news, how hydrogen-metabolising bugs can supercharge deep-sea mussels, how reprogrammed immune system cells can hunt-down cancer, and nature's stock exchange - how plants and fungi develop a subsoil free-market economy... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Do bubbles help or hinder when doing the dishes? Can we find evidence of material from Earth on the Moon? Can camera lenses cause fires? And is fluoride in drinking water safe? In this Question and Answer show, we tackle your science queries, finding out if higher air pressure means louder sounds and if plants from cuttings remain genetically identical over centuries. Plus, launching Lego men to Jupiter, making brain cells from skin cells, and how vampire bats home in on hot blood... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we take a dive beneath the waves to look back at the last year in Ocean science. We call in on deep sea microbes, spawning corals and even a seahorse surgery. Plus we hear how the Census of Marine Life all got started and find out about some very strange creatures with sex organs on their heads... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we look back over the last few months of space science. We'll hear how scientists search for planets in the glare of their parent star, why a simulated mission to Mars will help us to understand how astronauts will cope with isolation, and the challenges of communicating astronomy on television. Plus, what our solar system looks like to a distant observer, and how antique globes tell the story of our understanding. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week we take a look back at a year's-worth of Naked Archaeology including a dig through some Pomepiian poo for clues about the Pompeiian lifestyle, the art of spear throwing with an atlatl and exposing the most recent neanderthals of the Caucasus. Plus we identify alien donkeys and learn how to make history from prehistory! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we bring you the best bits of technology from the world of engineering including a guiding light into the workings of a retroreflector, the dual life of bi-stable structures, and a new way to harness energy from our rivers. Plus, we unearth the workings of a copper mine, discover how Barnes Wallis designed his famous bouncing bomb and bring you an atomic insight into the art of metalworking! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we explore the problem of persistent pain. We find out how chronic pain is currently treated, and look to our DNA for the genetic clues that could lead to future painkillers. In the news, a new TB vaccination that stands out on it's own, how babies make sense of broken toys, and why flying in a flock may be exhausting for pigeons. Plus, in Question of the Week, Diana asks why we have a spare copy of some organs. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we find out how to get useful gas from useless coal, and make money from waste carbon dioxide! Underground coal gasification could allow us to access huge amounts of energy in inaccessible coal seams. We find out how it works as well as exploring a new method for capturing waste carbon and turning it into useful chemicals. In the news, dinosaurs inspire new designs for aircraft, spotting a star being ripped apart by a black hole, and the South African bid for the world's biggest radio telescope. Plus, Diana asks what the point is of "junk" DNA? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

The good side of microbes goes under the microscope this week as we explore how the 100 trillion bacteria that thrive on us and in us, and even outnumber our own cells ten times over, work with the body to maintain good health. We also hear from the Nobel prizewinner who's turning the stomach bug Helicobacter pylori into an edible vaccine against the flu and how to build better bioreactors to culture them in! Plus, how trees cause clouds to form, more evidence that the building blocks of life came from outer space, how nicotine keeps smokers thin and built-in cardiac stem cells that can mend a... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

What would we see at the edge of the universe? Are there long term health effects of eating spicy food? Why doesn't diesel need a spark to ignite? It's another Naked Scientists science question and answer show, where we take on your questions! Find out how a volcano makes Mars wobbly, why birds' lungs are more efficient than mammalian lungs and how a single speaker can make so many sounds at once. Plus, an outbreak of a new and lethal strain of E.coli and why increasing ocean acidification may be deafening fish. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

What happens when a blacksmith meets a metallurgist? This week we explore what's happening at the molecular scale when the smithy works a piece of iron, we meet the superalloys that survive temperatures way above their melting points inside jet engines, and at the Rolls Royce precision casting facility we discover how precision plane engine parts can be cast from a single metal crystal. Also, in the news this week, how the blind brain has a built-in sonar, an attractive new magnetic material turned on by a current, and a new technique to detect troublespots brewing inside arteries. Plus,... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week's Naked Scientists is not to be sneezed at - we're looking at the science of allergies! We explore what happens to cause your body to overreact to harmless things, and find out how potentially fatal peanut allergy can be cured. Plus, how a dose of parasites could keep allergies at bay, and how special filters can engineer a breath of extremely fresh air! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We cast our nets wide this week to catch the science of aquaculture or fish farming! We'll find out how farming marine life can reduce reliance on disappearing wild stocks, and explore the effect on the local environment. Also, how recycled fish poo and waste water can help repair damaged wetlands, and in Naked Engineering we find out how robotic fish can keep tabs on pollution in ports. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists