The Naked Scientists Podcast

This week, we're taking on your science questions. We find out how cockroaches and ants avoid the heat in a microwave oven, how best to protect yourself from lightning and why a light box can save you from a SAD winter. Also, a table decoration inspired, radiation-resistant spaceship design to keep astronauts healthy, how the contraceptive pill hurts A lapdancers' looks and why penguins prefer to go fishing with their pals. Plus, in Kitchen Science, Dave explains how to make a detector for the Earth's magnetic field - a home made compass! But will it work in space? And what will happen when... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we're quenching our thirst for knowledge with the science of Beer and Brewing! We learn about how beer is made, why nitrogen is vital for the perfect pint of Guinness and why professors of brewing think they have the best job in the world. We also delve into the natural history of beer, to discuss the age old argument, what came first, the beer or the bread? We look into the future of beer, finding out how the chemistry of carbon dioxide could provide a purer pint. Also, a spicy way to specifically kill pain, saving slight with plastic corneas, and the hot, smelly sex lives of... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we're exploring the science of Smart Materials - we discover a Super-Non-Stick coating that even honey wont stick to and flexible plastic paper with E-Ink that we-writes itself on demand. We learn how potatoes could form the basis of future plastics and a new way to think about 'bone china', as ceramics and polymers could replace your broken bones. Also, we discover where sea turtles spend their childhood, how a microRNA gene switch could put the brakes on the spread of cancer and how thousands of cases of breast cancer could be avoided without medication. Plus, in Kitchen... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, robots have taken over the Naked Scientists! Okay, not really but we are looking into the world of robotics to find robots that can clean your floor, disarm bombs and wage war on our behalf. We find out about 'Curious George', a robot that can locate objects in the real world even though it's only ever seen them online, and ask if artificial intelligence will give us free thinking machines or murderous intellects? We also find out about how robots have revolutionised the study of genetics, learn about a mini movie showing the formation of blood platelets in real time, and uncover... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week we're bringing you the very best bits from the BA Festival of Science in York. We discover a chewing gum that dissolves in the wash but still keeps your breath fresh, get some good news about cancer and find out why jogging may not be good for heart patient recovery if it's near a busy road. Also, Chris risks his health to find out about plague control in 17th Century York, and chocolate may be nicer than it is naughty, as Roger Corder explains how it could be good for your health. Out and about in the festival, Meera explores the psychology of commuter cooperation during the 2005... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we look at the latest science news and tackle more of your questions. We uncover the source of the asteroid that finished off the dinosaurs, find out how moray eels eat like aliens, and although we know that breast is best, could nicotine in smokers' breast milk be affecting childrens' behaviour? Also, is the future of formula one eco-friendly? Meera investigates race cars running on biofuels and built from hemp and cashew nuts! We discuss award winning beards, eerie glowing fish and what makes for a long life. Plus, we find out what to expect at this year's BA Festival of... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, Chris and Co are back from their holidays! So they're tackling their bulging mailbag of your questions. We discuss how scientists have been given the green light to cross human DNA with animal cells all in the name of medicine, eavesdroppers in your garden - the plants that respond to sound, and the world's smallest thermometer - only one molecule! We also tackle questions on keeping your beer cool on the beach, massive melons and the horticultural properties of wee. We find out about how radio shows can give Pygmies a voice and how anyone can have an out of body experience now... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we look back at more of the very best bits of Naked Science. We find out why scientists are swollen with success after discovering spider venom with Viagra-like properties, We meet a cow that produces skimmed milk straight from the udder, we remember a way to improve brain function and ask if a hot mint will still taste cold? Also - It's curtains for us! Joel Veitch explains why we should measure hazardicity in 'Curtains', we hear about some very clever birds who make plans for the future and we probe the hole in the ozone layer. Plus, we have two of the best kitchen science... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we look back at some of the juiciest bits of Naked Science from the last series. We find out how an iPod became an iRod to conduct lightning, discover an electrifying bikini and find out why teenagers feel so misunderstood, not that they're 'bovvered' about the answer. We discuss wine as an essential part of an healthy diet, find out about the people who feel no pain and explore why you can immediately tell an Aussie from an American or a Londoner from a Liverpudlian, just by learning about the way accents are formed. Plus, in Kitchen Science we find out how to turn an oven shelf... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, do diet foods make children fat? Could a space screw save us from catastrophe collisions? Have we seen the last of the Yangtze river dolphin? And should we look to the Simpsons for our science? Writer Al Jean explains that, despite the three eyed fish and three fingered hands, it's one of the most science literate shows on television. Also, as it's our Summer Special Question and Answer show we tackle your questions ranging from rising cakes to rising heart rates, why the moon looms larger on the horizon and why magnets make bad television. Plus, in kitchen science we investigate... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, mind reading children, scientists find a new gene in the lung cancer cocktail, and satnav or map-nav - what's greener? Plus we become biological weapons inspectors and explore nature's arsenal of venoms, poisons and toxins, including a scorpion's sting that can highlight cancer, how funnel web spiders are helping farmers fight off insect pests, the marine cone snail that harbours a painkiller ten thousand times more powerful than morphine, and how a snake bite can help to prevent a heart attack. Meanwhile, in Kitchen Science, Ben samples a more everyday toxin - by making stinging... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, clean coal technology - how to get the energy from coal without digging it up, why GM goats are helping to combat nerve gas attacks, and how scientists have found the 'itch' gene. We also find out why smog causes heart disease, how seafood in space can help to heal astronauts, and the weight of leaves on an average tree. Plus Drs Chris and Phil take a look at your science questions including 'tasting' music, the best way to dry your washing and can the moon affect the shapes of weather systems? In Kitchen Science Ben and Dave explain how to make a lens with a plastic bottle and some... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we find out about survival in extreme environments. We find out how free divers descend hundreds of feet underwater without air, how life thrives beneath the ice in Antarctica, how fighter pilots combat G-forces to avoid blackouts, and how the body copes with exercising at the top of Everest. Also, discover the benefit of breaks between bouts of exercise, how geckos hold the key to underwater post-it notes, and a gene that lets you chat whilst listening to the radio. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, from iPod to iRod as a man's taste for music turns him into a human lightning conductor, why penguins are picky eaters, and better biopsies - why doctors are attracted to a new magnetic cancer detection system. Also a fuel made from fructose that packs a punch like petrol, we find out how to make hydrogen on demand using aluminium, and grow your own gas - do we have enough land to grow our energy in future? Plus, in Kitchen Science, we turn vegetable oil into biodiesel and ask a white van man to test it... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week news that men talk as much as women, cosmetics from jellyfish, songbirds "greatest-tits", a breathtaking asthma breakthrough and a gene-screen for bowel cancer. We also uncover the cause of contagious yawns, probe the brain basis of epilepsy and manic depression, and uncover a brain region responsible for out of body experiences. Plus, in Kitchen Science, Ben and Dave find out why the raisins always rise to the top of the cereal box. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, playing bingo on an inflatable space station, a new way to attack the cause of Alzheimer's and mending a broken heart with stem cells. Also, using bananas to speed up fruit ripening, leeches out of water and chemical tricks to stop smoking and iron out wrinkles. Plus, in Kitchen Science we vibrate our way to a fountain in a cup! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week a rabies-based Trojan Horse that smuggles drugs across the blood-brain barrier, why first-borns are brighter, progress with Parkinson's and a lunar telescope more powerful than Hubble. Plus in this week's ARMAGEDDON-focused show we look at supervolcanes, earthquakes and arsenic, find out why curtains are absolutely lethal and why a meteorite impact probably didn't dispense with the dinosaurs after all. Also, in Kitchen Science, we test the claim that tapping the top of a fizzy drink before you open it stops it spraying all over you... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Under the microscope this week, the science of forensics. We find out how scientists have exploded the myth about old aged whales thanks to a piece of shrapnel, about a new rice-based vaccine for cholera, and 'whey' to go, how scientists have made edible food wrappers from milk. We investigate what your diet does to your hair, how science can finger forgers and flush out bodies from bogs, and why the key to identifying a torso that washed up in the Thames was rooted in plant science. Plus, in Kitchen Science, we arm Ben with a rifle to find out how fat you'd have to be to stop a speeding... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, why some people have green blood, how radiation-hungry fungi will feed astronauts of the future, and how a cider a day keeps the doctor at bay. We discuss corrupt chemists, what happens when galaxies collide, how Beaujolais benefits your breath and if a person can feel the cold in space. Plus, in Kitchen Science we iron out the crumbs in your cornflakes! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, will a hot mint still taste cold? Also how skimmed milk could come straight from the cow in future, and why we walk upright without dragging our knuckles. Nicky Clayton discusses clever birds that use cigarettes to fumigate their feathers, Tim Clutton-Brock describes the family affairs of meerkats, and we find out from Andrew Smith why monkeys see what we see, but cats and cows can't. Plus, in Kitchen Science, we get jiggly with a jam jar full of rice. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists