The Naked Scientists Podcast

In honour of the annual hoards if bleary-eyed hayfever sufferers, we are joined by Carrock Sewell who describes how the immune system works, what causes allergic reactions and how we might be able to cure them, and Mark Booth discusses parasites, how they suppress and evade the immune system and how the Matangini Project attempts to provide parasite-free water in Africa. Sticking with the African continent, Derek Thorne travels to Tanzania to learn how to make ugali in Kitchen Science. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Breaking things down to the building blocks of life this week is Mark Ross, who discusses the evolution of sex chromosomes, genetics and genomes, Michael Traugott describes a novel way of using genetics to find out who is eating whom in underground food webs, and Derek Thorne gets fruity with Lucy Wheatley extracting DNA from a kiwi... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Answering all your questions on science, technology and medicine this week are Drs Chris, Dave and Kat, who will be revealing why spicy foods make you sweat, the highest possible temperature, the cause of labyrinthitis and why tissues turn black after receiving frostbite. Also on the show is Mark Skousen, a direct descendent of Benjamin Franklin, who will be talking about the life and work of this famous scientist and statesman; and in Science Update, Bob and Chelsea find some animal magic in the feeding strategies of killer whales and the interpretation of a horse whinny. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Scratching the itch of curiosity this week is William Foster, who will be talking about the evolution of social insects and his quest for social beetles in Thailand, Claire Rind flies in the face of current car safety technologies by using knowledge of collision avoidance in locusts, Matt Shardlow discusses how man-made wastelands can be a haven for rare invertebrates, and Derek Thorne joins Ed Turner in the garden to discover how to make pitfall traps. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week we focus on the science of the very small - the microbial world of bacteria, viruses and fungi with Nottingham Universitys Liz Sockett and Cambridge Universitys Stacey Efstathiou and Ali Ashby. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Derek and Sheena explain how to make litmus paper from red cabbage, we meet a generation of miniature (dwarf) dinosaurs, and calculate the extra fuel cost of flying a flag from your car for the world cup... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Powering the generators for the show this week is Nicky White who describes how oil is formed, how we find and extract oil and how long oil supplies will last, Lynne Macaskie discusses how fuel cells can be run on hydrogen gas created by bacteria and sugary waste, and Peter Hughes explains how his Electro-Kinetic Road Ramp could soon be powering your street lamps. In Science Update, Bob and Chelsea reveal how llama spit can be used to spot the ultimate power-up, caffeine, and in Kitchen Science Derek Thorne and Chris Muirhead reveal a cool way to chop your vegetables... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Answering all your science questions this week are Chris, Kat and Dave, including why some people are so prone to static electric shocks, whether humans will exceed the speed of light, how pain killers know where the pain is, and why cows get sunburnt in some places and not others... Also on the show, Bob and Chelsea provide the latest news from across the pond in Science Update, Felicia Huppert talks about the science of well-being and natures feel-good factors, and Derek sets sail in Kitchen Science as he learns how to make matchstick boats. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Bringing music to our ears this week is Hugh Hunt who discusses the science of sound, how harmonics work and how to play music in a tea cup, Jez Wells describes the frontiers of music technology including recreating the sounds of a long lost cathedral, the secrets behind making a floboe, an instrument that is half oboe and half flute, and how to revive the sound of a castrati, a man with the voice of a choirboy. To compensate for the castratis lost manhood, Bob and Chelsea look at cutting edge uses for testosterone in Science Update and Anna Lacey makes music with a long pink tube in Kitchen... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

As the ten-year ban on British beef is lifted, Tony Minson joins us to discuss what causes BSE, how it is spread and why it is such a problem, and with another example of how animal diseases pass to humans is Joanne Webster, who describes the life cycle of Toxoplasma gondii and its possible link to schizophrenia. Margaret Stanley provides some happier news and reveals the astounding success of a cervical cancer vaccine in clinical trials, and Derek Thorne has fun with food colouring in Kitchen Science. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week we return to the lost world of the dinosaurs. Cambridge University palaeontologists Leslie Noe and Matt Wilkinson discuss the origins, life and demise of the dinosaurs including how they mastered the power of flight. And are the rules about fossils really set in stone - Mary Schweitzer describes the discovery of original dinosaur tissue from fossils,together with a new way to sex a dinosaur. Also, the Natural History Museum's Angela Milner introduces Fran Beckerleg to the animatronic dinosaur exhibition, and in Kitchen Science Derek and Sheena turn eggs into gyroscopes... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Brightening up the darker corners of your science knowledge this week are Chris, Phil and Kat, who look at colour-blindness in dogs, harnessing heat energy from the centre of the Earth, how glow in the dark motorbikes could save lives, and the erasable tattoos that wipe away the memory of the ex we would rather forget... Also on the show, Ron Hale-Evans talks about ways to improve memory, Michael Stebbins reveals how his book Sex, Drugs and DNA aims to fight back against those who stand in the way of science, and Anna Lacey learns to play the wine glasses in Kitchen Science. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Delving into the dark depths of science this week is Ron Douglas who describes the fascinating world of deep sea fish, bioluminescence and the sights from a deep sea sub, Jason Hall-Spencer talks about cold water corals and the threats posed by fishermen, and in slightly warmer waters David Kline reveals how Caribbean corals are suffering due to sugar pollution. Also in the show, Fran Beckerleg interviews John Ablett about a giant squid called Archie, and getting the low down on the high seas Derek finds out how a submarine works in Kitchen Science. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Bringing a ray of sunshine to the studio this week is Alex Hill from the London Met Office, who will be describing how meteorologists predict the weather on a daily basis, Tim Palmer reveals how understanding seasonal weather patterns can help scientists to predict outbreaks of malaria, Emily Shuckburgh discusses how faraway oceans can affect our local weather, Fran Beckerleg braves the roof of the London Weather Centre, and Sheena Elliott joins Derek Thorne in Kitchen Science to shed light on why the sky is blue. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Picking apart the inner workings of our brains this week are Irene Tracey, who discusses the neurological origin of pain and how we can reduce pain, Philip Shaw reveals why having a bigger brain does not make you more intelligent, Kathleen Taylor talks about her new book on brainwashing, including whether brainwashing is a real phenomenon and how we can avoid it, and from brainwashing to the bathtub, Derek Thorne scrubs up on density in Kitchen Science. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Answering all your burning science, technology and medicine questions this week are Drs Chris, Dave and Phil, who will be looking at why purifying seawater is not the answer to water shortages, how 3D glasses work and whether a man on a meteor would have to hold on tight or just soak up the stellar scenery. Also on the show, Daniel Scuka at the European Space Agency provides a Venus Express update, Diana Liverman talks about how to turn down the heat on climate change, and in Kitchen Science Anna Lacey finds out why we hear strange voices when we play old records backwards. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Conservation and saving species go under the spotlight this week as Henry Nicholls draws attention ot the plight of Lonesome George, the last giant tortoise of his kind, David Aldridge discusses the problem of invasive species and how he is purging freshwater ecosystems of zebra mussels with a poison pill, Chris interviews Rick Shine about the wave of invasive cane toads legging it across Australia, from waves to the ocean, Helen Scales discusses the issues behind marine conservation, and sticking with the watery theme, Derek Thorne whips up a storm in Kitchen Science. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Time is very much the essence of this weeks show, as Russell Foster discusses the human body clock, where the body clock is and how it gives our bodies a daily rhythm, Karl-Arne Stokkan describes how reindeer body clocks adapt to twenty four hours of sunlight, Alex Webb talks about plant circadian rhythms and how they differ from animals, and Anna Lacey interviews Cynthia Kenyon about how to survive longer and cheat time. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

The recycling revolution and the whereabouts of our waste are hot topics this week as David Butler describes a new technique for recycling water, Rebecca Weymouth lifts the lid on what happens to our domestic waste, Peter Barham reveals why plastic is so difficult to recycle, and Richard Thompson discusses how waste plastic threatens the environment. In Kitchen Science Derek turns old chip oil into biodiesel, and from making fuel to running on empty, Anna Lacey asks Andrew Prentice how humans cope with famine. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Picking apart some miniature morsels of science this week are David Carey, who provides the big picture on the world of nanotechnology, Donald Fitzmaurice describes how DNA may be used as scaffolding for the next generation of computer chips, we breach the boundaries between physics and biology as Stephen Webb discusses how new microscopes can see developing cancers at the nano-scale, and Neal Morgan explains how nanoparticles are stamping out stinky socks. Also on the show, Jim Clark digs up the ancestors of T. rex, and in Kitchen Science Derek and Dave dish the dirt on how gravy thickens. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Unlocking Natures medicine chest are doctors orders this week as Monique Simmonds reveals the research behind old herbal remedies, Tai-Ping Fan describes how Chinese medicine is being used for illnesses from gout to endometriosis, Jack Cuzick talks about clinical trials for a new drug for breast cancer, and Dr Chris is in St. Louis with details on a potato that fights back... In Kitchen Science, Derek unleashes the explosive power of flour, and Anna Lacey asks Peter Austin why thousands of languages are threatened with extinction. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists