The Naked Scientists Podcast

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

Is standing or reclining best for the perfect suntan? Can we see atoms? Why add pennies to Big Ben's pendulum? It's a question and answer show so we shoulder your scientific conundra! We'll find out how web companies keep up with growing data demands, what causes white ridges on fingernails, and why a clean glass keeps cola fizzier. Plus, in Kitchen Science, we find out how to balance a broom whilst blindfolded! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Computers that can lip-read, a robot that follows your brain waves, prosthetic arms controlled by thinking about fingers that have been amputated, the future of nuclear fusion, Bandaids for batteries, why oral cancer rates are up 200% on 20 years ago and a brain stimulator for obsessive compulsive disorder. While the team take a well-earned Easter break, join Dr Chris for a look at the latest science from the AAAS in Washington DC. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

For Easter this week, we explore how synchrotron radiation can be used to probe and find answers to a variety of scientific questions as we bring you a special programme of highlights from the Diamond Light Source podcast. We hear how changes to key proteins can cause hypertension and pre-eclampsia, how green rust could provide a greener future and discover a new type of magnetic material which could make data storage faster, cheaper and more compact. Plus, we explore a new form of solar cell which could make solar energy more affordable in the future. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Two pioneers in the field of gene therapy join us to discuss how they're developing modified viruses to deliver healthy copies of genes to save patients afflicted by lethal genetic diseases. We also hear how energy can be harvested from footsteps and heartbeats to power nanodevices, and how a new SWARM of satellites is about to be deployed to study the Earth's magnetic field from space. Plus, in the news, how "ums" and "ahs" can boost a baby's learning power, how mankind talked his way out of Africa and how scientists are recreating schizophrenia in a Petri dish... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Do dogs get ticklish? What wakes up mosquitoes at meal times? Do animals use weapons? In this fast-paced Question and Answer show we also focus on the nuclear threat from Fukushima and hear how gut bugs raise the risk of heart disease, why flaps for wind turbines have got engineers in a spin, and why tidiness stops stereotyping. Plus, how to make a balloon fireproof and what causes dark circles under the eyes when we get tired... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we go wireless to explore the science of mobile phones. We hear how new error-correction techniques are promising to put an end to poor quality communications, we meet a new system that lets you borrow the antennae of other nearby phones to boost your data download rates, and a major study that's examining the potential health impacts associated with mobile phone use. Plus, in the news, the now not-so-anomalous Pioneer probe anomaly, the chemical cure that can flatten phobias and how a biased worm could overturn an election victory... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Life in inaccessible places - including in caves sealed off from the Sun and around deep-sea vents - is the subject of this week's Naked Scientists. In these intriguing environments, bacteria replace plants as the primary producers, extracting energy from the minerals around them to sustain a whole ecosystem. We also hear about the bone-eating worms that make a meal of whale carcasses that fall to the seafloor, an engineering trick for separating mined-metals from mud and, in the news, why the world's waves are getting bigger, how sperm can be grown in a dish and a gene that drives melanoma.... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we find out what lies beyond the limits of our Universe as we discuss multiverses, higher dimensions, string theory and supersymmetry. We find out how these ideas develop from basic principles and how the LHC can help to confirm, or refute, their existence. In the news, how quartz creates mountain ranges, progesterone excites sperm, and why birds can't help but fly into things. Plus, Meera and Dave find out how to engineer electrons to travel close to the speed of light, and Simon Singh explains how to discover the distance to a far away star. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Can you electrocute weeds? Why do teeth go wobbly? And which cells last a lifetime? In this bumper edition of the Naked Scientists, we tackle your pressing science questions and find out how the shuttle manoeuvres in space, what makes wounds itch, whether reverse osmosis can make moonshine and if static can stick a cat to a wall. Plus, how diamonds deal death to tumours, cooperation in the elephant world and an update on the Japanese earthquake situation. We also hear how a hairy leg can help you bend water to your will, and Diana discovers why potato peelers never need sharpening! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists