The Naked Scientists Podcast

It's been cold in the UK this week! So what better way to spend your time than to stay in the warm and find the answers to all of your nagging science questions... So if you've ever wondered how fireworks have so many pretty colours, why a hedgehog will choose to go to sleep in a bonfire pile, or any science, nature, medicine or technology question - ask us now! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Disco Psychology - the science of drinking and dancing feature in this week's Naked Scientists. We find out what your dance moves say about your genes and why drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes makes faces seem more attractive. Also, we discover what happens in the minds of people suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD. Plus, researchers make brain washing a reality, roll out a stream of x-rays from a reel of sticky tape, and reveal why the smell of rotten eggs may be good for your blood pressure! In Kitchen Science, we re-train Ben's brain see the world from a different... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Nuclear fusion is the power source inside the Sun - so can we copy the physics of the stars to generate energy here on Earth? This week, we find out how nuclear fusion works, and how to mimic a star on Earth... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

New techniques to test for Down's Syndrome and oesophageal cancer feature in this week's Naked Scientists, along with the nanotechnology that may let you climb walls like spider man! We also take on your science questions and find out if it's possible to shoot a satellite, what keeps the Earth's core so hot, and how you can pass through fire unharmed! Plus, in a back-to-basics Kitchen Science - Dave makes drops of milk bounce out of his tea! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We catch up with the latest on cancer this week including an update from the National Cancer Research Institute conference in Birmingham. We hear how computers are helping doctors to read mammograms, how researchers are re-programming the immune system to attack tumours, and we get the low down on the new vaccine against cervical cancer. We also discover how blood cells can be used as a Trojan horse to sneak-in chemicals to boost the power of body scans, what a fossil form of HIV can tell us about the origin of AIDS, and how beetles create their own antibiotics. Plus, in kitchen science, Ben... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, how to live longer and look younger with the science of ageing! We discover how repairing damage to DNA could prevent the diseases associated with old age, and find out how to keep your skin looking younger for longer. Also, doing just four things could add fourteen years to your life - so find out what they are, right here! Plus, how gene therapy could cure one from of blindness, how to get more distance from a tank of diesel and counting insects - how bees can count up to four, but not five. Also, in Kitchen Science, we explore the stretchy science of rubber bands! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Superbugs and hospital acquired infections go under the microscope on this weeks Naked Scientists. We find out why Clostridium difficile has become such a problem, how to keep bacteria away from surfaces and see if there's a vaccine for MRSA on the horizon. Plus, we discover where fat cells hide out, why fungi fire spores at amazing speeds and how plant sugars can make perfect petrol. And in Kitchen Science, Ben and Dave launch a liver-powered rocket! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

There's a bulging mailbag of science questions for the Naked Scientists this week, as we find out why we stop smelling smells, whether we can use viruses to kill cancer and why crisp and sweet packets make so much noise? Also, how unmanned spy-planes can speed up medical diagnoses in rural countries, how Internet anti-spam technology is helping to interpret ancient manuscripts, and the first water bears in orbit - how tardigrades survived a trip into space, without a suit! Plus, in Kitchen Science, Dave shows you how to impale a potato using only a drinking straw! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

The biggest science experiment in the world - The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, will start on September 10th. So this week we peer inside a proton and discover how the LHC works to help scientists in the search for antimatter and the elusive 'Higgs boson'. Plus, we unlock the genetic key to a happy marriage, explore what giant clams can reveal about our ancestors and hear why bats silence themselves to avoid traffic jams. Plus, in Kitchen Science, Ben and Dave get dizzy with the science of spinning! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Before Chris and Co get back for the start of the new series, Ben and Diana dive deep into the science of the sea. We find out why cold water corals can act as a climate calendar, how fish feminised by human female hormones have a surprising effect on the ecosystem and discover the marine micro-organisms that keep the climate in check. Also, why the humble garden pond can guard against global warming, and how penguins can be identified by their feathery fingerprint. Plus, in Kitchen Science, Ben and Dave have a unique tea party to find out if the saying 'as useless as a chocolate teapot'... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

The hunt for Bigfoot, how a beer or two can boost attractiveness and the brain basis of imagination go under the lens this week when Ben and Diana also meet the chemist-turned-rapper behind the contraceptive pill and the "Superheroes of Science" a concept album where science mixes with music. Plus, in an Olympic Kitchen Science, Ben and Dave tune in to a baseball bat's sweet spot... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Diana and Ben take the bridge this week for a journey around the world and out into space, with a selection of the best science from the Naked Scientists worldwide travels. We find out how planets form from stardust in just tens on millions of years, and how to use winks, wobbles and blips to find planets around distant stars. We find out why the James Webb Space telescope must be very cool to pick up the hot infra-red radiation of deep space, and how the ExoMars rover could take us to previously unseen parts of Mars. Then we come back down to Earth with a bump (or should that be burp?) to... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Science on the River - A Punt Down the Cam. The river Cam runs through Cambridge, past the colleges that have been home to influential scientists for hundreds of years. This week, we drift down the river, picking up key scientists as we go. We discover how petals attract pollinators, how carbon sequestration could call a halt to climate change and how ketamine could help us find the root of schizophrenic delusions. Also, we explore how evolved enzymes could make chemical reactions billions of times faster, and learn of the ultimate fate of the universe with Astronomer Royal, Professor... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

It's an Extravaganza of Questions and Answers on the Naked Scientists this week as we take on your questions, including whether dogs can sniff out a seizure, what is fire made of, and how do glow in the dark objects work? Also, we hear what an artificial tongue can tell us about speech production and the way to build superior voice recognition software, we rev up a system that can harness the waste heat in car exhaust to boost efficiency, find out how to flavour breast milk and hear why dolphins sing lullabies. Plus, in Kitchen Science, Ben and Dave go for a drive with a helium filled... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Drug Discovery: On this week's Naked Scientists, drug development goes under the microscope as we explore two new ways to find the treatments of tomorrow. We find out why size is important when it comes to chemicals that can kill superbugs, and how soil bacteria hold the chemical clues to the next generation of antibiotics. Plus, how sheets of carbon can be used to reveal single atoms of hydrogen beneath the microscope, how scientists have homed in on the part of the brain linked to obsessive compulsive disorder, and why electronically tagging jellyfish can tell us a sea turtle's secrets.... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We're going for gold on this week's Olympian Naked Scientists, by discovering the sporty science of performance enhancement. We find out how drugs can help boost an athlete's performance, and how the testing labs are hot on their heels! We also explore how altitude training and hi-tech trainers can power athletes past their personal bests. Plus, a stem cell cure for muscular dystrophy, flies with flu and how a rubber Anaconda could generate energy from waves. And in Kitchen Science, we find out how to get the biggest bounce from two balls! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Give yourself the time to listen to this week's Naked Scientists Show, where we find out about the Body Clock! We discover the constant chemical cascade that keeps your clock in check, and how not seeing the sun leads to S.A.D. We probe the plant clock to explore how trees tell the time, and why even plants can suffer from jetlag. Plus, why Stradivarius' violins sound so good, why fun size snacks may be making you fat and how cuttlefish sneak a peak at their future food. Also, in Kitchen Science, Ben and Dave get water from flames! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

It's 150 years since Darwin's theory of Evolution was presented to the Linnean Society, and so we've Naturally Selected the Science of Evolution! We find out why scientists have revisited a textbook example of natural selection in action, find out why horny sheep are gambling on good weather and how bacteria in the lab can evolve into a new species! We find out why tragedy almost kept Darwin's ideas from ever being seen, by looking at the archives of his own letters. Plus, why crocodiles chat from inside their eggs, a new way to send messages underwater and why Martian soil would be good... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Mirrors, Magnets and Meteorites make an appearance in this week's Naked Scientists Question and Answer Show. We find out how the immune system could be convinced to fight skin cancer, how future MRI scans could be in colour, and why easy-clean computer keyboards could help keep MRSA out of hospitals. We answer your questions about inhaling helium, wind turbines, bacteria and the molecular basis of mirrors. Plus, in Kitchen Science Dave sets us the Balloon Kebab Challenge! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Get Red Hot and Dirty with the Naked Scientists as we explore the science of volcanoes. We discover how the heat from hot rocks can be used to work out what gases are emerging, how likely a volcano is to erupt and whether it will go with a bang or a whimper. We also hear how hot runny rock can shatter under pressure to trigger an earthquake, and dip into the cooler, dirtier world of mud Volcanoes, like Lusi, which is currently pouring millions of gallons of mud onto the island of Java. Plus, we find out how a small date plant made history by being the oldest seed ever to germinate, why the... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists