Naked Scientists Special Editions Podcast

Have you ever noticed that when you cross a busy road, as well as clocking the traffic, you subconsciously follow what your neighbours do? Scientists have recently put a figure on this and worked out that we're 2.5 times more likely to cross if our immediate neighbour makes a move to cross. Richard Hollingham goes to Leeds to meet the researcher behind the study to find out why we have such kamikaze tendencies, and how the research helps us understand shoaling, herding and flocking behaviour. Later on, we get up close and personal with banded mongooses in Uganda. Hear what the researchers... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This month, Professor Carol Brayne discusses the consequences of our ageing population and looks into the symptoms, diagnosis and prevention of dementia and other diseases related to ageing. We also hear how ageing can be studies using populations and find out audience opinions on the event including any information that surprised them from the talk. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

In this Planet Earth podcast, Sue Nelson goes to the Eden Project in Cornwall, southwest England and to the South Downs in southeast England to find out what butterfly research is telling us about climate change. As you might expect, there's some bad news to report, but surprisingly there's also hopeful news - at least for the silver spotted skipper. Meanwhile Richard Hollingham goes to Plymouth - also in southwest England - to hear how long-term monitoring buoys in the English Channel have helped reveal, among other things, that the water has gradually been getting warmer. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Sixty percent of all HIV sufferers in the world live in rural Africa, but practical and economic obstacles can prevent many of these people from accessing the anti-retroviral drugs that they desperately need. A recent clinical trial investigated this problem to try and improve HIV treatment in rural Africa. Julia Graham speaks to Diana Gibb from the MRC's Clinical Trials Unit in London to find out more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

With efforts to improve energy efficiency focussed on green transport to sustainable power generation, growing your own food to reducing waste, it's often easy to forget that the very buildings we live and work in could also be made energy efficient. But how do you retrofit old buildings without ruining their architectural character? One researcher from the UK Energy Research Centre explains where you might start. Scientists at the University of Birmingham tell Sue Nelson how they're trying to understand when and why humans developed the ability to walk on two legs; with the help of some... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

How do supermarkets convince you to part with your money? In this special edition of the Naked Scientists, Smitha Mundasad goes shopping with author on consumer psychology, Philip Graves, to discover the tricks of the trade. We'll find out how special offers, colours, odours and music can all affect your spending behaviour... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Scientists recently found plastics floating in some of the most remote and inaccessible seas in the world - just off the coast of Antarctica. Although it clearly looks ugly in such a pristine environment, scientists are more concerned about the major role plastics play in moving alien species around the world. Richard Hollingham goes to the north Norfolk coast to speak to an expert on ocean plastics from the British Antarctic Survey to find out more. Later, Sue Nelson goes to the Natural Environment Research Council's Space Geodesy Facility at Herstmonceux in Sussex to find out how it uses... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This is a podcast by the Society for General Microbiology, recorded at a session they sponsored, at the 2010 Times Cheltenham Science Festival. Through genetic manipulation, scientists have created microbes that provide us with medicines, foods and vaccines as well as animals that can be used as model organisms for the study of human disease. The genetic manipulation of organisms and their use is one of the most controversial scientific developments of recent times. We hear about the practical applications of GM microorganisms, then the audience is asked to decide - When is GM acceptable? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

British Geological Survey scientists have completed the first full geological survey of Lake Windermere in the English Lake District since the Royal Navy made a survey in the 1930s. Among other things, the survey will help researchers understand how quickly the ice retreated after the last Ice Age, how the lake evolved and which parts the Arctic Charr prefers to live in. Richard Hollingham went to visit scientists on the BGS's research boat the White Ribbon on the lake to talk to the scientists involved. Next up, Richard speaks to a dinosaur expert at London's Natural History Museum who is... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

The recent devastating earthquakes in Haiti and Chile were reminders of the power of the Earth and what terrible damage can be caused by such tremors. But what do we know about earthquakes? And can we predict when they might occur? A special event was held to discuss these questions at the 2010 British Science Festival in Birmingham, bringing together scientists from across the UK. Julia Graham speaks to quake experts, Professors Roger Musson, Barry Parsons and Ian Main to find out more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

In this edition we find out how the synchrotron can be used to understand and clean up our environment. We investigate a new form of solar cell, using plastics, which could make solar power more accessible as well as find out the use of microbes to clean up arsenic contaminated groundwater. We also discover an alternative form of rust which could prove useful in the fight against nuclear contamination and reveal a biological side to weathering! All that plus the latest news and events from Diamond including the unveiling of the world's largest diffraction pattern! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Where did malaria come from? Analysing over three thousand samples of faeces from gorillas, bonobos and chimpanzees, scientists have found an answer to the origins of a disease that plagues millions of lives each year. But this answer stirs up new questions - why did it jump from the gorilla into us? And will it continue to do so? Smitha Mundasad talks to Professor Paul Sharp to find out more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Everyone loves a rockpool, and Sue Nelson nearly takes a dive into one in this week's podcast while finding out about the riches they contain.She visits the Anglesey coast of north Wales to learn what these mini marine laboratories can tell us about the value of biodiversity.The effects of climate change range from rising temperatures and higher sea levels to extreme weather and mass extinctions. Richard Hollingham reports from the Plymouth Marine Laboratory where scientists are investigating another, hidden process - increasing ocean acidification.And finally we learn how scientists are using... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

New research into the incredible properties of objects at the quantum scale has brought the aim of quantum computing far closer to reality. Ben Valsler speaks to researchers from Bristol University to find out how "quantum walk" will enable us to understand systems that even the fastest modern supercomputers would find impossible... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

You could be forgiven for thinking the freezing seas around Antarctica are pretty barren and lifeless. But, as Richard Hollingham soon finds out, this couldn't be further from the truth.The Census of Marine Life is building up a picture of the richness and diversity of life in the world's oceans and has so far found thousands of species on shelves around the frozen continent. Incredibly, scientists are still finding new species.At this rate, researchers will soon have documented 17,000 species living on coastal shelves in the region. Richard meets British Antarctic Survey researcher Huw... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

In this week's Planet Earth podcast from the impressively-named Diamond Light Source in Oxfordshire, England, hear how two researchers are using hi-tech physics to study different aspects of the environment.The Diamond synchrotron is like a giant, silver doughnut, is more than half a kilometre around and - according to the blurb - you could fit eight St Paul's cathedrals inside.You might imagine a huge machine like this is used only for physics experiments. But it turns out it's used to study everything from the nature of matter to food and new medicines.One researcher explains how his studies... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Look around the English countryside and you'll find animals and plants that shouldn't be there - from Muntjac deer to Mitten crabs, Harlequin ladybirds to Tree of Heaven.So-called invasive species are reckoned to be one of the world's greatest threats to native wildlife. And when you factor in a changing climate, the situation gets even more complicated.Richard Hollingham meets an invasive species expert from the Centre for Ecology Hydrology who tells us not only what we can expect, but also what you can do to help.We also hear from a climate expert at the UK Met Office to find out why he... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Coral reefs are among the most beautiful habitats in the world. As well as being rich in biodiversity, they're vital for the local economies that depend on them for fishing, tourism or protection from storms.While most of us are aware that ocean acidification is bad for coral reefs, scientists are now finding that coral communities are facing other threats from climate change.Richard Hollingham meets three coral reef experts to find out more - not in some tropical paradise but in the basement of a 1960s towerblock at the University of Essex.Later in the programme we hear from two insect... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week we take a closer look at corneal blindness. With corneal transplants in short supply, the recent development of synthetic corneas offers hope in the fight against this leading cause of vision-loss worldwide. Smitha Mundasad speaks to Dr May Griffith about her team's work - creating corneas in a lab. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This month we bring you the highlights of Diamonds events at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition including hydrogen cars, stressed-out bacteria and science in extreme conditions. We also explore how understanding our gut bacteria could lead to personalised diets in the future as well as hear what the rest of the exhibition is all about! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists