CrowdScience
Episodes
How do we adapt to the cold?
19 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When some people are wandering around in shorts and a t-shirt, others are wrapped up in warm coats and jumpers. How come our responses to cold weather...
Can you play the guitar underwater?
12 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Smashing up guitars is a classic rock star activity, but how about drowning them? 7-year-old listener Cornelius has set CrowdScience a challenge: to f...
Can we turn deserts green?
05 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Can we turn the world’s deserts green? CrowdScience listener Youcef is captivated by the idea of bringing water back to Earth’s driest landscapes....
How big is a rainbow?
28 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When listener Sakura’s husband came home from his morning walk in Cambridgeshire, UK, he told her about a massive rainbow he’d seen. But when he s...
Why do we cry?
21 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tears of joy, tears of sadness, tears of frustration or tears of pain - humans are thought to be the only animals that cry tears of emotion. CrowdScie...
Do tsunamis affect marine life?
14 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tsunamis destroy buildings, habitats and danger to everything in its path on land. But how do they affect life under the water? That's what CrowdScien...
Are near-death experiences real?
07 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In your final moments, they say, you may walk down a tunnel of light. You might rise above your body, watching the scene below before passing into ano...
Why do people love horror films?
03 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For some they’re the stuff of nightmares, but many of us can’t get enough of horror films. For Halloween, CrowdScience investigates the science of...
Should we help maggots and caterpillars?
24 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We all know insects are important, but one CrowdScience listener worries that they don’t seem to have equal billing when it comes to human love and ...
Can we record our senses?
17 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How would you record a special moment? Maybe you could take a photograph, film a little video, or record some audio. We have lots of ways of recording...
Are atoms immortal?
10 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Atoms are the building blocks of our world. Many have been around since right after the Big Bang created the universe nearly 14 billion years ago. And...
Why are some animals black and white?
03 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Listener Jude in Canada wants to know why some animals are black and white. Why do zebras risk being so stripy? Why do pandas have such distinct marki...
Answers to even more questions
26 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes in science, when you try to answer one question it sparks even more questions. The CrowdScience inbox is a bulging example of that. We get ...
Do birds understand us?
19 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
CrowdScience listener David is a bird whisperer. On his family farm in Guinea, he would mimic the call of the black-headed weaver. He could replicate...
Why am I so sentimental?
12 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
CrowdScience listener Kerry started thinking about his sentimental attachment to his possessions when he began sorting through an old trunk, full of o...
Will drinking milk help me live longer?
05 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Milk: drink a lot of it and we’ll grow big and tall with strong bones. That’s what many people are told as children, but just how true is this acc...
How long will traces of our civilisation last?
29 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What will remain of us hundreds of millions of years from now? And how can we be so certain that we are the first technologically advanced species on ...
How does camouflage work?
22 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Camouflage isn't just for chameleons! Military forces around the world deck their soldiers out in those distinctive green and brown uniforms, to give ...
How long does light last?
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When listener Rob from Devon, UK, heard of a newly detected planet light years away, he was struck by the sheer scale the light must travel to reach u...
Can we stop the rain?
08 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
CrowdScience listener Rit, from Pune in India, is staring out of his window at the falling rain. It’s been pouring for four days now, and shows no s...
How are teeth made?
01 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
CrowdScience listener Jon started wondering how our teeth are created while he was in the dentist’s chair. It took his mind off the drilling. He wan...
Trailer: 13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle
28 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The epic space story of a sci-fi dream that changed spaceflight forever. Told by the Nasa astronauts and team who made it happen. Our multi-award-win...
Could technology improve our brains?
25 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What comes to mind when you imagine the future of humanity? Could a computer make your mind more efficient? Enhance your cognition? Or cure a disorder...
What if the Earth spun backwards?
18 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Your whole life is governed by spin. The rotation of our planet tells you when to wake up, and Earth’s orbit around the Sun is the reason why some o...
Where did Earth’s water come from?
11 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Here's a conundrum that has captivated scientists: when Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago, our planet was essentially a ball of molten rock. Any wate...
Can we harness solar energy from other stars?
04 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Listener Dickson Mukisa from Uganda has been gazing up at the stars. But he’s not making wishes. He wants to know whether we can harness their energ...
Why are twins special?
27 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
No one really cares that CrowdScience listener Sam has a younger brother, but they do care about his sister. In fact, they’re fascinated by her. Tha...
How can we persuade more people to cycle?
20 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cycling is good for our health, good for the planet, and it can be an efficient way of moving around busy cities. But despite all the rational argumen...
Was there an idyllic time before carnivores?
13 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Was there ever a time when life on earth was peaceful? Free of violence? No predators, no prey, just... vibes? Or has nature always been 'Red in Tooth...
What’s that background hum I hear?
06 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the dead of night at his home in Machinjiri, Malawi, CrowdScience listener John can hear a small, but persistent, hum. Whenever it’s quiet enough...
What on earth is quantum?
30 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Listener Christine wants to understand one of the strangest phenomena in the universe. But to get to grips with it, she’ll need a crash course in th...
Can eating honey help save bees?
23 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
CrowdScience listener Saoirse is vegan and doesn’t eat honey. But she’s been wondering - might honey actually have environmental benefits, by givi...
Is my yoghurt really alive?
16 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Bulgaria is famous for its yoghurt, a fermented milk food full of ‘good’ bacteria that has kept hungry Bulgarians healthy for over 4000 years. Ins...
Is red sky at night really sailor’s delight?
09 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You may have grown up hearing the saying “red sky at night, sailor’s delight, red sky in morning, sailor’s warning” - or maybe a variation of ...
Why can't I fall asleep?
02 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Some people fall asleep almost as soon as their head touches the pillow, while for others it can take hours of tossing and turning. CrowdScience liste...
Can we feed everyone?
25 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, 800 million people are going to bed hungry every night, but 2 billion people in the...
Why am I always late?
18 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
CrowdScience listener Sid is running late, and he’s turning to science to find an excuse. He and his partner Steffi in Singapore have very different...
Why do animals swallow rocks?
11 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What would you discover inside the stomach of a sea lion? CrowdScience listener Robyn found out first-hand when she volunteered at her local museum in...
How do you measure a mountain?
04 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On the banks of the St Lawrence River in Quebec stands a 100-year-old lighthouse. While initially built to help boats navigate one of Canada’s most ...
Where in the world will I weigh least?
28 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Host Anand Jagatia tackles gravity - a fundamental force of the universe yet also an everyday mystery that has baffled several listeners. Can you outr...
Are there global food allergy hotspots?
21 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Are food allergies higher in the West than the East? UK-based listener Jude wants to know the answer. Her daughter-in-law Min didn’t know anyone wit...
Are humans naturally monogamous?
14 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
CrowdScience listener Alina is in a relationship with a polyamorous partner and is very happy with this arrangement, which got her thinking – why is...
Is water wet?
07 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The wetness of water seems blindingly obvious - but dive into the science and things aren’t so clear. CrowdScience listeners Rachel and Callum were...
Whatever happened to tangerines?
28 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s citrus season in the northern hemisphere, and fruit trees are bursting with oranges and lemons. But CrowdScience listener Jonathan wants to kno...
Why isn't the sky green?
21 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Vermillion red, vibrant orange, golden yellows, even violet – we're enchanted by the colours that make up a stunning sunset or sunrise. CrowdScience...
Is anything truly random?
14 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
CrowdScience listener Dorit has a problem. She wants the tiles in her new bathroom to be arranged randomly but, no matter what she does, it still look...
Why can't I remember my early childhood?
07 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Some of our biggest achievements happen in the first years of our lives. Taking our first steps, picking up a complex language from scratch, and formi...
Is my smartwatch good for my health?
31 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Smartwatches are increasingly popular and many of us use these wearable devices to monitor our performance and improve our fitness. But how reliable i...
How high can birds fly?
24 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
While watching a feisty cockatoo chase after a hawk, CrowdScience listener Alison saw the hawk catch a thermal and rise effortlessly into the sky. The...
Which animal has the biggest carbon footprint?
17 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Carbon footprints are a measure of how much we each contribute to the greenhouse gases that warm the Earth’s atmosphere. The global average of carbo...
Is beer better without alcohol?
10 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the past stout beer has been touted for its supposed health benefits. Is there any truth to those claims - and what happens if you take the alcohol...
Why am I embarrassed when I fall?
03 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When listener Diana fell on a run on her birthday, her first instinct was not to check her bruised hand, but instead to get up as quickly as possible ...
I didn’t know that!
27 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Did you know that flies fly in rectangles, fish hide by lighting themselves up and the moon is lifting the ground underneath your feet? Anand Jagatia ...
Will the Earth ever lose its Moon?
20 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Moon has always sparked human curiosity. It governs the tides and biological rhythms. It’s inspired myths and stories. It’s inspired us to rea...
Why does pain sometimes feel good?
13 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It seems bizarre to seek out experiences that are uncomfortable or downright painful. Yet examples abound: it’s common to eat painfully hot chillies...
Why am I good at jigsaw puzzles?
07 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For their fans, jigsaw puzzles are a satisfying challenge, a focus, a chance to put everything else aside for a moment and be creative. But for other ...
Can I improve my sense of direction?
29 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Do you find your bearings quickly or are you easily disorientated? Do your friends trust you with the directions in a new city? Finding our way in the...
Why can't my dog live as long as me?
22 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As we enter our teenage years, many of us feel like life is just getting started. But for dogs, celebrating a ‘teen’ birthday is a sign of old age...
What does my voice say about me?
15 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Maybe you have a deep, booming voice. Or perhaps it’s light and mellifluous. Some people’s voices are honey-smooth while others are as rough as gr...
Why is my house getting sunnier?
08 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
CrowdScience listeners David and Tatiana have long been captivated by an unusual dinner table discussion: the peculiar change they’ve noticed over t...
Why do some mushrooms glow?
01 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fungi are a mysterious and understudied life form. And to add to the intrigue, some of them actually glow in the dark. This phenomenon has sparked Cro...
Why do languages fade from us?
25 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Can learning new languages make us forget our mother tongue? CrowdScience listener Nakombe in Cameroon is concerned that his first language, Balue, is...
Why do my armpits smell?
18 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
While there is a myriad of deodorants, shower gels and perfumes helping us stay fresh and fragrant today, that hasn’t always been the case. How did ...
What's the fairest voting system?
11 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
2024 is the biggest election year in history. From Taiwan to India, the USA to Ghana, by the end of the year almost half of the world’s population w...
Why don’t sunflowers fall over?
09 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With huge heads on top of spindly stalks, how do sunflowers defy gravity to stay standing? That was a question sent to CrowdScience by listener Frank,...
How did the Moon affect the dinosaurs?
27 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Moon and Earth are drifting gradually further apart. Every year the gap between them increases by a few centimetres. We know that the Moon’s gra...
Are we mature by 18?
20 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
18 is the age of majority, or maturity, in most countries around the world. Depending where you live, it might be when you can vote, buy alcohol, or g...
Is the car an apex predator?
13 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An apex predator is a killer. Usually large and terrifying, they enjoy the privilege of life at the top of a food chain. Nothing will eat them, leavin...
What is the voice inside my head?
06 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Many of us experience an inner voice: we silently talk to ourselves as we go about our daily lives. CrowdScience listener Fredrick has been wondering ...
Can my body regenerate?
30 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It would be quite a superpower to regrow entire body parts. CrowdScience listener Kelly started pondering this after a discussion with her friend on w...
Why am I symmetrical?
23 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Why do we have two eyes? Two ears? Two arms and two legs? Why is one side of the human body – externally at least – pretty much a mirror image of ...
Can we improve the shipping container?
16 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's a simple metal box that moves nearly all of our goods around the world. Designed for uniformity and interchangeability, the shipping container ha...
How do fish survive in the deep ocean?
09 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When listener Watum heard about the Titan submersible implosion in the news in 2023, a question popped up in his mind: if a machine that we specifical...
Why is my handwriting so messy?
02 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
CrowdScience listener Azeddine from Algeria has had bad handwriting since he was a child. In fact, it was so untidy that, when he later became a chemi...
Why is a ship a ‘she’?
26 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In many languages across the world, all nouns are classed as either male or female, or sometimes neuter. The English language, however, only signals g...
Why am I afraid of this building?
19 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Buildings inspire many emotions, like awe, serenity or even dread. CrowdScience listener Siobhan was struck by this as she passed a huge apartment blo...
What is the weight of the internet?
12 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How do you think about the internet? What does the word conjure up? Maybe a cloud? Or the flashing router in the corner of your front room? Or this ma...
How does a snake climb a tree?
05 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Snakes are often seen as slithery, slimy and scary. But these intriguing non-legged creatures have made CrowdScience listener Okello from Uganda wonde...
How many flies have ever existed?
28 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The CrowdScience team like a challenge. And listeners Jenny and Kai in the UK have come to us with a big one. They want to know how many flies have ev...
Is every atom unique?
21 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It’s hard to imagine something as mind-bogglingly small as an atom. But CrowdScience listener Alan has been attempting to do just that. All things i...
Why are the seas salty?
14 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Listener Julie lives close to the coast in New Zealand and wants to know why the water that washes up on the beach isn't fresh. How exactly does all t...
How fast can a raindrop cross the globe?
07 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
CrowdScience listener Eleanor was lying in bed one rainy evening, listening to the radio. She lives in New Zealand, but happened to hear a weather for...
Why does wine taste better over time?
31 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It’s often said that fine wine gets better with time, and this week’s oenophile listener Jeremy has a cellar full of dust-covered bottles. He is c...
Will mountains shrink as sea levels rise?
24 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Blue Ridge Parkway is 469 miles of beautiful vistas, a mountainous road that winds from Virginia to North Carolina in the USA. The route is pepper...
What does prayer do to my brain?
17 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Prayer and meditation are key features of religious and spiritual practices around the world, suggesting they’re intimately linked to the human cond...
Why are people still dying from malaria?
10 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mosquitoes are responsible for more human deaths than any other animal. These tiny creatures transmit many diseases, but the most devastating is malar...
Why am I bad at maths?
03 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When CrowdScience listener Israel from Papua New Guinea received a bad grade on a maths test in third grade, he looked around the class and realised t...
How should we protect our coastlines?
26 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Coastlines around the world are changing, causing serious problems for the many communities living near the sea, as well as vital and fragile coastal ...
Are our coastlines being washed away?
19 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Around the world, coastlines are constantly changing due to the power of waves, currents and tides. Coastal areas are also some of the most heavily po...
How do my ears sense direction?
12 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How do we know where a sound is coming from? Another chance to hear this ear-opening episode, exploring a question from CrowdScience listener Chiletso...
How many people have ever existed?
05 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today there are over eight billion people on Earth. That’s an awe-inspiring figure… but how does it compare to the vast numbers who came before us...
Could climate change lead to more volcanic eruptions?
29 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We spend a lot of our time thinking about climate change, but listener Paul has a question that isn’t usually part of the conversation. He wants to ...
Do animals have anxious habits like us?
22 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Many of us have habits that calm us down in times of stress. Things we find deeply comforting, like sucking our thumb or biting our nails. We might no...
Is the BMI fatphobic?
15 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Crowd Science listener Maik wants to know what the BMI is and what his BMI score says about his body. He trains dogs for a living and wonders if, like...
Do we all see the same colour?
08 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
CrowdScience listener Gregory wants to know what affects the way we see the colours of the world. He was looking at a blue summer sky with a friend an...
How bad is our data for the planet?
01 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Storing your data in ‘the cloud’ might sound like an ethereal, intangible place, but it’s actually a physical location - a data centre. CrowdSci...
Why do we have wisdom teeth?
23 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Why do humans have wisdom teeth if so many of them get removed soon after they appear?Wisdom teeth, the third molars in the back of our mouths, are so...
What time was the first clock set to?
16 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When the first person set the very first clock, how did they know what time to set it to? This question, from listener Chris in the UK, sends CrowdSci...
When will the next earthquake hit?
09 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 2011, CrowdScience listener Amanda survived the devastating earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand.It arrived unannounced - as all earthquakes do ...
Why do we daydream?
02 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever been through a romantic break up, unable to shift the ex from your thoughts? You are, obviously, not alone…Listener Elkin, experienced...