Naked Scientists, In Short Special Editions Podcast
Episodes
Pitch perception - a special skill?
20 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to understanding how the brain functions, scientists have done a great deal of work on studying macaque monkeys, our evolutionary relati...
Recyclable crisp packets using nanotechnology
19 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
At the end of 2018 Walkers launched their own recycling scheme for crisp packets after more than 300,000 people signed an online petition demanding th...
Higher fatal flu risk for CRISPR twins
12 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
CRISPR stands for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats. Long name, but easy to picture: the sequence is synonymous to a word proc...
How to mend a broken heart
10 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Around 1.4 million people alive in the UK today have survived a heart attack, but survivors can suffer from debilitating heart failure, because the he...
An antibiotic made from metal
10 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria evolve to sidestep the drugs we use to kill them. With resistance rising, we could be facing an "antibiotic...
Bacteria not slowed by obstacles
23 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Researchers have gained new insights into how bacteria move in complex environments. Bacteria move using a system called "swim-and-tumble": they swim ...
Sensing air pollution
23 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
To better understand how personal exposure to air pollution can impact an individual's health, Katie Haylor met up with Cambridge University ...
Hiroshima buildings found in beach sand
19 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Geologists from the University of California, Berkeley, found something unexpected in sand samples from Japan. Rather than natural particles, from roc...
Reducing harassment online
14 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Harassment in online communities is not a new phenomenon, but it is a growing one, with 40-46% of people reportedly having experienced it. Communities...
Mystery of the miniature T-Rex
13 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone's heard of T-Rexes, the twenty-foot-tall monsters that roamed the Earth back in the Late Cretaceous Period. But you may not have heard of the...
Biodegradable bags might not biodegrade
09 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Our society uses - and then throws away - a vast amount of plastic, which then accumulates in the environment. To combat this, in recent years, new ty...
Caster Semenya and testosterone limits
09 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Caster Semenya, a South African athlete with unusually high testosterone for a woman, has lost her appeal against new regulations from the Internation...
DNA unveils origins of farming in Britain
02 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Before Britain was a nation of shopkeepers we were a nation of farmers; before that, the population were a bunch of hunter gatherers. But farming didn...
Premature labour: understanding the mechanics
01 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Human babies grow inside their mothers for 40 weeks enclosed in a watery bag that expands as they do. And as the clock ticks during pregnancy, various...
AI predicting battery performance
17 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Batteries are in almost everything we use. Our phones, computers, energy storage, even in transport. Typically, to see how well a battery performs, sc...
EHT sheds light on M87 black hole
14 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The multinational team behind the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), which spans the Earth by linking dishes in 8 different countries, have revealed the f...
Renewable energy beats carbon capture technology
14 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (or IPCC) has recently issued a series of so-called "energy transition pathways". These are essentially ...
A new look at an old star
11 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Astronomers have used a new camera called the HiPERCAM to analyse a type of small, dim star that has proved elusive to standard cameras. The camera ha...
Exotic particle discovery from LHC
02 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is widely regarded as one of humanity's greatest scientific achievements. The 17 km long accelerator smashes particles...
Low temperature catalysts reduce emissions
31 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Catalytic converters are in car exhausts and convert toxic carbon monoxide into much less harmful carbon dioxide, as well as removing other pollutants...
Metamaterials solve equations
29 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ever wondered how to get the best wifi reception in your house, given all those floors and walls which can interrupt the signal? Where to position the...
Precision-injecting smart needle
08 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Having an injection is an experience common to us all, and whether you are unfussed by them or they make you feel faint, the actual needle used is the...
Creating cannabis chemicals in yeast
06 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
US scientists have engineered into yeast the genes needed to make the key chemicals in cannabis. To find out why and what's involved, Chris Smith look...
Climate impact of lab-grown meat
01 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The agriculture sector is responsible for about 25% of global warming according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, so rearing livestock...
How bacteria physically resist antibiotics
25 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem that kills hundreds of thousands of people each year, from what should be preventable diseases. Up to dat...
Grasses are genetic thieves
22 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists have discovered that some grass species have information in their genes that's not come from their parents, and instead think they're steal...
Possible new treatment for asthma
18 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
About a quarter of a billion people around the world are affected by asthma, when the lungs' airways constrict, making breathing difficult. For decade...
Brain centre for laughter
12 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists have found a spot in the brain that, when stimulated, triggers laughter and is followed by a sense of calm and happiness that lasts 30 minu...
Ancient javelins
12 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Archaeologists working in the UK and in Germany have come across rare examples of what look like ancient wooden spears that would have been used by ou...
Dieting mosquitoes prevent disease
10 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists have given a dieting drug made for humans to mosquitoes in order to curb their appetite. Researchers at the Rockefeller University in New Y...
Hundreds of genes control the body clock
07 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
If you are a night owl, getting up in the morning is something that you absolutely dread. On the other hand, morning people jump out of bed ready and ...
Managing Cardiomyopathy
06 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy is a genetic disease which causes the muscle of the heart to thicken. Left untreated, it can lead to heart failure, and it...
Improving carbon capture
05 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A new way to capture CO2 from factories or the atmosphere has been developed by researchers in the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, located in the Unite...
Martian rock discovery surprises scientists
04 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
There is a mountain located in the middle of a giant crater on Mars, but how it formed is still a bit of a puzzle for scientists. Investigations of th...
Rocking adults to sleep
01 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Lack of sleep or poor sleep is a problem that affects 1 in 3 people in the UK and America. Insufficient sleep is not only a health issue, contributing...
Muscles really do have "memory"
25 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Nearly every cell in the body contains a part called the nucleus which houses the genetic information needed to function. Muscle cells are the largest...
Whats inside your E-cigarette?
21 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It's common knowledge that smoking cigarettes is addictive, and this is because of the nicotine they contain. E-cigarettes are devices that heat up a ...
Rare Pigment Fossilised in Teeth
20 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Brushing our teeth keeps them clean and free from debris, but back in medieval times, dental hygiene wasn't part of your daily routine. This means tha...
Opioid overdose detection via app
18 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Every day hundreds of people die when they accidentally overdose on opiate drugs, like heroin or morphine. These agents depress breathing, causing res...
Sleep quality and Alzheimers disease
15 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
One terrifying prediction is that, by mid-Century, up to 30% of adults will be affected by a form of dementia, chiefly Alzheimer's Disease. This happe...
Podcasts: Chris Smith talks to Lawrence Jones
01 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Back in 2001, Dr Chris Smith launched a new show, The Naked Scientists, in the hope of making science accessible. It was one of the first radio progra...
Cheers to the liver!
21 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Ancient Greeks understood that the liver was one of the most incredible organs humans possess when they wrote the cautionary tale of Zeus' punishm...
Bio-inspired robot swarms
21 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Biological systems are able to create complex shapes and patterns, like the stripes of a zebra, the shape of your hand or the dynamic displays of a fl...
New test for cervical cancer
20 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers affecting young women, and it's caused by a virus called Human Papilloma Virus, or HPV, which is spr...
Carbon neutral Christmas!
19 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Christmas is a wonderful time of year, but all of the additional transport and consumption adds up, and we are left with plenty of seasonal rubbish an...
Harnessing sunlight to clean water
17 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Clean water is something that we often take for granted, but making it can be a major technological and energy-intensive process. Now, thanks to a sys...
'Nano-tweezers' extract the contents of cells
13 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
How can seemingly similar cells behave differently? This is a particularly important question when a small change means that a cell does not function ...
Language development through childhood
07 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Language is all around us, and good language skills are important for getting on in life. But does being good in one language domain, like spelling, m...
Cuddly Robots Feel Hugs
30 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
When we think of robots we might think of the Terminator, West World, or even something completely different like Big Hero Six - a story about a young...
Modelling Malaria
23 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Every year, hundreds of millions of people contract malaria; this is a parasitic infection spread by mosquitoes. The parasite does two things when it ...
Real fake tan fights cancer
19 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Do you like to lie out on the beach in the summer, or are you more likely to be found hiding in the shade? Well, how you answer might depend on how qu...
Cancer-killing immune cells
19 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
When we think of our immune system, most of us will be familiar with the white blood cells that circulate around our body to target and kill the bacte...
How WW1 can help head injuries
13 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Today marks 100 years since the end of World War 1. This conflict caused the deaths of around 16 million people, and the new developments in artillery...
Can artificial intelligence make medicines?
09 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We get so many good questions sent to us here at The Naked Scientists, that sadly we can't fit them all into our monthly question and answer shows. So...
Glioblastomas Effect on Genes
02 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Glioblastoma is an aggressive and often deadly cancer of the brain. Understanding it is vital to improving patient outcomes. In a new study published ...
Targeting immune cells to treat periodontitis
31 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Good dental hygiene is crucial in the fight against gum disease, which can lead to a common condition called periodontitis. It comes about when change...
Cosmic Collisions: Supermassive black holes
30 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Astronomers at the University of Hertfordshire have come up with an explanation for the wobble seen in jets of matter being blasted from regions surro...
1000 years of Tuberculosis
25 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Nowadays, tuberculosis takes more lives than any other infectious disease. Cases are on the decline but emerging antibiotic resistance threatens to in...
English youths drinking less
11 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We all know that drinking alcohol is bad for us but in the UK we still pay a huge 3.5 billion annually for the National Health Service (NHS) to treat...
NASA: Now and Next
08 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
From right here on earth to the furthest visible parts of the universe, NASA has its eye on pretty much everything in between. Professor Andrew Coates...
Gene drive to wipe out mosquitoes
03 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Mosquitoes spread diseases like malaria, and they are rapidly becoming resistant to the insecticides used to control them. So scientists are looking a...
Using gallium as an antibiotic
01 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest threats facing mankind today. A new group in the University of Washington in Seattle, have been working t...
Robotic Skin turns everyday objects into robots
25 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine going into space. You've got your kit, you're blasted into darkness, you're ready to discover the unknown but then your equipment doesn't quit...
New conductive and magnetic material
23 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
You may have heard of graphene, the so called wonder material set to revolutionise electronics but the difficulty to consistently add extra properties...
Bonobo Apes Won't Share Toys
20 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Do you share food or do you bite the hand off anyone who tries? Chimpanzees, one of our closest relatives are in the latter category: they'll gladly s...
Back to School: Mistakes help us learn
13 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We've all been there at some point - you raise your hand in class, answer the question, and get it utterly, utterly wrong. These school-day humiliatio...
Audio cues improve driver safety
05 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
These days, many of us are heavily dependent on our trusty sat navs to get where we want to go, but looking at these devices whilst driving is incredi...
Goats prefer happy people
04 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Goats can tell apart human facial expressions and - what's more - prefer to interact with happy people, according to a new study from scientists at Qu...
Origins of childhood kidney cancer
31 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Most of the people who develop cancer are adults, although a significant number of children succumb too. The signs are though that childhood cancers c...
The Science of St John's
30 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
From artificial photosynthesis to the art of statistics, the Naked Scientists take Jenny Zhang and Richard Samworth, two of St John's College's lead...
Testing for Tuberculosis
15 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Doctors think that one third of the world's population have been exposed to the bacterial infection TB, or tuberculosis. It can damage any tissue in t...
How did early life evolve?
13 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We often hear about the search for life on Mars, but could life begin outside our solar system? Izzie Clarke discussed the chemistry involved with ast...
Evolution of the Skeleton
09 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Since Darwin's time scientists have been studying the skeleton of a type of fish that lived 400 million years ago called Heterostracans. These fish we...
Circumcision Prevents HIV
26 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
HIV is a global pandemic. Worldwide, about 37 million people are living with the virus, and there are between 3 and 5 thousand AIDS deaths every day. ...
Chemputer: Chemistry goes digital
20 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Mixing chemicals together causes reactions and produces new molecules. With so many different chemicals in existence, there are infinite combinations ...
Blocking immune memory cell survival to cure vitiligo
19 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Vitiligo is an autoimmune condition, in which the immune system attacks the pigment-producing cells of the skin, leaving behind pale white patches. Al...
Growing new blood vessels
09 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Heart attacks come about when blood vessels in the heart are blocked, and without a supply of oxygen-rich blood, the heart muscle can die. This is cal...
Why the high-life can shrink your arms
03 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
People all around the world are living the high life. That's to say, living their whole lives at high altitude. This lifestyle has an impact on their ...
Should we be worried about asteroids?
01 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists want to raise awareness to protect the Earth from dangerous asteroids. June 30th has now become Asteroid Day where people from around the w...
From Tiny to T-Rex: Why Life Got Large
28 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
4 billion years ago, life on earth looked nothing like it does today. In fact, the oceans contained only single-celled microbes. At some point, these ...
Dementia in a Dish
27 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In recent years, we've woken up to the massive problem that is dementia. This is where people progressively lose their cognitive faculties and Alzheim...
A new method of diagnosing osteoarthritis
25 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Osteoarthritis, a condition which damages the cartilage in joints, is a painful, debilitating condition. Millions suffer every year, and with an agein...
World's first robotic eye surgery
21 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
If robots really are the future, then said future is certainly one step closer as of this week. For the first time ever, a robot has been used in surg...
CRISPR-Cas9: Cure or Carcinogen?
17 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
CRISPR makes it possible to snip out undesired bits of DNA from our cells. This process holds the potential to cure genetic conditions such as cystic ...
Regenerating tooth enamel
07 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Researchers have found a way to regenerate the enamel - or apatite - that's damaged by tooth decay. Katie Haylor spoke to Alvaro Mata from Queen Mary ...
"Fish Elevator" Invented to Study Deep Sea Fish
06 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We know more about the surface of mars than we do about the depths of our own ocean, but scientists from the California Academy of Science created an ...
How are new robots helping with surgery?
04 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Millions suffer from osteoarthritis, a condition that causes joints, especially knee and hip joints, to become stiff and painful. Luckily these joints...
Active commutes may improve heart health
24 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Any activity on your daily commute, like walking to the bus instead of just hopping in the car, might reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, says...
Kangaroo care: the science of snuggles
23 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We all love a good hug, whatever our age! Babies are no different. There's growing evidence that skin-to-skin contact is beneficial for babies, so Kat...
An update on Hawaii's eruptions
20 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Hawaii's Big Island has been experiencing a series of volcanic eruptions. What's causing them, and how is it likely to change in the future? To find o...
Could exercise at work be bad for you?
17 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Exercise is good for us, it's one of the best things you can do to keep your mind and body healthy for a long age. But perhaps not all exercise is e...
Where is Earth's Freshwater Going?
16 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Knowing where Earth's freshwater is accumulating, or perhaps more critically, disappearing is of paramount importance. A new study in Nature has analy...
Understanding neurodegeneration mechanisms in disease
03 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Neurodegeneration is a process involved in several serious and debilitating diseases, for which there is often no cure. One of the first steps on the ...
Can birds cope with the extreme spring weather?
02 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Are you struggling to know what to wear for the weather at the moment? One day in the UK it's freezing, the next rain, the next a veritable heat wave....
Tackling Cancer in Tasmanian Devils
26 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Tasmanian devils are black, carnivorous, scavenger marsupials that live - perhaps unsurprisingly, on the island of Tasmania. In recent years an intrig...
Why are some people tastier to mosquitoes?
22 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Every year millions of people contract malaria, which is a blood parasite infection spread by mosquitoes. And part of the reason why the infection spr...
Mice with Motorneurone Disease
22 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Motorneurone Disease (MND), which is also known as ALS and Lou Gehrig's Disease, is caused by the death of the motor nerves that convey movement instr...
A new model for motor neurone disease
20 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Motor neurone disease (MND) is a degenerative disease affecting around 5,000 people in the UK. It attacks people's ability to move, speak and breath, ...
Ivory, bear bile and tiger skins: Confiscated contraband
07 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
When people take wildlife products over a border that is under the control of CITES. Some of it is illegal, and this is when Border Force step in, con...
Reprogramming Skin Cells to Treat Multiple Sclerosis
26 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Multiple Sclerosis, or MS, affects hundreds of thousands of people. It's a condition where the body's own immune system attacks a protective layer aro...