The Naked Scientists Podcast

The Naked Scientists

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The Naked Scientists flagship science show brings you a lighthearted look at the latest scientific breakthroughs, interviews with the world's top scientists, answers to your science questions and science experiments to try at home.

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987 episodes

COVID variant vaccines, and sinking antimatter

In this episode of The Naked Scientists, A future proof covid jab that combats variants that don't even exist yet. Reassuringly for theoretical physics, signs that antimatter does obey the rules of gravity, and why one doomsday scenario is predicting we'll all be wiped out in 250 million years time, when plate tectonics give us a new supercontinent. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

27m
Sep 29
Titans of Science: Robert Winston

This week's guest is a pioneer of IVF, award-winning broadcaster, and member of the House of Lords, Robert Winston. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

32m
Sep 26
Spinal injury repair, and embryo editing ethics

This week on The Naked Scientists: A breakthrough in treating spinal cord injuries, worrying news about red fire ants in Sicily, we look at what it means for us in the UK. Plus, NASA is sending a sample of an asteroid back to Earth - it arrives this weekend; find out what scientists are hoping to learn. All that and more on this week's show... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

31m
Sep 22
Titans of Science: Anthony Fauci

Time for the next installment in Titans of Science! This week's very special guest is the former chief medical advisor to the White House during the pandemic, Dr Anthony Fauci. He tells Chris Smith his fascinating story, from a boyhood flair on the basketball court, his rise to prominence handling an HIV crisis, to what it was like working with Donald Trump... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

30m
Sep 19
Ban on cheap vapes, and farewell to Dolly's 'father'

On the news pod, we ask whether an outright ban is the best way to deal with the health and environmental cost of sweet shop style vapes. Also on the programme; a new device for detecting Covid on patients' breath, the search for life elsewhere in the universe intensifies, and we pay tribute to Ian Wilmut, the 'father' of Dolly the sheep Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

30m
Sep 15
Titans of Science: Helen Sharman - part 2

Part 2 of the extraordinary story of the first Briton in space. What was life like on a space station? How do you get back down? and what do you do afterwards? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

29m
Sep 12
Concrete concerns, and pharaoh de toilette

In this edition, can civil engineers help rescue the UK's crumbling schools and hospitals? Also, new initiative that is hoping to improve the treatment of sepsis, and how the scent of ancient Egypt has been replicated in a Danish museum... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

31m
Sep 08
Titans of science: Helen Sharman - part 1

Today's guest is Helen Sharman, the first Briton in space. Our conversation ranges from her early beginnings working in a chocolate factory - Mars, would you believe - to her run in with the then leader of the Soviet Union... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

30m
Sep 05
London ULEZ emissions tax, and uterus transplants

This week, London's latest ULEZ expansion - will it make much difference to air quality? The concerning impacts of poaching, and not just to endangered species, and the curious case of a woman with a worm in her brain. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

30m
Sep 01
Return to the Moon: Why now?

This week, we're casting our eyes towards the brightest and largest object in our night sky: the Moon. As India becomes the 4th nation to achieve a successful soft landing on our only natural sateillite, we saw a fantastic opportunity to chart the history of how the Moon was formed and the many billions worth of missions invested in finding out more about it... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

28m
Aug 29
Serial killers, and sails on supertankers

In the news this week, how can we understand the motivations of serial killers? Also, we ask a dermatologist to outline the early signs of melanoma, and find out about the initiative to reduce carbon emissions from the shipping industry using aeroplane wings. Plus, water voles are being reintroduced in the Lake District - we hear from the site manager in charge. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

30m
Aug 25
The perfect plate of food: seasonal and well seasoned

Eating. We all have to do it 3 times a day and there's a lot to consider every time we do: is what I'm eating good for me? Is it sustainable for the planet? Can I afford the time or the expense to prepare it? In this episode, we address all these concerns, but with a focus on why food brings us joy in the first place: taste and flavour! Join Chris as he embarks on a culinary challenge to achieve everything he wants from his dinner, without compromising on cooking something delicious. The adventure takes him to a top Cambridge restaurant, to hear how a local chef is making tasty dishes with... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

29m
Aug 22
Elections in an AI age & smokers start with less grey matter

In the news this week, we start by asking whether we should start preparing to combat election interference in the wake of the breakthroughs in artificial intelligence. A study is out this week linking lower levels of grey matter in the brain's frontel cortex with an increased likelihood of taking up smoking - we speak to one of the authors. Will Russia's first mission to the moon in 50 years be a success? Plus, an analysis of the impacts of climate change on butterrfly numbers in the UK, and our Question of the Week relates to the states of matter and their relationships with each other... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

26m
Aug 18
The past, present and future of nukes

This week, we'll explore the origins of nuclear weapons and how they have changed modern warfare. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

34m
Aug 15
Prepping for pandemics, and pursuing Perseids

This week, we'll find out about preparations for the next pandemic and "disease X"; the link between a noticeably enlarged part of the human brain and obesity; and how honey sweetened the deal for an injured cricketer! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

28m
Aug 11
Q&A: Knuth, curry and kettles

Another month, another brilliant panel, another romp through your mind bending questions. Physicists Tony Padilla and Toby Wiseman, archaeologist Emma Pomeroy and educator Andrew Morris help Chris Smith explain whether electricity in our bodies is the same as in our houses, how we can detect the collision of 2 black holes from here on Earth, and why Graham's number doesn't bear thinking about too deeply... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

57m
Aug 08
Hydrogen: fuel or folly?

This week, we're turning to the subject of hydrogen and its potential to play a role as a cleaner fuel in future. Could hydrogen be the answer to our energy conundrum? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

29m
Aug 01
Global boiling, and crashed crafts on Mars

Sweltering temperatures wreak havoc across Europe and North America, so what needs to be done to bring them down? We hear from the Cambridge scientist who wants to create the largest ever DNA and health research programme for children and young people. And, did aliens crash-land on Mars? Strange pictures resembling a crash site have been circulating but is there a more mundane explanation? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

27m
Jul 28
How AI will actually change the world

It's been quite the ride in the realm of artifical intelligence over the past year or so. As impressive as advancements in machine learning have been, however, few experts are worried about bots taking our jobs and threatening our safety as a species. The truth is, tools like ChatGPT are not the way AI is going to prove most helpful in the short term. We scratch below the surface to explain how, with more carefully trained programmes, the real potential of chatbots can and is being unlocked... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

30m
Jul 25
Alzheimer's drug, and algae vegan vitamins

A new drug in the fight against Alzheimer's disease: how does it work? Plus, we'll also have the latest on measles cases in London, look at the calls to reset the lunar clock, and could algae help people who are seeking to increase vitamin B12 in their diet? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

27m
Jul 21
Antidepressants: the ongoing debate

We'll be exploring depression, what causes it, and whether antidepressants or other treatments hold the key to solving it. Amongst our guests is psychologist Gordon Harold, speaking on how depression manifests in patients, and we'll also hear from psychiatrists on both sides of the antidepressant debate: Hamish McAllister Williams and Joanna Moncrieff. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

29m
Jul 18
Feeling the heat and hearing the silence

Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

27m
Jul 14
Q&A: Love drugs and phaging superbugs

It's a Question and Answer special this week. You supply the questions and we pose them to a panel of expert guests. Joining us this time, biologist and author Tom Ireland, marine scientist Liberty Denman, chemistry writer Philip Broadwith, and comedien Rosie Wilby. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

1h 0m
Jul 11
The fight to save the oceans

Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

30m
Jul 04
AI cancer scans, and heatproof drone plans

Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

31m
Jun 30
Light pollution: time to flick the switch

Many people don't recognise light pollution at night for what it is: pollution. Largely, we fail to see this harmful introduction into the environment because we have been conditioned to associated light with good and darkness with badness. It's time to change that. In this episode, we explore the various implications of artifical light at night and speak to the activists trying to put a stop to it. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

31m
Jun 27
Polio vaccine and policy probe

In this week's show, we speak to a former navy commander about the Titan sub, do our decision-makers ignore evidence when making scientific policy? And the new telescope that is hoping to explore the dark side of the cosmos... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

28m
Jun 23
40 years of HIV

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28m
Jun 20
Space solar power and fish running fevers

The plan to beam-in solar power from space, ways to incentivise sharing trustworthy material on social media, and do ill fish run a fever like we do? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists https://www.thenakedscientists.com/donate

28m
Jun 16
The science of UFOs

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28m
Jun 13