Synopsis
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.
Episodes
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Concrete concerns, and pharaoh de toilette
08/09/2023 Duration: 31minIn 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
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Titans of science: Helen Sharman - part 1
05/09/2023 Duration: 30minToday'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
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London ULEZ emissions tax, and uterus transplants
01/09/2023 Duration: 30minThis 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
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Return to the Moon: Why now?
29/08/2023 Duration: 28minThis 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
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Serial killers, and sails on supertankers
25/08/2023 Duration: 30minIn 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
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The perfect plate of food: seasonal and well seasoned
22/08/2023 Duration: 29minEating. 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
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Elections in an AI age & smokers start with less grey matter
18/08/2023 Duration: 26minIn 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
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The past, present and future of nukes
15/08/2023 Duration: 34minThis 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
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Prepping for pandemics, and pursuing Perseids
11/08/2023 Duration: 28minThis 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
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Q&A: Knuth, curry and kettles
08/08/2023 Duration: 57minAnother 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
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Hydrogen: fuel or folly?
01/08/2023 Duration: 29minThis 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
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Global boiling, and crashed crafts on Mars
28/07/2023 Duration: 27minSweltering 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
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How AI will actually change the world
25/07/2023 Duration: 30minIt'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
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Alzheimer's drug, and algae vegan vitamins
21/07/2023 Duration: 27minA 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
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Antidepressants: the ongoing debate
18/07/2023 Duration: 29minWe'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
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Feeling the heat and hearing the silence
14/07/2023 Duration: 27minLike this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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Q&A: Love drugs and phaging superbugs
11/07/2023 Duration: 01h59sIt'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
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The fight to save the oceans
04/07/2023 Duration: 30minLike this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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AI cancer scans, and heatproof drone plans
30/06/2023 Duration: 31minLike this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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Light pollution: time to flick the switch
27/06/2023 Duration: 31minMany 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