The Naked Scientists Podcast

What has happened to learning in the era of COVID-19? In this episode: the people living through the psychological consequences of future mass unemployment and what the government and higher education are going to do about it. Plus, will reopening schools cause another coronavirus outbreak? What did the WHO learn when they went to Wuhan? And the carnage from the last time the Earth's magnetic poles reversed... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

As the UK surpasses its goal of vaccinating 15 million people by the 15th of February, we're taking an in-depth look at COVID vaccines: how they work, what efficacy really means, and will they protect us against viral variants? Plus, in the news, updates to the list of COVID symptoms to watch out for; Chris Packham on the animal Einsteins giving humans a run for their money; and how scientists are using whale songs to explore the ocean floor... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

What happens when the scientist... becomes the subject? We're examining the strange world of self-experimentation, from the history of martyr medics and kooky romantics, to the modern biologists dosing themselves with DIY COVID vaccines in the months after the pandemic began. Plus, is mixing vaccines the best way to fight coronavirus? Scientists capture an elusive element, number 99... and the physics behind why wombats poo in cubes! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we're looking at nuclear power and asking, in today's world, whether we really need nuclear power? Are the alternatives really practical alternatives, or are we just kidding ourselves? Plus in the news, is the UK right to lengthen the gap between Covid vaccines? Evidence that coronavirus infection dents male fertility, and a very strange rodent, with a very strange accent! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we're unpacking ultrasound, imagining MRI and pondering PET scans, as we ask - how does medical imaging actually work? And what future innovations are waiting in the wings? Plus, we hear from the group that's tracking mutant coronaviruses...how do they find new variants? And a new battery for electric vehicles that can charge in 10 minutes! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, looking for a new hobby? We're exploring the science of handicrafts, including why knitting boosts wellbeing, the first textiles from 27,000 years ago, and the project that's knitting human tissue to make replacement blood vessels. Plus, in the news, novel insights into who gets severe COVID and what might cause Long COVID, the WHO arrive in China to probe for the origins of the pandemic, and the snakes that tie themselves in knots to climb trees... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We're looking ahead to the science coming up in 2021! From the Large Hadron Collider restarting, to the USA likely rejoining the Paris climate agreement, to - hopefully - an end to the pandemic. Plus, we're making some new year's resolutions that are going to last... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

In this week's episode, we're going to take you on a journey through some extra special science stories we reported on in 2020 - from chatting with a space shuttle astronaut to a 46,000 year old ice bird, we've got some curious tales that we covered for some of our other Naked Scientists podcasts... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2021. To get the year started we've got a special bonus sneak peek at one of our other programmes for you this week. In our Naked Astronomy series, one of the sector's leading lights joins Adam Murphy and Ben McAllister to probe deep into their field of space science. Most recently, Alan Duffy came aboard to help put Dark Matter under the microscope... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

In this week's special episode, we're reflecting on some of the science we've reported on this year. Of course, the Covid crisis means that throughout 2020 we've brought you many interviews and updates on the Coronavirus, the lockdowns, and the vaccines. But, as it's the holidays, we've decided to focus on the other science we've delved into over the past 12 months. We hope you enjoy it, and here's to a brighter 2021... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Grab your controllers, we're diving into the world of videogames, how the music can get into your head, the psychology of games, and how they might have helped during lockdown. Plus in the news, should we be worried about new COVID variants, we find out about a potential origin for migraines, and why you might not want to drink George's Marvellous Medicine from Roald Dahl's book! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Merry Christmas! Here's something for your stocking: another bonus episode showcase for you this week. It's our weekly Naked Reflections strand. In this series, world-leading thinkers debate some of the deeper issues discussed elsewhere in the Naked Scientists outputs. This episode considers conflicts... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

It's Beethoven's 250th birthday! What today's tech tells us about his music? And have computers have become powerful enough to take the same creative steps as he once did? Plus, in the news: the practical challenges behind the largest mass vaccination campaign in history; cutting carbon from crisps; and why have pandas been rolling in poo? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, for World AIDS Day, we put HIV under the microscope, and talk to someone who's actually been cured, and the doctor who cured him. Plus, in the news, the UK becomes the first western country to approve a COVID vaccine, samples are successfully returned to Earth from an asteroid, and how an F1 driver walked away from what should have been a lethal 137mph crash... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

From time to time, we showcase here on the Naked Scientists feed some of the other programmes we make across our Naked Network. So, this week, we're bringing you the latest episode of the Naked Gaming Podcast, from Chris Berrow and Leigh Milner. Ideal for fun-lovers of all ages, old school gamers from the 80s and 90s especially will feel a rush of pleasure to see Leisure Suit Larry gets a review! It's also a good month to listen because there's a gift giveaway in the episode! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Through November we've been musing over the science of movement, from enormous planetary scales to tiny cellular ones. And so this week, to celebrate our devotion to motion, we bring you our Move n A! We'll be talking exercise, how animals get about, the wanderings of our early human ancestors, and movements under our feet, with a superstar panel of scientists and answering some of the questions you've been sending in... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

From strange-looking sperm to cancers that spread, we're looking at the light, and dark, sides of cell movement. Plus, a second Covid vaccine approaches the finishing line, but who are the also-rans? We'll look at who's most likely to get the vaccine first and whether we've got that pecking order right; and how microscopic plants are helping scientists grow replacement human organs... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

From ancient past to global present, us humans are a migratory bunch. But with climate change redrawing maps of the world, what does the future hold? Plus, the science behind Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine announcement, and what they're not yet telling us; the mink farms that are spreading a new variant of COVID-19; and the UK scientists trying to extract oxygen from the moon... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, will mass COVID testing in Liverpool get us out of lockdown? Antibodies to defend the brain; and why we've evolved to laugh! Plus we look at the Earth on the move: from our journey through space, to how tectonic plates rearrange themselves, ocean currents bring us warm weather, and how massive storms appear... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This month (November 2020), we're theming our shows around movement. From cells moving at one extreme, to planetary movements at the other! And this week we're kick-starting the series by talking animal movement: migration, monitoring, and when to intervene in how animals move. Plus in the news - What do falling levels of coronavirus antibodies in those infected say about the likely success of a vaccine? Why might we want to dose ourselves with vitamin D? And why the Moon's wetter than we first thought! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists