Naked Scientists Special Editions

This month, we celebrate ten years of Diamond and discover what it takes to get from green field site to functioning synchrotron. We take a look at the wide range of science that's taken place from the probing of viruses to develop vaccines and the exploring of meteorites to understand the formation of our solar system. We also come back to the present day to bring you the latest news and research from the light source...

Cambridge Neuroscientists Dr Michael Hastings and Dr Akhilesh Reddy spoke at the annual Cambridge Neuroscience Seminar about their work on sleep. They discuss the importance of sleep for learning and memory, preventing cancer, the health of your heart, mopping up toxic waste in your body, winning that Olympic Gold medal and why you shouldn't have that midnight kebab! Dr Hannah Critchlow from the Naked Scientists went along to the seminar to discuss their work with them........

Dr. Hannah Critchlow opens up the mind to reveal the neurons controlling the inner workings of our brain and our perception of the world around us...

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: Richard Hollingham finds out why the American signal crayfish is driving out one of the UK's native species; in our latest audio diary, Hannah Grist from the University of Aberdeen talks us through her research on European shags; and what noctilucent clouds tell us about our changing climate.

When companies can't back up their data themselves, they often turn to data centres. But what do they do? In this Naked Science Scrapbook, supported by 4D Data Centres, we find out how a data centre is designed to minimise environmental impact, and how they can prevent personal information from being stolen...

Marine biologist Dr Joshua Drew from the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago is using cutting edge communication technologies to bring the oceans alive in two very different parts of the planet. By connecting teenagers in Fiji and inner city Chicago, he's inspiring the next generation of marine scientists and galvanising them into conservation action.

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast, Sue Nelson goes to the River Thames in central London to find out why nitrate pollution has trebled since the 1930s. Later on, she talks to a researcher about an unusual freshwater bulge in the Arctic, and asks if we should be concerned. Finally, we hear a round-up of some of the news from the natural world.

What's your sense of direction like? And how good are you at reading a map? It turns out, these skills are down to two particular regions of the brain that keep track of where you are in relation to a destination and how longs it's going to take you get there. And to find out more, we took to the mean streets of Soho in London...

This Month, Dr Hannah Critchlow opens up the mind to reveal the neurons controlling the inner workings of our brain and how we perceive the world around us...

From DVD players and supermarket scanners to laser pointers and Bond movies, lasers are part of our lives. But just how do they work? In this Naked Science Scrapbook we find out how excitable atoms produce the laser beams and how those beams are used to perform surgery, send information through the internet and even measure the distance to the moon!

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: Sue Nelson visits RAL Space at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire to find out how scientists check if the scientific equipment they put on satellites will work properly once in space. Later she goes to Buckinghamshire to hear how simple changes to hedgerow management could significantly improve winter habitats and food supplies for wildlife.

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - Richard Hollingham goes to the River Wandle in south-west London to find out how scientific research is helping to revitalise this heavily-used river; later he goes to Cambridge to hear about some of the hottest conservation topics for 2012.

Dr Lora Heisler takes us through the mechanisms controlling our hunger and appetite in the brain and how this could be manipulated to treat obesity...

This month, Dr Lora Heisler discusses the brain mechanisms controlling our appetite and subsequent body weight. She explores the many drivers behind hunger and appetite control and how these differ from person to person as well as how obesity can be avoided by increasing our energy expenditure...

This month, we step inside to explore what, and who, it takes to run the synchrotron. We meet the people that keep the electrons accelerating to produce light beams 100 billion times brighter than the Sun, every day! We explore the health and safety needed when working with high levels of radiation, the equipment used to ensure every inch of the machine runs smoothly and the industries using Diamond to produce our everyday products. Plus we hear how the facility if run from the top down as well as bring you the latest news and events from Diamond.