Naked Scientists Special Editions

Scientists have been able to alter the emotional associations of memories mice by using a technique called optogenetics, which involves shining lights inside the brain. Roger Redondo explained to Georgia Mills how they reversed emotions at the brain cell level, and what this could mean for treating emotional trauma in humans.

The karma-sutra for back pain may soon be arriving. Within the UK and abroad, there are striking percentages of men and women that report experiencing back pain, especially in later life, and this may be causing the bedroom to take a backseat for these couples. Now, recent research carried out by Natalie Sidorkewicz from the University of Waterloo, may help bring back the intimacy...

Something bothering you? Don't want to visit a doctor to talk about your problems? An online tool called 'myGRiST' due to be released early next year to the public, aims to assess your risks and help to identify areas where you could improve your overall mental health.

From 'plastic' solar panels to flexible electronics, and quantum mechanics to regenerative medicine, we found out about the exciting research of the nominated rising star scientists at the British Science Festival...

Have you ever heard of someone dying of a broken heart? In fact, it is remarkably common for elderly people who were previously healthy to die soon after their spouse. But why? New research from the University of Birmingham has discovered that it is down to reduced functioning of the immune system during times of stress. This leaves older people susceptible to bacterial infections like pneumonia, which can be deadly. At the British Science Festival, Ginny Smith caught up with Dr Anna Philips and asked her why she had decided to study the health of people after they had lost a loved one.

A 'pocket-doctor' smartphone app may now help to diagnose Parkinson's, a degenerative motor disease, that was previously very difficult to assess. With symptoms such as voice tremors and walking abnormalities, how does the phone application work?

Previously undiscovered monuments surrounding the stone circle have been found, using highly advanced geophysical tools and laser scanners in order to search the landscape and identify what lies beneath Stonehenge...

You may have heard reports of seemingly healthy young athletes suddenly dropping down dead in the middle of a game. Professor Paulus Kirchhoff from the University of Birmingham studies the genetic defects that lead to this condition- a rare form of heart disease which exercise actually makes worse. At the British Science Festival, Ginny Smith wanted to find out more. She started by asking him how big a problem this condition really is.

Octopuses and cuttlefish are well known for their astonishing ability to change colour almost instantaneously. Can we copy this system to create a camouflaging material? John Rogers from the University of Illinois reveals all...

Cancer is one of the world's biggest killers, and current treatments often have terrible side effects. So scientists have begun looking into ways to help the body's own defenses fight back. When have a bacterial or viral infection, our immune systems go into overdrive to tackle the invader and protect our bodies. If it were possible to harness this line of attack and use it against cancer, this could open up a whole new method of treating the disease. At the British Science Festival, Ginny Smith talked to Louise and Vanessa, both PhD students at Birmingham University, about their research on using our own immune systems to fight cancer.

Have you ever seen somebody in the street and thought you know them, until you get closer and realise it's a different person entirely. Matching faces to memories or pictures is easier for some people than it is for others. But what happens if you're job is dependent on being able to tell the difference between a 2D face in a photo and a person standing in front of you? Hannah Tooley spoke to Dr Rob Jenkins from the Department of Psychology at York University. He's been studying passport control officers in Australia to see how good these professionals are at it, and the results might surprise you

Stardust returns

Memory boosting drugs, the military, the legal system and enhancing athletes mental focus and muscle tone. Where should neuroscience stop? How a revolution in technology is bringing an unprecedented flood of information about the brain and with this, concerns over use.

Going back through the generations, eventually you come to the ancestor of all life on earth, something scientists call LUCA (last universal common ancestor). LUCA lived on a hydrothermal vent deep under the ocean, and probably used energy from the natural acidic gradient to survive and reproduce, using a generator called ATP-synthetase. But now Victor Sojo and his colleagues at UCL have come up with an explanation for what might have gone on, suggesting LUCA has a leaky membrane, which might explain some mysteries surrounding bacteria and archea. Kat Arney asked Victor how this leaky membrane might have evolved.

One of the remarkable things about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico four years ago was the fact that a lot of the contamination was cleaned up by bacteria which simply ate the oil. Now there's more understanding of how microbes exist in oil which could lead to new technologies for extracting energy from oil deposits deep underground. A group of scientists have been studying an asphalt lake in Trinidad and Tobago where it was previously thought microbes couldn't live because of the lack of water, but now microbes have been found. Professor Joel Kostka from the Georgia Institute of Technology has been explaining the research to Ginny Smith.