Naked Scientists Special Editions

This month we bring you the highlights of Diamonds events at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition including hydrogen cars, stressed-out bacteria and science in extreme conditions. We also explore how understanding our gut bacteria could lead to personalised diets in the future as well as hear what the rest of the exhibition is all about!

Synthetic biology goes under the microscope in this month's Cafe Scientifique, as Gos Micklem describes how to build "sick" viruses to act as vaccines, and discusses recent advances in artificial life. We'll explore concerns about releasing modified organisms into the wild, and if synthetic biology is likely to be used for evil.

In this month's Cafe Scientifique, Dr Luke Clarke from the University of Cambridge explores the effect gambling has on our brain. He reveals why gambling is so addictive, how 'near-misses' make us gamble more and how gambling stimulates the same pleasure centres in our brains as chocolate and sex! We also answer audience questions including why gambling on the lottery seems less risky, whether there are differences between regular and internet gambling, and whether there are differences in addiction between men and women.

Henrietta Lacks died in 1951, but her cells have gone on to become one of the most important tools in medicine. Rebecca Skloot explains how the story of these cells inspired her to write her bestselling book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks...

This month we enter the clinic to discover how clinicians at hospitals across the UK are using Diamond to investigate a variety of medical concerns. We discover why some women may be prone to pre-term labour, and why metal-on-metal hip replacements cause inflammation in some patients and not others. Plus, we've got the the latest news and events from Diamond!

In this months Cafe Scientifique Dr Giles Yo from the Institute of Metabolic Research at the University of Cambridge askes the question: Are my genes to blame when my Jeans don't fit?. He explores the behind our metabolism and fat storage and asks if these play a more crucial role than our environment in determining our weight. We also answer audience questions that reveal how our weight may also be affected by what happens when we're in the womb and how twin studies are crucial in understanding the role of our genes. Plus, we give you a heads up on what to expect at next months event!

This month we investigate the conservation of apes and the threats they face in the tropical peatland forests of Kalimantan in Indonesia. We look into the issues facing the Indonesian peatlands and how conservation efforts can address these problems.

In this podcast from the March Cafe Scientifique in Cambridge, we investigate how our brain takes shortcuts to understand the world around us and how it jumps to delusions! We meet event speaker Dr Paul Fletcher to find out how our brains process the masses of information coming in from the world around us by using shortcuts and how changes in these shortcuts can lead to delusions . We also answer your questions such as what the scale of these delusions are and whether knowing this about our brains means eye witness accounts are less reliable. All that plus a heads up on what to look forward to at the April event.

In this podcast from the February Cafe Scientifique in Cambridge, we look out deep into our universe to investigate our place in the cosmos. We meet event speaker Dr Carolin Crawford to find out how astronomers look out into our universe and what they understand about our stars and galaxies so far. We also answer your questions such as how we much of our universe we can see, what dark matter and dark energy are, and we also investigate the likeliness of other life out in space! All that plus a heads up on what to look forward to at the March event.

This month we investigate the role Diamond can play in industrial research to reveal how synchrotron radiation can help the pharmaceutical industry to enhance the activity of certain drugs, and also how these X-rays can help develop more efficient catalysts to clean up our car exhausts. All that plus the latest news and events from the Diamond Light Source.

In this podcast from the January Cafe Scientifique in Cambridge, we look into the threat of emerging infections to find out where they come from, how they spread and how they become a pandemic. We bring you the main presentation by virologist Dr. Chris Smith as well as your questions on the threat of pandemics such as SARS returning, concerns about HIV and Tuberculosis, and whether swine flu is something to worry about. All that plus a heads up on what to look forward to at the February event!

Can brain scanners enable us to open a new channel of communication with patients apparently in persistent vegetative states? Brain researcher Adrian Owen, from the Cambridge MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, explains how an experiment with fMRI revealed that a head injured, vegetative state patient could communicate: by changing his thoughts...

This month, we step away form the research and bring you the science behind the synchrotron! We investigate how a machine like Diamond is designed to create X-ray beams that are stable down at the micron level, as well as reveal how the high speed electrons are controlled and manipulated to produce intense beams of light. Plus we bring you the latest news and events, including how scientists are using Diamond for earlier diagnosis of lung cancer!

In this 2009 Royal College of Pathologists National Pathology Week podcast we explore the process of getting a new heart. We find out why you may need a transplant, who is involved and why this relatively simple operation needs a team of pathologists, coordinators and surgeons.