The Naked Scientists Podcast

Does midwinter make you want to eat all the food in your fridge, curl up in a duvet and sleep until spring? You're not alone, many plants and animals feel the same way, but you might not be so keen when we tell you just what it would do to your body! Snuggle down as we explore the world of hibernation and how it might be used to help humans. Plus, in the news: detoxing debunked and the miracle of the microbiome. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

In this week's podcast, we're taking on your questions! From how we make decisions to why do we go temporarily deaf when we yawn and if light wears out, these are some of the many conundrums you asked and we answered with the help of an expert panel. Plus, the top headlines in the world of science, including the four new elements discovered, why you can blame your neanderthal heritage for bad allergies and how Harry Potteresque screens could be the next big thing... For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

With the New Year, there's often a resolution or two to make a new you. But what makes you, you? Given that we share over 99.9% of our genes with each other, there's a lot of variety in that 0.01%. Just look around you now - no two people are alike! Is it just your genes or is there something else at play? In this edition of The Naked Scientists, Graihagh Jackson goes in search of what makes a person, an individual beginning by asking why her brother got sixpack abs and she didn't... For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Remember that time that Ginny made Kat eat chocolate spread from a nappy? Or when Georgia broke the drone? It's the end of 2015 and what a year it's been for science! Whilst Chris and Kat take a well deserved break, producers Connie Orbach and Graihagh Jackson have hijacked the show to take you through all their favourite bits of the last 12 months. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

The Naked Scientists have Christmas unwrapped with a look at the science behind our favourite festive traditions, including how to pick the perfect present, the psychology behind board games and how to avoid hangovers. Plus, Star Wars science, a chocolate-covered PhD and Santa's tech-upgrade! For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

This month, the United Nations published its much-anticipated report on the state of the world's soils and the results are not good. We'll be asking why, and taking a down-to-earth look at the consequences to see what we can do to reverse the trend. Plus in the news: why life drawing improves self-esteem; how the asteroid Ceres might be an invader from outer space; and the looming antibiotic apocalypse... For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

How will you be receiving your presents this year - a CD, a voucher for iTunes or maybe even a Spotify membership? In 2014, streaming services made more money than CD sales for the first time ever and that trend is continuing.But it's not just the distribution of music that is changing; how musicians make music is also evolving rapidly. This week, we explore the influence of technology on one of mankind's oldest traditions - the art of music making. Plus in the news, the global response to climate change, the mystery of missing starlings and how delightful really is that red sky at night? For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Extreme weather events are becoming more common, and sea levels are set to rise. So could we be about to find ourselves in very deep water? This week we're exploring how to spot where and when floods will occur, and how to avert disaster. Plus, in the news, a GM mosquito to fight malaria, what really killed the dinosaurs, and general relativity 100 years on... For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

This week, is sugar the enemy? Difficult as it is to digest, one person in every four in the UK is obese, and treating the condition as well as its knock-on effects, costs the health service 5.1 billion per year. Some say sugar is to blame, but is it the only guilty party? Plus, in the news, pigeons detecting cancer, half of museum specimens might be mislabelled, and how science journals are being hacked... For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

More pieces of data have been produced in the last five years than in all of human history put together before then. But what's driving this big data revelation? We'll discover what opportunities it opens up, and we'll uncover the pitfalls we might be facing. Plus, news that scientists uncover the first water on Earth, and we talk to the team who raced a solar powered car 3,000 kilometres across Australia... For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

The Naked Scientists and some special guests team up to tackle your science questions head-on. Do squirrels ever lose their nuts? Is cracking your knuckles bad for you? And could your gut bugs turn you to crime? Plus, a look at this week's science news. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

London and many other European cities face the prospect of a 300 million penalty every year over bad air. Engineers say part of the solution lies with electric transport, so this week the Naked Scientists are getting under the hoods of a new generation of vehicles ranging from the first electric buses to tomorrow's supercars. Plus, news about how scientists are making objects levitate in the lab - with sound - and why there are now 3 types of "type 2" diabetes... For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

The Naked Scientists have been on a trip to Mars but we forgot to ask one BIG question, should we even be going at all? We complete the series with a debate featuring a space politician, a geologist, an astronomer and a would-be Mars pioneer. Plus, in the news, will faecal transplants change your personality, and how sci-fi has been predicting technology for years. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

In episode three of our series Destination Mars, we finally arrive at the Red Planet - but what is waiting for us when we get there? We examine possible solutions to the challenges of building a home on an alien planet, including a Star Trek-inspired health scanner and bacteria that can be engineered to grow rocket fuel. Plus, the science headlines from around the world: a brain scan for epilepsy, the bees that are addicted to caffeine and the science behind hallucinations. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

To rocket engineers, the idea of transporting humans to Mars is a one colossal headache. Compared to inert satellites and probes, humans are highly unpredictable, needy and fragile. Radiation is our body's kryptonite; microgravity renders the bones thin and weak and if you broke a leg, it could take months to fix. These are just a few of the hundreds of problems scientists are grappling with when considering how they might send people to the rocky red planet. We'll be taking a closer look at some of those obstacles this week and asking if it's actually possible to get people to Mars. Plus, news that scientists have grown the first kidney from scratch in a petri-dish, how vitamin pills can make cancer spread, and what a 4500-year-old skeleton is revealing about our origins... For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy