On this week's Naked Scientists, we seek the start of the solar system. We'll be finding out how clouds of gas and dust can clump and diversify to become stars, asteroids and the planets we know so well. Plus, we find out what happens to sculpt the surface of planets, and how the Rosetta mission will be the first craft to land on a comet! Also,how the smell of old books can help to preserve them, deleting old memories to make room for new ones and the frightening rate of Greenland ice loss. Plus, in Kitchen Science, Ben and Dave explain how margarine and meteorites tell us about Earth's origins!

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Generate a cloud in a lemonade bottle? How about build a toaster-powered hot air balloon, or work out the speed of light using margarine and a microwave? In this book, you’ll find these and over 40 more incredible experiments to try at home. You’ll never have a dull rainy day again!

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This week historian Sandra Herbert tells how she retraced Darwin's footsteps to the Galapagos in search of rock samples to prove his volcanic theories were right...

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Tripping over Psychoactive Toads

For anyone fresh out of frogs and tempted to kiss a toad instead, this article has a word of warning. Although certain species of toads do make hallucinogenic chemicals linked to a lively "trip", many produce a lethal cocktail of cardiotoxic compounds that could turn such a trip into a once in a lifetime experience, en-route to the mortuary. So which ...