- Martin Westwell
I am organising a public event in Oxford entitled "The Science of Wine Tasting". I thought that people would be really keen but when I mentioned it to a colleague she said, "Well, that'll take all then fun out of it".
|
- Dalya Rosner
Caffine seems to be vital for the functioning of the modern world, from keeping drivers awake to getting that last minute essay in on time. But why is it in the interests of the plants to make such a compound?.
|
- Dalya Rosner
Research has shown that bald males command a larger harem of females than their hairier counterparts...that is, if the bald male is a maneless Tsavo lion from Kenya.
Is this due to testosterone production, and do women find bald men more attractive?
|
- Kat Arney
The brain is probably the most fascinating yet impenetrable organ studied by scientists. One question that remains to be answered is why we have two halves to our brains, and are they the same?
|
- Stephanie Modi
The lymphatic system is your body's drainage system. It collects the excess fluid that surrounds cells and returns it to the bloodstream, picks up fats from the intestines and primes the immune system about pathogens...
|
- Barry Gibb
Scientists studying the Conus snail have found that it harbours a cocktail of over 50 nerve toxins in its venom, some of which have powerful painkilling (a
nalgesic) properties, and are now undergoing clinical trials.
|
- Nick Heath
Mention plastics and most people think of polythenes, perspex and other oil-based nasties that never break down. But now there's a new breed of plastics; they're biodegradable and based on potatoes and other starchy crops...
|
- Kat Arney
Imagine if you could turn your muscles into blood cells, or turning your bone marrow into muscle. How about changing your blood to brain cells, then back again, or making a spare liver from your bone marrow?
|
- Dalya Rosner
Or for that matter, if you eat a chilled chilli pepper, what will happen? Dalya considers these questions and investigates the biochemical causes of such strange sensations.
|
- Peter Brennan
What is a smell? A smell is the sensory response to chemicals known as odourants, which are carried by the air around us. Both single chemicals and complex mixtures of many chemicals produce the sensation of a single smell or odour.
|
