2005 Series

Chris Smith

Phil Rosenberg

Dave Ansell

This week we put our heads in a spin as listeners across the world take part in a huge experiment to see whether it is possible to detect the Coriolis Effect in the bath, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki from Sydney provides the definitive answer to the Coriolis Effect quandary from a bathroom Down-Under, Dr Kat interviews Jack Ashby at the Grant Museum in London about how insects have been used to bring cannabis traffickers out of the wood work, and callers get the chance to quiz Dr Chris, Dr Dave and Dr Phil on any aspect of science, technology and medicine in our Christmas question special. .

Chris Smith

Kat Arney

This week we learn about animal communication straight from the horse's mouth. Dr Gillian Forrester, from the University of Sussex, describes how gorillas use tactile signals to communicate, Dr Katie Slocombe, from the University of St. Andrews, talks about her work on how chimpanzees use certain grunts to refer to specific food sources, Professor Joan Silk, from the University of California, discusses whether chimps are charitable to their chums, Professor Keith Kendrick from the Babraham Institute in Cambridge discusses how sheep recognise emotion, and Dr Vicki Melfi, from Paignton Zoo, tells of how the red swellings on a baboon's bottom work like a sexual traffic light.

Chris Smith

Kat Arney

This week we take a foray into forensics, as Detective Inspector Alan Cook from Essex Police joins us to talk about how DNA is used to solve crimes, Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys from Leicester University helps us brush up on how DNA fingerprinting works, Dr Tamsin O'Connell from the University of Cambridge describes how archaeologists extract DNA from old bones and how DNA can help us track down our human origins, and in Kitchen Science we have the first ever radio DNA fingerprinting race, in which schools will battle it out to find out which of the Naked Scientists is the foul footed felon with the criminally smelly feet...

Chris Smith

Kat Arney

This week we dive into deep time as cosmologist Dr Mike Hobson from Cambridge University explains how we measure the universe and answers a host of astronomically hard questions, Dr Chris Voigt from the University of California in San Francisco describes his E. coli-cam, a bacterial camera with a resolution of 100 mega-pixels, and Derek and Dave cook up a treat in this week's Kitchen Science.

Chris Smith

Kat Arney

This week we unravel the secrets of DNA as Dr Darren Grafham from the Sanger Centre in Hinxton, Cambridge, discusses the importance of sequencing genomes and how the Human Genome Project has improved medicine, Dr Mike Majerus from the Department of Genetics at Cambridge University explains how we can share genetic material with worms but look completely different, Anna Lacey interviews BBC producer Mike Salisbury about the making of the new David Attenborough series Life in the Undergrowth, and we take Kitchen Science to the classroom as schools across the region battle it out in a live DNA extraction experiment.

Sarah Urquhart

Kat Arney

Mandy Morton

This week Professor David Pritchard from Nottingham University gets to the bottom of why parasites can get rid of allergies, Professor Elizabeth Bernays from the University of Arizona describes how caterpillars use plant-toxin chemical warfare to fend off parasites, Dr Chris visits Westbourne High School in Ipswich to run fitness experiments for Healthcare Science Week, and Dave and Derek go bang with an explosive electrolysis experiment in the Naked Scientists Laboratory.

Chris Smith

Catherine Hawkins

In this week's explosions extravaganza, chemist and award-winning author Dr John Emsley joins pyrotechnics expert Dr Jacqueline Akhavan from Cranfield University to talk about the chemistry behind the bangs on bonfire night, George Pendle, author of Strange Angel, describes the long history of rocketry, Mark Schrope, recalls his experience of flying straight into the eye of Hurricane Rita, and Dave and Derek cool us all off by creating a home-made fire extinguisher in this week's Kitchen Science.

Chris Smith

Sarah Urquhart

This week we delve into the unexplained, as ex-UFO official Nick Pope from the Ministry of Defence discusses Britain's biggest UFO case, the Rendlesham Forest Incident, Anna Lacey visits Rendlesham to talk to Brenda Butler and Vince Thurkettle about their involvement in the alleged sighting, Dr Lisa Jardine-Wright from the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge University discusses Mars, asteroid impacts and life on other planets, and Surendra Verma, author of The Tunguska Fireball, tells the story of how an area of forest the size of Greater London was mysteriously flattened in 1908.

Chris Smith

Kat Arney

This week we get bitten by the bug as Dr Ian Burgess from Insect Research and Development Limited talks about the nasties that nibble us at night, Dr William Foster from the Department of Zoology at Cambridge University discusses social insects and how individuals in the colonies communicate, Bee Wilson, historian of ideas, food columnist and author of The Hive, describes the useful properties of honey, and Megan Frederickson from Stanford University reveals the horticulturalist responsible for Devil's Gardens in the Amazonian rainforest.

Chris Smith

Catherine Hawkins

As the flu season and the threat of avian flu comes closer, Professor John Oxford from the Royal London Hospital discusses what the flu is, where it comes from and whether drugs and vaccines can help, Professor Pat Troop, Chief Executive of the Health Protection Agency, describes the systems in place to stop an avian flu outbreak from spreading, and Dr Paul Digard from the Division of Virology at the University of Cambridge tells us how the flu virus escapes past layers of snot. In the Naked Scientist's Laboratory this week, Dave and Derek give us the run down on what snot is for.