This week, will a hot mint still taste cold? Also how skimmed milk could come straight from the cow in future, and why we walk upright without dragging our knuckles. Nicky Clayton discusses clever birds that use cigarettes to fumigate their feathers, Tim Clutton-Brock describes the family affairs of meerkats, and we find out from Andrew Smith why monkeys see what we see, but cats and cows can't. Plus, in Kitchen Science, we get jiggly with a jam jar full of rice.
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This week on the Naked Scientists we will be venturing into space on an inter galactic mission to learn more about the biggest galaxies in space and the search for life on other planets. Running the mission we will have Professor Carolin Crawford (University of Cambridge) who works with gases in galaxies and Dr Maggie Turnbull who looks for Earth-like planets and signs of life in the 'Goldilocks' zones among nearby stars (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute SETI).
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Coming up this week on the Naked Scientists radio show and podcast we have some airy experts; Jonathan Shanklin (British Antarctic Survey) will be telling us how he discovered the hole in the ozone layer and how it is looking today and John Grattan (University of Wales Aberystwyth) will discuss his research on a volcanic eruption which in 1783 killed 30,000 British people.
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This week on the Naked Scientists we have a whole host of experts in bacteria, fungi and viruses. We'll have Dr Tim Wreghitt (Addenbrooke's Hospital) discussing noroviruses, Dr Ali Ashby discussing her fun work with fungi and in kitchen science with the help of Dr Gillian Fraser we'll be discovering where there are more bacteria: on a toilet seat or a kitchen worktop?
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This week Drs Chris, Dave and Phil find out how a venomous spider has got scientists swollen with excitement because it's bite has Viagra-like properties, how maggots are fighting off MRSA from ulcers, and NASA are testing their next generation telescope aboard a jumbo jet. The docs also explore the science of getting geostationary satellites into space, the basis of bacterial intelligence, and how much water trees drink on a hot day. Plus, in kitchen science, Dave and Ben put their heads in a box...to find out how a pinhole camera works.
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This week we're exploring how populations come by their genes including the surprise finding of African DNA in a remote village in Yorkshire. Oxford University's Bruce Winney explains how studying rural populations in Britain is helping to uncover genes linked to different diseases, and Turi King, from Leicester University, discusses what your Y chromosome says about your surname. Plus we'll be hearing how Cambridge scientist Mike Majerus is putting evolution to the test with the help of the peppered moth, and in kitchen science, more jam tomorrow as Ben and Dave show you a trick with a rolling jar.
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Corals are falling prey to global warming. As sea temperatures rise corals are parting company with the algae that sustain them, causing them to bleach and die. To map out the scale of the problem, and to understand its implications, Cambridge University's Annelise Hagan joins us to explain how she uses a spotter plane and a team of divers to home in on bleaching hotspots. Also, University of California, Irvine, researcher Stan Harpole describes how adding fertilisers to fields destroys diversity both on land and in the water, and in kitchen science Dave explores pressure and heat with his 'Fire Piston'.
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This week new research into cancers, how tumours arise, and new ways to combat cancer. Fiona Watt, from Cambridge University, explains how cancers contain stem cells that can cause tumours to regrow, and how healthly cells can unwittingly aid and abet their cancerous counterparts. Also, Andrew Futreal, from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, joins us to explain how studying the DNA sequences of cancers might hold the key to uncovering the genetic causes of cancer and new ways to treat it. Plus, in kitchen science, Derek and Dave create an electrifying experience with slime...
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This week we explore the science of Heart Disease. Dr Niall Campbell joins us to explain what heart attacks are and how they're treated, Dr Anthony Mathur discusses how stem cells might hold the key to mending a broken heart, and Ben Valsler visits Brian Callingham to investigate how arteries behave when you give them various drugs.
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Coming up on this week's show we'll be exploring flight in terms of both flying machines for people (and when I say flying machine I mean really cool - super fast stuff) and how animals fly (think dragonflies in a wind tunnel with smoke, or Eagle-cam). Dr Graham Taylor of Oxford University works on the aerodynamics and flight control of bird and insect flight. He'll be telling us about Cossack, the Eagle with a wireless video camera back-pack and how this allows Graham to see how air acts on the surface of Cossack's wings. He also puts flying insects in special wind tunnels where by blowing trails of smoke over their wings he can see air flows over their wings. Also on the show there will be Jenny Goodman who will tell us about her PhD project which involves trying to get an aeroplane to fly at Mach 6 (also known as 6 times the speed of sound or 2 to 3 times as fast as Concorde). This is no mean feat when temperatures 13cms away from the fuel tank are hot enough to melt stainless steel in 5 seconds!
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