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2 Dec 2007
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13th Oct 2008

Sponge Swallowing and Gecko Glue


Chris Smith
Gecko Foot

A safer way to test for Down's Syndrome and how sponge-swallowing could reveal oesophageal cancer feature in this week's Naked Scientists, along with a discovery that could delay diabetes in obese people and the nanotechnology that may let you climb walls like spider man!  Plus, we hear from South Africa about why the bush meat industry is a problem, and how a new meningitis vaccine programme could safeguard millions of people.

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(c) Klutzy

DNA answer to Down's Screening

Scientists have found a simpler and safer way to screen a pregnant woman's baby for Down's and other similar genetic disorders...

(c) Kauczuk

Sponge on a string could detect cancer

Oesophageal cancer, cancer of the foodpipe or gullet, is a growing problem in the UK.  Not only are rates rising dramatically, but survival is often very low, mainly because the cancer isn’t spotted until a very late stage when it’s harder to treat. Now a new – but very simple – technique deve...

(c)  Shimbathesnake @ WIkipedia

Gecko Glue

People have been fascinated by the ability of lizards called Geckos to chase their insect prey - not just on the ground, but up walls and even across the ceiling.  Many scientists have tried to emulate their abilities, but up until now they have not managed to achieve the same level of sti...

(c) magnaram on flickr

Giant-eater cells key to fat-diabetes link

Scientists have discovered the cellular culprit that causes obese individuals to develop diabetes. Writing in this weeks' Cell Metabolism, University of California San Diego researcher David Patsouris and his colleagues have found that an angry immune cell could be to blame.  Ironically the c...

(c) Lkinkade @ wikimedia

Male baldness genes found

Good news for any of our listeners who are thinning on top – two papers in Nature Genetics this week reveal genetic variations that contribute to male pattern baldness, which affects around a third if men by the time they’re 45. It’s the classic pattern of baldness where hair starts thinning at the ...

(c) Solyndra

Cylindrical Solar Cells

At the moment, whilst solar cells are clean and environmentally friendly, the electricity they produce is still 3-4 times more expensive than electricity produced from fossil fuels such as coal.  Part of the problem is their high captial cost of manufacture, but a less well known problem is the...




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