Podcast Transcript

Could diet foods be making you fatter?  How do we learn to like the foods we eat?  This week, we indulge in the science of appetite, diet and diabetes.  We'll find out how our early experiences of food can alter our diets for life, and ask if low calorie alternatives to sweet and fatty foods can fool the brain into underestimating the energy content of the real thing.  Also, how synthetic chemists are searching for compounds to monitor blood glucose and control diabetes.  Plus, how regions of the brain can “catch” Alzheimer’s from each other, we discover a new microscopy technique that can open a window on the brain in action, and talk to the Australian ecologist who thinks more introduced species, including elephants, could stabilise the Aussie ecosystem.

Has all the air in the world been breathed before?  Are any viruses beneficial to health?  Can naked farts transmit diseases?  You set the agenda in this Naked Scientists Question and Answer show in which we also discover how Inuit cope without fruit and veg, whether muscles can become cancerous and how long before we can teleport to work. Plus, reproducing Alzheimer's disease in a dish, self-distilling vodka, magnetic soap to cleanse the parts other soaps can't reach, and what magic mushrooms do to the brain...

Can a mid-infra red view reveal the universe’s secrets?  In this month's Naked Astronomy, we meet MIRI, the Mid Infra Red Instrument set to launch on the James Webb Space Telescope.  It should give us a glimpse of the very first galaxies and examine the clouds of hydrogen gas spread throughout the universe.  We’ll also find out how distorted galaxies can shed light on the distribution of dark matter, discover El Gordo - a newly discovered galaxy cluster.

This month, we step inside to explore what, and who, it takes to run the synchrotron. We meet the people that keep the electrons accelerating to produce light beams 100 billion times brighter than the Sun, every day! We explore the health and safety needed when working with high levels of radiation, the equipment used to ensure every inch of the machine runs smoothly and the industries using Diamond to produce our everyday products. Plus, we hear how the facility is run from the top down as well as bring you the latest news and events from Diamond!

Could a ray of sunshine hold the key to preventing MS, diabetes and even bowel cancer? Vitamin D - made naturally in skin exposed to strong sunlight - appears to reduce the risk of developing these, and a rash of other diseases. We examine the evidence to find out why as well as hearing how seaweed looks set to ignite a biofuel boom in the future, why a good night's sleep might make traumatic memories worse and how scientists have made multicellular life in the lab in just 60 days...

Where do you stand on becoming part person, part machine? This week we hook up with three pioneers in the field of cybernetics including walking cyborg Kevin Warwick, who volunteered his own nervous system to test out a new way to connect up with the machine world, Markus Groppe, who is trialling an implantable chip to restore vision to the blind, and Andrew Schwartz who's developing neural interfaces to couple the brain's motor circuits to a robot. Plus, news of an H5N1 'flu furore as scientists create the most dangerous virus imaginable, and a voyage to the deepest subsea vents ever discovered...

This month, Dr Lora Heisler discusses the brain mechanisms controlling our appetite and subsequent body weight. She explores the many drivers behind hunger and appetite control and how these differ from person to person as well as how obesity can be avoided by increasing our energy expenditure...

Do stars form outside galaxies? What causes ringing in the ears? How fast does force propagate? Why do spectacles still work when worn backwards? Is the expanding universe tearing galaxies apart? And is any new water being created on Earth? Plus, news of the new satellite surveying the moon, the scientific way to sound out a Stradivarius and how a vaccine based on chimp viruses can protect against Hepatitis C. Plus, in kitchen science, Dave unpacks the contents of a nappy...