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8th Jul 2007

The Brain, Epilepsy and Out of Body Experiences


Chris Smith

Kat Arney
The human brain

This week news that men talk as much as women, cosmetics from jellyfish, songbirds "greatest-tits", a breathtaking asthma breakthrough and a gene-screen for bowel cancer. We also uncover the cause of contagious yawns, probe the brain basis of epilepsy and manic depression, and uncover a brain region responsible for out of body experiences. Plus, in Kitchen Science, Ben and Dave find out why the raisins always rise to the top of the cereal box.

 

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News

Do women really talk more than men?

It's always said that women talk more than men, but here at the Naked Scientists, its hard to get a word in edgeways as Dr Chris is always talking. Now new research from the University of Arizona suggests that men may be just as chatty. The scientists recorded the conversations of 400 Mexican male a...

(c) Wolfgang Wander

Greatest-"tits" - Birds stay ahead of fashion with cutting edge songs

Scientists have shown that birds move with the times by updating their songs; play them an old one and, just like teenagers at a disco, they'll desert the dance floor. Elizabeth Derryberry, from Duke University North Carolina, had been studying the process by which birds develop local "accents...

(c) Patrick J. Lynch, medical illustrator

Linking cancer to the immune system

Researchers around the world are starting to realise that cancer may be more closely linked to inflammation and our immune system than we previously thought. And two new papers this week have further strengthened the link. Researchers at the US National Cancer Institute and the University of Texas...

(c) Mendel

Breathtaking new discovery of asthma gene

Researchers in the UK have uncovered a new gene that triggers asthma. Bill Cookson and colleagues, from London's Imperial College, compared the genes of 1000 children with asthma and 1000 healthy "controls" to track down genes that were more common in the asthmatics and might therefore pro...

(c) Mnolf

New genes for bowel cancer

Hot off the press, scientists funded by Cancer Research UK have found a common gene variation that can increase the risk of bowel cancer. This is the first time such a common gene version has been found. Several gene faults are known to increase the risk of bowel cancer, such as the genes APC and HN...

(c) Tom Murphy VII

Skincare by jellyfish

Researchers in Japan have finally found a use for the huge excess of jellyfish that have been turning up in Japanese waters in recent years - as a source of skincare products. Kiminori Ushida, from the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research in Wako Japan, found that the mucus from five jellyfis...


Kitchen Science

Part 1 Part 2 Listen
...or download as MP3 [1] [2]

Raising Raisins

Why do raisins always rise to the top of a box of muesli?


Interviews

(c) Adrian Pingstone

Why do we Yawn?

Here’s a puzzle that science has yet to solve; it’s something we all do, it’s contagious and even animals are affected. It is, of course, yawning. But why do we do it?

(c) WriterHound @ Wikipedia

Epilepsy

Most people are familiar with epilepsy, we may have friends and relatives who suffer from seisures, but the disease it a bit more complicated than that.

(c) Angelo Bronzino

Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder, also known as Manic Depression, is one of the most common neuropsychiatric disorders. We spoke to Prof. Nick Craddock to find out more about the disease, and the damage it can do to sufferers and their families.

(c) Bruce Wetzel & Harry Schaefer

Science Update - Blood and Healing

This week, Bob and Chelsea talk us through blood based bandages and the benefits of cut-sucking.

(c) Ibaranoff24

Out of Body Experiences - Get Behind Yourself!

Olaf Blanke tells Chris Smith about how a certain region of the brain can be tricked into making you believe there's someone breathing down your neck...


Questions

Does suncream fo off?


Does a corpse still tan?


Part 1 Part 2 Listen
...or download as MP3 [1] [2]

Is DNA transferred in a transfusion?


Why does celery make my tongue numb?


What is it that makes your jaw ache when you’re eating?


With home electrical wiring, why should the wires oxidise?


Is there a limit to memory capacity?


Why do certain foods trigger panic attacks?



I have to say that I almost never listen to the show (probably a treasonable offence, but so be it); but the above does sound interesting, and makes a...
- another_someone - 14th Jul 07
i caught this show late, and it would seem that i posted a topic that was on the show. many apologies.

although, now i have listened to the...
- paul.fr - 5th Nov 09
See the whole discussion | Make a comment



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