Naked Scientists Podcast

Chris Smith

Kat Arney

Phil Rosenberg

This week it's over to you as Drs. Chris, Kat and Phil prepare to answer all your burning questions on science, technology and medicine. Anne-Maree Pearse from the Mount Pleasant Laboratories in Launceston, Tasmania, joins us to describe the hellish plight of the Tasmanian Devil as it succumbs to an infectious facial cancer, Emma Marris from Nature magazine discusses how scientists are bogged down in trying to prevent the Gulf of Mexico reclaiming large areas of Louisiana, and in Kitchen Science Derek and Dave put glow-sticks on ice at the Astley Cooper School in Hemel Hempstead.

Chris Smith

Phil Rosenberg

This week we look to the solar system as Dr Ian Sanders from Trinity College Dublin discusses where meteorites come from and how we can find them, real-life astronaut Dr Stan Love joins us from NASA's Johnson Space Centre in Houston to describe a method of avoiding Armageddon asteroids, Dr Maggie Aderin from Science Innovation Ltd. takes us from meteorites to meteorology, as she talks about satellites that monitor wind speeds, Dr Richard Preece from Cambridge University recounts the sticky tale of the hitch-hiking snails and Derek and Dave make water fibre optics in Kitchen Science.

Chris Smith

Kat Arney

This week we shake up the world of science as Dr Janet Sumner from The Open University describes the dynamics of volcanic eruptions and the structure of the Earth, Dr Tamsin Mather from Cambridge University talks about how the gases from volcanoes affect our atmosphere and environment, Dr Tiziana Rossetto discusses earthquakes, tsunamis and her recent visit to Pakistan, and Professor Herbert Huppert joins Derek in the kitchen to perform an explosive experiment.

Chris Smith

Kat Arney

This week we go green as Dr Alison Smith from Cambridge University discusses how algae get their vitamins, the Superintendent of Cambridge University Botanic Gardens Dr Tim Upson describes the science of composting, Heather Gorringe and Richard Fishbourne from Wiggly Wigglers dish the dirt on what worms get up to in your compost heap, Prof. John Pickett from Rothamsted Research talks about his research on natural mosquito repellents, we find out about Ant School from Prof. Nigel Franks at Bristol University, and in Kitchen Science, Derek is itching to reveal how ants lay chemical trails to their food.

Chris Smith

Kat Arney

With the indulgences of Christmas behind us, Prof. Steve O'Rahilly from Cambridge University aims to shed some light on shedding a few pounds, as he discusses the science of appetite, obesity and weight loss, Prof. Len Almond from Loughborough University describes the role of exercise in losing weight, Prof. John O'Doherty from the California Institute of Technology talks about what happens in the brain when we choose our favourite food brand, Drs. Jane Visvader and Connie Eaves describe their discovery of the breast stem cell, and Derek and Dave find out what cream and paint have in common in Kitchen Science.

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.