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!
It's not often that science news goes viral, but when researchers dubbed a new species the 'Hoff Crab' more people than usual seemed to take notice! Sue Nelson braves a freezing research aquarium to find out about a host of new species discovered around hydrothermal vents on the Southern Ocean's East Scotia Ridge. Also, far away in the North Sea, the fishing fleets that ply the waters for cod are subject to some 750 separate regulations. But how well do they work? To find out what effect they have on decision-making at sea, fisheries economist Alison Little plans to spend time out with the fleet. Finally, Sue visits the University of Reading to learn about a new database of thunderstorms that will help improve storm predictions.
Deep sea researchers Doug Connelly and Jon Copley from the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton led the team that discovered the deepest and possibly hottest undersea volcanoes on the planet. In a special edition of the Naked Scientists they talk to Helen Scales about their findings, including the extraordinary chemistry and biology they uncovered five kilometers beneath the waves in the Caribbean Sea.
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...
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - Sue Nelson goes to Birmingham to find out how the James Bond film Casino Royale and orang-utan conservation are linked; later she meets a scientist from the British Geological Survey to learn which parts of the UK power grid are most at risk during solar storms.
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - Sue Nelson goes to the Thames Barrier to find out how engineers use science to decide whether or not to raise or lower it, helping to stop storm surges from flooding London; while Richard Hollingham meets a scientist who developed a technique that reveals the colour of truly ancient fossilised birds.
A new study indicates that nicotine effectively primes the brain for cocaine addiction - by altering the structure of a gene linked to learning, memory and addiction.
This month, we celebrate the international year of chemistry by exploring the wide range of chemical discoveries and research taking place at Diamond. We investigate the role of chemistry in pitting erosion, photovoltaics and nanowires as well as reveal how Diamond has been used to unearth a new source of mercury poisoning...plus all the latest news and event from diamond including a wake up call revealing the benefits of caffeine!
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - Richard Hollingham talks to one of the scientists behind the discovery of the ozone hole to find why it's still there; how research on starlings on an island famous for its sweaters could help bird conservationists; and why forest fires in North America affect people thousands of miles away in Europe.
Professor Tony Holland provides a window into the biology of behaviour and how genetic syndromes are helping open this window to provide greater levels of insight into violent behaviour, appetite control and Alzheimers disease...
Professor Tony Holland explores the genetic basis of Prada-Willi syndrome and how further insight into this disorder could provide a window into the biology of our behaviour...
In this infectious special podcast, we explore the science behind Stephen Soderburgh's latest film, Contagion, which depicts the series of events that unfold with the outbreak of a new strain of flu. The film has quite serious scientific credentials - Ian Lipkin, Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia univeristy was on hand every step of the way to ensure the film's scenarios were realistic. We find out more about the role of a scientific advisor, and what kind of public health measures we have in place should an outbreak like this really happen any time soon...
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - Sue Nelson visits the largest collection of venomous snakes in the UK to find out how researchers are developing antivenoms to help African snakebite victims; and what scientists are doing to understand why populations of the European shag are declining.
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: Richard Hollingham meets scientists and archaeologists who are working to preserve one of the most important Neanderthal settlements in north-west Europe to find out how they lived; later on, he visits the local primary school to find out what schoolchildren make of the Neanderthals.
In this final podcast from the BSGT Conference we hear how genes could be targeted to develop a new drug for HIV as well as long awaited treatments for Muscular dystrophies and Haemophilia. We also discover how a good insight into the workings of a virus can help you exploit them to deliver genes more effectively and discuss the research highlights that have taken place over the past few days...
Today we hear how cancers, retinal degeneration, spinal cord injury and liver disease can all be targeted using gene and stem cell therapy techniques. We also explore a variety of methods to deliver genes to a desired location within our bodies...
In today's podcast we hear how gene therapy can be used to target a variety of respiratory disorders such as Cystic Fibrosis and how scientists are trying to grow organs such as lungs in the lab. We also discover how alternative methods of therapy could be used to treat muscular dystophy and how pancreatic cells are being created, by the re-programming of other cells, in a bid to treat diabetes...
In this first podcast from the 2011 BSGT/ESGCT Conference in Brighton we bring you the highlights from the Public Engagment day including an introduction to gene therapy and stem cell therapy, life from the perspective of a haemophiliac, public opinions on gene therapy and how a DNA race can help teenagers get to grips with DNA fingerprinting...
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - how scientists find out about life in the oceans' deepest trenches; how identifying proteins from 50 milion year old reptile skin could help us store radioactive waste; and studying the effects of climate change in the Arctic.
Dr. Linda Sharples gives an insight into the workings of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and how new medical treatments, drugs and procedures are analysed and assessed for use within the UK National Health Service...
Why are the Horse Chestnut trees looking under the weather? Why are they turning brown before the start of autumn?... It is all down to the larvae of a leaf miner moth which make their home inside the leaves of the horse chestnut.
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - how hikers and walkers could be unwittingly changing the landscape by spreading alien species; what it's like to work as a marine biologist in the Arctic in temperatures of minus 40°C; and exactly how stable is the West Antarctic Ice Sheet?
This month we look into the light to discover how Diamond's new Imaging and Coherance beamline is helping scientists see with greater clarity than ever before! We hear how the beamline works to provide greater resolution imaging, how rocks deep beneath the earths surface can be analysed for potential storage of carbon dioxide in the future, and how imaging the internal structure of metal alloys could help recycle them on a greater scale. Plus, the latest news and events from Diamond including new eye-opening research on the cornea and the family history of the virus!
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: in a geoengineering special edition, we take a closer look at some of the technologies we may have to resort to using to avert dangerous climate change.
Reader in evolution at Wits University, Lee Berger, made a life-changing discovery when he uncovered the remains of a new species of hominid, Australopithecus sediba, in South Africa. Here, Chris Smith gets to meet the newest addition to the human family tree...
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast, why scientists are working with the National Trust to restore the chalk grasslands around Stonehenge; how researchers are using satellites to study microscopic plants; and the etiquette of dining and bullying in baboons.
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast, how scientists are using fish scales to figure out why the UK salmon population is falling; and how carbon dioxide emissions from power stations could be used to make household bricks.
A species of tropical vine attracts its bat pollinators using acoustic signals, rather than bright colours or smells, according to a study published in the journal Science this week. In this special podcast, Marc Holderied explains this unique discovery.
This week, why scientists are planning on drilling three kilometres beneath the Antarctic ice sheet in one of the most ambitious exploration projects ever undertaken; and how worms that feed on dead whale bones at the bottom of the ocean may be distorting the whale fossil record.
This week, why understanding rip currents at Perranporth in north Cornwall could help save lives; how exactly does carbon capture and storage (CCS) work and how can scientists be sure that carbon will be stored forever?
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast, why weathermen are using a converted World War II bunker to monitor clouds; how thug species such as bramble, nettle and bracken can be just as damaging to woodlands as alien plants; and why scientists are going to Greenland to deploy a network of sensors in some of the country's glaciers.
This month, we venture into the synchrotron along with members of the public to bring you a glimpse of the Inside Diamond open days. We meet the engineers and technicians that design the components of the synchrotron to keep it running smoothly, hear from Diamond CEO Gert Materlik about the main highlights of these open days. Plus, we talk to a scientist working on one of Diamonds latest Beamlines, I-24, thats enabling research that wasnt possible before including new insight in the fight against allergies!
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - What UK farmers are doing to protect the country's vanishing bumblebees, butterflies and other pollinating insects; how scientists are trying to figure out how many types of microbes there are on our planet and why they all matter; and why birds are more amazing than we ever imagined.
Professor Jenny Morton provides new insight into the cognitive abilities of the supposedly dim-witted sheep and explains how these quick learning animals can be used to model Huntington's Disease...
This month we hear investigating the cognitive abilities of sheep can enable a better insight into the development and onset of Hunitington's Disease...
Anything in the deep sea, whether thats the microbes that live down there, or the research vehicles sent down to take samples of them face the same challenges from being way down deep. So why study the deep ocean depths? And how do we do it? For this naked scientists special, Sarah Castor-Perry went to Scripps Institution of Oceanography to find out, from Professor of Marine Microbial Genetics, Professor Douglas Bartlett, and engineer extraordinaire Kevin Hardy.
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - the cunning tricks the cuckoo uses to get another bird to do the parenting, why researchers are studying snow in Sweden, and how an improved radiocarbon dating technique may put a few scientists' noses out of joint.
One of the biggest problems when it comes to caring for the ocean realm is that it is out of sight and out of mind. It's hard to care about something you don't know about, and most people, most of the time, don't have a chance to see ocean life for themselves. Underwater photography is helping to bridge that gap between people and the oceans. In this special podcast, Helen Scales chats to National Geographic photographer Brian Skerry to find out about the challenges of taking pictures underwater, from the technical constraints of taking electrical equipment into salty water to finding ways of portraying both the beauty of ocean wildlife and also the problems it faces today.
How do marine animals hear, see, touch, and smell the world around them? Life underwater is obviously very different to life on land and it can be difficult for us air-breathing humans to imagine what goes on down there beneath the waves. But understanding how animals find their way around the ocean plays a vital role in our efforts to conserve marine life. In this special edition of the Naked scientists, Helen Scales meets sensory biologist Jelle Atema from Boston University to find out what we know about the ways marine animals build a picture of the world around them.
The saying goes that we known more about the surface of the moon than we do about the deep sea - and that's probably true. But modern technologies are opening up the mysterious depths allowing scientists to venture further than ever before into this alien realm. In this special podcast, Helen Scales explores the wonders of the deep with biologist Tim Shank from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the US. He recently led a pioneering expedition into the deep sea around Indonesia where his team discovered dozens of new species and shed light on extraordinary ecosystems in the dark depths that rival the vibrant coral reefs in sunlit shallows.
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast, why removing some man-made coastal flood defences might not be such a harebrained idea, what it's like studying gas exchange in the wilds of the Southern Ocean, and, in what could be the first case of 'natural' geoengineering, how forests could be whitening the clouds right above them.
This month, Professor Simon Baron-Cohen explores human empathy and explains what empathy is, how it differs amongst the population and the neurological and environmental causes of these differences...
This month, Professor Simon Baron-Cohen explores human empathy and explains what empathy is, how it differs amongst the population and the neurological and environmental causes of these differences...
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast, how a specially-designed twin turboprop research plane is helping scientists in a huge range of subjects from archaeology to ecology, and why a violent space storm could spell trouble for communications systems across the world. If you want to know how polar ice cover is changing, how much tree cover there is in the Amazon, or how fast a Greenland glacier is flowing, your best bet is get your hands on the latest satellite data. But what do you do if you can't measure any of these things from space, or if you want more detail than a satellite can provide? Sue Nelson goes to Gloucestershire Airport to fly on the Natural Environment Research Council's Dornier twin turboprop, a specially kitted-out research plane. Also, what would happen if there was a massive solar storm like the famous Carrington Event in 1859? The answer isn't good news, which is why satellite manufacturers, insurers and space weather scientists recently met at a conference in Rome to discuss how to cope with massive solar storms.
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast, how last year's eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland gave scientists an unparalleled opportunity for research, and why sediment from rivers like the Thames can act like time machines to bygone eras. The volcano disrupted millions of people's journeys, but as the saying goes, every ash cloud has a silver lining. The cloud provided many scientists with an unprecedented opportunity to research volcanic ash in more detail than they could have dreamt of in a natural, evolving experiment. Also in this week's podcast, Richard Hollingham finds out that river sediment isn't just useless, brown sludge. It turns out that sediment is like a time machine, holding a wealth of information about the past. Chemicals around at any given time eventually build up in river sediments, revealing how the urbanisation of cities like London has changed over time.
This month we go down to atomic scales and investigate the properties of magnetism. We investigate the different forms of magnet and magnetic materials to see how they work, what applications they have, how they can increase our understanding of phenomena such as superconductors and how properties can be made to change in a class of materials known as multiferroics!
Traditionally viewed as a poor verbal practise, the "ums" and "ers" uttered by parents may in fact play a critical role in helping toddlers to learn new words, as Rochester University researcher Richard Aslin, publishing in the journal Developmental Science, discovered recently...
When it comes to protecting the oceans, one of the greatest challenges is that they are out of sight and out of mind. The art of underwater photography is helping to bridge the gap between people and the oceans, giving us a reason to care. Helen Scales speaks with award-winning photojournalist Brian Skerry about his work in capturing the beauty of ocean life while at the same time revealing the problems the marine realm faces today. After thirty years photographing the oceans, he has seen a thing or two, and shares his experiences of the advancing technology of underwater photography.
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast, how scientists plan to measure the Earth's magnetic field from space, why one researcher is in the frozen town of Churchill in northern Canada, and how the Chernobyl disaster still affects Northern Ireland 25 years on.
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: how the famous White Cliffs of Dover could be made of fish poo (at least partially), why one researcher is so interested in dead whales, and why the Japan earthquake was so powerful and devastating. Join Richard Hollingham and Sue Nelson to find out more...
Coral reefs are vibrant ecosystems packed with spectacular underwater life that protect coastlines and provide food and income for millions of people. But coral reefs are at risk. How threatened are reefs today? Why are they in trouble? And what hope is there for the future of reefs? In this special podcast, Helen Scales meets the people behind Reefs at Risk Revisited, a groundbreaking new study that draws a global map of reefs and the problems they face today.
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in fact play a critical role in helping toddlers to learn new words, as Rochester University researcher Richard Aslin, publishing in the journal Developmental Science, discovered recently...