The Naked Scientists Podcast - Stripping Down Science

Nerve interfaces and infrared fossil finding

In the news, scientists seeking to make measuring animal welfare a top priority on farms. Machines seeing the original chemicals in the bodies of fossilised animals. And why superglue might be the key to superior plastic recycling. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

23 Mar 30 min

Trick or treaty: the high seas agreement

The UN high seas treaty hopes to turn the tide on the biodiversity crisis in the ocean. Will it work, and will protecting 30% of the high seas be sufficient? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

20 Mar 33 min

HIV case cured by umbilical cord stem cells

How doctors in the US have "cured" a woman with HIV, does Venus have volcanoes? Reexamining 30 year old probe footage has got scientists wondering, and signs that an artificial sweetener can affect the immune system... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

16 Mar 30 min

Q&A: How will astronauts shower on the moon?

What happens when you put a space scientist interested in looking for alien life, a geologist studying some of the earliest life on Earth, a psychologist, and a linguist in a radio studio? Well hopefully a really interesting conversation and answers to some of science's - and your - big…

9 Mar 49 min

Roman dildos and hackers targeting pets

Take a daily brisk walk and take 25% off your mortality rate, the northern - and southern - lights and why they've been so pronounced of late, and have scientists discovered the world's first Roman sex toy? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

2 Mar 31 min

What can plate tectonics teach us?

The news is awash with the destructive side of these geological processes, but are there aspects of these events that can help us learn more about our planet's inner workings? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

27 Feb 30 min

Sleepy sperm and shiny shrimp

Are we any closer to a contraceptive for men, will a 4 day work week pay for itself, and how cretaceous caterpillars helped scientists work out when plants first opened and closed their leaves... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

23 Feb 30 min

Fusion power by 2040?

Today, we're asking whether UK science minister George Freeman's ambition of an operational fusion energy plant by 2040 is realistic. Scientists have their say as to whether or not this possible and, if not, when we can expect to see fusion on grid... Like this podcast? Please help us by…

20 Feb 28 min

Gene therapy saves baby from fatal condition

In the news this week, a UK toddler with a rare genetic disease is saved by gene therapy: we explain how it works. Cockatoos wow scientists by taking a toolkit along to solve a problem. And a 55 million year old penguin fossil... And it's a whopper that weighed in…

16 Feb 32 min

A Bird Flu Pandemic Hovering on the Horizon

With over a billion birds dead and signs that the influenza virus is now spreading among mammalian species in the wild, are we at risk of another pandemic, just as we thought Covid was over? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

13 Feb 31 min

Turkey's earthquake and China's balloon

As Turkey battles against the clock to find survivors of the recent Earthquake there, we look at what triggered the magnitude 7.8 quake. Also, how modern day codebreakers have unlocked secret correspondence penned by Mary Queen of Scots from exile in the 1500s, and the overlooked threat of indoor air…

9 Feb 29 min

Cheaper food from fewer fertilisers

Scientists and governments are working together to turn farming, one of the foremost causes of global emissions, into a future-proof industry. We'll hear about the UK governments new sustainable farming scheme which rewards farmers for eco-friendly practices, scientists working on reducing reliance on harmful and costly fertilisers for grain crops,…

7 Feb 28 min

Transplanting brain cells & the Big Birdwatch

Brain implants grown in a lab wire themselves into the nervous system. Artificial intelligence joins the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. We take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch 2023. And are sugar taxes actually effective ways to fight the obesity epidemic Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the…

2 Feb 26 min

Satellites: forging metal and finding cholera

Much of our daily lives is made possible by the placement of objects orbiting our planet. From GPS, to weather forecasts, even your bank's ATM wouldn't be able to function without a timecode from space confirming when your transaction took place. So we're going to explore whether the increasing numbers…

30 Jan 32 min

Plastic-eating bugs & paying you to power off

The plan to pay people to dial down their electricity use, the bacteria eating plastic in the ocean, and why antidepressants make it harder for users to enjoy themselves. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

26 Jan 30 min

ChatGPT: The chatbot changing how we work

We first chatted ChatGPT last month, and have since been keeping an eye on the incredible ways it's been responding to users from across the world. This week, we consider the implications of this very powerful tool that has just landed in the hands of pretty much everyone, and whether…

24 Jan 31 min

Lasers lure lightning and carbon computing

How hair follicles might hold the key to reversing scars, but not just in skin: in hearts and other organs too. Also, scientists crack how to grow new brain cells in the laboratory dish. And what a mutant from millions of years ago is revealing about how ancient animals mated…

19 Jan 30 min

Dry January: is giving up booze beneficial?

It's that time of the year where we traditionally make - and usually break - resolutions to eat less, drink less, lose weight, give up meat and take up exercise during the year ahead. And in the decade since 2013, thousands of people have also been signing up for "Dry…

16 Jan 29 min

Shouting dolphins and failed rocket launches

The artificial pancreas to turnaround diabetes control, what went wrong with the UK's first space launch, and the Cambridge-born process that can turn CO2 and waste plastic into fuels and valuable chemical raw materials... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

12 Jan 28 min

Q&A: How to avoid being squashed by a whale

How stars burn for billions of years. Can Rishi Sunak turn us into a nation of mathematicians? And how misinformation changes the shape of our brains. Plus, there'll be our customary quiz at half time... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

10 Jan 1 hr 01 min