An Olympic Effort - Keeping Crowds Safe

Bigger, better and longer lasting - this week we go in search of the battery technology that will power the future as well as consider the shortcomings of our present technologies. We also try to tune-in to our own broadcast on a radio powered by moss! Plus, in the news, the genetic switch for spinal nerve regeneration, the ocean deep inside Enceladus, young-smoking dads condemn their sons to adult obesity and why cereals make eye contact with you... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

7 Huhti 201453min

How handedness spans the scientific world, from the smallest particles in the Universe to the drugs that cure disease and even the way you hold a pen, goes under the microscope this week as we explore the realms of asymmetry. Plus, in the news, the world's first synthetic chromosome, the goo that stops bones breaking, is there a giant planet lurking beyond Pluto, aircraft black boxes and anti-aphrodisiacs... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

1 Huhti 201452min

2014 is the Year of Code, with the UK even becoming the first major economy to introduce computer programming to the school timetable. This week we investigate why coding, and getting kids into computer science has become so important. Plus, in the news, why the estimated number of smells a human can detect has gone from 10,000 to a trillion, the astronomers who have detected primordial gravitational waves, and a new supercomputer, in Scotland... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

25 Maalis 201453min

Pit your wits against the combined brain power of the Naked Scientists, in this question and answer Special as the team try to find out the truth behind the age of the Milky Way? Whether plants die of old age, and how cats make their fur stand on end? Plus, in the news, contagious yawns, and how the number of takeaways on the way to work affects your risk of weight gain... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

18 Maalis 201453min

With climate change expected to bring more bouts of extreme weather and longer periods of drought and flooding, this week we take a look at ways to turn the tide on the looming water crisis. Plus, in the news, the schoolboy who's become the youngest person yet to achieve nuclear fusion, the pedicure-inspired tags which are helping track turtles, the new gene therapy breakthrough for treating HIV and, what's worse for you, cigarettes, or sausages? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

11 Maalis 201455min

Robots are under examination this week. Engineer Blaise Thomson, from Vocal IQ, designs speech systems for smartphones, Neil Bargh builds robots for science labs, and Airbus systems engineer Paul Meacham, who is building the next rover that will explore Mars, join Chris Smith, Dave Ansell and Ginny Smith to pit their wits against the assembled Cambridge public, answering questions like how would the Mars rover fare in Robot Wars? Plus, we make a motor from scratch and find out what happens when we dunk electronic devices in liquid nitrogen... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

4 Maalis 201459min

Norovirus, the winter vomiting bug, affects 1 million people each year in the UK. But what is it, and how can you best protect yourself? Plus, in the news, how stress hormones depress the stock market, brain training that can improve vision on the baseball field, a new biological marker to diagnose those at risk of depression and artificial growth factors to speed up wound healing... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

25 Helmi 201453min

Should you raise your baby to be bilingual? Are video games rotting or rejuvenating children's brains? We find out! Plus in the news, personalised breast milk, modelling the brain with computers, how crude oil spills affect tuna and the next step towards nuclear fusion. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

24 Helmi 201454min