Catalysts for Cleaner Environments and Future Energy

This week, do diet foods make children fat? Could a space screw save us from catastrophe collisions? Have we seen the last of the Yangtze river dolphin? And should we look to the Simpsons for our science? Writer Al Jean explains that, despite the three eyed fish and three fingered hands, it's one of the most science literate shows on television. Also, as it's our Summer Special Question and Answer show we tackle your questions ranging from rising cakes to rising heart rates, why the moon looms larger on the horizon and why magnets make bad television. Plus, in kitchen science we investigate... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

11 Elo 200757min

This week, mind reading children, scientists find a new gene in the lung cancer cocktail, and satnav or map-nav - what's greener? Plus we become biological weapons inspectors and explore nature's arsenal of venoms, poisons and toxins, including a scorpion's sting that can highlight cancer, how funnel web spiders are helping farmers fight off insect pests, the marine cone snail that harbours a painkiller ten thousand times more powerful than morphine, and how a snake bite can help to prevent a heart attack. Meanwhile, in Kitchen Science, Ben samples a more everyday toxin - by making stinging... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

4 Elo 20071h

This week, clean coal technology - how to get the energy from coal without digging it up, why GM goats are helping to combat nerve gas attacks, and how scientists have found the 'itch' gene. We also find out why smog causes heart disease, how seafood in space can help to heal astronauts, and the weight of leaves on an average tree. Plus Drs Chris and Phil take a look at your science questions including 'tasting' music, the best way to dry your washing and can the moon affect the shapes of weather systems? In Kitchen Science Ben and Dave explain how to make a lens with a plastic bottle and some... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

28 Heinä 200758min

This week, we find out about survival in extreme environments. We find out how free divers descend hundreds of feet underwater without air, how life thrives beneath the ice in Antarctica, how fighter pilots combat G-forces to avoid blackouts, and how the body copes with exercising at the top of Everest. Also, discover the benefit of breaks between bouts of exercise, how geckos hold the key to underwater post-it notes, and a gene that lets you chat whilst listening to the radio. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

21 Heinä 20071h 1min

This week, from iPod to iRod as a man's taste for music turns him into a human lightning conductor, why penguins are picky eaters, and better biopsies - why doctors are attracted to a new magnetic cancer detection system. Also a fuel made from fructose that packs a punch like petrol, we find out how to make hydrogen on demand using aluminium, and grow your own gas - do we have enough land to grow our energy in future? Plus, in Kitchen Science, we turn vegetable oil into biodiesel and ask a white van man to test it... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

14 Heinä 200759min

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. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

7 Heinä 200759min

This week, playing bingo on an inflatable space station, a new way to attack the cause of Alzheimer's and mending a broken heart with stem cells. Also, using bananas to speed up fruit ripening, leeches out of water and chemical tricks to stop smoking and iron out wrinkles. Plus, in Kitchen Science we vibrate our way to a fountain in a cup! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

30 Kesä 200759min

This week a rabies-based Trojan Horse that smuggles drugs across the blood-brain barrier, why first-borns are brighter, progress with Parkinson's and a lunar telescope more powerful than Hubble. Plus in this week's ARMAGEDDON-focused show we look at supervolcanes, earthquakes and arsenic, find out why curtains are absolutely lethal and why a meteorite impact probably didn't dispense with the dinosaurs after all. Also, in Kitchen Science, we test the claim that tapping the top of a fizzy drink before you open it stops it spraying all over you... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

23 Kesä 200757min