What Colour is a Dead Chameleon?

From brewing beer to cleaning up car emissions and even making less polluting fuels. We're asking - what exactly are catalysts, and how do they work? Plus, in the news, scientists discover the mechanism behind the majority of Alzheimer's cases, new technology helps beekeepers keep bees, and we explore the prospects for the survival of humanity with the Astronomer Royal. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

22 Okt 201858min

This week we go back thousands of years to meet our Neolithic ancestors, and discover how their innovations paved the way for all life as we know it. Explore the origin of farming and wine making, and find out how the Neolithic wielded the remarkable material obsidian. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

15 Okt 201851min

This week, can science help us to quit our vices? Do any animals have accents? And how big can a planet get? Joining Chris Smith to tackle your sci-curious questions was physicist Jess Wade, planetary geologist David Rothery, neuroscientist Bianca Jupp and zoologist Jacob Dunn. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

8 Okt 201855min

This week - from skin care to going under the knife, we're lifting the lid on the science of looking good. Plus in the news, a DNA repair kit that can fix genetic diseases and a UK project launches to clean up 7000 tonnes of space junk. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

1 Okt 201858min

In 1918, Spanish flu wiped out more people than World War 1. Now, a century on, we're asking why this pandemic packed such a punch, where flu came from in the first place, and how flu vaccines are made. Plus, fossilised fats from the world's first animals, a look at the IgNobel prizes, genes linked to hypertension, and the computer game that gets kids into engineering... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

24 Sep 201856min

This week we're looking at the magnetic field keeping our planet safe, finding out how it's generated and whether some animals can actually see it. Plus, news of a technique to read out the time of our body clocks, the people making the case to reinstate Pluto as a planet, and how red alert signals can spread through plants in just seconds after something starts to eat them. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

17 Sep 201858min

It's Question and Answer time! The Naked Scientists tackle the medical musings and chemical queries you've been sending in. Joining Chris Smith in studio was Astrophysicist Matt Bothwell, Chemist Peter Wothers, Psychologist Helen Keyes and Human Physiologist Sam Virtue. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

10 Sep 201859min

This week, we explore the field of biomimicry and how nature can help inspire technologies of the future, including the crickets that are showing scientists how to make better hearing aids, dragonfly-inspired wind turbines and the aircraft that repairs itself. Plus, news of why heart disease begins much earlier than we thought, whether science publishing is facing a crisis, and the future of satellite navigation. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

3 Sep 201854min