How Powered Flight got off the Ground
From the first flight to supersonic air-travel was achieved in under 50 years. To discover what made it all possible we look at the advances in technology, engineering and materials that were needed, and the social and political pressures that drove the field forward since the first tentative steps toward take-off in the 1870s... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
21 Jul 201259min
Better to blow up an Earth-bound Asteroid?
Should we blow up objects on a collision course with Earth? Or will they do less damage left intact? More importantly, is there a gene for hating marmite? And what makes copper such a good conductor? How would a caveman cope in modern society? What's the secret to how balls spin in sport, and why does wrapping vaccines and antibiotics in silk make them last longer. Plus, why physics says Batman's cape won't work... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
14 Jul 201259min
Super Bainite: Super Strong Steel
Super bainite, a surprisingly-strong steel, is the subject of this week's Naked Scientists. We discover how it's made in the metallurgical equivalent of a pizza oven, why it makes the best bearings and how, even when it's full of holes, it also makes great armour. In the news, a nanotechnological tool to unblock blood vessels, a dust cloud that's disappeared around a nearby star and have we found the Higgs? Plus, can your cutlery affect the flavour of food? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
7 Jul 201259min
An Olympic Effort - Keeping Crowds Safe
Later this month, the 2012 Olympics kicks off in London. With hundreds of thousands of people expected from overseas, is this the perfect trigger for a pandemic? This week we're looking at the public health implications of events like London 2012. We discover why an understanding of crowd psychology can avert disasters, and how mathematical models can predict and prevent jams in human traffic. Plus, a new technique to communicate with "locked in" patients, the evidence for warm blooded dinosaurs, and does ice really help to treat an injury? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
30 Jun 201259min
Exposing Explosives
Science and technology can catch criminals and tackle terrorism. This week, we're exploring two ways to sniff out concealed explosives and a new technique to lift fingerprints from surfaces that have been cleaned or burned. In the news, a new way to halt Huntington's disease and how to identify the influential online. Plus, could gene therapy cheat a DNA test? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
23 Jun 201259min
Why Do I See Stars when I Stand?
Why does a head injury, or standing up too quickly, make us see stars? Are slug pellets painful? How do flies fly in an elevator? We take on your science questions this week, and find out why we should let food ferment, what makes batteries get hot and if the strings in string theory are real. Plus, a new drive to improve science education, new vistas for Voyager 1 and new veins from stem cells. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
16 Jun 201258min
SETI, Aliens and the Origins of Life
How do we look for life beyond Earth? And how did it first get started down here? To help us take on these big questions, we explore the science of SETI and the chemistry of creating life. Plus, science gets cinematic as we meet the scientific adviser for Prometheus, and find out how his work could help us understand alien atmospheres. In the news, how to sequence a baby using just the mother's blood, and the simple intervention that could prevent millions of malaria cases. In Question of the Week, can we create life in the lab from just elements and heat? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
9 Jun 201259min
Getting Inside your Genes
This week, we're introducing the new Naked Genetics podcast - This time, Kat Arney takes a look at the world of top models - not the kind that won't get out of bed for less than ten grand, but the model organisms used by researchers all over the world to answer some of the most challenging questions in biology. We'll also be hearing about the origins of polar bears, the extinction of Tasmanian tigers, fitter frogs with faster-changing genomes and promiscuous bees. And move over Beyonce, because our gene of the month is the curvaceous Callipyge - Greek for beautiful buttocks. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
2 Jun 201229min
