After decades of trying, scientists coax plastic particles into a diamond-like structure
Coaxing tiny colloid particles into a diamond structure, and manipulating cell death and homeostasis in neurodegenerative disease.In this episode:00:45 Creating colloidal crystalsFor decades, research...
23 Sep 202037min
Genes chart Vikings' spread across Europe
Mapping the migration of the Vikings, and the world’s smallest ultrasound device.In this episode:00:45 Following the Viking footprint across EuropeTo better understand who the Vikings were, and where ...
16 Sep 202035min
A new way to cool computer chips — from within
Keeping electronics from overheating, and how to include minority populations in genetic analyses.In this episode:00:46 Cool computersKeeping components cool is a major hurdle when it comes to increas...
9 Sep 202039min
Revealed: A clearer view of how general anaesthetics actually work
Engineering yeast to produce medicines, and the mechanism of anaesthetic action.In this episode:00:44 Making medicine with yeastThe tropane alkaloids are an important class of medicine, but they are p...
2 Sep 202035min
The challenge of reproducing results from ten-year-old code
Protecting delicate quantum bits, and a competition to replicate findings from ancient computer code.In this episode:01:04 Quantum computers vs ionizing radiationThe quantum bits, or ‘qubits’, central...
26 Aug 202034min
3D-printing some of the world's lightest materials
A new way to produce aerogels opens up their use, and understanding how sulfur can change state between two liquids.In this episode:01:05 Printing aerogelsAerogels are materials with impressive insula...
19 Aug 202037min
The chemical that turns locusts from Jekyll into Hyde
Triggering swarming behaviour in locusts, and new insights into how humans synchronize.In this episode:01:56 Understanding swarming behaviourSwarms of migratory locusts regularly devastate crops acros...
12 Aug 202031min
Audio long-read: Pluto’s dark side is overflowing with secrets
In 2015, after a nine-and-a-half-year journey, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft raced past Pluto, beaming images of the dwarf planet back to Earth.Five years after the mission, researchers are poring ov...
7 Aug 202018min
