Starship explodes & soundscapes for sleep

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 Juli 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 Juli 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 Juni 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 Juni 200757min

Under the microscope this week, the science of forensics. We find out how scientists have exploded the myth about old aged whales thanks to a piece of shrapnel, about a new rice-based vaccine for cholera, and 'whey' to go, how scientists have made edible food wrappers from milk. We investigate what your diet does to your hair, how science can finger forgers and flush out bodies from bogs, and why the key to identifying a torso that washed up in the Thames was rooted in plant science. Plus, in Kitchen Science, we arm Ben with a rifle to find out how fat you'd have to be to stop a speeding... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

16 Juni 200757min

This week, why some people have green blood, how radiation-hungry fungi will feed astronauts of the future, and how a cider a day keeps the doctor at bay. We discuss corrupt chemists, what happens when galaxies collide, how Beaujolais benefits your breath and if a person can feel the cold in space. Plus, in Kitchen Science we iron out the crumbs in your cornflakes! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

10 Juni 200755min

This week, will a hot mint still taste cold? Also how skimmed milk could come straight from the cow in future, and why we walk upright without dragging our knuckles. Nicky Clayton discusses clever birds that use cigarettes to fumigate their feathers, Tim Clutton-Brock describes the family affairs of meerkats, and we find out from Andrew Smith why monkeys see what we see, but cats and cows can't. Plus, in Kitchen Science, we get jiggly with a jam jar full of rice. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

2 Juni 200757min

This week, Drs Chris and Helen find out how your fingers can reveal whether you're mathematically minded, and bridge-building ants that quite literally let themselves be walked over. Also, Astronomer Carolin Crawford takes us on a foray into outer space to discover the shape of the universe, we meet a geyser so tall that it spurts into space, and we Join Maggie Turnbull as she searches for nearby planets that could sustain life. Plus, in Kitchen Science, how to measure the speed of light using a microwave oven! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

26 Maj 200756min