Special Editions

National Pathology Week 2010

We explore the role of pathologists in pregnancy and childbirth in this podcast from National Pathology Week 2010. We discover what we can learn from an ultrasound as well as other tests that can be run on an expectant mother. Plus, we discover the importance of newborn screening programmes and…

7 Dec 2010 28 min

In this podcast Richard Hollingham reports from an unusual and somewhat cold location - onboard the British Antarctic Survey's RRS James Clark Ross which was stuck in the ice for two weeks 1000 kilometres from the North Pole. He talks to researchers on the ship about their work, finds out…

7 Dec 2010 19 min

National Pathology Week 2010

We go behind closed doors in this special podcast from National Pathology Week 2010, visiting the pathology labs at the world famous Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. We'll discover the role that pathologists play in diagnosis and treatment of childhood diseases, including how metabolic diseases are identified and the role…

7 Dec 2010 26 min

Does your shopping basket contain chocolate, biscuits and shampoo? If it does, you may be unwittingly contributing to the destruction of the some of the world's pristine rainforests. Manufacturers now use palm oil in a huge range of products, because it's so cheap. But virgin rainforest in some of the…

23 Nov 2010 22 min

DNA and Cancer

In this month's podcast Professor Ron Laskey discusses the links between our DNA and cancer to reveal how changes to our DNA can cause cells to become cancerous, how DNA can be targeted as a method of treatment and also how we can analyse markers in our DNA for earlier…

19 Nov 2010 23 min

This month we probe down into the world of structural biology to find out just what this field is and the molecules it can enable us to see. We discover how visualising molecules such as DNA and proteins can help us understand the development of our nervous system, the repair…

16 Nov 2010 31 min

It seems that hardly a week goes by without a major earthquake striking somewhere in the world, which may be why many people have been asking scientists at the British Geological Survey if earthquakes are getting more frequent. Richard Hollingham talks to expert seismologist Brian Baptie from BGS, who uses…

15 Nov 2010 19 min

In this Planet Earth podcast, Sue Nelson reports from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew where she finds out that some plants like the Snake's Head Fritillary have enormous amounts of DNA in their genomes. These plants struggle in extreme environments, so how will they cope under climate change? We also…

9 Nov 2010 20 min

In this Planet Earth podcast, Sue Nelson hears about the birth of an ocean in the Afar depression in the Horn of Africa. The continental crust is being ripped apart at a phenomenal rate - one metre every year over the last five years. In the not too distant future…

7 Nov 2010 19 min

This week, Richard Hollingham finds out that bowerbirds are not just brilliant at making elaborate bowers, they're also good at mimicking other birds and pretty much most sounds they hear - including human voices. He also goes to a Scottish forest to meet researchers from the University of Edinburgh who…

3 Nov 2010 17 min

Dementia and an Ageing Population

This month, Professor Carol Brayne discusses the consequences of our ageing population and looks into the symptoms, diagnosis and prevention of dementia and other diseases related to ageing. We also hear how ageing can be studies using populations and find out audience opinions on the event including any information that…

1 Nov 2010 11 min

Unless you've never seen the sea, you've probably seen a jellyfish. And even if you haven't seen one, you will almost certainly know what they look like. Despite this, scientists know surprisingly little about them. Which is why British and Irish researchers are in the middle of a project to…

27 Oct 2010 18 min

Have you ever noticed that when you cross a busy road, as well as clocking the traffic, you subconsciously follow what your neighbours do? Scientists have recently put a figure on this and worked out that we're 2.5 times more likely to cross if our immediate neighbour makes a move…

20 Oct 2010 18 min

In this Planet Earth podcast, Sue Nelson goes to the Eden Project in Cornwall, southwest England and to the South Downs in southeast England to find out what butterfly research is telling us about climate change. As you might expect, there's some bad news to report, but surprisingly there's also…

17 Oct 2010 17 min

Scientists know that fluffy stratocumulus clouds act like a blanket on the Earth - they stop warm air escaping, but also reflect the Sun's energy back out to space. But they have no idea if cirrus clouds, which are high up in the atmosphere and made of ice, do the…

14 Oct 2010 18 min

Sixty percent of all HIV sufferers in the world live in rural Africa, but practical and economic obstacles can prevent many of these people from accessing the anti-retroviral drugs that they desperately need. A recent clinical trial investigated this problem to try and improve HIV treatment in rural Africa. Julia…

11 Oct 2010 4 min

With efforts to improve energy efficiency focussed on green transport to sustainable power generation, growing your own food to reducing waste, it's often easy to forget that the very buildings we live and work in could also be made energy efficient. But how do you retrofit old buildings without ruining…

10 Oct 2010 19 min

Scientists recently found plastics floating in some of the most remote and inaccessible seas in the world - just off the coast of Antarctica. Although it clearly looks ugly in such a pristine environment, scientists are more concerned about the major role plastics play in moving alien species around the…

7 Oct 2010 19 min

How do supermarkets convince you to part with your money? In this special edition of the Naked Scientists, Smitha Mundasad goes shopping with author on consumer psychology, Philip Graves, to discover the tricks of the trade. We'll find out how special offers, colours, odours and music can all affect your…

7 Oct 2010 22 min

This is a podcast by the Society for General Microbiology, recorded at a session they sponsored, at the 2010 Times Cheltenham Science Festival. Through genetic manipulation, scientists have created microbes that provide us with medicines, foods and vaccines as well as animals that can be used as model organisms for…

7 Oct 2010 41 min