The Naked Scientists Podcast

The Naked Scientists
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Feb 28, 2023 • 30min

What can plate tectonics teach us?

The news is awash with the destructive side of these geological processes, but are there aspects of these events that can help us learn more about our planet's inner workings? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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Feb 24, 2023 • 30min

Sleepy sperm and shiny shrimp

Are we any closer to a contraceptive for men, will a 4 day work week pay for itself, and how cretaceous caterpillars helped scientists work out when plants first opened and closed their leaves... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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Feb 21, 2023 • 28min

Fusion power by 2040?

Today, we're asking whether UK science minister George Freeman's ambition of an operational fusion energy plant by 2040 is realistic. Scientists have their say as to whether or not this possible and, if not, when we can expect to see fusion on grid... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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Feb 17, 2023 • 32min

Gene therapy saves baby from fatal condition

In the news this week, a UK toddler with a rare genetic disease is saved by gene therapy: we explain how it works. Cockatoos wow scientists by taking a toolkit along to solve a problem. And a 55 million year old penguin fossil... And it's a whopper that weighed in at 150 kilos! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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Feb 14, 2023 • 31min

A Bird Flu Pandemic Hovering on the Horizon

With over a billion birds dead and signs that the influenza virus is now spreading among mammalian species in the wild, are we at risk of another pandemic, just as we thought Covid was over? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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Feb 10, 2023 • 29min

Turkey's earthquake and China's balloon

As Turkey battles against the clock to find survivors of the recent Earthquake there, we look at what triggered the magnitude 7.8 quake. Also, how modern day codebreakers have unlocked secret correspondence penned by Mary Queen of Scots from exile in the 1500s, and the overlooked threat of indoor air pollution: we worry about what we breath in on the streets but we're potentially encountering air just as bad in our own homes... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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Feb 7, 2023 • 28min

Cheaper food from fewer fertilisers

Scientists and governments are working together to turn farming, one of the foremost causes of global emissions, into a future-proof industry. We'll hear about the UK governments new sustainable farming scheme which rewards farmers for eco-friendly practices, scientists working on reducing reliance on harmful and costly fertilisers for grain crops, and the food formed of microbes which might soon feature on supermarket shelves... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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6 snips
Feb 3, 2023 • 26min

Transplanting brain cells & the Big Birdwatch

Brain implants grown in a lab wire themselves into the nervous system. Artificial intelligence joins the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. We take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch 2023. And are sugar taxes actually effective ways to fight the obesity epidemic Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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Jan 31, 2023 • 32min

Satellites: forging metal and finding cholera

Much of our daily lives is made possible by the placement of objects orbiting our planet. From GPS, to weather forecasts, even your bank's ATM wouldn't be able to function without a timecode from space confirming when your transaction took place. So we're going to explore whether the increasing numbers of satellites up there is a problem, how we can use them to spot potential disease outbreaks before they even happen; why space weather is a threat, and even how one company are planning to forge metals aboard satellites and make things in microgravity for use back here on Earth! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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Jan 27, 2023 • 31min

Plastic-eating bugs & paying you to power off

The plan to pay people to dial down their electricity use, the bacteria eating plastic in the ocean, and why antidepressants make it harder for users to enjoy themselves. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

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