Science Mixtape

Matilda chats to Ilan Kelman about his work on disaster and risk in island communities, learns how to survive two weeks in the studio, and discovers that islands aren't always surrounded by water. Plus our weekly science news round-up! Mixtape: 1. The Isle of the Dead by Sergei Rachmaninoff 2. Some Die Young by Laleh 3. The Old Ways by Loreena McKennitt 4. Let the Sun Shine In by Hair 5. The Tears of Nature by Tan Dun 6. Short Ride on a Fast Machine by John Adams

Today we are joined by Pankaj Chandak talking about some of the most recent advancements in transplant surgery. Think robots, 3D printing and organs living outside the body. Mixtape 1) AR Rahman - Bombay Theme 2) Howard Shore - Concerning Hobbits (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring) 3) Elton John - Your Song 4) Keiza - Hideaway 5) Soul II Soul - Back to Life 6) Black Box - Ride on Time

Natural History Museum curator Jeff Streicher takes us on a tour behind the scenes at the museum and talks about specimen collection, dissection and molecular biology with frogs, snakes and worm lizards abound. Mixtape 1) Chon - Waterslide 2) Iron & Wine - Boy with a Coin 3) Metric - Gold, Guns, Girls 4) He is Legend - Time to Stain 5) Mutemath - Chaos 6) Rush - Malignant Narcissism

Today we are talking to Andrew Grieve Senior Air Quality Analyst at King's College. We talk about pollution across foggy London town and how we are measuring monitoring and improving the air across the city. Best enjoyed over a bowl of pea soup! Mixtape 1) Whitechapel - Blue Rose Code 2) Kamaloka - GoGo Penguin 3) Tomorrow - Jono McCleery 4) Some are Lakes - Land of Talk 5) Weird -Reef 6) Monsters - Something for Kate

Dr Sam Wass, a developmental psychologist from the Secret Life of 4 Year Olds, reveals what it's like to work on the show and the incredible insights it has given into the intense experience of being a child! He also shares his own research into stress and concentration in babies, the difference between a dandelion kid and an orchid kid, and tests whether Matilda's memory is affected by a loud noisy environment. Mixtape: 1. Disprezzata Regina by Monteverde 2. Monkey Music 3. Teletubbies Theme Tune by Rag Doll Productions 4. 3 Feet High by De La Soul 5. Leicht Vie Ein Bunter Luftballoon by Sesamstrasse

This week we are joined by Alzheimer's Research UK fellow Selina Wray to talk about her exciting work trying to understand what are the causes and roots to possible treatment of Alzheimer's.

We are joined this week by Huntington's Researcher Dr Ed Wild. We talk causes, symptoms and some very exciting new therapies. We also find out how long is takes to fall through the earth, puzzle with us. Mixtape 1) They Might Be Giants - Mammal 2) Phillip Glass & Robert Wilson - Einstein oh the Beach: Knee Play 1 3) The Divine Comedy - National Express 4) Miner - Anchors Aweigh 5) Shakira - Try Everything 6) Original Broadway Cast of Groundhog Day - Seeing You

We are joined this week by the electrifying Rhys Phillips to talk all about lightning. Rhys is a researcher from Airbus who tells us how it forms and what to do about it when it hits planes. We have our usual mix o' music chosen by Rhys, science news and facts galore. Mixtape 1) Snarky Puppy - Thing of Gold 2) Jeff Wayne - The Eve of the War 3) Chick Corea - Spain 4) Dean Friedman - Rocking Chair 5) The Goons - The Ying Tong Song 6) Manhattan Transfer - Birdland

The Simpson's might be one of the most successful TV shows ever written, but it's also the most mathematical! Science writer Simon Singh shares the in-jokes, hidden references and maths tributes from the show, as well as his own love of Fermat's infamous Last Theorem and why it's important to stretch young mathematicians. Plus we ponder the point of proofs and have a go at disproving the Collatz Conjecture. Mixtape: 1. Car 67 by Driver 67 2. 7, 8, 9 by Barenaked Ladies 3. 99 Luftballoons by Nene 4. Big Bang Theory Theme by Barenaked Ladies 5. 39 by Queen 6. 9 Million Bicycles by Katie Melua #science #mixtape #maths #simpsons #fermat #theorem #proof #collatz #conjecture #skeptic #thinking

It's getting dark in here as we talk to Roberto Trotta about Dark Matter and Dark Energy. These two subjects are some of the most mysterious in the world of physics, as yet unconfirmed, but the subject of much research. Roberto tells us what our best theories are at the moment and how we are testing our current understanding of these elusive concepts. Mixtape 1) Wagner - Ride of the Valkyries 2) Bruce Springsteen - Glory Days 3) Lady Gaga - The Edge of Glory 4) Beethoven - String Quartet No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 18: I. Allegro ma non tanto 5) Jovanotti - Il più grande spettacolo dopo il Big Bang 6) Little Boots - Remedy

Jack Devlin talks about the electron, one of the fundamental particles that makes up our universe. We explore some of the properties that we know it has and some of those that we don't. Jack tells us about his experiments trying to measure how round the electron is and explains some of the consequences of a ellipsoidal electron. Mixtape 1 The Kinks - Dead End Street 2 Paul Simon - Call Me Al 3 Vampire Weekend - Mansard Roof 4 Postal Service - Nothing Better 5 Joaquin Sabina - Asi Estoy Yo Sin Ti 6 Kavinsky - Nightcall

This week Matilda talks psychedelics with Dr Robin Carhart-Harris, the first scientist to do a brain-imaging study with LSD! He shares what it's revealed about the ego vs the unconscious mind, as well as his exciting new research into how magic mushrooms might be an effective treatment for depression. Come and take a trip with us, and discover the brain on LSD. Mixtape: 1. Scattered Black and White by Elbow 2. Storm 3000 by Leftfield 3. Water From A Vine Leaf by William Orbit (Xylem Flow Mix) 4. Dirty Epic by Underworld 5. Ceremony by New Order 6. One Love by Prodigy #science #mixtape #lsd #brain #drugs #consciousness #depression #magicmushrooms #psilocybin #psychedelics

Today we are joined by ex-immunoparisitologist Khalil Thirlaway discussing parasites of all shapes and sizes. We do our most successful experiment ever and khalil gives us a lesson in the kind of chemical detective work that he used in his research to develop new drugs from the extract of plants from the Malaysian rainforest. Mixtape 1 Pharoahe Monch - Push 2 Cage the Elephant - Ain't No Rest for the Wicked 3 The Eels - Mr. E's Beautiful Blues 4 Gillian Welch and Alison Krauss - I'll Fly Away 5 Wookie - Scrappy 6 The Skints - This Town

This week we explore how perceptions of mental health have changed over time, and the power of stories to shape and change those ideas, in honour of Mental Health Awareness Week 2017. Our fantastic guest is Dr Jon Day from King's College London, who specialises in philosophy of mind, neurology, and modern literature. From Virginia Woolf and PTSD, to Freudian analysis and neuromania, it's a though-provoking look at our concept of 'the mind'. Plus we discover a poet who came up with the Big Bang Theory before any of the scientists! Mixtape: 1. Rock n Roll Suicide by David Bowie 2. BTSTU by Jai Pual 3. Where Do You Go To My Lovely by Peter Sarstedt 4. Silent Noon by Vaughn Williams' (ft. Anthony Rolfe Johnson) 5. This Must Be The Place by Talking Heads 6. Passin Me By by Pharcyde #science #mixtape #mind #philosophy #psychiatry #literature #novel #story #brain #neurology #neuromania

This week we're joined by neuroscientist Elodie Chabrol who's on a mission to cure untreatable forms of epilepsy with gene therapy. When she's not in the lab she's busy bringing science to pubs and bars around the world through the fantastic Pint of Science festival in May. We get a sneak preview of some of the talks this year, including Elodie's own one - 'Sex, Voles, and Oxytocin' - as well as an icy challenge in the studio, does swearing help you withstand pain? Only one way to find out... BEEEEEPPPP Mixtape: 1. I Like The Way This Is Going by Eels 2. Supernova Superstar by Sinclair 3. Miss Millie by K2R Riddim 4. Torrent by Asegir 5. My Girl by Otis Reading 6. Don't Stop Me Now by Queen #science #mixtape #ice #epilepsy #pintofscience #swearing

This week we are joined by Janice Wang an experimental psychologist who is an expert on the boundaries between taste and all of our other senses. We have a little chocolate based experiment and try a few wines with unconventional pairings. Mixtape 1 Air - Cherry Blossom 2 Liszt - Petrarch's Sonnet 123 3 iV Audio Branding - Spicy Soundtrack 4 Francisco Lomuto & Jorge Omar - La melodia de nuestro adios 5 Sara Evans - Suds in the Bucket 6 Sound of Noise - Doctor Doctor Give Me Gas Pt.1

It's a seminal show this week as we are joined by Simon Watt, founder of the Ugly Animal Preservation Society, "raising the profile of some of Mother's Nature's more aesthetically challenged children". Simon shares fascinating facts about his favourite ugly animals, as well as why frogs are every biologist's dream, and how to imitate an insect with just a balloon and a coin. Plus we announce our very own Ugly Animal Science Mixtape Mascot as voted by YOU our listeners! Who will be victorious - the Aye Aye, the Saiga Antelope, the Wart-Biter Cricket, or the Axolotl...?! Mixtape: 1. Never Ever Ever Ever Again by Siskiyou 2. Ingenue by Atoms For Peace 3. Atlas by Battles 4. New Slang by The Shins 5. Twin Tub Twin (Tunng Remix) by King Creosote 6. Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy by The Ballina Whalers #science #mixtape #ugly #animals #frogs #ants #axolotl #saiga #cricket #ayeaye

Steve Cross, founder of geek comedy nights Bright Club and Science Showoff, takes us underground and into the lives of Naked Mole Rats. They may look like wrinkly sausages with teeth, but these amazing animals live in colonies like insects, wear their poo like perfume, live 10x longer than anything else their size, and never get cancer. Steve also shares his top tips for how to be funny, and we round off with our weekly science news. Mixtape: 1. Going Underground by The Jame 2. Stutter by Elastica 3. I Don't Want to Die (In the Hospital) by Conor Oberst 4. Glitter Freeze by Gorillaz (ft. Mark E Smith) 5. Brand New You're Retro by Tricky #science #mixtape #naked #mole #rat #comedy #geek #comedian

We are joined by Robin Andrews, science journalist and communicator who takes us from psychopaths to volcanoes. We have our weekly dollop of science news and a quiz to find out if you are as psychopathic as us! Mixtape: 1 ) Psycho by Muse 2 ) Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man 3 ) Ain't That A Kick In The Head by Dean Martin 4 ) Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears For Fears 5 ) Slip Away by Gabrielle Aplin 6 ) Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones #science #mixtape #volcano #psychopath

This week Aimee Eckert takes us closer to one of life's most fundamental processes - how a cell divides. Without this amazing process organisms wouldn't be able to grow, reproduce, or repair their bodies, but it can also go very wrong and that can lead to cancer. We dive into the proteins controlling the process, and coax some yeast cells into dividing for us in the studio, as well as learning all about Aimee's alter ego - shes's a cell biologist and cancer researcher at Sussex University by day, but the infamous drag queen Dr Jiggs Bowson by night! Mixtape: 1. Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve 2. Electric Lady by Janelle Monáe 3. Cover Girl by RuPaul 4. Dramophone by Caravan Palace 5. Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits 6. Fast Car by Tracy Chapman