The Naked Scientists Podcast

This week, are we on the verge of being able to print a new kidney or liver? And will every home soon have a machine in it to make medicines so we don't need to head off to the chemist for a dose of antibiotics? This is the world of 3D printing and we'll show you what it promises to deliver... Plus, in the news, is fracking contaminating underground water or is it just leaky pipes? And a new breakthrough therapy for multiple sclerosis... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Have you been hacked? This week we examine the risks from public WiFi, why the Internet of Things is jeopardising the security of your home, the threats frequently lurking inside innocent-looking documents, what your mobile phone says to cybercriminals without your say-so and the new method of marketing: you compromise your competitor's website. Plus, in the news, an update on ebola, do bereaved people really die of a broken heart, and DNA points the finger at a Jack the Ripper suspect... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week we're looking to nature to solve some of today's biggest problems - from climate change to water shortages. We hear how spiders hold the key to making the strongest material known to man and how insect ears have inspired the world's smallest microphone. Plus, why Bruce Willis might be making you fat, the Arctic ice sheets that are melting despite headlines to the contrary, and why thousands of languages are on the brink of extinction... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we're exploring Nuclear Fusion, the power source of the sun. What is it and how can it help us on Earth? We visit the JET fusion facility to watch a test firing, we hear how lasers can be used to kickstart the process and how a new spherical fusion system could be outputting power within a decade. Plus, in the news, what lights up the Universe, how people are no smarter than pigeons when it comes to gambling and how the eyes can forewarn of forthcoming dementia... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Dr Chris Smith goes down under for this special report from New Zealand. In this podcast we discuss lasers that are helping us understand how molocules are formed, using viruses as antibiotics and the possibility of life on Mars. Plus, looking at video game therapy, where Ebola and HIV came from, and the world of bumblebee real estate. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week we're talking about gene sequencing and how to keep that information safe. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

The Naked Scientists have food on the brain this week, as we hear about how sound can affect taste, why our mood can be changed by what we eat, and we try out some unusual flavour combinations. And in the news; why grizzly bears may help us in the fight against diabetes, the comet chaser that has finally reached its target, and self-assembling origami robots... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we hear how one of the brightest lights in the Universe is helping scientists to build better jet engines, fight off antibiotic resistant bacteria and read the biochemical make-up of long-dead dinosaurs. Plus, how fears and phobias can pass from parent to child in a smell, why first impressions really do count, and also the physics of being a lead guitarist... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week why whales get dandruff, what seabirds think of wind farms, the plight of coral reefs, we take a look at some giant sea spiders and look at water that can stay liquid below freezing temperature. Plus, we use science to perfect the recipe for a superior sandcastle... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Will wooly mammoths roam the tundra once more? This week we ask whether improvements in genetic technologies mean extinction is no longer the end, as well as meeting moss that came back to life after 2000 years buried in permafrost, and the million-year-old microbes lurking in the ice of Antarctica. Plus, news that our genes control who we make friends with, how fossil sea urchins hold the key to finding your lost car keys, and what ancient tooth plaque is revealing about the diets of our ancestors... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission by asking, should we return to the moon? We discover what scientific knowledge is still to be gained by going back, what robot missions are being planned as part of the Google Lunar X prize, and do commercial companies hold the key to funding research? Plus, in the news, the electronic lables that can be printed by inkjet, the genes which control how good you are at Maths, and can elephants cry? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Chimps use gestures, climate change stops fish finding friends, gut cells reprogrammed to make insulin, and people prefer shocks to thoughts! Plus Saddle Up! - we look at the science of cyling as the Tour de France comes to the UK, including seeing how long an amateur cyclist can sustain Tour de France speeds, hearing how the bike came by its spokes, and visiting a wind tunnel to learn about the art of aerodynamics... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

From levitating trains and humans to giant, climate-altering balloons, super-steels and earthquake-proof buildings, this month's live show panel reveal the latest advances in extreme engineering. Plus, we get engineering for ourselves, including taking a blowtorch to a paperclip to make metallurgy happen before your eyes... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

England might be out of the World Cup this week, but thousands of fans are still cheering their teams on across Brazil. But how does chanting change the behaviour of a football crowd? Why do free kicks and penalties still come down to good old physics? And how can economists use data from the pitch to see whether discrimination still exists in the beatuiful game? Plus, in the news, why scientists have blown up a mountain in Chile, why you could get addicted to sunshine, and are electronic cigarettes safe? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Alois Alzheimer, who described the first case of the disease now named after him, would have been 150 years old this week. But what have we discovered about the disease since he presented the first Alzheimer's case over 100 years ago? And how can fruit flies, arm hair and video games untangle the most significant threat to our generation? Plus, in the news, how making mosquitoes male could reduce malaria, protecting astronauts from solar radiation, and why is beetle sex a sticky situation... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Freeze Dried Blood! Every day the likes of probiotic "good" bacteria in yoghurts, and even the enzymes in washing powder, give us a helping hand. This week we investigate how scientists are designing new ways to protect and guard these tiny helpers, including new techniques to freeze-dry human blood. Plus, news of how sleep boosts learning, the effects of foetal nerve transplants for Parkinson's, tree-hugging koalas and why negative Facebook friends can make you moody. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Making brainwaves: from how babies' brains develop, to how children learn language and even unravelling the adolescent mind, this month's live show panel of guests walk us through how we learn to learn! Plus, popping balloons shows why teenagers take risks, and some practical tips to improve your short term memory Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We often hear about amazing new medical developments which could improve disease treatment. But what about the ethical considerations involved in deciding how to use these advances? Hannah Critchlow and Ginny Smith discuss how we decide which drugs we can afford and what the limits are on designer babies. Plus how DJ's help get you in the groove, the risk of dengue fever at the World Cup, and how you can win the 10 million Longitude prize! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week we investigate green clean ups. Can nature's recyclers, bacteria and fungi, help us clean up man-made environmental problems from oil spills to mining slag heaps? Plus in the news, how the Gemini Planet Imager is helping astronomers 'see' exoplanets, why pregnant women are at a higher risk of a car crash and why don't octopuses get tied up in knots? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week we look at how our power grids are going to be transformed. From technology which hopes to reduce our energy prices to new ways to include wind and solar power in the grid. Plus, in the news, what Google have up their sleeve for their next smartphone, the proposed takeover of the UK pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, and why AM radio could be sending birds off course... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists