Naked Scientists Special Editions Podcast

  • Author: Vários
  • Narrator: Vários
  • Publisher: Podcast
  • Duration: 173:06:58
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Synopsis

Probing the weird, wacky and spectacular, the Naked Scientists Special Editions are special one-off scientific reports, investigations and interviews on cutting-edge topics by the Naked Scientists team.

Episodes

  • Meet the Octobot - the soft robot octopus

    24/08/2016 Duration: 05min

    Imagine a robot. I'm guessing, after decades of droids and terminators, that the machine you're picturing is something metal, rigid and human-shaped. But this type of robot can only do so much. What we need are soft-skinned robots and this is precisely what a team of Harvard University researchers have built: an autonomous, 3D printed octopus-shaped soft robot nicknamed "octobot." Lucka Bibic spoke with Michael Wehner about their latest invention Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

  • Empathy speeds up learning

    22/08/2016 Duration: 04min

    Although empathy is often associated with traits like helpfulness and generosity, not a lot is known about how helpful behaviour and empathy might be linked in the brain. Now, scientists have pinpointed part of the brain thought to drive us to learn how to be more helpful. The findings also suggest that people with higher levels of empathy are quicker to learn what they need to do to help. Patricia Lockwood and her team measured participants' brain activity in an MRI scanner while they tried to win money - either for themselves, or for another person, as she explained to Laura Brooks... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

  • Why does female fertility fall with age?

    11/08/2016 Duration: 05min

    It's a well-known fact that, as a woman ages, her chances of falling pregnant drop. And this seems to be driven by a fall in the quality of the eggs that she produces. Why this happens though, in an otherwise healthy individual, is a mystery. Now Francesca Duncan, who studies female fertility at Northwestern University, has discovered that older ovaries contain large amounts of fibrous tissue produced by inflammation, and this appears to be harming the ability of the ovary to nurture healthy eggs Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

  • Sunflowers dance to their own beat

    10/08/2016 Duration: 04min

    It's summertime and fields are filled with sunflowers, devotedly following the rising sun. But why do they do it? This is a question that scientists at the University of California, Davis, have striven to answer and Dr Stacey Harmer thinks she has the answer as she explained to Lucka Bibic... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

  • Dinosaurs stuggled with arthritis

    09/08/2016 Duration: 05min

    For the first time, scientists have found a type of arthritis in dinosaurs and this is important because these creatures have an amazing ability to heal themselves from diseases that would normally kill you and me. So, if we can look to animals like this, we might come up with a way to aide and abet healing in groups such as our own, the mammals. Graihagh Jackson caught up with Dr Jennifer Ann, who made the discovery Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

  • Zika vaccine breakthrough

    08/08/2016 Duration: 04min

    Cases of Zika virus infection in Florida are continuing to rise, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have issued travel advice urging pregnant women not to travel to certain parts of the country. The good news is that scientists testing three new types of Zika vaccine have found that they all work safely and rapidly in monkeys. One of the vaccines is made from killed virus grown in culture, another is based on a small piece of DNA containing the genetic information coding for the outer coat of Zika, and the third is made by adding part of that same outer coat to a common cold... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

  • Great Red Spot storm warms up Jupiter

    08/08/2016 Duration: 06min

    Jupiter is the largest planet in our Solar System - a massive 318 times heavier than Earth - and it has been quite the 'hot spot' for news recently. NASA's Juno probe entered into orbit around Jupiter at the beginning of July, while in a new finding, it appears the famous 'Great Red Spot' is kicking up a bigger storm than first imagined. Telescope in hand, Claire Armstrong sought to catch a glimpse of the gas giant in the night sky, as explained by NASA's Jack Connerney and David Rothery from the Open University. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

  • Data Mining Helps Pneumonia Diagnosis

    04/08/2016 Duration: 04min

    Childhood pneumonia is the number one killer of children under the age of five worldwide. The disease is a particular challenge for those living in developing countries, where there is a lack of clinical expertise and appropriate equipment to diagnose the disease. Adopting a technique called machine learning, scientists at Oxford University have taken clinical data from children with pneumonia to 'teach' a machine to identify critical symptoms and diagnose future cases. This machine can be something as easily distributed as a mobile phone, giving those who don't have easy access to doctors... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

  • New anti-cancer patch

    03/08/2016 Duration: 04min

    One in 20 people develop colorectal cancer in their lifetime, making it the second-most common form cancer in Europe. Surgery is an option for treatment, but this can result in incomplete removal of the tumour. Now, researchers from MIT have developed a hydrogen patch with three types of therapy applied directly to the tumour itself. Their anti-cancer patch was tested on lab mice and caused the cancer to go into complete remission. Lucka Bibic attempted to uncover some of the patch's secrets from researcher Dr Natalie Artzi from MIT... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

  • Chewing robot lives on a paleodiet

    20/07/2016 Duration: 04min

    Researchers at the University of Helsinki have developed a chewing robot to study the tie between tooth wear and the dietary patterns of animals. Their shiny stainless-steel chewing machine with 3D printed parts can now show how the paleodiet of the animals and their tooth wear rate affected their lifespan as Aleksis Karme explained to Lucka Bibic. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

  • Power of positive thought

    12/07/2016 Duration: 03min

    People who feel well tend to live well. They have a better immunity against infections and lower susceptibility to ill-health. Stress and depression, on the other hand, are linked to poorer functioning of the immune system, weaker responses to vaccination and, overall, higher rates of morbidity. But how a healthy mind makes for a healthy body wasn't known. Now, by artificially stimulating the reward circuitry in the brains of mice, scientists in Israel have shown that one of the nerve pathways in the body - called the sympathetic nervous system - can directly manipulate the immune system.... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

  • Electronic nose senses pesticides and terrorism threats

    11/07/2016 Duration: 05min

    The most sensitive "electronic nose" ever has been built by scientists in Belgium. The portable "E-nose" uses spongy structures called metal-organic frameworks to pick up minute traces of molecules including harmful nerve gases. Lucka Bibic spoke to inventor Rob Ameloot... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

  • Royal Society Summer Exhibition

    10/07/2016 Duration: 07min

    It's summertime again and along with ice cream, sunburn and our other favourite British traditions, it's time for the Royal Society's Summer Science Exhibition, in London. We've been to see what's been going on Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

  • Cyborg Cardiac Patch

    07/07/2016 Duration: 04min

    A system for growing heart cells on a microscopic silicon grid that can eavesdrop on their electrical behaviour is giving scientists a much clearer picture of how the heart works and providing a way to test new drugs much more safely. Long term it could lead to the creation of a cardiac repair patch that could be "pasted in" to replace or control damaged heart tissue. The work's taking place in the lab of Harvard's Charles Lieber and he told Chris Smith about what they've been up to... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

  • Getting every last drop

    06/07/2016 Duration: 03min

    Days of squeezing the last drop from your shampoo bottles are over! Thanks to researchers from the US, we now have a material which allows sticky liquids to flow freely AND this has big implications for recycling, as Philip Brown explained to Lucka Bibic... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

  • Life-saving helium discovery

    05/07/2016 Duration: 03min

    Helium is the stuff that goes into party balloons and is also an essential ingredient in hospital MRI scanners. Most people have heard of helium but not many realise that we're in danger of running out of it. Luckily, Jon Gluyas from Durham University, has come up with a new way of finding it. Claire Armstrong spoke to him to hear how... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

  • Juno probe plunges into Jupiter

    04/07/2016 Duration: 04min

    Today, NASA's Juno spacecraft has plunged into uncharted territory, flying closer to Jupiter than we've ever been before. Graihagh Jackson spoke to co-investigator of the Mission, Professor Stan Cowley from Leceister University... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

  • Two Zika vaccine candidates discovered

    03/07/2016 Duration: 04min

    Back in February the World Health Organisation declared the zika virus epidemic in Brazil to be a public health emergency of international concern. At the top of the list was the link between Zika infection and babies being born with microcephaly or an abnormally small head. Now scientists in the US have taken the first steps towards developing a much-needed vaccine, which they've so far tested successfully on mice. Dan Barouch from Harvard University spoke to Chris Smith... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

  • Solar powered jet makes historic crossing

    29/06/2016 Duration: 05min

    Solar Impulse is a unique plane, powered not by jet fuel, but solar energy and it is currently on a record-breaking tour around the world. But how does that plane work and what is it like to fly? What happens when the sun begins to fade and the nigh falls over the ocean? Can a solar plane keep flying? Lucka Bibic caught up with co-pilot Andre Borschberg to ask about his green aviation mission. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

  • Mini-guts for testing cystic fibrosis theraphy

    29/06/2016 Duration: 05min

    Cells collected from the intestines of patients with the disease cystic fibrosis can be grown in the laboratory dish to produce balls of cells that scientists are calling mini guts. These can be used to test a series of new cystic fibrosis drugs that are now entering the clinic. But because these agents don't work on everyone, finding out who will benefit can mean a laborious trial for the patient. Mini guts on the other hand take just a few weeks to grow and give results in just days or hours. Jeffrey Beekman, from the Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, Utrecht, invented the technique... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

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