Naked Scientists Special Editions Podcast

You can forget Jurassic Park because actually dinosaurs are all around us! And I'm not joking because the fact is that when you see a chirping bird, you're actually looking at a modern dinosaur. Evidence has been growing for some time that our feathered friends are descended from small carnivorous dinosaurs called therapods. For example, the arrangement of bones in a bird's fingers, encased in the wing, is very similar to the bones in fossilised therapods. But there are still some biologists who study early development, as a chick grows in an egg, who aren't convinced by the dinosaur story.Now... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Hydrogen is regarded as an excellent candidate future fuel on the grounds that it is relatively easy to store and it burns cleanly to produce only heat and water. But present methods of production involve fossil fuels and are energy intensive, offsetting any benefits of the hydrogen. Instead, scientists would like to use electricity from renewable sources to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, with solar power being one obvious choice. Unfortunately, current silicon-based cells cannot produce a sufficiently high output voltage individually, meaning that several of them need to be linked... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We've all heard that whales and dolphins have a highly developed way of making sounds to communicate with each. However when it come to ordinary fish you'd have thought they're pretty silent things. But you'd be wrong. Marine biologist Erica Staaterman from the University of Miami believes that most animals in the ocean including crabs, lobsters, shrimp and fish make sounds. In a new study she shows, for the first time, that 30 day old baby gray snapper fish speak to each other in order to stick together in the sea. Hannah Critchlow's been hearing from Erica, and her little snappers, over... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

A cardiac arrest is when a person's heart stops beating and they collapse. It affects 30,000 people every year in the UK.The majority of these occur outside the hospital setting and they're frequently fatal. But how should they be managed - by attempting to resuscitate the victim at the scene, or by rushing them to hospital in an Ambulance?Emergency Medicine specialist Bruce Adams, from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio says bringing the patient in is the best call, but Bristol-based emergency medicine consultant Jonathan Benger disagrees and says that calling an... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Are you a strategic decision maker? Is your brain anterior cingulate cortex switched off or on? Are random decisions being made or are you basing them entirely on past experience?Alla Karpova discusses decision-making... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

World leaders had been planning for a world population of about 9 billion by 2050. But now a new analysis, based on fresh data and more advanced statistical methods, suggests that this estimate might be wildly inaccurate and that the real figure might be more than 12 billion, which means population policy might need a major rethink. Adrian Raftery at the University of Washington is the author of the new study... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Wireless connections are everywhere now. Perhaps you're listening to us through your smartphone or laptop, or maybe you have one of those new-fangled smart fridges connected to the internet.Technologists now talk about the internet of things, where objects around us are all connected up using wireless radio technology, and the potential applications are wide-reaching, from labelling banknotes to tiny bio-sensors for monitoring health.But one limiting factor is the size of the radio transmitter - a problem that may have now been solved by engineers in California. They've developed a... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Scientists have been able to alter the emotional associations of memories mice by using a technique called optogenetics, which involves shining lights inside the brain. Roger Redondo explained to Georgia Mills how they reversed emotions at the brain cell level, and what this could mean for treating emotional trauma in humans. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

The karma-sutra for back pain may soon be arriving. Within the UK and abroad, there are striking percentages of men and women that report experiencing back pain, especially in later life, and this may be causing the bedroom to take a backseat for these couples. Now, recent research carried out by Natalie Sidorkewicz from the University of Waterloo, may help bring back the intimacy... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Something bothering you? Don't want to visit a doctor to talk about your problems? An online tool called 'myGRiST' due to be released early next year to the public, aims to assess your risks and help to identify areas where you could improve your overall mental health. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

From 'plastic' solar panels to flexible electronics, and quantum mechanics to regenerative medicine, we found out about the exciting research of the nominated rising star scientists at the British Science Festival... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

You may have heard reports of seemingly healthy young athletes suddenly dropping down dead in the middle of a game. Professor Paulus Kirchhoff from the University of Birmingham studies the genetic defects that lead to this condition- a rare form of heart disease which exercise actually makes worse.At the British Science Festival, Ginny Smith wanted to find out more. She started by asking him how big a problem this condition really is. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Previously undiscovered monuments surrounding the stone circle have been found, using highly advanced geophysical tools and laser scanners in order to search the landscape and identify what lies beneath Stonehenge... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

A 'pocket-doctor' smartphone app may now help to diagnose Parkinson's, a degenerative motor disease, that was previously very difficult to assess. With symptoms such as voice tremors and walking abnormalities, how does the phone application work? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Have you ever heard of someone dying of a broken heart? In fact, it is remarkably common for elderly people who were previously healthy to die soon after their spouse. But why? New research from the University of Birmingham has discovered that it is down to reduced functioning of the immune system during times of stress. This leaves older people susceptible to bacterial infections like pneumonia, which can be deadly. At the British Science Festival, Ginny Smith caught up with Dr Anna Philips and asked her why she had decided to study the health of people after they had lost a loved one. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Octopuses and cuttlefish are well known for their astonishing ability to change colour almost instantaneously. Can we copy this system to create a camouflaging material? John Rogers from the University of Illinois reveals all... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Cancer is one of the world's biggest killers, and current treatments often have terrible side effects. So scientists have begun looking into ways to help the body's own defenses fight back. When have a bacterial or viral infection, our immune systems go into overdrive to tackle the invader and protect our bodies. If it were possible to harness this line of attack and use it against cancer, this could open up a whole new method of treating the disease.At the British Science Festival, Ginny Smith talked to Louise and Vanessa, both PhD students at Birmingham University, about their research on... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Have you ever seen somebody in the street and thought you know them, until you get closer and realise it's a different person entirely. Matching faces to memories or pictures is easier for some people than it is for others. But what happens if you're job is dependent on being able to tell the difference between a 2D face in a photo and a person standing in front of you? Hannah Tooley spoke to Dr Rob Jenkins from the Department of Psychology at York University. He's been studying passport control officers in Australia to see how good these professionals are at it, and the results might surprise... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Stardust returns Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Memory boosting drugs, the military, the legal system and enhancing athletes mental focus and muscle tone. Where should neuroscience stop? How a revolution in technology is bringing an unprecedented flood of information about the brain and with this, concerns over use. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists