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
-
British Science Festival 2013: Ugly Animal Preservation Society
12/09/2013 Duration: 05minThis week after public vote, the Blobfish was announced to be the world's ugliest animal. The poll was run by Ugly Animal Preservation Society, a group of comedians and scientists who are part of a comedy show aiming to champion some of nature's more aesthetically challenged creatures. Naked Scientist Priya Crosby spoke to president of the society Simon Watt, along with some other members of the cast, to find out more about the project.Warning: This podcast contains one instance of strong, manure-based language. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
-
British Science Festival 2013: Sugata Mitra's School in the Cloud
11/09/2013 Duration: 06minSugata Mitra's 'Hole in the Wall' experiments in a New Delhi slum showed how easily children can learn using the internet, with no adult supervision or guidance. He terms this Minimally Invasive Education, and has since repeated the experiment in many different countries. This year, he has been awarded the TED prize to develop his idea further, so Ginny Smith tracked him down at the British Science Festival to find out more about how children can learn, without a teacher. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
-
Diabetes Management - On your phone!
11/09/2013 Duration: 04minIs real-time blood sugar monitoring on your phone a pipe dream? Not according to Professor Mike Trenell at Newcastle University. Matt Burnett finds out about the diabetic athletes testing a new diabetes monitoring system on a 2100km bicycle tour from Brussels to Barcelona... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
-
Self-Healing Concrete
10/09/2013 Duration: 06minInspired by biological systems that can self-repair, Diane Gardner is working on polymer 'ligaments', micro capsules of regenerative fluid and even embedded bacteria that can help concrete to repair itself when it cracks. The technology has the potential to dramatically increase the lifespan of concrete instillations, reducing their carbon footprint and maintenance costs. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
-
British Science Festival 2013: Healthy Life Simulation
10/09/2013 Duration: 08minThe population of the modern world is ageing. However, not everyone's quality of ageing is equal and simple factors, such as where we live, can have a major impact on how healthy we are in to old age. Peter Gore, Professor of Practice for Ageing and Vitality at Newcastle University is part of a group which is using real people in a simulation to investigate how we can improve our quality of life in to old age. Naked Scientist Priya Crosby spoke to Professor Gore at the British Science Festival 2013 to find out more about how this simulation could change the way that we cope with ageing. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
-
Autism and dancing
10/09/2013 Duration: 06minDancing is a complicated skill, and learning a new routine changes the brain. Ginny Smith caught up with Antonia Hamilton and Emily Cross at the British Science Festival to find out more about their research, and how it might be shedding light on the differences in the way children with autism learn. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
-
British Science Festival 2013: Cosmic Rays and Technology
09/09/2013 Duration: 07minPhysicist Chris Frost explains, at the British Science Festival 2013, how cosmic rays disrupt the everyday technologies we rely on, as he outlines for Naked Scientist Priya Crosby... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
-
British Science Festival 2013: Ceri Brenner, Lasers
09/09/2013 Duration: 06minRutherford Appleton Central Laser Facility scientist Dr Ceri Brenner enlightens Ginny Smith about the world of lasers at the British Science Festival, 2013. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
-
The Science of Spin Bowling
08/08/2013 Duration: 06minToday marks the first day of the fourth test in the Ashes and while England have already retained the urn, they're hoping that their spin bowlers, including the likes of Monty Panesar can help secure a series win.Dominic Ford wanted to find out the science behind spin bowling so he visited the Australian 'spin doctor', Professor Hugh Hunt to bounce some balls around in his office at Trinity College Cambridge Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
-
Diamond Lasers - Just a James Bond fantasy?
08/08/2013 Duration: 06minDiamonds are the new best friends of laser scientists.A new world of lasers is now being created through research which is harnessing the exceptional qualities of diamonds. It will open up new possibilities in the way that lasers can be used in areas such as medicine.Jane Reck from the EPSRC has been finding out more.... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
-
What Makes Plumes on Enceladus - Matt Hedman
01/08/2013 Duration: 05minEnceladus, the tiny Saturnian satellite, regularly issues jets of salty water from its south pole that reaches kilometres in height above the moon's surface. But what drives this process? Gravitational tidal forces caused by an eccentric orbit, it seems. Cornell scientist Matt Hedman has analysed where in the Enceladus orbit the plumes are most pronounced... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
-
The Science of the Working Lunch
01/08/2013 Duration: 06minWe are often encouraged to relax during our lunch break, but research suggests that this can do interesting things to our minds. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
-
Exercise away the risk of stroke?
29/07/2013 Duration: 05minScientists at the University of South Australia have shown that regular exercise can dramatically reduce your risk of having a stroke in later life. Priya Crosby spoke to first author on the paper, Dr. Michelle McDonnell to find out more. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
-
Cycle Safety
29/07/2013 Duration: 06minHow can you make sure you are safe when you cycle? It might be more difficult that you think to ensure cars spot you... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
-
Brain scans to improve autism diagnosis
18/07/2013 Duration: 05minLast week, a group at the University of California, Davis, released a paper which highlights the potential for the use of MRI brain scans in the diagnosis of autism in children. Priya Crosby spoke to first author of the paper, Mark Shen, to find out more. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
-
Giant Water Lily
13/07/2013 Duration: 06minThe Cambridge Botanic Gardens play host to a giant water lily, with leaves a small child can stand on, and a flower that undergos an overnight sex change. Ginny Smith went to talk to Alex Summers about this incredible plant. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
-
National Astronomy Meeting: Thursday
03/07/2013 Duration: 33minDark matter has long been needed by cosmologists to explain how structures like galaxies remain so strongly bound together. Catherine Peymans from the University of Edinburgh tells me about the latest models of dark matter, meanwhile Benoit Famaey and Hongsheng Zhao tell me how they believe that cosmological models can be constructed that don't have any dark matter at all. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
-
The Enigma Machine
02/07/2013 Duration: 06minLast week marked the 101st birthday of the code-breaker and computer scientist Alan Turing, so Ginny Smith met up with James Grime, from the Enigma Project, to find out more about the German code machine that Turing and his colleagues at Bletchley Park worked so hard to crack... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
-
National Astronomy Meeting: Wednesday
02/07/2013 Duration: 31minWhat will the last remaining lifeforms on the Earth look like as the Sun swells to become a red giant star? And why might future robotic explorers of the Moon find themselves engulfed in dust? Both of these questions were discussed at the National Astronomy Meeting today, meanwhile I also had a chance to catch up with some of the amateur astronomers at the conference. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
-
National Astronomy Meeting: Tuesday
01/07/2013 Duration: 30minI find out how the British Geological Survey is investigating the threat that solar storms pose to the world's electricity grids. David Southwood, President of the RAS, tells me that astronomy is about much more than just understanding the Universe: it also has a huge economical impact. And, how is the Dark Energy Survey pinning down the make up of the Universe? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists