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From detecting tumour DNA in our bloodstreams to making cancer cells stand out in an MRI scan, this week, coinciding with the NCRI Cancer Conference, we explore how best ways to detect cancer and monitor tumours during treatment. Plus, in the news, what a dog's wagging tail can tell you about its mood, the chemistry behind fireworks, how wind farms could be made up to 30% more efficient just by moving the turbines around, and the electronic blood that could help to shrink supercomputers...

Live on location at the Cambridge Science Centre, Chris Smith, Dave Ansell, Ginny Smith and guests James Jackson, an Earth Scientist, Tehnuka Ilanko, a volcanologist, and Arwen Deuss, a seismologist, pit their wits against the assembled public as they tackle the extreme Earth. Plus Dave and Ginny make a flame tornado, a volcanic crater and explain why acid rain can be so damaging...

What is the scale of the superbug problem? How much is antibiotic resistance costing? Can new antibiotics be made that cannot be bypassed by bacteria? And what new drugs are already in the pipeline. In this infectious episode of the Naked Scientists, we put the rise of antimicrobial resistance under the microscope and ask what scientists are doing to combat the problem. Plus, why the abominable snowman hasn't been discovered...yeti, 46-million-year-old blood from a fossilised mosquito, phage therapy for C. diff and the brain wash-out that happens when we sleep...

How do you dig a 26 mile tunnel beneath a city and below the water table? This week we drop in on Crossrail, who are busy constructing a new commuter line below the UK capital, to discover how massive tunnels are made in the modern era. Plus, we take a walk along the World's first and oldest tunnel built below a river to hear how it was made, and we find out what present-day tunnelling is turning up of London's past. Also, news of a drug that can repair the brain damage done by multiple sclerosis, and a planet found floating alone in interstellar space...

Live on location at the Cambridge Science Centre, Chris Smith, Dave Ansell, Ginny Smith and guests Rod Jones, an atmospheric chemist, Margaret Stanley, an HPV cancer researcher, and Caroline Goddard, jet engine metallurgist, pit their wits against the assembled public. Plus Dave and Ginny make crisp packet fireworks, prove you can't be heard screaming in space and make an elastic-band-powered fridge...

What's the best way to catch 40 winks? We investigate the science of sleep, including why we need it and why do some people fall asleep at the wrong times? Jason Rhiel tell us how he investigates what makes us sleepy using zebrafish and Mick Hastings explains the effects of shift work on our health. Plus, in the news, nanoparticles deliver vaccines without needles, the 4,000 year old body perfectly preserved in a bog, an animal that can keep track of tides, a new nose grown on a forehead, and nurturing new neurones to treat Parkinson's...

What's the best way to get involved in scientific research from home? Chris Smith and Dominic Ford investigate some of the best citizen science projects which are looking for your help. From categorising galaxies to hunting spiders, mapping your happiness and even discovering the nature of the trillion bacteria in one of your footprints - how will you choose to get involved? Plus, in the news, what a blue whale's earwax can reveal about ocean pollution, Curiosity fails to find methane on Mars, why Raspberry Pi have linked up with Google to boost kids programming skills, and the parasite that stops mice being afraid of cats...

We expose how electricity powers the nervous system. Chris Smith and Hannah Critchlow speak to a panel of experts about why chillis taste hot and mint feels cool, how ion channels could tackle diabetes and the new technique that uses algae could shed light on the brain. In the news, re-programming stem cells in situ, the TV programme that's changing accents 400 miles away, the insects that use natural gears to propel themselves and how you can tell whether a panda is pregnant.

Will fracking bring down energy prices and keep our lights on, or could it be an environmental disaster? Kate Lamble and Ginny Smith speak to a panel of experts about whether fracking could really contaminate water supplies or cause earthquakes. Plus, can methane from Shale Gas extraction contribute to global warming? In the news, whether a country's hygiene is linked to their Alzheimer's rates, why we feel so good when we cheat and how to spot a pregnant panda...

Another special question and answer edition of the show where the team get to grips with your queries, including, cna you dehydrate in a bath? What is tinnitus? What chemicals leak from batteries? Why does water freeze from the top down? Are solar photons making the Earth more massive? And what causes deja vu?