This week, we explore how the food industry uses science to develop new foods that are better for the environment, healthier, and still taste good. The show is produced by Petra Merzan, a student of the Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership, which is funded by UKRI-BBSRC. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

In this week's show, wildfires have now spread to Italy, Canada, and the wine-producing region of France, Bordeaux. These fires produce a peculiar cloud phenomenon called pyrocumulonimbus and scientists plan to fly a jet over these clouds to determine how they operate. Also, we hear how drug-packed nanoparticles can aid brain cancer treatment, the genetic evidence of smallpox in Incan mummies, and how the smell of dad affects infant brain activity... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Are there technologies to remove smoke taint in wine affected by recent wildfires? What's the science behind itching? Can a tortoise survive 10 years locked up in a building? Why might an elderly dog or cat's behaviour change? Does microwaving damage food or reduce vitamin content? Can my blood pressure be affected by a jellyfish sting? Can we harvest energy from space? And is there a cure for neuropathy? Dr Chris Smith and Clarence Ford have the answers... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, our Titan of Science is cell biologist Sara Wickstrom. Her work focuses on how cells communicate with one another to coordinate growth, development, and movement. These insights have just won Sara the Koerber European Science Prize, and, in this episode, she tells us how she will spend her million Euro winnings, and how her discoveries will inform future treatments for diseases like cancer. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

The Space Boffins are on holiday in Bavaria, so where better to hang out than an asteroid impact crater?! The team visit the ReisKrater Museum to find out about the massive asteroid impact that devastated Central Europe 15 million years ago and now serves as an astronaut training ground. They also celebrate Wally Funk; mark 15 years of the Space Boffins podcast; celebrate the Beagle-2 Mars Lander, and an exclusive archive find: a film about the UK's first satellite, Ariel-1... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This time, macho male gorillas trade stature for sperm count, how gambling machines use sound and light to take the sting out of losing, whether babies are born hard-wired to dance, the way bird eggs are adapted to altitude, and the effect of a fever on the stickiness of malaria-infected blood cells... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

In this week's show, wildfires continue to race across the world in Canada, Ireland, Scotland and Italy. Why are they happening, and what can we do to prevent them? Plus, scientists track neighbourhood food consumption from DNA in sewage, the first evidence of an "exomoon" orbiting a planet outside our solar system, and how tiny "algebots" can deliver cancer chemotherapy in the bladder. What makes these critters remote-controlled? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

How can algae microbots deliver drugs for bladder cancer? Why does a helium balloon fly backwards when you hit the brakes in a car? Does the Sun make ash? Will removing your gallbladder affect your cholesterol? Is there a symbiotic relationship between spiders and antelopes? Can cloud seeding affect rainfall? What causes restless legs? Why are global sperm counts dropping? And what holds the universe together? Dr Chris Smith and Clarence Ford have the answers... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, our Titans of Science series continues with neuropsychologist and author Adrian Owen. Adrian's work has focused on determining how different parts of the brain contribute to functions such as cognition and memory, and famously led to him being being able to communicate with a patient in a long-term vegetative state using a brain scanner. Here he retells the story, and explains the basis of what we call consciousness... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Dr Chris Smith and Clarence Ford return to answer your questions. Why do wombats produce cube-shaped droppings? Does sleeping position affect dreams? Can we predict penalty shootout winners? What do penalty statistics show about power vs placement? What are the pros and cons of statins? Is a cloned tree's DNA young or old? Why do golf balls have dimples? Could you outdrive Rory McIlroy on Mars? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists