Today's Titan is former chair of the UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, and a key figure in the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine which rolled out during the Covid pandemic. Andrew Pollard tells Chris Smith how vaccines work, how public health bodies decide what to protect us against, and how current technology will shape the future of immunisation... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Thanks to John Maher for the answer! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

In this edition of The Naked Scientists: World Malaria Day, and why overseas aid cuts in the US are threatening to cause a crisis; the carnivorous caterpillar dubbed the "bone collector" that steals from spiders; and the biotechnologist attempting to feed astronauts better in space... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Are there signs of life on another planet? Could a shingles vaccine prevent dementia? Do artificial sweeteners increase our appetite? How is obesity measured? Could there ever be a dementia vaccine? Dr Chris Smith and Clarence Ford have all the answers... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

What is the impact of an extra year at school on the brain? Also, how poison dart frogs come by their toxins, using movies to track the developing infant nervous system, the insect-spread bacterial plant parasite that is a mastermind of matchmaking, and a new cancer tool to link disease with the best drugs. Chris Smith takes a look at some of the most powerful papers out this month in eLife... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

In this edition of The Naked Scientists, Titans of Science continues with planetary scientist charged with analysing rock samples brought in from outer space, Sara Russell... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Kiran wants to know how animals like dogs are able to follow commands from humans. James Tytko asked Nicky Clayton, Professor of Comparative Cognition at the University of Cambridge, to help with the answer... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

In this edition of The Naked Scientists: Evidence of a carbon cycle on Mars has been unearthed by the Curiosity rover. What does it mean for the red planet's past habitability? Also, the cannabis-based painkiller as powerful as an opioid, but without the side effects. And, could fashion sense and a primitive sunscreen have been the deciding 'factor 50' which allowed us humans to outlast the Neanderthals... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

In Ask! the Naked Scientist, Dr Chris answers medical enquiries such as: why a pacemaker may cause some discomfort. Why might you get a migraine if you oversleep? And, is pain in the abdomen a sign of kidney failure? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Titans of Science series is back for another run. And to kick us off, marine biologist Richard Thompson, who first brought to the world's attention 20 years ago the problem that is micro - and now nano - plastic pollution... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists