Naked Scientists

Bill sends his question in all the way from Australia. A regular listener, he enjoys our programme through bone conduction headphones. But what are these devices, and does listening to loud sounds through them predispose a person to damaging their hearing in the same way as traditional headphones? James Tytko seeks the answers, with help from audiologist Roger Lewin... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

In this episode of Ask! Dr Chris tells us what causes humiditiy in the air. Why are carbonated drinks bad for your teeth? Does the Naked Scientist know more than AI? Why does hair on our heads grow faster than on other parts of our bodies? Does Earth's magnetic field affect satellite transmissions? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week on The Naked Scientists, we've teamed up with Cambridge University Press and specifically the team behind Research Directions, their suite of new, open access journals that are all about publishing research in a novel and exciting way.Science is, of course, all about asking questions and developing experiments to test hypotheses. But only rarely does a topic have a single facet. Instead, one key question invariably leads to many others; and the answers to these can, as the Research Directions team put it, "assemble into chains of collaborative work".They're asking really important... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Kevin wants to know, assuming many of us will be driving electric cars in the future, what will happen to the vast quantities of petrol currently refined from crude oil? Will we scale back production? Or can industry adapt? To help James Tytko with the answer, we hear from Professor Nilay Shah, Director of the Centre for Process Systems Engineering at Imperial College London... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Dr Chris answers more listener questions, including: How do sunflowers follow the sun? How does the body determine when you're passing wind or something more solid? Why are mosquitos attracted to some people more than others? Why are some people more intelligent than others? Why are humans the only species with advanced intelligence? How intelligent is an octopus? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

In this edition of The Naked Scientists: Samples back from space reveal tantalising insights into where the life-linked chemicals that kick-started biology on Earth could have come from. Also, the impact of China's DeepSeek AI model on society, finance, and the global tech market. And why imported olive trees turn out to be the perfect cover for stowaway snakes and insects... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

It's our final Titans of Science offering of this series, with world-leading cancer expert Charlie Swanton. We'll hear how the latest developments in our understanding of cancer's mechanisms are shaping treatments and preventative measures... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This month, recently-retired BBC space correspondent, Jonathan Amos, and former NASA employee Herb Baker, author of From Apollo to Artemis: Stories from my 50 years with NASA, discuss reporting from a rocket launch, growing up with classmates whose dads are Apollo astronauts, and how material Herb's mother used to fix an aircon unit at home helped her save a Skylab mission. Plus, Richard sees a Soviet-era VA space capsule in the Manx Motor Museum on the Isle of Man... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

How can you use sticks to calculate the circumference of the Earth? Can exfoliators remove your fingerprints? How do plants know which way is up? What dictates the pattern of a cat's stripes? What are hiccups? Can mosquitoes see you? Dr Chris Smith and Dan Corder have all the answers... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

George writes in to ask whether his gum-chewing habits are related to his tinnitus, or whether it's just a coincidence that it comes back when he gets back into the habit. James Tytko investigates, with help from ear, nose and throat doctor Malcolm Hilton... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists