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Each week we set out to solve one of the world's weirdest, wackiest, funniest and funkiest scientific puzzles. And along with the answer there's a brand new question to think about for next time...... more
FAQs about Question of the Week, from the Naked Scientists:How many episodes does Question of the Week, from the Naked Scientists have?The podcast currently has 669 episodes available.
July 13, 2020Why do hospitals need so much PPE?Carol got in touch to ask "The government has provided more than a billion items of PPE to hospitals. There have been 130,000 COVID cases in hospitals, about 10,000 items of PPE per patient. Can you find out why so much?" Eva Higginbotham put the question to medic Isabelle Cochrane... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists...more4minPlay
July 06, 2020Why does coffee dissolve so fast?Neerav wanted to know why some things dissolve faster than others, so we spoke to University of Cambridge chemist Ljiljana Fruk to find out... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists...more4minPlay
June 29, 2020How alike are the kids of identical twins?Sam got in touch to ask: "If identical twin brothers marry identical twin sisters, and each of those couples has a child, will those two children be like twins?" Eva Higginbotham put the question to Tessa Bertozzi - a geneticist at the University of Cambridge. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists...more4minPlay
June 15, 2020Why aren't planes dimpled like golf balls?Darren got in touch to ask us: "Golf balls are dimpled to disrupt the air around the ball. As far as I can gather, this reduces their drag and allows them to fly further than they would if they were perfectly round. Why do we not see dimpled cars, aircraft, and trains? If this effect is so effective for golf balls, why not use it on Formula 1 cars, for instance?"Adam Murphy went looking for a hole-in-one to this question, and spoke to Sam Grimshaw from the Whittle Lab at the University of Cambridge... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists...more4minPlay
June 08, 2020Could saponins help fight coronavirus?We've been hunting down the answer to this questions from Denise: "There are plants that contain saponins and were used by Australian aboriginal people as bush medicine. Is there any research on the antiviral properties of saponins in, for example, Australian Acacia species, or other plants?" Eva Higginbotham spoke with Maher Mohamed Abed El Aziz from the University of Tripoli in Libya, and Anthony Davenport from the University of Cambridge, to find the answer. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists...more4minPlay
June 01, 2020Has life changed on the ISS due to COVID-19?We're blasting off to the International Space Station to answer this question from listener Fady: "has life changed for astronauts on the ISS due to coronavirus, and are astronauts still allowed to be sent to and from the ISS?" Phil Sansom roped in flight surgeon Filippo Castrucci from the European Space Agency... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists...more4minPlay
May 26, 2020How do electrons flow in electric current?Rakesh got in touch with this question: "Typically when electrons flow for the electric current, do they come out from the atoms and flow as electric current? Is it not true that when electrons come out from atoms light and energy is released? So why don't electric wires change their colours?" Eva Higginbotham got in touch with Dr Ankita Anirban to find out the answer... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists...more4minPlay
May 19, 2020Do we all have the same skin sensitivity?Matt got in touch with this question: "Do all humans have the same number of nerve endings in their skin, and if so, do those of us who are bigger, either taller or fatter, have reduced sensitivity in a given area of skin?" Eva Higginbotham spoke with Professor Francis McGlone from Liverpool John Moores University to feel out the answer... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists...more4minPlay
April 20, 2020How do C-section babies get their microbiome?Pavel asked us "On one of the Naked Scientists programmes it was mentioned that a newborn baby has initially sterile intestines and gets most of its microbiome during the passage through the uterus and vagina. What happens to children that are brought into this world via caesarean?" We reached out to Peter Brocklehurst from the University of Birmingham to find out... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists...more4minPlay
April 06, 2020Can frogs survive in a sealed terrarium?Listener Jon sent us this question: "I just purchased some dart frogs which need to live in high humidity conditions. In order to attain this we basically sealed off the terrariums. The question is whether a really sealed terrarium could provide enough oxygen for the frogs through plant photosynthesis alone. Who would win: the frogs or the plants?" Phil Sansom got the answer to this 'pet peeve' from plant scientist Stephanie Smith... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists...more4minPlay
FAQs about Question of the Week, from the Naked Scientists:How many episodes does Question of the Week, from the Naked Scientists have?The podcast currently has 669 episodes available.