Quick Fire Science, from the Naked Scientists

The Winter Olympics are finishing in Sochi, Russia this week. But it's not just the athletes who've spent the last four years training for the event. Engineers and designers have also been working to reduce times and grab golds on the slopes. In fact, when asked about her gold medal in the Women's Snowboard Cross Eva Samkova from the Czech Republic said "It's just physics, that's all,". To find out more, here's your Quick Fire Science with Kate Lamble and Harriet Johnson. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Last week a young, physically healthy giraffe called Marius in a zoo in Copenhagen was put down, amidst an uproar from animal lovers. The zoo argued that it had to be done to prevent inbreeding, and produce a healthier population of giraffes. Here's your Quick Fire Science on the subject.... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week doctors are trying to bring Formula One Racing Star Michael Schumacher out of a coma which was medically induced following a skiing accident.To find out more about why medically induced comas are thought to help people with brain injuries Here's your Quickfire Science with Kate Lamble and Hannah Critchlow Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Purple tomatoes might soon be making their way onto our dinner plates as the genetically modified fruit is currently being mass produced in Canada. The tomatoes which contain anthocyanin compounds normally found in deeply coloured berries are hoped to place the potential health benefits of blueberries and cranberries in a more affordable crop. To find out more, here's your Quickfire Science on genetically modified health foods with Dave Ansell and Ginny Smith. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Crowd funding programmes like Kick-starter have been used to raise money for music projects and Hollywood films, but now it could even be used to raise funding for long running scientific projects. The so-called Keeling Curve is the world's longest unbroken record of how much carbon dioxide is in the atmosphere, but after funding cuts it's now asking the public to chip in to keep the data going. To find out more about this archive and the gas it measures, here's your Quick Fire Science with Kate Lamble and Dave Ansell. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, Hell literally froze over, as the small Michigan town of Hell experienced temperatures of minus 17 degrees Celsius. And Hell wasn't alone temperatures across the United States have plummeted to record lows as cold air from the Arctic has reached much lower latitudes than is usual. To explain how this has come about, here's your Quick Fire Science about the polar vortices with Kate Lamble and Dominic Ford Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars in August 2012, and it has spent that past 15 months exploring a region of the planet called Gale Crater. This week the team running the rover reported on what they've found so far, and so here's your Quick Fire Science about our planetary next door neighbour with Dominic Ford and Hannah Critchlow. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

The UK government has this week announced changes to its subsidies for renewable energy generation. But how much energy does the UK generate using renewables? Here's your quickfire science on renewable energy with Dominic Ford and Dave Ansell. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week is AIDS Awareness Week. It is thought that, worldwide, 35 million people carry the HIV virus, and although current drugs work well to prevent AIDS, there is no cure in sight. Here's your Quick Fire Science on the history and science of HIV and AIDS, with Kate Lamble and Simon Bishop. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

The 19th November was World Toilet Day. Established in 2001, the event seeks to draw attention to global sanitation and health problems associated with a lack of toilets, and break the taboo associated with the topic. Here's your quick fire science on sanitation and the humble toilet, with Simon Bishop and Dominic Ford. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists