Science(ish)

By Auddy

What's Science(ish) about?

Flâneur and irrepressible commentator, Rick Edwards, and "Indiana Jones in a lab coat" Dr. Michael Brooks, delve into the science behind popular culture.

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Science(ish) episodes:

03.06.2020
8: Episode 100: The Invisible Man
Will we ever be able to turn invisible? The idea of magically disappearing has fascinated humanity for centuries. Once dismissed as impossible, a promising new wave of technologies could bring this dream one step closer to reality. Rick and Michael...
02.28.2020
7: Dark Waters
Have we all been poisoned? PFAS chemicals are all around us and almost certainly in your blood. But just how worried should we be? Michael sits down with Mark Ruffalo and Rob Bilott to talk about the shocking true story...
02.21.2020
6: Robocop
Will we inevitably all become Cyborgs? More than ever, we’re hearing from Silicon Valley types that humans are going to need to merge with machines. But just what would our augmented future look like? Rick and Michael plug in to...
02.14.2020
5: Silence of The Lambs
Why aren’t there more cannibals? Through the unforgettable horror of Silence Of The Lambs, Rick and Michael discover that eating your own has all sorts of surprising evolutionary benefits. So why have humans (for the most part) given it up?...
12.20.2019
4: Star Wars
Is the Force a real thing? Michael takes Rick on a mind bending tour through a galaxy far, far away in Star Wars! Crucial questions will be answered: did Luke Skywalker get his powers from a parasite? Can we use...
12.13.2019
3: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Looking to escape to another reality? Why not try a virtual one? In this episode Rick and Michael get sucked into the world of Jumanji, as they pose the question on everybody's mind's right now, "could we ever live in...
12.06.2019
2: Game Of Thrones (Live)
Rick and Michael go full Westeros at a special live show from the Underbelly comedy festival. So, could you really build an Ice Wall that big without using magic? Could a Dragon really fly and breathe fire? And the big...
11.29.2019
1: Jaws
Is there such a thing as a perfect predator? Rick and Michael kick off Season 5 with the mother of all blockbusters, Steven Spielberg’s 1975 masterpiece Jaws. From a deep dive into the evolution of predation, to a nasty encounter...
03.21.2019
12: History of the World: Part 1
How much does Geography inform History? Why did humanity first emerge where it did? What influence do ancient rock formations have on U.S politics? In the final episode of the season, Rick and Michael try to answer all this and...
03.14.2019
11: Deadpool
Will we ever be able to regrow limbs? The more we learn about the incredible regenerative abilities of salamanders and planarian worms, the closer we come to coaxing our bodies into repairing any injury. Through Marvel’s Deadpool, Rick and Michael...
03.08.2019
10: Inside Out
Personality testing is a multi-billion dollar industry. But how reliable are assessments like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator? Can we really find out which Lord of the Rings character Michael is? Rounding off our animated classics trilogy of animated classics, the...
02.28.2019
9: Antz
Does nature prefer hierarchy? When we look out into nature, we see hierarchical systems everywhere. Is it inevitable that humans follow suit? The lads dive into the 1998 animation Antz to find out why these systems evolved and more importantly,...
02.22.2019
8: WALL-E
Every year we produce over 2 billion tonnes of waste. That figure is only going up. Never before has the question been more pressing: what should we do with all our stuff? From atop a giant pile of broken printers,...
02.14.2019
7: Geostorm
What if we could control the weather? Inspired by the futuristic disaster film Geostorm, the boys delve into the contentious field of geoengineering. Can or should we tinker with the Earth’s climate to mitigate the risks of runaway climate change?...
02.07.2019
6: Icarus
When Bryan Fogel’s 2017 docu-thriller Icarus exposed Russia's Olympic doping programme, it sent shockwaves through the sports community. This week the boys explore the long and bizarre history of doping in sport and the perpetual arms race between the dopers...
01.31.2019
5: Dante's Peak
Without volcanoes there would be no life on Earth. But just how afraid of supervolcanoes - like the one in Yellowstone National Park - should we be? Inspired by 90s disaster movie Dante’s Peak, the boys explore just how bad...
12.20.2018
4: Westworld
What better way to kick off Christmas than a deep dive into the ethics of sex robots? Exploring the science and pitfalls of dystopian drama Westworld, the boys sit down with renowned computer scientist Kate Devlin to discuss her new...
12.14.2018
3: Blindness
Could we be on the cusp of eradicating vision loss? Through the 2008 epidemic thriller ‘Blindness’, the boys explore the mind-boggling complexity of the eye and the conditions that led to its evolution in the animal kingdom. With tens of...
12.06.2018
2: Moonraker
With the declaration of Trump’s ‘Space Force’, the domain of space is ever closer to becoming a new and potentially terrifying theatre of war. Through the Roger Moore classic Moonraker, the boys examine our reliance on vulnerable satellites and the...
11.29.2018
1: Fight Club
To kick off Series 4, Michael asked Rick to hit him as hard as he can… with knowledge! Through the Brad Pitt/Ed Norton classic Fight Club, the boys dive headfirst into the uncomfortable world of pain research. From the world’s...
11.02.2018
33: Is LIGO right?
The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics went to ‘a discovery that shook the world’, gravitational waves. These were detected by the LIGO experiment, a century after Einstein first predicted them. But behind the celebration, another story has been brewing which...
10.19.2018
32: First Man
Just 66 years after the Wright brothers’ first flight, humans somehow managed to put a man on the moon. How did this happen? In this bonus episode, the boys mark the release of the film First Man by delving into...
09.13.2018
31: Pi
Do some numbers have special significance? Inspired by Darren Aronofsky’s film Pi, Rick and Michael explore the greatest numbers known to humankind. From the mercurial zero which medieval Italy declared “illegal”, to the golden ratio that can explain something as...
09.07.2018
30: Doctor Strange
Can meditation change your brain? Rick and Michael take a moment to reconnect with their breath and journey into the mystical science behind the film Doctor Strange. Exploring how monks use meditation to stave off hypothermia and send their gamma...
08.30.2018
29: Frankenstein
Could we create Frankenstein’s monster? The boys celebrate the 200th year anniversary of Mary Shelley’s genre-defining novel with a deep-dive into the underbelly of science: from grave-robbing and re-animating the dead, to the cutting edge of synthetic biology, this episode...
08.23.2018
28: Rounders
Can science beat the casino? Through the Matt Damon-Ed Norton classic Rounders, the boys explore how mathematicians have tried to conquer the world of gambling. From gaming the national lottery to blackjack and roulette, there’s more to probability theory than...
08.16.2018
27: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
What if our universe is just a giant computer? In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy the Earth is just a computer calculating the meaning of life, and in this episode the boys tackle one of the boldest claims of...
08.09.2018
26: The Dead Zone
Are we any good at predicting the future? Through David Cronenberg’s film The Dead Zone, the boys explore the fiendishly difficult science of foretelling the course of history. Why do the professional pundits get it wrong so often? Might you...
08.02.2018
25: Nightmare on Elm Street
‘Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep...’ These iconic words from the 80s classic A Nightmare on Elm Street have got the boys thinking: from sleep paralysis to insomnia to narcolepsy, what’s actually happening when sleep goes wrong? Are we all...
07.26.2018
24: Knight Rider
With the utopian vision of a driverless world hitting the headlines, the boys cut through the hype by exploring the science of fully autonomous vehicles through the TV series Knight Rider. Will we really be better off without humans behind...
07.19.2018
23: Get Out
Does hypnosis work? Science(ish) explores the mend-bending neuroscience behind the Oscar-winning film Get Out. If you think your brain perceives reality in an fixed way, it’s time you opened the door to the world of hypnotic suggestion, trance-inducing handshakes, and...
07.12.2018
22: Enigma
Can we create an unbreakable code? Through the film Enigma, Science(ish) delves into the murky history of cryptography and the hunt for the perfect cipher. Our modern world so fundamentally relies on secure digital communication and yet current ‘state-of-the-art’ encryption...
07.05.2018
21: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Inspired by the latest blockbuster Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, the boys explore the alarming science of extinction. Humans may have conquered the planet, but have we also triggered the “6th Mass Extinction Event”? With the future of life on Earth...
06.29.2018
20: Still Alice
Could we ever cure dementia? Science(ish) takes on one of the biggest public health challenges of the 21st century: unravelling the science of Alzheimer’s disease. From chance discoveries to next generation brain imaging, the search for a cure is now...
06.21.2018
19: Ice Age
Is there another ice age coming? And if so, when? Delving into the science behind the animated film Ice Age, Rick and Michael explore the most fundamental question that we all ponder while eating our breakfast cereal: could we survive...
06.14.2018
18: Good Will Hunting
It’s the question all Science(ish) listeners have asked themselves: what’s makes me a genius? With the all-time classic Good Will Hunting, Rick and Michael explore the neuroscience of truly exceptional intelligence and creativity. Is genius innate or can it be...
06.07.2018
17: Chain Reaction
If Keanu Reeves can create a revolutionary new energy source in the film Chain Reaction, then why can’t we do the same in real life? Rick and Michael tackle the challenge of getting nuclear fusion - the ‘Holy Grail of...
05.31.2018
16: Demolition man
Coming straight from the very 90s classic Demolition Man, Rick and Michael tackle the science of freezing yourself in time: from human cryogenics to anti-freeze frogs who scoff in the face of winter, might we all be signing up to...
05.24.2018
15: Rick and Morty
Rick and Michael delve into the world of the animated sitcom which (very nearly) bears their name: Rick and Morty. It’s time for quantum theory, parallel realities, and the end of physics as we know it in this extra-special LIVE...
05.17.2018
14: Seven Pounds
Donating a kidney to a total stranger you’ll never meet sounds crazy - but then why do hundreds of people voluntarily do it every year? This week Rick and Michael tackle the neuroscience of empathy with the film Seven Pounds....
05.10.2018
13: Contagion
Science(ish) marks the 100-year anniversary of the devastating Spanish Flu outbreak by exploring the real threat behind the film Contagion: How vulnerable are we to the next deadly pandemic? Are we ready for it? And will you stop touching your...
05.03.2018
12: Altered Carbon
Inspired by Netflix series Altered Carbon, Rick and Michael tackle the science behind Silicon Valley’s ultimate wet dream: uploading our minds to a computer. Isn’t it time you moved beyond your pathetic human biology and treated yourself to an upgrade? Featuring:...
04.26.2018
11: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Could we reverse ageing and live forever? Science(ish) confronts our own mortality and explores the growing field of research which is bringing The Curious Case of Benjamin Button closer to reality. Might immortality be possible? And what would you be...
04.19.2018
10: The Machine Stops
Inspired by the 109-year-old novel ‘The Machine Stops’ which remarkably predicted the internet as we know it today, Rick and Michael explore whether someone could ever switch our machine off - and if the internet might someday ‘wake up’? Featuring: Prof...
04.12.2018
9: Dr Strangelove
With the Doomsday Clock now at two minutes to midnight, the boys go nuclear and explore the legendary political satire Dr. Strangelove. Could Trump fire off a nuke like he fires off a tweet? And how close are we to...
04.05.2018
8: The Cell
Through the sci-fi horror ‘The Cell’, Rick and Michael delve into the murky ‘grey zone of consciousness’ which separates life from death. Their quest: to discover if we could communicate with someone in a coma. Featuring: Prof Adrian Owen See acast.com/privacy...
03.29.2018
7: The Day of the Triffids
A treat for all the vegans out there. Rick and Michael tackle John Wyndham’s ‘The Day of the Triffids’, exploring whether plants can think, feel, and learn. And of course, the most fundamental question of all: who’s the real master...
03.22.2018
6: Hackers
With the help of a real-life hacker, Rick and Michael go worldwide(web) by asking 'how vulnerable are we to hackers?'. We're talking Stuxnet, the internet of things, and baby monitors that talk back. Featuring: Jake Davis (formerly; Topiary of Anonymous) See...
03.15.2018
5: Limitless
Michael decides it’s time to get cerebral and opts for Neil Burger’s ‘Limitless’. We’re talking brain myths, we’re talking nootropics, and of course, we’re talking/taking modafinil. Featuring: Professor Barbara Sahakian See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad...
03.08.2018
4: Flatliners
The boys go deadly serious with 1990 sci-fi classic ‘Flatliners’. Brain death, consciousness, and everything in between. Featuring: Professor Leslie Whetstine Produced By: Max Sanderson Sound Designer: Ivor Manley See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's Science(ish) about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Science(ish) episodes:

8: Episode 100: The Invisible Man

7: Dark Waters

6: Robocop

5: Silence of The Lambs

4: Star Wars

3: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

2: Game Of Thrones (Live)

1: Jaws

12: History of the World: Part 1

11: Deadpool

10: Inside Out

9: Antz

8: WALL-E

7: Geostorm

6: Icarus

5: Dante's Peak

4: Westworld

3: Blindness

2: Moonraker

1: Fight Club

33: Is LIGO right?

32: First Man

31: Pi

30: Doctor Strange

29: Frankenstein

28: Rounders

27: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

26: The Dead Zone

25: Nightmare on Elm Street

24: Knight Rider

23: Get Out

22: Enigma

21: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

20: Still Alice

19: Ice Age

18: Good Will Hunting

17: Chain Reaction

16: Demolition man

15: Rick and Morty

14: Seven Pounds

13: Contagion

12: Altered Carbon

11: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

10: The Machine Stops

9: Dr Strangelove

8: The Cell

7: The Day of the Triffids

6: Hackers

5: Limitless

4: Flatliners