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Probing the weird, wacky and spectacular, the Naked Scientists Special Editions are special one-off scientific reports, investigations and interviews on cutting-edge topics by the Naked Scientists te... more
FAQs about Special Editions:How many episodes does Special Editions have?The podcast currently has 166 episodes available.
June 16, 2025Naked Scientists SOSCambridge University have informed us that, for cost cutting reasons, they intend to make Dr Chris Smith redundant. Naturally, this jeopardises the Naked Scientists programme, which is produced under his role. He will also lose his medical job. We regard this as a terrible decision and we intend to protest. Please listen to this short podcast to hear how you can help. Together we hope we can turn around this terrible decision... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists...more4minPlay
June 05, 2025Insect extinctions, and AI shot in the arm for drug designIn episode 10 of the Cambridge Prisms Podcast, the shocking finding that as many as 2 invertebrate species are going extinct each week in Australia: what can be done? Also, the shot in the arm that AI is administering to the drug discovery industry, how do you measure the microplastic problem, and why climate tipping points are a serious problem for the drinking water industry. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists...more38minPlay
May 23, 2025Storing data with "molecular firecrackers"Your personal data could soon be stored not on a phone or server but locked inside a molecule so tiny it's invisible to the naked eye. Researchers have cracked the code on storing digital information in synthetic molecules called polymers - long chains of anything from plastic to protein made from building blocks known as monomers. Each monomer sends out a unique electrical signal that a special electrochemical technique can decode, turning these tiny sequences into passwords or secret messages. This game-changing technology could redefine data security without relying on traditional storage... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists...more6minPlay
May 19, 2025Brain-invading bacterium is making fruit flies extra friskyWhat if a parasite could rewire your brain - not to harm you, but to make you... more romantic? This week on The Naked Scientists, we're exploring the bizarre world of Wolbachia - a bacterium that turns female fruit flies into mating machines. Marushka Soobben with the story... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists...more5minPlay
May 12, 2025Speedy, soft robot powered by air aloneUsing only soft tubes and a continuous stream of air, a team of researchers at AMOLF in Amsterdam have created one of the fastest and simplest soft robots to date. Marushka Soobben with the story... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists...more7minPlay
April 24, 2025Frog toxicity, and what a year's schooling does to the brainWhat 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...more36minPlay
April 03, 2025What climate change does to kelp forestsIn this episode, how climate change impacts kelp forests, selecting for less animal-friendly variants, refining AI models for better water infrastructure design, classifying extinct marine megafauna and when best to swim with them, the coast consequences of climate change, and why a better understanding of the planet's drylands is critical... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists...more33minPlay
December 24, 2024Personalised medicine, droughts, and dryland researchPersonalised medicine and gene screens for disease, why dinosaurs disappeared, planning for droughts, and new vistas in the drylands arena... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists...more31minPlay
December 20, 2024Evolving flu, and the desert decomposition conundrumPredicting how influenza viruses will evolve, how deserts decompose matter despite the dry, what worms are revealing about a gene linked to autism, and what makes mice fearful of cat smells. Dr Chris Smith talks to the authors of the latest leading research in eLife... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists...more31minPlay
November 01, 2024Cancer mood control, and birth products blocking painThis month, signs that cancers communicate with the brain to alter mood, why antibodies are unreliable in research, evidence that social training can cut stress and boost brain volume, and agents derived from birth products that suppress inflammation and kill pain... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists...more34minPlay
FAQs about Special Editions:How many episodes does Special Editions have?The podcast currently has 166 episodes available.