The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry

The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry episodes:

• 10.02.2023

  Introducing… Uncharted with Hannah Fry

  Behind every line on a graph, there lies an extraordinary human story. Mathematician Hannah Fry is here to tell us ten of them.

  
• 02.14.2023

  The Impossible Number

  There is a bizarre number in maths referred to simply as ‘i’. It appears to break the rules of arithmetic - but turns out to be utterly essential for applications across engineering and physics. We’re talking about the square root...

  
• 02.07.2023

  The Mind Numbing Medicine

  This episode will render you oblivious, conked out and blissfully unaware. It’s about anaesthetics: those potent potions that send you into a deep, deathly sleep. Listener Alicia wants to know how they work, so our sleuths call on the expertise...

  
• 01.31.2023

  The Resurrection Quest

  ‘Can we bring back extinct species?’ wonders listener Mikko Campbell. Well, Professor Fry is pretty excited by the prospect of woolly mammoths roaming the Siberian tundra once more. And everyone is impressed with the science that might make it...

  
• 01.24.2023

  The Puzzle of the Pyramids

  The Great Pyramids of Giza are awesome feats of engineering and precision. So who built them - and how? Was it a mysteriously super-advanced civilization now oddly extinct? Was it even aliens? Nah, course not! Rutherford and Fry...

  
• 01.17.2023

  The Magnetic Mystery

  Magnets are inside loads of everyday electronic kit - speakers, motors, phones and more - but listener Lucas is mystified: what, he wonders, is a magnetic field? Our sleuths set out to investigate the mysterious power of magnets, with...

  
• 01.10.2023

  The Case of the Blind Mind's Eye

  Close your eyes and think of a giraffe. Can you see it? I mean, *really* see it - in rich, vivid detail? If not - you aren’t alone! We’ve had scores of messages from listeners who report having...

  
• 01.05.2023

  Silly Studies: The Pre-Series Teaser

  The new series kicks off very soon! As a little aperitif, Hannah and Adam review some surprising studies published in scientific journals. Warning: contains fruity language and grisly medical scenarios…

  
• 09.20.2022

  The Puzzle of the Plasma Doughnut

  What do you get if you smash two hydrogen nuclei together? Helium and lots of energy. That’s no joke – it's nuclear fusion! Nuclear fusion is the power source of the sun and the stars. Physicists and engineers...

  
• 09.13.2022

  The Riddle of Red-Eyes and Runny-Noses

  Sneezes, wheezes, runny noses and red eyes - this episode is all about allergies. An allergic reaction is when your immune system reacts to something harmless – like peanuts or pollen – as if it was a parasitic invader....

  
• 09.06.2022

  The Problem of Infinite Pi(e)

  Hungry for pi? Chow down on this! Pi is the ratio between a circle’s diameter and its circumference. Sounds dull – but pi turns out to have astonishing properties and crop up in places you would never expect. For...

  
• 08.30.2022

  The Suspicious Smell

  Why are some smells so nasty and others so pleasant? Rutherford and Fry inhale the science of scent in this stinker of an episode. Our sleuths kick off with a guided tour of the airborne molecules and chemical receptors...

  
• 08.23.2022

  The Wild and Windy Tale

  How do winds start and why do they stop? asks Georgina from the Isle of Wight. What's more, listener Chris Elshaw is suprised we get strong winds at all: why doesn't air just move smoothly between areas of high and...

  
• 08.16.2022

  The Case of The Missing Gorilla

  DO WE HAVE YOUR ATTENTION? Good! But how does that work!? Our intrepid science sleuths explore why some things immediately catch your eye - or ear - while others slip by totally unnoticed. Even, on occasion, basketball bouncing...

  
• 08.09.2022

  Silly Studies: The Pre-Series Tease

  We asked you to send us the boldest, barmiest bits of published research you could find and, dear Curios, you didn't disappoint! It’s time for some silly science.

  
• 03.24.2022

  The Colour Conundrum

  The world is full of colour! But, wonders listener Maya Crocombe, ‘how do we see colour and why are some people colour blind?’ Dr Rutherford and Professor Fry set out to understand how special light-sensitive cells in our eyes start...

  
• 03.17.2022

  The Turn of the Tide

  Mathematician Hannah Fry and geneticist Adam Rutherford investigate your everyday science queries. They get stuck into two questions about tides. Lynn Godson wants to know why isn’t high tide at the same time at all points around the...

  
• 03.10.2022

  The Shocking White Hair

  Why does human hair go grey and is it ever possible for it to go white overnight from shock? Hannah and Adam explore why hair goes grey, how much stressful life events and a lack of sleep can speed...

  
• 03.03.2022

  Surprising Symmetries

  Two eyes, two arms, two legs - we’re roughly symmetrical on the outside, but inside we’re all over the place! We just have one heart, which is usually on the left, one liver on the right, one spleen and...

  
• 02.24.2022

  The Weird Waves of Wi-Fi

  We use Wi-Fi every day, but do you know how it works? “Is it waves and science or just some mystical magical force?” wonders listener Abby. Well, our science sleuths are on the case. To help them navigate the...

  
• 02.17.2022

  The Mystery of the Teenage Brain

  ‘Why are teens prone to risky behaviour?’ asks Dr Mark Gallaway, ‘especially when with their friends?’ 13 year old Emma wonders why she’s chatty at school but antisocial when she gets home. And exasperated mum Michelle wants to...

  
• 02.11.2022

  We’re (almost) back!

  Our sci-curious detectives will be investigating a menagerie of mysteries sent in by listeners - from teenage brains to the magic of Wi-Fi and our strangely symmetrical bodies.

  
• 12.23.2021

  Rutherford and Fry on Living with AI: A Future for Humans

  As huge tech companies race to develop ever more powerful AI systems, the creation of super-intelligent machines seems almost inevitable. But what happens when, one day, we set these advanced AIs loose? How can we be sure they’ll have humanity’s...

  
• 12.15.2021

  Rutherford and Fry on Living with AI: AI in the Economy

  The refrain ‘robots will take your job’ is one heard with increased frequency, but how quickly is automation of the labour force really happening and would it really be such a bad thing if many jobs were powered by artificial...

  
• 12.08.2021

  Rutherford and Fry on Living with AI: AI in Warfare

  What if a despotic leader could programme a swarm of drones to kill a set of identified targets with just the push of a button? Due to ever expanding AI capabilities this extreme dystopian vision may not be technically unfeasible....

  
• 12.01.2021

  Rutherford and Fry on Living with AI: The Biggest Event in Human History

  Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already ubiquitous in our lives. It curates our nightly TV entertainment, connects us to our friends online and navigates us, mostly successfully, to our destinations. However these uses are just the beginning, and it will likely...

  
• 11.11.2021

  The Venomous Vendetta

  Whilst watching a documentary about some poisonous frogs, Curio Janni in Amsterdam, started to wonder what would happen if a frog licked itself or another frog of the same species. She asks Dr Adam Rutherford and Professor Hannah Fry...

  
• 11.04.2021

  The Slippery Situation

  'What is the slipperiest thing in the world?' asks 8 year old Evelyn. Why do my feet slip on a wet floor but when my feet are even slightly moist it's nearly impossible to put on a pair of...

  
• 10.28.2021

  The Painless Heart

  Why does my heart not ache after exercise? asks listener Keith. Rutherford and Fry explore how and why heart muscle cells are special. Dr Mitch Lomax is a sports scientist at the University of Portsmouth. She helps actual Olympic swimmers...

  
• 10.21.2021

  The Weirdness of Water Part 2/2

  “I don’t really understand why water has so many properties on different scales ranging from very large and cosmic to very small quantum and quarky - Could you help by zooming in and out on water to explain what is...

  
• 10.14.2021

  The Weirdness of Water Part 1/2

  “I don’t really understand why water has so many properties on different scales ranging from very large and cosmic to very small quantum and quarky - Could you help by zooming in and out on water to explain what is...

  
• 10.07.2021

  The Guiding Hound

  How do guide dogs know where they're going? It's not like their handler whispers in their ear and asks to go to the pharmacy, maybe the toothpaste aisle. So how does it work? asks Charlotte, aged 42. Dogs and...

  
• 09.30.2021

  We’re back!

  Rutherford and Fry are back in the business of solving your science queries and rooting out the quirks and conundrums of everything that is science!

  
• 02.23.2021

  More Frytful Scares

  It was a dark and stormy night. A secret message arrived addressed to Rutherford & Fry from a mysterious woman called Heidi Daugh, who demanded to know: "Why do people like to be scared? For example, going on scary amusement...

  
• 02.16.2021

  Back to The Sinister Hand

  Why are some people left-handed, whereas the majority are right handed? Rutherford and Fry revisit The Sinister Hand episodes to further investigate handedness in humans and animals. They considered cockatoos, chimpanzees and Hannah's dog, Molly, to discover that humans are...

  
• 02.09.2021

  A Weighty Matter Part 2/2

  The doctors continue their investigation into gravity, and answer Peter Fraser’s question: Is dark matter a proper theory or just a fudge to fit existing 'proper' theories to otherwise inexplicable observations? Whilst scientists are pretty convinced our understanding of...

  
• 02.02.2021

  A Weighty Matter Part 1

  The doctors investigate a millennia-old query, as listener Emma in New Zealand asks: ‘How does gravity pull us?’ People have been thinking about how gravity works for a very long time. Way longer than when that particular apple almost...

  
• 01.26.2021

  The Flying Clock and the Stopped Watch

  Do individuals perceive time differently? Psychologist and presenter of All in the Mind, Claudia Hammond wrote the book ‘Time Warped – Unlocking the Mysteries of Time Perception’. She explains how emotion and memory are big factors in how time...

  
• 01.19.2021

  The Mosquito Conundrum

  The doctors put mosquitoes on trial, as listener Cathy in the UK asks, ‘What is the point of mosquitoes?’ in response to our show about wasps. Mosquitoes have undeniably played a role in killing millions of people. Malaria is...

  
• 01.12.2021

  The Scientific Exploration of Astrology

  Astrology – could there be something to it? asks Dan from Australia. Rutherford and Fry investigate the science that has investigated astrology. Professor Richard Wiseman, (sceptical of all things paranormal and a Virgo) and Professor in the Public Understanding of...

  
• 01.05.2021

  The Noises That Make Us Cringe

  Why do some people find noises like a fork scraping a plate so terrible? asks Findlay in Aberdeenshire. Rutherford and Fry endure some horrible noises to find out the answer. Warning - This episode contains some horrible sounds Trevor Cox,...

  
• 12.29.2020

  The Pizza Diet

  Can I make a pizza that contains my recommended daily intake of everything? asks listener Paul in Manchester. We investigate whether a pizza can meet our full dietary requirements. The optimum diet for humans has been long contested. From William...

  
• 12.22.2020

  The Good and Bad in Fungi

  "Why are some fungi helpful and others harmful?" asks Paul Glaister in Reading. Rutherford and Fry try to outdo each other with fungal top trumps to get to grips with the answer. Decomposition ecologist Lynne Boddy, Professor of Microbial Ecology...

  
• 12.15.2020

  The Martian Mission

  What would it take for humans to live permanently on Mars? asks Martin in Weston-super-Mare, UK. The doctors dig into requirements and possibilities of a long-term Martian outpost. We know that many missions to Mars have failed, for a...

  
• 12.08.2020

  The Hamster Power Hypothesis

  "How many hamsters on wheels would it take to power London?" asks Judah from Virginia in the USA. Rutherford & Fry return with engineering, ethics and economics to answer this electric query. Smart grid engineer Lynne McDonald helps keep the...

  
• 12.01.2020

  We’re back!

  Rutherford and Fry are back in the business of solving your science queries and rooting out the quirks and conundrums of everything that is science!

  
• 07.14.2020

  The Space Burrito

  Is there a point in space where the Sun could heat a burrito perfectly? asks Will. The doctors tackle this and a plethora of other conundrums from the Curious Cases inbox. Featuring expert answers from: Astrophysicist Samaya Nissanke Cosmologist...

  
• 07.07.2020

  The Zedonk Problem

  ‘Today I learnt that tigons and ligers are what you get when lions and tigers interbreed?!’ surprised listener Jamz G tells the doctors. ‘What determines whether species can interbreed?’ Geneticist Aoife McLysaght studies molecular evolution. She explains the modern...

  
• 06.30.2020

  The End of Everything

  Everyone knows about the Big Bang being the beginning of the universe and time - but when and how is it going to end? ask brothers Raffie and Xe from Rome. For this series, with lockdown learning in mind,...

  
• 06.23.2020

  The Sting in the Tail

  "What’s the point of wasps?" asks listener Andrew, who is fed up with being pestered. For this series, with lockdown learning in mind, Drs Rutherford and Fry are investigating scientific mysteries for students of all ages. Do wasps do anything...