The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry

By BBC Radio 4

Technology

What's The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry about?

Science sleuths Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Hannah Fry investigate everyday mysteries sent by listeners.

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Back to The Sinister Hand

02.16.2021

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 ...

The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry episodes:

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 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 gravity ...
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 certainly ...
01.26.2021 The Flying Clock and the Stopped Watch 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 is perceived. She stresses 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 the ...
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 range ...
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 Andrew ...
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 definition ...
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, Drs ...
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 ...
06.16.2020 The Seeded Cloud "Could you make a machine to make it rain in minutes?" asks listener Alexander from Hampshire, aged 12. For this series, with lockdown learning in mind, Drs Rutherford and Fry are investigating scientific mysteries for students of all ages. Rutherford ...
06.09.2020 The Growling Stomach "Why do our tummies rumble - and when they do, does it always mean we are hungry?" asks listener James, aged 12. For this series, with lockdown learning in mind, Drs Rutherford and Fry are investigating scientific mysteries for students ...
06.03.2020 We’re back! Rutherford & Fry are back with longer duration episodes brought to you from slightly shouty socially distanced studio and bedroom settings.
03.06.2020 The Exotic Wormhole "What are wormholes and do they really exist?" asks Manlee-Fidel Spence, aged 12. In this exotic episode, the doctors investigate how wormholes would work. Cosmologist Andrew Pontzen explains why wormholes could allow you to travel through time as well as ...
02.28.2020 A Cold Case Part 2 Two cold callers feature in this episode. Jennifer Langston from Ontario in Canada sent this message to [email protected]: "My husband has just taken up cold water swimming and he'll swim in temperatures as low as 6 degrees Celsius. I worry ...
02.21.2020 A Cold Case Part 1 “I suppose a cold is called a cold because we catch it in the winter," writes Alison Evans from St Albans. "But why is it that we get more colds in winter than in the summer?” This week's Cold Case ...
02.14.2020 The ASMRnswer "My question is about something I became aware of at a young age," explains Samantha Richter from Cambridgeshire. "I was sitting on the carpet at school, being read a story by the teacher. My hair felt as though it was ...
02.14.2020 Hannah's ASMR cocktail Hannah Fry mixes a mojito. This ASMR recording accompanies the episode of The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry on the science of ASMR. Listen to that first, then grab some headphones and let us know if it gives you ...
02.14.2020 Adam's ASMR cocktail Adam Rutherford concocts an Old Fashioned. First listen to our episode on ASMR, then grab some headphones and let Adam mix you a cocktail. Let us know if it gives you the brain tingles, or any other kind of reaction, ...
02.07.2020 The Power of Love Two questions about love and heartbreak in this episode for our Valentine's special edition. Jessica Glasco, aged 29, wrote in to ask about the power of love and how it affects our brain. Hannah tracks down Dr Helen Fisher, who ...
01.31.2020 The Golden Secret "How do you make gold?" asks curious listener, Paul Ruddick. Inspired by the promise of riches, Hannah and Adam embark on a mission to discover the origin of gold. It's a tale that takes them from the clandestine codes of ...
01.24.2020 We’re Back! Rutherford & Fry reveal which of your questions they’ve chosen for Series 15. Plus they select more of their favourite strange-but-true science papers, including how to use mathematics to challenge a parking fine and training tortoises to yawn.
12.09.2019 The End of the World "What would become the dominant species if, or when, humans go extinct?" This cheery question leads Drs Rutherford and Fry to embark on an evolutionary thought experiment. Zoologist Matthew Cobb questions whether humans really are the dominant species. Ecologist Kate ...
11.22.2019 The Trouble Sum Weather "Why is it so difficult to predict the weather?" asks Isabella Webber, aged 21 from Vienna. "I am sure there are many intelligent meteorologists and it seems rather straight forward to calculate wind speed, look at the clouds, and data ...
11.15.2019 The Heart of the Antimatter "How do you make antimatter?' asks Scott Matheson, aged 21 from Utah. The team takes charge of this question with a spin through the history of antimatter. Adam talks to physicist Frank Close, author of 'Antimatter', about its origins in ...
11.08.2019 Stephen Fry's Identity Crisis Stephen Fry (no relation) asks Adam and Hannah to investigate the following question: "All my life I have been mildly plagued by the fact that I have a quite appalling ability to remember faces. I cut people I should know ...
11.01.2019 A Frytful Scare Part 2 Rutherford and Fry delve into the history of roller coasters in the second instalment of their investigation into why we enjoy being scared. Amelie Xenakis asks: "Why do people enjoy roller coasters? I am a thrill-seeker and I am always ...
10.25.2019 A Frytful Scare Part 1 It was a dark and stormy night around the time of Halloween. 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 ...
10.18.2019 Curious Cases Returns Rutherford and Fry are back with Series 14. In an extended podcast trailer they discuss their favourite strange-but-true scientific studies, from jetlagged hamsters to flatulent snakes. Presenters: Hannah Fry, Adam Rutherford Producer: Michelle Martin
05.03.2019 Jurassic Squawk "Is there is any way of knowing what noises, if any, dinosaurs would have made?" asks Freddie Quinn, aged 8 from Cambridge in New Zealand. From Jurassic Park to Walking with Dinosaurs, the roars of gigantic dinosaurs like T.Rex are ...
04.26.2019 The Lunar Land Pt2 In the second installment of our double episode on the Moon we ask what life would be like if we had more than one Moon. From the tides to the seasons, the Moon shapes our world in ways that often ...
04.19.2019 The Lunar Land Pt 1 A double episode to mark the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, and the first humans to walk on the Moon. Harley Day emailed [email protected] to ask “Why do we only have one Moon and what would life on Earth be ...
04.12.2019 An Instrumental Case “We play many musical instruments in our family. Lots of them produce the same pitch of notes, but the instruments all sound different. Why is this?” asks Natasha Cook aged 11, and her Dad Jeremy from Guelph in Ontario, Canada. ...
04.05.2019 The Periodic Problem "Will the periodic table ever be complete?" asks Philip Craven on Twitter. In 2016 four new chemical elements were given the official stamp of approval - nihonium, moscovium, tennessine, and oganesson. And 2019 was named by the UN as the ...
03.29.2019 The Mesmerist “Is hypnosis real, and if so how does it work? Does it have any practical uses and which of Hannah and Adam is most susceptible?” This question came from two Curios, Peter Jordan aged 24 from Manchester and Arran Kinnear ...
03.22.2019 Coming Soon – More Curious Cases Hannah and Adam return to crack open the Curious Cases they’ll be examining during the coming series, from the sound of musical instruments to the science of hypnosis. Please send your questions for future episodes and entries for Curio of ...
12.21.2018 The Horrible Hangover "My name is Ava and I've never had a hangover," writes Ava Karuso. "I'm a 25 year-old Australian and I enjoy going out for drinks. However, the next day when everyone else sleeps in and licks their wounds, I get ...
12.14.2018 The Good Bad Food “Why does bad food taste so good?” asks Alan Fouracre from Tauranga, New Zealand. "And by ‘bad’ food, I mean the things we are told to hold back on like sausage, chips and chocolate." From sugar to salt and fat, ...
12.07.2018 Two Infinities and Beyond Part 2 This is the second part of our eternal quest to investigate infinity, inspired by this question from father and son duo Sorley and Tom Watson from Edinburgh: “Is anything in the Universe truly infinite, or is infinity something that only ...
11.30.2018 Two Infinities and Beyond Part 1 “Is anything in the Universe truly infinite, or is infinity something that only exists in mathematics?” This momentous question came from father and son duo from Edinburgh Sorley aged 10 and Tom, aged adult. It's a subject so big, that ...
11.23.2018 The Stressful Scone "How do accents start and where did they come from?” asks Sachin Bahal from Toronto in Canada. Hannah is schooled in speaking Geordie by top accent coach Marina Tyndall. And Adam talks to author and acoustics expert Trevor Cox about ...
11.16.2018 The Viking Code "Is it true all British people can trace their ancestry to Vikings and how do ancestry DNA tests work?" asks Chloe Mann from Worthing. Genetic ancestry tests promise to reveal your ancestral origins and map your global heritage, but do ...
09.07.2018 A World of Pain "Why do people experience pain differently when they go through the same event?" asks Claire Jenkins from Cwmbran in Wales. Professor of Pain Research, Irene Tracey, welcomes Adam in to the room she calls her 'Torture Chamber'. Burning, electrocuting, lasering ...
08.31.2018 The Random Request Two random questions in this episode. "Is anything truly random, or is everything predetermined?" asks Darren Spalding from Market Harborough. Hannah and Adam go in search of random events, from dice throws to lava lamps. Can we predict the outcome ...

Older episodes

The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry

What's The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry about?

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The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry episodes:

Back to The Sinister Hand

A Weighty Matter Part 2

A Weighty Matter Part 1

The Flying Clock and the Stopped Watch

The Mosquito Conundrum

The Scientific Exploration of Astrology

The Noises That Make Us Cringe

The Pizza Diet

The Good and Bad in Fungi

The Martian Mission

The Hamster Power Hypothesis

We’re back!

The Space Burrito

The Zedonk Problem

The End of Everything

The Sting in the Tail

The Seeded Cloud

The Growling Stomach

We’re back!

The Exotic Wormhole

A Cold Case Part 2

A Cold Case Part 1

The ASMRnswer

Hannah's ASMR cocktail

Adam's ASMR cocktail

The Power of Love

The Golden Secret

We’re Back!

The End of the World

The Trouble Sum Weather

The Heart of the Antimatter

Stephen Fry's Identity Crisis

A Frytful Scare Part 2

A Frytful Scare Part 1

Curious Cases Returns

Jurassic Squawk

The Lunar Land Pt2

The Lunar Land Pt 1

An Instrumental Case

The Periodic Problem

The Mesmerist

Coming Soon – More Curious Cases

The Horrible Hangover

The Good Bad Food

Two Infinities and Beyond Part 2

Two Infinities and Beyond Part 1

The Stressful Scone

The Viking Code

A World of Pain

The Random Request

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