Most of us are aware that an asteroid strike led to the extinction of the dinosaurs some 66 million years ago. But fewer are aware that this was just one of several mass extinction events to have occurred throughout the Earth’s history.

In this episode we catch up Prof Michael Benton, a palaeontologist based at the University of Bristol and author of the new book Extinctions: How Life Survives, Adapts and Evolves.

He tells us all about the previous extinctions that have changed the balance of life on Earth, how they happened and what we can learn about the future of the planet by studying them.
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What mass extinctions can teach us about the future of life on Earth

Whether you’re curious about getting healthy, the Big Bang or the science of cooking, find out everything you need to know in under 30 minutes with Instant Genius. The team behind BBC Science Focus Magazine talk to world-leading experts to bring you a bite-sized masterclass on a new subject each week.

New episodes are released every Monday and Friday and you can subscribe to Instant Genius on Apple Podcasts to access all new episodes ad-free and all old episodes of Instant Genius Extra.

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Have you ever had a difficult decision to make and after much thought and deliberation decided that you should sleep on it and see how you feel in the morning? I’d venture most of us have at one point or another. But is there any science to back up this common habit?

In this episode, the second of a two-part series, I speak to neurosurgeon and bestselling author Rahul Jandial about his new book This is Why You Dream: What your sleeping brain reveals about your waking life.

We talk about the strange phenomenon of sleep paralysis, how the dreaming brain can work alongside the waking brain to help us solve problems, and what we can learn from the weird and wonderful phenomenon of lucid dreaming.
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How dreaming affects our creativity

The chances are most of us will remember at least one dream we’ve had recently. But where do dreams come from, why is their content often universal across different cultures, and what can we learn from studying nightmares?

In this episode, the first of a series of two, I speak to neurosurgeon and bestselling author Rahul Jandial about his new book This is Why You Dream: What your sleeping brain reveals about your waking life.

We talk about what’s going on in the different areas of our brains when we dream, how the dreaming brain differs from the waking brain, and the intimate links that exist between our emotions, imagination and ability to dream.
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What happens in our brains when we dream?

If most of us hear the word ‘egg’ it’s likely our minds will immediately turn to the hens’ eggs that we enjoy fried, poached or scrambled for our breakfast.

But on closer inspection it turns out that the natural world is filled with all manner of different kinds of eggs that are as varied and fascinating as the animals that produce them. And what’s more, eggs have helped to shape life on Earth as much as life has shaped them.

In this episode I speak to zoologist and award-winning science writer Jules Howard about his new book Infinite Life: A Revolutionary Story of Eggs, Evolution and Life on Earth.

He tells us about the fascinating evolution of eggs over hundreds of millions of years, the strange and varied forms they’ve taken over all of this time, and how the story all began with jellyfish.
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How the evolution of eggs has shaped life on Earth

Do you brush your teeth before you shower in the morning, or do you shower first? Perhaps you like to give yourself a pep talk in the bathroom mirror before you’re about to give an important presentation at work. Or maybe you always cook a particular meal on special occasions.

These are all examples of the personal rituals that many of us perform in our daily lives. But where do they come from, why are we so attached to them, and can they really help us to have a better day or make a more successful presentation?

In this episode I speak to Prof Michael Norton, a behavioural scientist based at Harvard University. He tells me about the fascinating discoveries he made while writing his new book The Ritual Effect: The Transformative Power of Our Everyday Actions.
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How our everyday rituals affect our happiness and wellbeing

From the time that we are first developing in the womb right through until we are in our old age, the food we eat has a huge impact on our health and wellbeing.

But exactly what should we be feeding our infants, how do the dietary choices we make as adolescents affect us later in life and how can we approach nutrition as we age to make sure we stay healthy for as long as possible?

In this episode I speak to Dr Federica Amati, a medical scientist and head nutritionist at the ZOE project.

We talk about the latest thinking on nutritional science she outlines in her book Every Body Should Know This: The Science of Eating for a Lifetime of Health.
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What mass extinctions can teach us about the future of life on Earth

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