Ask The Naked Scientists SA

Live from 702 HQ

Naked Scientists team, Ben Valsler, Chris Smith and Ginny Smith joined the 702 crew and a studio audience live in Johannesburg to talk science, build vacuum bazookas and challenge listeners' mathematical minds…

13 Apr 2013 35 min

Why does Washing Shrink?

Who was John Snow? Why do things shrink in the wash? How does carbon dating work? Is intelligence down to mitochondria? Why does the banner also bank behind a banking aircraft? And how does the human body develop in utero? Dr Chris answers more top science questions from South Africa…

21 Mar 2013 22 min

How does a gastric bypass work?

Does a cloudy day aggravate arthritis? Was the biblical flood real? How does a gastric bypass work? Will a knife in water go blunt? Where do the skeletons on sunken ships go? Why do cats have an extra fold of skin in their ears? And why transmit electricity at high…

9 Mar 2013 19 min

Are urine and sweat the same?

How did horse meat end up in the food chain? Is baking foil bad for you? How big are viruses? How are urine and sweat produced? How do hydrogen vehicles work? And how do we measure the height of things above sea level? Join Chris Smith for this week's crop…

4 Mar 2013 17 min

How do pills know where pain is?

Why do ovaries run out of eggs and what affects egg quality? Why does diesel smell nice but burning engine oil is unpleasant? Do genes from genetically modified organisms get into eggs and sperm? Does lead affect behaviour? What causes motion sickness? Join Dr Chris for another run of science…

22 Feb 2013 18 min

How do pills know where pain is?

Why do ovaries run out of eggs and what affects egg quality? Why does diesel smell nice but burning engine oil is unpleasant? Do genes from genetically modified organisms get into eggs and sperm? Does lead affect behaviour? What causes motion sickness? Join Dr Chris for another run of science…

22 Feb 2013 18 min

Why Tired Toddlers Rub Their Eyes

Are helium-filled balloons less likely to pop? How does a cordless toothbrush charge? Is there much mercury in compact fluorescent bulbs? Why do tired toddlers rub their eyes? Is lactose intolerance more common than it once was? And is it possible to trigger earthquakes artificially? Dr Chris answers this week's…

3 Feb 2013 22 min

Can genes re-write their own code?

Carp with compasses, why we have earwax, what causes CIDP, can genes re-write their own code, do bananas in brown bags stay fresher longer, does hot water sound different, why veins look blue and what is coarctation of the aorta?

7 Dec 2012 20 min

Do Blood Donors Live Longer?

Do blood donors live longer, is water safe in plastic bottles, is Earth gaining weight and are space probes sterile? Plus, how fireflies have helped engineers make even brighter LEDs.

9 Nov 2012 22 min

Why don't eyebrows go grey?

Why aren't bubbles coloured like the soap they came from? Does holding a remote control to you head make it work better? Why has exercise reduced my alcohol tolerance? Is it by design that the names of all continents start and finish with the same letter? Why don't eyebrows go…

26 Oct 2012 23 min

Why do some people have only boy babies?

How do atoms change inside stars? How did Felix Baumgartner accelerate to over 800 miles per hour? What is inside a black hole? What decides the sex of a baby? What causes jetlag? Could we use the movement of seawater inside the Earth's magnetic field to make electricity? Why is…

19 Oct 2012 22 min

Why are aeroplane doors always on the left?

Why is skin the mouths of animals pink? Why doesn't water immediately fall out of clouds? How do we use light to send information into space? Why did a stomach explode after a liquid nitrogen cocktail? What are chimaeras? How will Felix Baumgartner get to the edge of space for…

12 Oct 2012 22 min

Where does amniotic fluid come from?

How did NASA get their cameras to work in the cold on the moon? How does a cordless electric toothbrush charge itself? What is adult respiratory distress syndrome? Where does the amniotic fluid around a baby come from? Why are Olympic races run anticlockwise? Why is sunscreen advised even on…

7 Sep 2012 19 min

Why don't aeroplane tyres explode?

Is a heater more efficient than a lightbulb? Why does your tongue stick to ice? Do planes alter the weather around airports? What's a headache? Do dreams alter your metabolism? Is medicine making the population less fit? Is teething linked to diarrhoea? Why don't aircraft tyres explode? Join Dr Chris…

31 Aug 2012 20 min

What is a Black Hole?

Why does my GPS think my car has moved in the garage at night? Can humans survive a space-ride to Mars? Why are epsom salts worth their salt? What is a black hole and what is inside it? How do the equations for special relativity and kinetic energy relate? Why…

24 Aug 2012 20 min

Why are there 360 degrees in a circle?

How do nerves conduct electrical impulses? How long does it take a bee colony to make a beehive? Why are there 360 degrees in a circle? How does special relativity work? What happens to a live insect if you swallow it? Is there a north, south, east and west in…

10 Aug 2012 20 min

Why should salt have a sell-by date?

What's the point of making medicines fizzy? Why should salt have a sell-by date? Is boiled water as good as distilled for my iron? Do we actually only see half a movie? Where do foreign bodies dislodged from the eye go? Is lactose intolerance becoming more common? What causes morning…

27 Jul 2012 21 min

Why doesn't the sea sink into the seafloor?

This week, the cause of vitiligo, whether pork is linked to a sore throat, what happens to a flame in microgravity, what causes albinism, what is dark matter and why can't we see it, why doesn't the sea sink into the seabed, why is window-cleaner fatal for flies, what determines…

13 Jul 2012 23 min

Why do wounds itch?

What does the discovery of the Higgs particle mean? How do flies land upside down on the ceiling? What happens when we divide by zero? Why do healing wounds itch? Does my washing dry by osmosis? How do fibre optics work? What causes a headache?

6 Jul 2012 24 min

Could we Plug In an Electric Eel?

Is the moon brighter overhead? Why do babies have higher heart rates? Do men snore more than women? What is peripheral neuropathy? Why are our organs wet inside? How do electric eels work? Why do wires tangle? What is the basis of a skin graft? This week Dr Chris takes…

22 Jun 2012 22 min