Question of the Week

When you drink tea and use the toilet shortly afterwards, is that the same liquid?

26 Feb 2017 3 min

Listener David got in touch to ask about whether mirrors in space could show us what Earth was like a million years ago. Graihagh Jackson asked Cambridge's Anna Hourihane to explain how this might work…

19 Feb 2017 3 min

If birds are dinosaurs, why didn't they get killed by the asteroid 60 million years ago? Tom O'Hanlon put Fay's query to David Norman from the University of Cambridge.

12 Feb 2017 3 min

Listener Tim got in touch to ask: Why do the poles go north-south as opposed to east-west? Graihagh Jackson spoke to Imperial College's Stuart Higgins to find out…

29 Jan 2017 3 min

Do ants or other insects feel pain in the same way as humans do? And what does it have to do with robots? Tom Crawford gets some ant-sight from the University of York's Eleanor Drinkwater…

22 Jan 2017 4 min

What would peeing on the moon look like? Is it even possible? Tom Crawford puts this astronomical question to Dr. Chris Messenger from the University of Glasgow…

15 Jan 2017 5 min

Water contains hydrogen and oxygen, both of which are important in combustion, so why is it used to put out fires? Why doesn't water burn? Graihagh Jackson put this to chemist Peter Wothers from the University of Cambridge…

4 Dec 2016 4 min

Why is it when we break a magnet in half, we get two new magnets? Why don't we just get separate north and south poles formed? Liam Messin set out to find the answer with Tim Boyd, a Cambridge undergraduate…

27 Nov 2016 4 min

Why don't you get thrown backwards when you switch on your torch? Kerstin Gpfrich made her way to the Nanophotonics Centre in Cambridge to find out from Dr. Anna Lombardi. The answer to Matt's question may blow you away…

23 Oct 2016 3 min

Could a jaunt to Jupiter be the physics-version of anti-wrinkel cream? This week, Kerstin Gpfrich convinced physicist Dr Stuart Higgins to go on a mission to answer Troy's question…

15 Oct 2016 4 min

This week, Connie Orbach has been cleaning up, answering Dale's question he sent in on Facebook: does soap really kill off germs?, with the help of Cherly Trundle from Addenbrooke's hospital infection control team.

9 Oct 2016 3 min

This week, Connie Orbach has been cleaning up, answering Dale's question he sent in on Facebook: does soap really kill off germs?, with the help of Cherly Trundle from Addenbrooke's hospital infection control team.

9 Oct 2016 3 min

To get a handle on this shaky question Connie Orbach called in Dr Alex Copley from Cambridge University's Department of Earth Sciences…

25 Sep 2016 4 min

Joshua asked us whether animals could ever experience the placebo effect. To find out, Laura Brooks spoke to Eleanor Drinkwater, researcher in animal behaviour at the University of York…

18 Sep 2016 3 min

Kevin got in touch ask why clothes dried on a washing line can end up feeling rough, crunchy and stiff... To find out, our Laura Brooks contacted Neil Lant at the Fabric and Home Care research and development division of Proctor and Gamble, who make Lenor fabric softener.

11 Sep 2016 3 min

It is not only learning that can appear to be quite hard; it's unlearning that we struggle with. How do we unlearn? Is there any technique for unlearning things? Claire Armstrong put this to neuroscientist Laura Ford, from the University of Cambridge…

21 Aug 2016 3 min

Lucka Bibic spoke to Prof Marian Holness from University of Cambridge to take her through Robert's question…

31 Jul 2016 4 min

This week, Natasha from Australia wrote in to ask why her stomach grumble when she is hungry. Lucka Bibic enlisted Dr Roshini Raj from Medical Trinity Center in New York to find out what causes the rumbly in our tumbly!

24 Jul 2016 4 min

Listener Loot got in touch to ask how the moon got its markings. Claire Armstrong looked towards the heavens for the answer and spoke to the Open University's planetary expert Professor David Rothery.

17 Jul 2016 4 min

Listener Kat got in touch to ask if cavemen really did have names and when did humans start naming each other. Lucka Bibic went in search of cavemen's names with the Professor of Linguistics at MIT, Shigeru Miyagawa.

10 Jul 2016 4 min