Special Editions
Probing the weird, wacky and spectacular, the Naked Scientists Special Editions are special one-off scientific reports, investigations and interviews on cutting-edge topics by the Naked Scientists team.
Colour changing cuttlefish
Octopuses and cuttlefish are well known for their astonishing ability to change colour almost instantaneously. Can we copy this system to create a camouflaging material? John Rogers from the University of Illinois reveals all…
The problem with passports
Have you ever seen somebody in the street and thought you know them, until you get closer and realise it's a different person entirely. Matching faces to memories or pictures is easier for some people than it is for others. But what happens if you're job is dependent on being…
Star dust
Stardust returns
Our leaky ancestor
Going back through the generations, eventually you come to the ancestor of all life on earth, something scientists call LUCA (last universal common ancestor).LUCA lived on a hydrothermal vent deep under the ocean, and probably used energy from the natural acidic gradient to survive and reproduce, using a generator called…
How to make energy from oil-eating microbes
One of the remarkable things about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico four years ago was the fact that a lot of the contamination was cleaned up by bacteria which simply ate the oil.Now there's more understanding of how microbes exist in oil which could lead…
Remembering to live to a ripe old age
Hello I'm Naked Scientist Hannah Critchlow and I'm concerned about aging. Alzheimer's disease affects around half a million of us in the UK alone, and this number is predicted to increase as the population gets older. However, this week a study suggested that up to a third of cases could…
In Conversation with Martyn Poliakoff
Type "mad scientist hair" into Google and the number one result is this man, who is one of the country's leading lights in green chemistry but has also attracted a fan base of thousands online with a youtube presence devoted to bringing chemistry alive for the masses. We catch up…
14.07.31 eLife Podcast
In this episode of the eLife podcast we hear about using photographs to diagnose rare genetic disorders, an unexpected benefit of exercise, hybridizing fish species, the mysteries of the MECP2 gene, and the risks and benefits of using gene drives to alter wild populations.
Do you own a jealous dog?
Dogs may become jealous if owners pay more attention to another dog.
Will reading as a child make you a smarter adult?
Were you a bookworm as a child? If you were, it might be making you smarter as an adult, according to a new study of identical twins, revealing that better reading ability at a younger age is linked to higher intelligence later in life.Kat spoke to psychologist Stuart Richie from…
Is there a genetic link to schizophrenia?
A large international study has uncovered the strongest evidence yet for a genetic link to schizophrenia. The study, published in Nature this week, is the work of a large collaborative group of scientists known collectively as the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium and based at institutions around the world. The new findings…
The true cost of farming?
When you're deciding what to have for dinner tonight, you might like to think about the environmental impact the food you're choosing. It's long been known that vegetarian crops take up less room, and need less energy to grow than meat from farm animals. But which are the worse offenders…
How windfarms affect seals?
Seals are using windfarms and under sea pipelines as bases for their hunting and fishing exploits. St Andrews University scientist Deborah Russell and her Dutch colleagues glued GPS trackers to the fur of seals living along the coastlines of Germany and the UK near two active windfarms. The tags beamed…
Gut bacteria seek out injuries
Marshall Montrose, of the University of Cincinnati, explained to Chris Smith how these gut bacteria, present in half the population's stomachs, can cause problems. Small wounds in the stomach lining, caused by things like aspirin, are quickly and effectively converged upon by these tiny microbes.
Obseity affects learning
Ifat Levy from Yale University explains to Kat Arney her recent study which looked at participants ability to learn in a task which exposed them to images of money and food. Obese women who were exposed to images of food during the task, had their learning impaired.
Is your sleep account in credit?
Fruit flies to understand getting our sleep bank account in credit, how we perceive passing of time to help make up our minds in tricky situations. Plus in the news, people prefer shocks to thought. How long could you be left alone with your thoughts? 10 seconds? A minute? Reporting…
The Summer Science Exhibition 2014
Every year the Royal Society hosts the Summer Science exhibition, where members of the public get a chance to see some of the amazing work being done by scientists around the UK. The Naked Scientists take a look around to meet the world's clumsiest dinosaur and find out more about…
The Challenges of Thinking
How long could you be left alone with your thoughts? 10 seconds? A minute? Well, according to a new study published in the journal Science, people really don't like to be left alone with nothing to do other than think. In fact, when participants of this study were given the…
'Neonics' linked to honeybee decline
Neonicotinoids are a group of chemical used as a pesticide on crops. In fact, they're so effective at killing pests, they're currently the most widely used insecticide in the world.These chemicals target the nervous system by mimicking the actions of nicotine, a natural plant toxin. It blocks between nerve cells,…
Can we use faces as passwords?
Passwords are a tricky business, with thousands of people forgetting them every day, and some being hacked or guessed. The University of York has tested the idea of using recognisable faces which are unique to us, instead of written passwords, as proof of our identity. Rob Jenkins, a psychologist who…