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.
Mobile Microbiomes
It's not just conversations that we share with our mobiles, but also our bacterial blueprints! According to Oregon scientist James Meadow, every time you interact with your phone you deposit a bug fingerprint unique to you. And this means that our mobiles could actually be used to track how we…
Why stress causes heart attacks
You've probably heard the idea that stress gives you a heart attack, and we certainly know that it is a risk factor, along with things like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and smoking. But exactly how stress affects the body to increase the chances of having a heart attack…
Cheaper Solar Panels
Using a cheap chemical used normally to make tofu stick together, scientists at the University of Liverpool have stumbled upon a much more environmentally-friendly and cheaper way to manufacture very light-weight solar panels called thin film photovoltaics. Science writer Mark Peplow explains the significance of the find to Chris Smith…
UK government bans 'Qat'
As of midnight on Tuesday, the herb "qat" became a Class C drug. Users chew the leaves of this east African flowering plant to achieve a buzz which, some say, is similar to caffeine. The ban is surprising because the UK's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs have argued…
Do we need another whooping cough vaccine?
Whooping cough, also known as pertussis or the '100 day cough', kills around 300,000 people per year, but is one of the most common diseases that can be prevented by vaccine. Children in Britain are vaccinated several times before starting school. But, scientists at Oxford University have discovered that these…
Why Salamanders can't get legless
Salamanders can grow back entire limbs if they lose them. A team at University College London lead by Dr Max Yun are looking at the genetic pathways that enable these amphibians to regenerate their arms and legs. This could help us understand how human healing can be improved.
The Science of Making Colour
The latest digital imaging techniques are literally throwing new light on the ingenious variety of materials that have been used over the centuries to create artists' paint pigments. A new exhibition at the National Gallery in London is looking at the history of colour making over time. Jane Reck has…
The Future of Flooding in Britain
Six months after some of the worst flooding witnessed in Britain, Professor David Dermeritt from Kings College London explains to Graihagh Jackson how these deluges have changed Britain's policies on how we manage rivers, risks and rising water levels. What is the future of flooding? Will climate change worsen it?…
Mountaintop blasted to build largest telescope
This week, 3000 metres up a Chilean mountain, scientists pressed the button to blow up half a million tonnes of rock. The mountain's called Cerro Armazones and the reason it was being blown up was to create the site for what will become the world's biggest most powerful optical telescope…
Renewable Bioplastics
Bacteria that can degrade the woody material in plant waste and turn it into an oil-free material for plastics manufacture have been developed by scientists at Warwick University in Britain. Professor Tim Bugg told Chris more…
ELife Episode 12: Why we don't (often) bite our tongues
In this episode of the eLife podcast, the neuroscience of chewing, African sleeping sickness, skin cancer, and an ancient protein complex called TSET. eLife editor-in-chief Randy Schekman also shares his thoughts on scientific publishing…
One-two punch for evolution
There's a new theory this week claiming that men's faces evolved to take punches. It comes from researchers at the University of Utah and goes against a previous theory that craniofacial evolution was driven by a diet of nuts, seeds and vegetables.The Utah team think that extra-thick bones and muscles…
Massive Super-Earth
Has the likelihood of alien life existing just become a lot more likely? Astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics announced this week that they have found what's being dubbed the "Godzilla of Earths" - it's a rocky planet orbiting a distant star over 500 light years away. But it's…
Does Nicolas Cage cause drownings?
Does Nicolas Cage cause people to drown in swimming pools? Does margarine consumption lead to divorce? Tyler Vigen looked at relations between seemingly unrelated statistics to highlight how correlation can be misleading.
Seabirds Chase Ships for Food
Gannets are using fishing boats as fast-food outlets, chasing them for miles over the ocean. Thomas Bodey explains to Chris Smith how GPS tracking on both the birds and ships shows that the gannets can tell trawlers from yachts. But there might be a downside to this kind of convenience…
ELife Episode 11: Pain, gene therapy, and regenerating worms
In this episode of the eLife podcast we hear about neuropathic pain, gene therapy, insulin production, ageing in worms, and how flatworms grow new body parts.
ELife Episode 10: Radiation, Anti-aphrodisiacs and Glowing Squid
In this episode of the eLife podcast we hear about the mating habits of flies, radiation resistance in bacteria, how insects learned to smell, and the Hawaiian bobtail squid…
The Battle of the Sexes
The course of true love never did run smooth and this can be seen across the animal kingdom too. The Malacological Society of London held their annual meeting and this year it was all about sexual selection.
Selecting Species to Save
With as much as 30% of all species potentially at risk of extinction, there is a 'Noah's ark' problem of selecting which species to save. This week the Royal Society held a meeting to discuss extinction risks and the best strategies to prioritise conservation.
ELife Episode 9: Redeye, Spies and Bacteria
In this episode of the eLife podcast we learn more about sleep, super Spy chaperones, swimming bacteria, orphan genes and the neuroscience of birdsong.