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.
Science In-Situ
This month we explore science 'in action' as we discover how researchers at the synchrotron are experimenting with implants, industrial catalysts and engine materials In-Situ! We discover how manipulating materials as they form can help create longer-lasting body implants and how catalysts are being visualised during their reactions to improve…
Tidal energy, turtle mating habits
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: a look at the potential to generate up to 20 per cent of the UK's electricity from tidal energy; and why understanding the nuts and bolts of turtles' sex lives could help protect those most at risk.
What does DNA sequencing do for me?
Cambridge chemist and biotechnologist Shankar Balasubramanian discusses DNA sequencing and its implications for health and disease.
Ice-Quakes in Svalbard
We spoke to Emma Smith, a PhD student with the British Antarctic Survey about her work whilst she was based in the icy noth of Svalbard…
Benedict Cumberbatch
Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch is the Cambridge Science Festival's guest director this year, meaning he's been assisting the Cambridge University festival team with putting together the programme for the two-week event, which launches on March 11. He spoke with Naked Scientist Ben Valsler about his interest in science and his…
Our ancient ancestors, deep sea worms
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: why textbook illustrations of our early ancestors may have to be re-drawn; and why underwater canyons contain a wealth of life, including some rather ugly-looking worms.
Using Genetics to Save the Ash Tree
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: decoding the ash tree's entire genetic sequence to produce a strain which is more resilient to ash dieback; the challenges of extracting biofuels from algae; and the latest news on Planet Earth Online.
Martin Welch
Researchers at Cambridge University announced the discovery of a new way to attack the bacterial "superbug" Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which accounts for 6% of all hospital acquired infections and can be very hard to treat, particularly for patients with lung diseases like cystic fibrosis. Ben Valsler went to meet the man…
Avian pox in UK great tits, top conservation issues
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: how a virus brought to the UK by insects poses a worrying threat to the country's great tit population; and which new technologies could affect global biodiversity in 2013.
Climate tipping points, basking sharks, primates
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: why understanding where plankton congregates can help us protect basking sharks and other marine creatures; how primates planning ahead tells us about our own intelligence; and how to predict dangerous climate tipping points.
Protecting Nerves from Damage
How can we protect neurons from degeneration? In this video from Cambridge Cafe Scientifique, we hear how understanding transport of proteins and other chemicals within individual nerve cells may be key to keeping the cell alive after injury…
13.01.07
How can we protect neurons from degeneration? In this video from Cambridge Cafe Scientifique, we hear how understanding transport of proteins and other chemicals within individual nerve cells may be key to keeping the cell alive after injury…
Protecting Nerves from Damage
How can we protect neurons from degeneration? In this podcast from Cambridge Cafe Scientifique, we hear how understanding transport of proteins and other chemicals within individual nerve cells may be key to keeping the cell alive after injury…
13.01.05
How can we protect neurons from degeneration? In this podcast from Cambridge Cafe Scientifique, we hear how understanding transport of proteins and other chemicals within individual nerve cells may be key to keeping the cell alive after injury…
12.12.26
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: a look at some of the highlights from 12 months of the Planet Earth Podcast, including: a hairy crab; earthquake monitoring in Turkey; air quality around London before the Olympics -- and early disease detection; Europe's oldest cave art; what the first creatures…
12.12.21
This month, we look back at Diamond's ten year anniversary celebrations to discover novel ways to store hydrogen gas, analyse the risks of a toxic mudspill and engineer tissues to prevent premature labour. We also get an overview of science at the synchrotron in 2012 and hear the UK science…
12.12.18
How does a radio broadcast work? We must have been on your wavelength this week, as we had more questions that we could fit in Naked Scientists Show! Here are the extra bits…
12.12.11
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: how you can get involved in any one of the wealth of UK citizen science projects that have taken off recently, and why a little-known gas given off by many trees, ferns and mosses, could be contributing to global warming.
12.11.27
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: an online tool to identify bats is helping to protect them, and it could make a scientist of us all. Also, an audio diary from a researcher from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science who's on the Isle of Arran in Scotland; and…
12.11.15
This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: a look at potential solutions to urban flooding, and why scientists are so keen to measure carbon dioxide flow through the UK's Norfolk Fens.