Special Editions

This month, Dr Lora Heisler discusses the brain mechanisms controlling our appetite and subsequent body weight. She explores the many drivers behind hunger and appetite control and how these differ from person to person as well as how obesity can be avoided by increasing our energy expenditure…

23 Jan 2012 22 min

This month, we step inside to explore what, and who, it takes to run the synchrotron. We meet the people that keep the electrons accelerating to produce light beams 100 billion times brighter than the Sun, every day! We explore the health and safety needed when working with high levels…

22 Jan 2012 29 min

It's not often that science news goes viral, but when researchers dubbed a new species the 'Hoff Crab' more people than usual seemed to take notice!

17 Jan 2012 21 min

Deep sea researchers Doug Connelly and Jon Copley led the team that discovered the deepest and possibly hottest undersea volcanoes on the planet. In a special edition of the Naked Scientists they talk to Helen Scales about their findings, including the extraordinary chemistry and biology they uncovered 5 kilometers beneath…

12 Jan 2012 9 min

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - Sue Nelson goes to Birmingham to find out how the James Bond film Casino Royale and orang-utan conservation are linked; later she meets a scientist from the British Geological Survey to learn which parts of the UK power grid are most at…

9 Jan 2012 19 min

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - Sue Nelson goes to the Thames Barrier to find out how engineers use science to decide whether or not to raise or lower it, helping to stop storm surges from flooding London; while Richard Hollingham meets a scientist who developed a technique…

12 Dec 2011 21 min

This month, we celebrate the international year of chemistry by exploring the wide range of chemical discoveries and research taking place at Diamond. We investigate the role of chemistry in pitting erosion, photovoltaics and nanowires as well as reveal how Diamond has been used to unearth a new source of…

5 Dec 2011 34 min

Professor Tony Holland provides a window into the biology of behaviour and how genetic syndromes are helping open this window to provide greater levels of insight into violent behaviour, appetite control and Alzheimers disease…

5 Dec 2011 24 min

How does nicotine open a gateway to cocaine addiction? A new study indicates that nicotine primes the brain for cocaine - by altering the structure of a gene linked to learning, memory and addiction.

4 Dec 2011 10 min

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - Richard Hollingham talks to one of the scientists behind the discovery of the ozone hole to find why it's still there; how research on starlings on an island famous for its sweaters could help bird conservationists; and why forest fires in North…

22 Nov 2011 20 min

In this infectious special podcast, we explore the science behind Stephen Soderburgh's latest film, Contagion, which depicts the series of events that unfold with the outbreak of a new strain of flu. The film has quite serious scientific credentials - Ian Lipkin, Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia univeristy was on…

11 Nov 2011 17 min

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - Sue Nelson visits the largest collection of venomous snakes in the UK to find out how researchers are developing antivenoms to help African snakebite victims; and what scientists are doing to understand why populations of the European shag are declining.

8 Nov 2011 20 min

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: Richard Hollingham meets scientists and archaeologists who are working to preserve one of the most important Neanderthal settlements in north-west Europe to find out how they lived; later on, he visits the local primary school to find out what schoolchildren make of the…

2 Nov 2011 19 min

In this final podcast from the BSGT Conference we hear how genes could be targeted to develop a new drug for HIV as well as long awaited treatments for Muscular dystrophies and Haemophilia. We also discover how a good insight into the workings of a virus can help you exploit…

31 Oct 2011 17 min

Today we hear how cancers, retinal degeneration, spinal chord injury and liver disease can all be targeted using gene and stem cell therapy techniques. We also explore a variety of methods to deliver genes to a desired location within our bodies…

29 Oct 2011 17 min

In today's podcast we hear how gene therapy can be used to target a variety of respiratory disorders such as Cystic Fibrosis and how scientists are trying to grow organs such as lungs in the lab. We also discover how alternative methods of therapy could be used to treat muscular…

27 Oct 2011 13 min

In this first podcast from the 2011 BSGT/ESGCT Conference in Brighton we bring you the highlights from the Public Engagment day including an introduction to gene therapy and stem cell therapy, life from the perspective of a haemophiliac, public opinions on gene therapy and how a DNA race can help…

26 Oct 2011 16 min

NHS Rationing

Dr. Linda Sharples gives an insight into the workings of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and how new medical treatments, drugs and procedures are analysed and assessed for use within the UK National Health Service…

19 Oct 2011 20 min

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - how scientists find out about life in the oceans' deepest trenches; how identifying proteins from 50 milion year old reptile skin could help us store radioactive waste; and studying the effects of climate change in the Arctic.

13 Oct 2011 20 min

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast, how hikers and walkers could be unwittingly changing the landscape by spreading alien species; what it's like to work as a marine biologist in the Arctic in temperatures of minus 40C; and exactly how stable is the West Antarctic Ice Sheet?

27 Sep 2011 21 min