- The Naked Scientists Breaking Science
by Dr Chris Smith
Each week Dr Chris Smith and his fellow Naked Scientists round up the latest science news and talk to the people making the latest discoveries. They also find time to debunk some science myths. Like does cracking your knuckles give you arthritis?
Episodes
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Bad taste, arsenic and blue skies ... - 09.03.05 Breaking Science
We explore the discovery that super hot, burning chillies can be used for pain relief; how holes in the asteroid belt show scientists how the planets got to be where they are; why things smell the way they do; the new clue into the cause of Alzheimer's; how our reaction to an unpleasant taste is...
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Rainforests, earthquakes and liquid glass... - 09.03.12 Breaking Science
We explore archaeologists' revelation that people have been riding on, eating and drinking the milk of horses for over 5,000 years; why the Amazon forest might become a carbon criminal; how marine organisms produce laughing gas; how a mutated gene has been linked to pancreatic cancer; how...
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Dinosaurs fights and suicidal lemmings... - 09.02.05 Breaking Science
We discuss why the sequence of how four-legged animals move their legs is commonly misrepresented; Wi-Fi, the gaping hole in our internet security; why eating too much is bad for your brain; fossilised evidence of dinosaurs fighting; what makes locusts swarm and could they be 'deactivated'; why…
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Queen Ant impersonators and tall stories... - 09.02.12 Breaking Science
We explore the chemical link between asthma and eczema that has been uncovered; how a synaesthesia gene has been found; why rising levels of CO2 are affecting clown fishes' sense of smell; the evidence of a 700-million-year-old sponge which sets the clock back on evolution; how the butterfly...
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Science of envy, sugar and kids ... - 09.02.19 Breaking Science
We explore the hottest breakthroughs from the world of research. Plus in 'Stuff and Non-Science', does sugar make kids hyperactive?
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Brown clouds, injured neurons, acupuncture... - 09.01.29 Breaking Science
We explore the discovery of a gene that triggers nerve repair; research showing that 'fake' acupuncture has the same pain relief effect as real acupuncture; how the analysis of brown clouds over East Asia shows the main culprit to be burning biomass; how the discovery of an 18 million-year-old...
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Stress, fish, financial success... - 09.01.22 Breaking Science
How fish lock carbon in their poo, why stress is bad for your attention span, why shiny plants could put a new sheen on global warming, how to make your own metal micrograbber and why your fingers can indicate your trading ability. Plus, in Stuff and Non-Science are daddy long-legs all that...
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Pink iguanas and mosquito love songs... - 09.01.15 Breaking Science
How eco-friendly clothing could soon be made from chicken feathers and wheat; how mosquitoes use the harmonics of their wing beats to choose a mate; a gene that may predict heart disease; the discovery of a new species of pink iguana on the Galapogos Islands. Plus in 'Stuff and Non-Science', do...
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Coffee, chimps and meteorites... - 08.12.23 Breaking Science
How computers can now interpret what someone is seeing just from their brain activity - could we see dreams in the future? Oil extracted from used coffee grounds can be used to make a better smelling biodiesel; chimps recognise faces in the same way we do; proteins found to located specific DNA...
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Fire ants, jealous dogs, coral clocks... - 08.12.18 Breaking Science
How coral suggests a major earthquake is due in the next decade; the impact humans have on fire ant invasions; why extinct bird species are not what we thought they were and how studying the 'morals' of dogs gives an insight into the evolution of co-operation. Plus, in 'Stuff and Non-Science'…
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Limb length, cancer, freezing water... - 08.12.11 Breaking Science
How temperature, rather than genetics, regulates limb length in mammals; nagging can save your life - single men are less likely to have prostate cancer screening; how X-ray crystallography has given an insight into what prevents eggs being fertilized by more than one sperm; new discoveries that...
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Ice, testing the genders, unruly crowds... - 08.12.04 Breaking Science
The differences between boys and girls, the discovery of the oldest turtle specimen that has turned turtle science on its head, the discovery of an enormous plume of water vapour on Enceladus, how calving of ice shelf gives an insight into icebergs and climate change, how robot lizards help us...
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Laser hearing, chatty females, clean energy... - 08.11.27 Breaking Science
We explore the cochlear implant that uses laser light for more complex hearing, clean energy from ocean heat, why social vocalisation replaces grooming in society, how early photon tomography (EPT) provides a safer way to image biological tissues and findings that how the brain categorises…
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Fish elections, cholera, evolution... - 08.11.20 Breaking Science
How combining technologies has enabled the identification of the gene faults linked to cancer, injections to treat allergies, a better view of another solar system, how sticklebacks select a leader, and why a specimen of Homo erectus sheds light on our evolution. Plus, are silencers really as...
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Frozen clones, friendly bacteria, Dalmations... - 08.11.13 Breaking Science
A new technique for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the protein linked to alcohol tolerance, a method for cloning frozen mice, the awkward truth about the power of vitamins, and the friendly bacteria that could save lives. Plus, in 'Stuff and Non-Science', do your nails and hair keep...
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Planets, midges, flu... - 08.11.06 Breaking Science
How planets came to be, lighting that brings midges thick and fast, and why flu jabs are even better than you think. They also looking into definitive proof that humans are responsible for global warming and ask "are you a descendant of tzi the iceman?"
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Mice memory, X-ray tape... - 08.10.30 Breaking Science
Science fiction becomes reality as Dr Chris discovers that it's possible to wipe specific memories from the mind of a mouse. Where will this lead? He talks to Carlos Camara about X-rays powered by...er...sticky tape, and marvels at the resilience of the butterfly: if it loses two of its four…
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Mind control, TB... - 08.10.23 Breaking Science
How being a silver surfer can help you keep your marbles, how proteins can be used in burglar alarms and the results of National Hand Washing Day are revealed
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Malaria, volcanoes,... - 08.10.16 Breaking Science
Do we really use just 10 per cent of our brains, how to listen to a volcano and reveal the latest way to test unborn babies for diseases.
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HIV and superstition - 08.10.09 Breaking Science
The latest research on the origin of the HIV virus, how superstitions are formed and why we think everything radioactive glows in the dark.
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Auctions and frog fungus - 08.10.02 Breaking Science
Why we pay too much in auctions and how moving continents can cause climate change. In this episode it is also explained how a deadly frog fungus has been spread from pregnancy tests.
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Use or lose your dopamine - 08.09.26 Breaking Science
The latest developments in global warming, stem cell research and the effect of dopamine on the brain. They also answer the age old question 'does it take seven years for chewing gum to be digested?
About this show
Each week Dr Chris Smith and his fellow Naked Scientists round up the latest science news and talk to the people making the latest discoveries. They also find time to debunk some science myths. Like does cracking your knuckles give you arthritis?
Hosted by
Dr Chris Smith
Categories