The Naked Scientists Podcast

The Naked Scientists

The Naked Scientists flagship science show brings you a lighthearted look at the latest scientific breakthroughs, interviews with the world's top scientists, answers to your science questions and science experiments to try at home. read less

Our Editor's Take

The Naked Scientists Podcast provides science news and analysis. This show examines current science stories and features interviews with many scientists. Dr. Chris Smith, a United Kingdom-based scientist, and his guests discuss their work. They explain or simplify various topics. Show subjects range from DNA sequencing breakthroughs to fighting bed bug infestations.

Smith is a professor and consultant virologist at Cambridge University. He started the podcast as a BBC Radio program in 2001. Before that, the science radio show ran for a year on a local station under the title ScienceWorld. When Smith renamed and relaunched the show, it grew in popularity. In 2005 it became available in podcast form.

Peter Cowley, a technology startup veteran, provides expertise to the show when needed. Prominent guests on The Naked Scientists include James D. Watson, a molecular biologist. He codiscovered the structure of DNA. Other guests include astronomer Martin Rees and geneticist Alec Jeffreys.

The podcast's popularity is partly due to the quality of its guests and topics. In one episode, Smith and his cohosts discuss whether toads can predict earthquakes. Their exploration reveals ongoing research by Chinese and Japanese scientists. They share how there are accounts of animals fleeing before a catastrophic event. Speaking of toads, another episode examines the psychoactive compounds in their skins.

Audience input is a vital aspect of The Naked Scientists Podcast. Listeners send in questions and Smith answers them live on air. The Naked Scientists brand also released the book Boom! 50 Fantastic Science Experiments to Try at Home with Your Kids.

The Naked Scientists Podcast lives up to its name and popularity. Quality and revealing, engaging conversations are the norm on the show. Two new episodes debut weekly.

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Are we on track to end new infections of HIV?

Are we on track to end new infections of HIV?

On today's programme, we are going to examine attempts to end HIV/AIDS as a public health threat by the end of the decade.The AIDS pandemic is unarguably the worst health threat to confront the population in the modern era. We believe close to 100 million people have died of the disease so far since it first emerged in the early 1900s.It's proved a very tough nut to crack; when I first went to medical school in 1993, a patient with advanced AIDS and just weeks away from dying came to speak to us.That rarely happens in first world countries these days thanks to breakthrough scientific... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Episodes

Are we on track to end new infections of HIV?

Are we on track to end new infections of HIV?

On today's programme, we are going to examine attempts to end HIV/AIDS as a public health threat by the end of the decade.The AIDS pandemic is unarguably the worst health threat to confront the population in the modern era. We believe close to 100 million people have died of the disease so far since it first emerged in the early 1900s.It's proved a very tough nut to crack; when I first went to medical school in 1993, a patient with advanced AIDS and just weeks away from dying came to speak to us.That rarely happens in first world countries these days thanks to breakthrough scientific... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

The stakes at COP29, and the rogue Skynet satellite

The stakes at COP29, and the rogue Skynet satellite

This episode of The Naked Scientists: what's at stake at this year's UN climate summit in Azerbaijan? Also, the 80 million-year-old fossil revealing how birds came by their big brains; and why the UK's oldest satellite has wandered off over the Americas... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Can weight loss jabs tackle the obesity pandemic?

Can weight loss jabs tackle the obesity pandemic?

In this edition of The Naked Scientists, could weight loss jabs help shrink the size of the global obesity crisis... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Pompeii DNA, and a black hole feeding faster than it should

Pompeii DNA, and a black hole feeding faster than it should

New NICE guidance urges HRT as a first-line treatment for menopause symptoms, the enormous black hole that doesn't obey our existing laws of physics, and what DNA analysis is revealing about the people who inhabited Pompeii... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

How do we reduce harms to children from smartphones?

How do we reduce harms to children from smartphones?

Initially, the upside to children having access to a supercomputer in their pockets seemed obvious: immediate access to the reams of educational information on the internet, seamless communications with their friends, a source of constant entertainment. But as mental ill health amongst our youngsters continues to rise, many are pointing to smartphones, and particularly the social media platforms on them, as mainly to blame.Today, we'll hear what the screen age is doing to our stone age brains, how adolescents and adults differ in their social media activity, and discuss what the evidence says... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Monkeypox in the UK, and the lost Mayan city

Monkeypox in the UK, and the lost Mayan city

In this edition of The Naked Scientists: The UK detects its first case of the new Mpox variant, but some are saying what took us so long; also the discovery of a lost city beneath the jungle canopy in Mexico; and the robots helping Cambridge scientists understand the evolution of fish... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Could technology swing the race for the White House?

Could technology swing the race for the White House?

The US election between Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump is going down to the wire. Indeed, this has been described by many as the closest presidential election ever seen. Inevitably, with tensions so high on either side, the cry of electoral interference is a common one. But just how is today's technology being used to sway voter opinion, and by how much? That's what we seek to uncover on this week's programme... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Chris Hoy's cancer diagnosis, and AI finds us common ground

Chris Hoy's cancer diagnosis, and AI finds us common ground

In this edition of The Naked Scientists: Sir Chris Hoy goes public with his terminal prostate cancer diagnosis; the World Health Organization has declared Egypt malaria-free; also, it's time to change the clocks in some countries. But what impact does it have on our perception of time? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Searching for signs of life on Europa

Searching for signs of life on Europa

In this edition of The Naked Scientists, as NASA's Europa Clipper mission successfully blasts off towards Jupiter's moon, we look at how it leads the search for life in our solar system... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Modifying insulin, and the melting Sphinx

Modifying insulin, and the melting Sphinx

In this edition of The Naked Scientists: The new form of insulin that switches itself off before blood sugar falls too low; also, scientists suss out the origins of most of the meteors that fall to Earth; and why the longest lived patch of snow in the Scottish Highlands finally looks set to melt away... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Is a vegan diet a healthy one?

Is a vegan diet a healthy one?

In this edition of The Naked Scientists, what science has to say about whether a vegan diet is a healthy diet... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Electrical stitches show potential, and Nobel prizes

Electrical stitches show potential, and Nobel prizes

In the news pod, how electrically conductive stitches can speed up wound healing. Scientists find the DNA of human victims embedded in the teeth of two African lions shot in the 1800's. And the Nobel Prizes explained: who's won what, and what for? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Rules of engagement: Nullifying neurotrauma

Rules of engagement: Nullifying neurotrauma

Today, we're going in depth on traumatic brain injuries. James Tytko speaks with Dawn Astle, daughter of former England striker Jeff Astle, about the finding that his death was linked to head trauma sustained during his playing career. Also, Prof Peter Hutchinson gives an overview of head injuries, and Adel Helmy talks about changing the rules of some sports to reduce risk. Then, Alexis Joannides describes one of many new technological innovations to support medical staff dealing with TBIs, before Prof David Menon describes the path towards better drug treatments and diagnostic tools. If you... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Diabetes cured with stem cells, and US bans Chinese tech

Diabetes cured with stem cells, and US bans Chinese tech

In this edition of The Naked Scientists: Diabetes fixed with stem cells: scientists reprogramme a patient's fat cells to produce insulin; also why some security specialists are worried Chinese-made electric cars could pose a threat; and our interview with world-famous stargazer and physicist Brian Cox... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Lockdown legacies: how Covid continues to shape the world

Lockdown legacies: how Covid continues to shape the world

Four and a half years ago many countries told their inhabitants they had to stay at home for weeks at a time to control the coronavirus pandemic. Many countries had never resorted to any such measure - which deprived citizens of their civil liberties to such an extent - in recorded history. And while it was successful at slowing the spread of the disease, at least initially, as the world has emerged from the pandemic, it's become obvious that there's a less than positive legacy of these lockdowns. So what have we learned, and what can we do, if anything, to prevent history repeating itself? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Fruity vapes paralyse lungs, and world's oldest cheese

Fruity vapes paralyse lungs, and world's oldest cheese

In this edition of The Naked Scientists: Signs that fruity vapes paralyse the immune system in your lungs; the world's oldest cheese: but why was the nearly 4000 year old dairy product smeared all over an ancient Chinese mummy? And, why it might be a giant leap to suggest that we're getting an extra moon, at least for a while! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Cancer vaccines: Empowering the immune system

Cancer vaccines: Empowering the immune system

Recently, doctors announced some extremely encouraging news about a jab for people with advanced forms of several types of malignancy, including melanoma, lung cancer and other solid organ tumours. The vaccine is called mRNA-4359 and has been developed by the pharmaceutical company Moderna, of Covid vaccine fame. The trials have been conducted here in the UK, and we'll hear from the man running the study. Also, the success of the HPV vaccine in preventing cervical cancer, and how a Lynch syndrome vaccine could prevent a variety of malginancies... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Pager attacks in Lebanon, and resurrecting ancient seeds

Pager attacks in Lebanon, and resurrecting ancient seeds

In this edition of The Naked Scientists: what do we know about the pagers and walkie-talkies used to attack Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon? Also the landmark study on the impact of pregnancy on the human brain. And how scientists in Israel have grown a one thousand-year-old seed that might fill in a missing link in the Bible... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Engineers vs climate change

Engineers vs climate change

In this edition of The Naked Scientists, how engineers are using novel concepts and ideas to attempt to tackle the climate crisis... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Lockdown aged young brains, and dealing with nuclear waste

Lockdown aged young brains, and dealing with nuclear waste

In this edition of The Naked Scientists: How COVID-19 lockdowns affected the brain development of teenagers; how best to dispose of dangerous nuclear waste; and why the UK's puffin population is thriving despite a rise in avian flu. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists