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The Naked Scientists Podcast

The Naked Scientists Podcast

Author: The Naked Scientists

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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.
1230 Episodes
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Today, how the brain harnesses immune cells to clear burned out fats during sleep: does this protect from Alzheimer's disease? Also, the nutrient-rich guano of seabirds that shaped society in ancient Peru, fast footage reveals how kangaroos hop faster at no extra energy cost, and how horses whinny! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Our Titan of Science this week is leading light in the field of malaria, Jane Carlton. The first to sequence the genome of malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax, she also helped sequence the deadlier Plasmodium falciparum. Jane tells Chris Smith the ins and outs of malaria, her journey to become Director of the Malaria Research Institute at Johns Hopkins, and how stealing her brother's genetics textbook when she was just 8 years old led her to where she is today... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
This week, we look into the science behind Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's death, caused by dart frog poison, and why Russia resorted to such an exotic means of dispatch at all. Also, how cat cancer genomics can provide new insights into human malignancies, and - more with a whimper than a bang - how a dying star skipped the supernova and became an instant black hole. Plus, Barack Obama's stance on aliens sends conspiracy theorists into a frenzy... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
This week, in partnership with British Heart Foundation, we explore heart failure. Leading experts from the UK's largest independent funder of cardiovascular research tell us about the condition, the symptoms to look out for, what happens when a heart fails, how heart failure has traditionally been managed, and whether it is possible to regenerate a damaged heart... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
This week, we discuss a new antibody-based nasal spray that protects against the flu: how does it work? Plus, the tiny self-replicating molecule that may give clues to the origins of life on Earth, whether we should regulate "mirror life" research, and how bacteria protect oak trees from drought and other stresses... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Coming up, we explore the tremendous impact mosquitoes have had throughout their evolution. In this episode, we break down what mosquitoes are, how they track down a meal, the diseases they carry, and the strategies that scientists are currently deploying to control them... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
This week, we examine a herpes zoster vaccination that can reduce or delay dementia diagnosis. How does it work? Plus, the BBC's Zoe Kleinman explains a social media site for AI chatbots, the discovery of microplastics in remote parts of the Pacific Ocean, and why the Artemis II launch has been delayed once more... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Today, we take a closer look at motor neurone disease (MND), a progressive neurodegenerative disorder affecting the motor neurones that control voluntary muscle movement. This programme explores the clinical features of MND, what it is like to live with the condition, how it is diagnosed, and the current approaches to treatment and management... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Coming up, a world-first gene cancer database is launched. How might it help us gain a better understanding of how disease develops? Plus, the link between vitamin D deficiency and respiratory infections, Austria's back-scratching cow, and SpaceX carries out its latest launch of Starlink satellites... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Titans of Science is back with John Zarnecki, a towering figure in the UK's space community. He has played a crucial role in designing instruments for groundbreaking space missions, and has also helped shape Europe's planetary science programme. In this episode, John shares compelling stories from his career with Chris Smith - including the significance of the Cassini-Huygens mission to Titan, the value of the Hubble Space Telescope, and his early work on rockets in Australia... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
This week, a blood finger-prick test has been developed to detect Alzheimer's disease before symptoms arise. But how accurate is it? Plus, tracking space debris reentry from their sonic booms with earthquake-detecting seismometers, what happens in our noses when we are infected by the common cold, and the plants that use heat to get pollinated by beetles... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
This week, we're looking at a major study that is following the development of children born in the UK in 2026. It's called Generation New Era, and in this episode we hear from the team leading the research: how they plan to run it, what earlier cohort studies have revealed, and what they hope to discover this time around. The study has been funded by public investment from UKRI, and their Economic and Social Research Council... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
This week, China's attempts to build a new "mega-embassy" in London, but are there security risks? Plus, the UK plans to build a record number of offshore wind farms for cleaner energy, the impact of TV screens and tablets on speech development in toddlers, and NASA's first-ever medical evacuation from the International Space Station... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
This week, we've partnered with Frontiers as they aim to push science to the top of the agenda at the World Economic Forum in Davos. It comes as the publisher's Frontiers Science House prepares to welcome some of the most influential voices in fields like healthcare, sustainability, and energy to their gathering in Switzerland. In this programme, we hear from them, and find out why it's time for leading policy-makers to fully engage with the best that science has to offer... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
This week, the UK begins the rollout of the chickenpox vaccine to younger children. But why is it only being offered now? Plus, the high-level technological plan to capture Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro, what the latest research says about the health of vegan and vegetarian diets in the young, and the risks posed by "space junk" that falls back to Earth... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
In this episode, we hear from not one, but two Titans of Science, together. And that's because Ed Wild and Sarah Tabrizi are neuroscientists, neurologists and long-time collaborators both based at University College London. They've devoted much of their careers to understanding Huntington's Disease. Chris Smith went to visit them in London... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
In this episode, we're revisiting some of the most magical moments and scientific milestones of 2025 - including the incredible legacy of Dame Jane Goodall, the brain-wave reading bionic-knee, why labradors are so greedy, and the beer that doesn't give you a hangover... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
This week, defence analyst, Michael Clarke, explains the significance of the MI6 agency's scientific shift. Will it help counter Russia's technological threat? Plus, the University of Glasgow's Naveed Sattar tells us why weight loss medicine could be a silver bullet for global obesity, Ellie Diamant at Bard College on beaky birds during COVID, and the Institute of Astronomy's Matt Bothwell on NASA's new space telescope... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Today, in partnership with UK Research and Innovation, we are asking whether it will snow on the 25th of December. It's frequently called a white Christmas and - at this time of year - weather forecasters and the bookies are busy weighing up the odds. So we've set out to explore how weather predictions are made, what constitutes snow, the role of technology in making forecasts, and whether parts of the UK will witness a white Christmas for 2025... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
On this week's news podcast, Emory University's Boghuma Titanji on the discovery of a new strain of monkeypox in the UK, and efforts to curb the virus with a breakthrough vaccine. Plus, the drone damage to the shield preventing radiation leaking from the Chernobyl nuclear site, evidence from southern England that Neanderthals deliberately made fire 400,000 years ago, and we ask how we can overcome the so-called winter blues... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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Comments (28)

Eleven Thoms

Hi Simplifying a color palette often creates calmer, more cohesive spaces that feel intentional rather than overwhelming.Limiting tones also makes lighting, textures, and finishes stand out more clearly in a room.That idea of balance reminded me of how Painting services in Dubai often focus on refined palettes that suit modern homes and local conditions.

Feb 10th
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annemarie jutel

betterconnection1055591

Jan 14th
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Hediyeh

Thank you for this episode. I enjoyed it👍

Oct 8th
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Rachel Warrington

This diet stuff is not new news. Welcome to Slimmimg World. They've been helping people to lose weight for decades based on exactly this science

Aug 19th
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Vahid Azarafza

THE best science podcast for scientists and the layman alike. Sufficient depth to be thorough but not to be unnecessarily technical. Just right.

Mar 14th
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Edgar Carpenter

The palliative care specialist who opposes assisted dying completely refused to address the fact that current medical science cannot believe a lot of extreme pain, and that most pain relieving medications can have severely disturbing side effects while also being inadequate for treating pain. Why did she refused to address these realities? Because she knows they are persuasive arguments for assisted dying. Her responses were profoundly dishonest.

Feb 17th
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andrea casalotti

Warning : ad by Aramco. Don't be a whore to the bastards

Sep 1st
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Sarah Emy

Utterly clueless coverage that pathologizes fatness, advises surgical and pharmaceutical interventions, promotes a bootstrapping mentality, perpetuates shaming, etc etc etc. Read Sabrina Strings, read Aubrey Gordon, question anti-fat bias in the medical field. BMI is a terrible indicator of health problems, and it stems from white supremacy and eugenics.The Naked Scientists media has lost a listener.

May 5th
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Emma Viviers

did Chris seriously just suggest that women are more likely to suffer from depression, because men tough it out??

Jun 7th
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Geoff Russell

you seem to take it for granted that public fears of nuclear waste are well founded. Why? Have you ever heard of anybody made sick or killed by power station waste? I haven't and I've looked. So waste is currently managed safely while stored out in the open. how can it become dangerous when buried? in a borehole, in clay, granite. Again I challenge you to find anybody who can demonstrate actual risk from buried waste...meaning quantified physical mechanism to deliver a dangerous dose. Something isn't dangerous just because someone says it is. They have to demonstrate HOW it is dangerous. Cheers

Mar 24th
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Xerxes

Voice volume on this one was much lower than the intermittent blasting track

Jul 15th
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Jeremy Brown

Love the naked scientist Dr. Chris Smith.

Jun 11th
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Alexa Nebula

The fact that they were able to say the glass pun about "seeing through it" without laughing is brilliant

May 4th
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Majid Yadegari

Thank you guys. I've learned a lot so far. 🙏

Apr 23rd
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Stephen Gabriel

world's biggest Pyrimid scheme

Apr 12th
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Luke Bryant

Can they make a separate Imunology podcast for covid related stuff and politics so people can avoid it if they want rather than having to sit though lots of that every week if they want to get to what they would actually come for?tbh I like the show but this has been putting me off for ages

Sep 8th
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Andrew Cuyler

"especially millennials"? Oh F off. Things like that make you sound unreliable.

Jun 17th
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roger chou

great!!!!!!!! super!!¡!

May 17th
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Flint Tex

Best science podcast ever for non-scientists interested in science! Keep up the good work!

May 11th
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Conor Keating

Is this just an air fryer?

Apr 17th
Reply