Question of the Week, from the Naked Scientists
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Each week we set out to solve one of the world's weirdest, wackiest, funniest and funkiest scientific puzzles. And along with the answer there's a brand new question to think about for next time...
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Rick wants to know why the Canada geese he's been observing, who are preparing to migrate for the winter, are honking so incessantly while flying in formation. Viola Ross-Smith from the British Trust for Ornithology was on hand to help James Tytko with the answer... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Van writes in with, 'A friend is encouraging me to take a cancer screening test that screens for many different cancers. A review of one test says: "While overall it picks up 90% of stage 4 cancers, it only detects an average of 17% of stage 1 cancers. Yet it is being touted as a test that can detect cancer early." Are these tests worthwhile?' James Tytko took on the question with the help of Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald, Founding Director of the Early Detection Institute at the University of Cambridge... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
If dinosaurs hadn't been wiped out by a mass extinction event, would there have been room for humans to grow into the successful species we are today? That's what Colin wants to know, and James Tytko has promised to find the answer. He spoke with Dr Charlotte Kenchington from the University of Cambridge's Department of Earth Sciences... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Pamela wants to know whether the distribution of chemical isotopes is the same on other planets as it is on Earth. Take carbon, for example, 99% of which is carbon-12 on Earth while 1% is carbon-13? To find the answer, James Tytko asked Xander Byrne from the University of Cambridge's Institute of Astronomy... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
David wants to know whether the intricate and varied spiders' webs seen in nature are a product of arachnid instinct, or something that is cultivated across their life. To get to the truth, James Tytko sought out spider expert Professor Sara Goodacre from the University of Nottingham... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Jim writes in to say, 'Sometimes when I pinch near my knee, I will feel a tingling or tickling sensation behind one of my shoulder blades. What's up with that?' James Tytko found him an answer, with help from neuroscientist Dr Mark Hoon from the NIH... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Oscar asks whether the snail stuck on the inside of his car wheel while he went for a drive would have felt the effects afterwards. Jon Ablett from the Natural History Museum helped James Tytko with the answer... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Akori wants to know whether it is safe to eat vegetables and herbs grown where animals have been buried in the past. James Tytko sought the help of Professor Malcolm Bennett at the University of Nottingham's School of Veterinary Medicine and Science... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Thanks to Jim Dale for the answer! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
This week, Carl writes in to ask whether he can be cured of specific musical anhedonia. This is a condition whereby a person can hear and distinguish between different types of music and the emotion they convey, but doesn't feel moved in the same way most people do. James Tytko took on Carl's conundrum with the help of Malinda McPherson, Assistant Professor at Purdue University's Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
When listener Suzy is taking pictures of the night sky, she makes use of longer shutter speeds to capture more light to get better images of stars. That got her thinking, do human eyes also have a shutter speed? James Tytko took up the question... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Thanks to Dana Mackenzie for the answer! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
In this week's Question of the Week, listener James writes in to ask, is it just him, or does spider silk feel really strange? James Tytko took on the question with Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Genetics at the University of Nottingham, Sara Goodacre, and entomologist at Western Sydney University, Eleanor Drinkwater... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
This week, Jon wants to know, in the wake of wildfires across the world in recent years, should we be concerned about their carbon footprint? James Tytko asked Jim Dale from British Weather Services for the answer... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Christine emails in with this message: 'Does bacteria contained in probiotics become part of the microbiome; in other words can one stop taking probiotics after 30 days of taking probiotic-containing capsules?'James Tytko sought to find the answer with the help of Alex Almeida, microbiologist at the University of Cambridge. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Anne writes in with this question, which James Tytko took on with the help of the University of Cambridge's Public Astronomer, Matt Bothwell... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Elizabeth with a transatlantic teaser for this question of the week: "I heard that people in the UK can't smell when it rains, but us Americans can. If I went to the United Kingdom, would I be able to smell the rain there? Would someone from the UK be able to smell rain here? What is going on?" James Tytko sought the answer with the help of Anne Jungblut from the Natural History Museum... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Join James Tytko in the hunt for ancient DNA thanks to this question from listener Phil. Jack Lovegrove from the Natural History Museum was on hand to help with the answer... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Phil sent in this quantum conundrum which Will Tingle took on with the help of Ben Allanach, Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Thanks to Garth Jenkins from the University of Glasgow for the answer! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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