Podcast · Tech & Science
by The Naked Scientists · English · Tech & Science
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.
9 Oct 2026 · 37 min
A 28-year-old Russian researcher has reportedly died after contracting pneumonic plague. What do we know about this medieval-era disease? Plus, we unpack the 2026 Nobel Prizes, the world's first self-setting nuclear clock begins ticking in Vienna, and why scientists are simulating microgravity on cells in a dish. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1295 · 6 Oct 2026 · 36 min
In this special episode, in partnership with Frontiers Science House, we launch our new Why? series by asking one of the biggest questions of our time: Why AI? Why has artificial intelligence advanced so rapidly, why does it work the way it does, and why could it fundamentally change how we think, work, and live? To explore the answers, we hear from four remarkable voices at the heart of the AI conversation: Geoffrey Hinton, Mike Wooldridge, Cristina Criddle, and Wendy Hall. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1294 · 2 Oct 2026 · 33 min
New CRISPR technology tool uncovers genes that have become resistant to chemotherapy drugs. We speak with the scientist behind the cancer discovery. Plus, how butterflies use their wing patterns to confuse and evade predators; why Fiji has declared HIV a national emergency; and how SpaceX's Starship rocket launch is fuelling the race back to the Moon. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1293 · 29 Sep 2026 · 32 min
Today, in partnership with British Heart Foundation (BHF), we take on the world's biggest killer: heart disease. This episode features BHF's Ruth Goss on why this disease kills so many people; Will Watson at the Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge on what arterial disease looks like under a microscope; Cathy Shanahan at King's College London on attempts to stop blood vessels from becoming hard and stiff; and BHF's Sonya Babu-Narayan on risk management and heart disease treatment. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1292 · 25 Sep 2026 · 32 min
Coming up, scientists discover why the UK's recent men B outbreak was so severe. How did they do it? Also ahead: an international study suggests that bats originated in Europe 65 million years ago; how a tiny single-celled organism can survive at high temperatures; and the search for the resting place of Egypt's heretic queen, Nefertiti. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1291 · 22 Sep 2026 · 37 min
Coming up, we forage for mushrooms to unearth fascinating alternative uses for fungi, from cleaning up pollution and making building materials to treating mental health. This episode, produced by Laura Verdina at Queens' College, Cambridge, features Laura and Nathan Smith at Grantchester Meadows; Joni Wildman from the University of Bath on mycelium-based materials; Magnus Ivarsson at MycoMine; and David Nutt on psilocybin, a compound being studied to treat depression. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1290 · 18 Sep 2026 · 32 min
Coming up: lawmakers scramble to stop AI from being used to develop bioweapons. What has spooked the experts? Plus, we look at how childhood chemotherapy can leave genetic scars on organs, raising disease risk; why ultra-strong ice could soon be used as a construction material; and how researchers are tracking weather patterns on distant planets. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1289 · 15 Sep 2026 · 38 min
El Niño 2026 is predicted to be the strongest on record, and today we consider how the climate pattern can affect the weather, the economy, and our health. This episode features forecasting supremos Aidan McGivern and Peter Gibbs; leading economist Vicky Pryce on the impact on our wallets; and Rachel Tolhurst at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Teresa Zakaria at the WHO on public health. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1288 · 11 Sep 2026 · 38 min
Coming up, we hear from the scientists behind a world-first treatment to reshape the skull of a one-year-old boy. How did they do it? Also ahead, an Anthropic researcher warns that AI is advancing so quickly that it may, with a slight chance, "kill all humans" within the next decade; how narwhals are helping scientists collect data in Greenland's fjords; and a German startup launches the first commercial rocket to reach orbit from continental Europe. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1287 · 8 Sep 2026 · 38 min
We've partnered with the Royal Institute of Navigation to explore driverless vehicles, also known as autonomous vehicles, or AVs. The Naked Scientists ride on a self-driving bus in Cambridge to see what makes them tick. We hear from 'driver' Nick Bailey, as well as Daniel Clarke from Greater Cambridge Partnership, Jamie Wilson from Alexander Dennis, Jim Hutchinson from Fusion Processing, Ramsey Faragher at the Royal Institute of Navigation, and Edward Cameron at Whippet Bus. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1286 · 4 Sep 2026 · 31 min
Coming up: El Niño weather phenomenon will be 'exceptional' and last months, say forecasters. What should we know about it? We also hear from the team behind a successful at-home bladder cancer test, learn about the science behind the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope, and meet a Harvard researcher who has created an app to help visually impaired people get around. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1285 · 1 Sep 2026 · 34 min
Coming up: how chemistry is transforming 21st-century healthcare. Jeremy Nicholson from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology talks about phenomics. Gemma Sharp shares how the world's largest menstrual fluid biobank was created. David Nutt from Imperial College explains drug mechanisms, and Nobel Prize winner David Baker discusses the role of AI in treating diseases. Leilani Arrow-Smith, a chemistry student at the University of Cambridge, produced this episode. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1284 · 28 Aug 2026 · 32 min
Coming up, groundbreaking research suggests the shingles vaccine can greatly reduce the risk of heart attacks. What's the science behind it? Also ahead: the New Space Race between the US and China goes up a gear as Beijing unexpectedly delays the launch of its Chang'e 7 mission. Plus, the frozen 'poo pills' that scientists hope can help keep allergies at bay. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1283 · 25 Aug 2026 · 38 min
Today, we are exploring the lives of insects, and some of the incredible abilities they've evolved to enable them to thrive. Coming up, the fly larvae that can withstand huge pressures in some of the world's deepest lakes; the butterfly caterpillar that pretends it's an ant to blag free board, lodgings and even ant grubs to eat inside ant nests, and the remarkable visual systems of wasps that enables them to home-in unerringly on picnics. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1282 · 21 Aug 2026 · 32 min
Coming up, health agencies grapple with a Salmonella outbreak across Europe. What's behind it? Also, astronomers spot the fastest-moving star in the Milky Way, hurtling around the supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy; regulators in the United States have followed Europe's lead by approving an influenza vaccine that relies on mRNA technology; and we explore the remnants of Neapolitan wine on a 2,000-year-old shipwreck off the coast of Italy. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1281 · 18 Aug 2026 · 33 min
We have partnered with UK Research and Innovation to study wounds and their impact on healthcare. What challenges do wounds create, and how can we treat them? This episode features Mat Hardman at the Wound Innovation Institute; Ketan Dhatariya at the Association of British Clinical Diabetologists; and Holly Wilkinson at the University of Hull. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1280 · 14 Aug 2026 · 34 min
Coming up, Australian researchers have found a new way to help prevent malaria. How have they done it? Also, the UK is "leading the world" in efforts to eliminate hepatitis C, a designer vest that could protect our astronauts from space radiation, and how a new aerogel-based toothpaste can tackle tooth sensitivity. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1279 · 11 Aug 2026 · 32 min
On August 12th, 2026, nearly one billion people could see a partial solar eclipse, and 15 million will see totality, when the Moon completely obscures the disc of the Sun. In this episode, Becky Smethurst explains solar eclipses; Stephen Price, from Bristol Astronomical Society, explains how best to observe one; astrophysicist Megan Argo documents what mankind made of eclipses in years gone by, and NASA's Nicki Rayl explains what eclipses can reveal about the workings of our closest star. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1278 · 7 Aug 2026 · 33 min
Coming up, a team of doctors successfully conducts surgery on a baby still inside the womb. How did they do it? Also, what does SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket collision with the Moon mean for future space missions; how the bright lights and loud sounds of gambling machines promote higher risk-taking; and the deadly cyclosporiasis parasite that's causing bouts of explosive diarrhoea across the globe. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1277 · 4 Aug 2026 · 41 min
This week, we explore how the food industry uses science to develop new foods that are better for the environment, healthier, and still taste good. The show is produced by Petra Merzan, a student of the Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership, which is funded by UKRI-BBSRC. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1276 · 31 Jul 2026 · 29 min
In this week's show, wildfires have now spread to Italy, Canada, and the wine-producing region of France, Bordeaux. These fires produce a peculiar cloud phenomenon called pyrocumulonimbus and scientists plan to fly a jet over these clouds to determine how they operate. Also, we hear how drug-packed nanoparticles can aid brain cancer treatment, the genetic evidence of smallpox in Incan mummies, and how the smell of dad affects infant brain activity... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1275 · 28 Jul 2026 · 30 min
This week, our Titan of Science is cell biologist Sara Wickstrom. Her work focuses on how cells communicate with one another to coordinate growth, development, and movement. These insights have just won Sara the Koerber European Science Prize, and, in this episode, she tells us how she will spend her million Euro winnings, and how her discoveries will inform future treatments for diseases like cancer. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1274 · 24 Jul 2026 · 31 min
In this week's show, wildfires continue to race across the world in Canada, Ireland, Scotland and Italy. Why are they happening, and what can we do to prevent them? Plus, scientists track neighbourhood food consumption from DNA in sewage, the first evidence of an "exomoon" orbiting a planet outside our solar system, and how tiny "algebots" can deliver cancer chemotherapy in the bladder. What makes these critters remote-controlled? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1273 · 21 Jul 2026 · 31 min
This week, our Titans of Science series continues with neuropsychologist and author Adrian Owen. Adrian's work has focused on determining how different parts of the brain contribute to functions such as cognition and memory, and famously led to him being being able to communicate with a patient in a long-term vegetative state using a brain scanner. Here he retells the story, and explains the basis of what we call consciousness... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1272 · 17 Jul 2026 · 33 min
A new drug called Trontinemab, which could stop Alzheimer's disease, is about to start clinical trials. How does it work? Also, scientists at the University of Oxford have created a vaccine to fight Ebola; researchers have documented three different types of severe pneumonia; and why the discovery of sugars in space matters. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1271 · 14 Jul 2026 · 32 min
Titans of Science continues with plant biologist Enrico Coen, a professor at the John Innes Centre in Norfolk. His work investigates how genes move and interact to create tissue shapes during plant development, and how this process varies to produce such a wide range of plant forms. In this episode, we find out how Enrico's early work on fruit flies paved his path to plants, and his work on 'jumping' genes and their effect on plant variation. He's been speaking with Chris Smith. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1270 · 10 Jul 2026 · 31 min
Coming up, Wegovy weight loss pills are now available in pharmacies and online in the UK. Will they help tackle obesity? Plus, how scientists are trying to restore sensation in the feet; the legacy of Dolly the sheep 30 years on; and space rovers and the solar eclipse with the astronomer Megan Argo. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1269 · 7 Jul 2026 · 34 min
Titans of Science returns with Tara Spires-Jones, a world-leading neurobiology researcher and Director of the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. She studies the mechanisms and reversibility of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease and other degenerative brain diseases. We explore Tara's path to neuroscience, the history and biology of Alzheimer's, and treatments developed to overcome it. Tara has been speaking with Chris Smith. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1268 · 3 Jul 2026 · 34 min
Coming up: England's mental health services are reportedly in "crisis", with over 1 million children referred. What is driving the uptick? Plus, new research suggests that antibodies protect against norovirus, strategies to improve plastic recycling rates, and insights into the bilingual brain. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
E1267 · 30 Jun 2026 · 34 min
Coming up, Rachael Ralph explores the role of science in music. At Trinity College, Cambridge, engineer Hugh Hunt demonstrates how sounds are made; Ian Cross discusses turning experimentation into music and instruments; Trinh Nguyen examines music and development in babies; and Jacopo de Berardinis explains AI's role in the 21st-century music revolution. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting 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.
The Naked Scientists Podcast is a English tech & science podcast from The Naked Scientists. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.
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