5 Live Science Podcast
976 episodes - English - Latest episode: 11 days ago - ★★★★★ - 102 ratings5 Live's science podcast, featuring Dr Chris and Naked Scientists with the hottest science news stories and analysis.
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Episodes
Fossils - why there is so much excitement at the moment?
June 11, 2023 05:00 - 52 minutes - 48.5 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. In today’s programme: we look at the enquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic, what is it hoping to achieve? and how an AI is writing its own computer code, speeding up the Internet. Plus fossils - why there is so much excitement in this field at the moment? Get the podcast from the BBC Sounds app.
Alleviating Allergies
June 04, 2023 05:00 - 53 minutes - 48.6 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. In today’s programme: are ecstasy and LSD set to become new treatments for depression? Who’s chattier in their first year of life, boys or girls? and We look at what allergies are, and how we can help fight against them. Get the podcast from the BBC Sounds app.
Memory, mosquitos and mowing the lawn
May 28, 2023 05:00 - 52 minutes - 48.5 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. In today’s programme: What attracts mosquitoes to some people but not others? Grow not mow: why one Cambridge college has broken hundreds of years of tradition, and decided not to mow their lawn. And we look at the science of memory. What is it, and how can we improve our own memories? New episodes released weekly. If you're in the UK, for more BBC podcasts listen on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/...
Your questions answered
May 21, 2023 05:00 - 52 minutes - 47.8 MBChris Smith and the panel are answering the questions you've been sending in over the past few weeks. New episodes released weekly. If you're in the UK, for more BBC podcasts listen on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/3UjecF5
Singing fish and building better batteries
May 14, 2023 05:00 - 52 minutes - 47.7 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. In today’s programme: A breakthrough in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, and the fish that communicate by singing. Plus we’re looking at improvements that are being made when building batteries, and asking: is the prospect of electric airliners about to take off?
Sport and concussion injuries
May 07, 2023 05:00 - 52 minutes - 48.5 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. In today’s programme: What should we make of claims that China is building super weapons to hack and hijack US satellites? We also hear from the couple who have discovered one of the world's most important fossil deposits, almost on our own doorstep! Plus ... we investigate the link between sport and concussion injuries. New episodes released weekly. If you're in the UK, for more BBC p...
Obesity
April 28, 2023 15:25 - 52 minutes - 48.3 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. In this week's episode: we speak to the team that think they’re close to cracking the male contraceptive pill. And the WHO announce their big vaccine catch-up: to protect the millions of children worldwide who’s routine vaccinations have been disrupted by Covid. Plus, living with obesity is one of the biggest health challenges we face in the future, so we look at what’s being done about...
Black Holes and the Dark Side of the Moon
April 23, 2023 05:00 - 53 minutes - 48.9 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. In today’s programme: Scientists test out a new universal flu vaccine that fights all flus and last for several years. And why Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon might hold the melodic key to the ultimate night's sleep. Plus, what are black holes and what would happen if you were to fall into one?!
What is Pain?
April 16, 2023 05:00 - 52 minutes - 48.1 MBChris Berrow presents 5 Live Science this week, looking at the future of solar power, why some people are sensitive to magnetic fields, and the scientists studying bird poo! Plus, what exactly is pain, and what happens when you can’t control the amount of pain you're in?
Is There Anybody Out There?
April 09, 2023 05:00 - 52 minutes - 48.4 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. In today’s programme: Nearly 2000 tech experts and scientists are calling for a halt to AI research: we talk to one of them. And “simply inexcusable”: the words of the World Health Organisation as it condemns China’s failure to share key Covid data from the beginning of the pandemic. Plus we’re asking, “is there anybody out there?” - how likely it is we’re alone in this Universe?
Dinosaur faces, laughing gas, and repairing broken gadgets
April 02, 2023 05:00 - 43 minutes - 39.6 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. In today’s programme: Why we might need to re-draw dinosaur faces: it turns out T Rex had lips - how did we miss that? Also, as the UK government moves to make laughing gas illegal we look at how it works and why they’re doing this. Plus these days nothing seems to be repairable - it’s almost as if manufacturers don’t want you to fix a broken gadget and instead buy a new one. We find ou...
The High Seas Treaty
March 26, 2023 05:00 - 52 minutes - 48.2 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. In today’s programme: how scientists are making measuring animal welfare a top priority on farms, and why superglue might be the key to superior plastic recycling. Plus we dive into the high seas treaty: the ambitious plan to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.
Recharging In Nature
March 19, 2023 07:00 - 52 minutes - 47.9 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. This week: How doctors in the US have “cured” a woman with HIV. Does Venus have volcanoes? Re-examining 30 year old probe footage has got scientists wondering. Plus we look at the value of national parks to our wellbeing, and the new project to make it easier to recharge not just your mental batteries but also your electric car in remote parts of the country.
Q&A: Ask Us Anything
March 12, 2023 06:00 - 51 minutes - 47.3 MBDr Chris Smith is joined by a space scientist, a geologist, a psychologist and a linguist to answer some of the science questions you've been sending to the 5 Live Science team. To ask a question for a future edition, email [email protected]
What can the Earth tell us about itself?
March 05, 2023 06:00 - 53 minutes - 48.8 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. In today’s programme we look at how taking a daily brisk walk could take 25% off your mortality rate. The northern - and southern - lights and why they’ve been so pronounced of late? And have scientists discovered the world’s first Roman sex toy? Plus we look at the science of tectonics and ask, what can the Earth tell us about itself?
Male Pill, Invisible Shrimp, & Fusion Power in Future?
February 26, 2023 06:00 - 52 minutes - 48.4 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. This week: the likelihood of commercial fusion power by 2040, male contraceptive pills, how shrimp use a trick of the light to disappear, and when our European ancestors first armed themselves with bows and arrows
Gene therapy, the world's biggest penguin, and the threat from bird flu
February 19, 2023 06:00 - 52 minutes - 48.2 MBWe explore how the gene therapy worked to save the life of 19 month old MLD victim Teddi Shaw, hear about a new system to make seeds sow themselves, meet the world's biggest fossil penguin, and size up the threat from bird flu...
Quakes, bad indoor air, and will we be eating bacteria in future?
February 12, 2023 06:00 - 52 minutes - 48.4 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. Why Turkey can expect aftershocks for up to a year, as we examine the science behind this week's massive earthquake. Plus encrypted letters from Mary Queen of Scots decoded, efforts to drive up indoor air standards, and the revolutions in farming and food production to make food cheaper.
Transplanted brains, sugar taxes and satellites
February 05, 2023 06:00 - 53 minutes - 48.8 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. This week: Human brain tissue transplants wire themselves into rat brains, signs sugar taxes cut obesity, and the science of satellites, including the company planning to forge new metals in orbit.
Can a chatbot be a good broadcaster?
January 29, 2023 06:00 - 53 minutes - 48.8 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. In today’s programme: is paying people to switch off their electricity the right strategy? We hear about bacteria that can eat ocean plastic. And find out more about the spiders that can grow back their limbs! Plus we find out if an AI chatbot is any good as a broadcaster.
History of Booze
January 22, 2023 06:00 - 50 minutes - 46.6 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. In this week's programme: How hair follicles might hold the key to reversing scars, but not just in skin: in hearts and other organs too; scientists crack how to grow new brain cells in the laboratory dish; and what a mutant from millions of years ago is revealing about how ancient animals mated. As many of us are taking part in Dry January, we look at the history of booze.
All aboard 'Boaty McBoatface'
January 15, 2023 06:00 - 51 minutes - 47 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. This week we discover a breakthrough in treating type 2 diabetes, and find out why the Virgin Orbital launch failed earlier this week Plus, we look at microplastics and the oceans at large as we go aboard the ocean research vessel the RRS Sir David Attenborough, which could have originally been named 'Boaty McBoatface', as they prepare to set sail for the Antarctic. And we discover how t...
New Year's Q&A
January 08, 2023 06:00 - 51 minutes - 47 MBDr Chris Smith and a panel of experts answer your science questions for the New Year, including: how starts burn for millions of years? How do you create a nation of mathematicians? And how can misinformation change the shapes of our brains?
The Best Of 5 Live Science 2022
January 01, 2023 06:00 - 51 minutes - 47.1 MBThis week, we bring you the best of 5 Live Science from the year just gone, including the James Webb Space Telescope, clocks so accurate they can tell the time difference between your head and your feet, and science proves that teenagers tune out to their parents' voices!
The Science of Magnetism
December 18, 2022 06:00 - 51 minutes - 46.9 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. In today’s programme: A breakthrough in nuclear fusion: what’s happened and what does this mean in practical terms? A new way to stop your glasses fogging up during this cold snap. Plus why are scientists so attracted to the topic of magnetism?
8 billion people and counting
December 11, 2022 06:00 - 50 minutes - 46.4 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. In today’s programme: The old liver drug that turns out also to be able to prevent Covid-19 infection and the Artificial Intelligence systems that pass the Turing Test and can write their own computer programs. Plus, the 8 billionth person was born last month, so we ask - how many people can the planet really support?
5 live Science
December 04, 2022 07:00 - 52 minutes - 47.9 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientists with the latest science news and analysis.
Putting tuberculosis under the microscope
November 27, 2022 06:00 - 51 minutes - 46.9 MBJames Tytko, Dr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. This week: A new rapid way to tell heart failure from a chest infection - just with a sample of breath. How the perseverance rover is getting on looking for life on Mars. And the imperceptible sounds in music that make people want to dance. Plus... we’re putting TB - tuberculosis - under the microscope to hear why as many as one person in 3 are still being infected by a dis...
Your questions answered, including: how do black holes work?
November 20, 2022 07:00 - 50 minutes - 46.4 MBDr Chris Smith and a panel of experts answer your science questions. Including: why the Neanderthal in us might alter our susceptibility to Covid 19, how black holes work, and why do we run a temperature when we get ill?
Long Covid
November 13, 2022 06:00 - 51 minutes - 47.3 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. This week: How researchers are growing new blood in the lab, and the scientists planning for potential alien communications. We also look at long covid, what exactly is it, and is it possible to treat?
What happens to our bodies when the clocks change?
November 06, 2022 06:30 - 52 minutes - 47.8 MBChris Berrow, Dr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. In today’s programme: A new way of tackling epilepsy, does birdsong really make you feel calmer, and we hear from scientists fight the fungus that’s targeting bananas. Plus we find out what happens to our bodies when the clocks change.
We See Monsters!
October 30, 2022 06:30 - 51 minutes - 47.3 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs, including: The new health survey calling on 5 million Brits to improve disease detection. Bees shock scientists studying electricity generated by their buzzing! And can gaming boost cognition in youngsters? Plus...the decommissioned oil rig-turned art installation: we’ve been to “See Monster” in Weston-super-Mare! Get the podcast from the BBC Sounds app..
Cancer accomplices and lost fishing nets.
October 23, 2022 04:30 - 26 minutes - 24.5 MBDr. Chris Smith updates you with the latest science news, including how cancer cells can use bacteria as accomplices, and surprising statistics on the amount of fishing equipment lost at sea. Plus capturing carbon underground, and an examination of the culture and history of Neanderthals through their DNA.
Fract or Fiction: We drill down into the science of fracking
October 16, 2022 05:00 - 51 minutes - 47.4 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. Will fracking solve the energy crisis? Exoboots to aid walking, and spotting Alzheimer's earlier.
Science Nobel Winners
October 09, 2022 05:00 - 41 minutes - 38.4 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. In today’s programme: A rundown on this week’s science Nobel prizes, why paracetamol might cause behavioural problems in children born to mums who used the drug in pregnancy, and the spacecraft which crashed into an asteroid on purpose! Get the podcast from the BBC Sounds app.
A rundown of the Nobel Prizes
October 09, 2022 04:28 - 41 minutes - 38 MBDr Chris Smith looks at the Nobel Prizes, paracetamol and the spacecraft that crashed into an asteroid.
How many calories are there in a brain?
September 25, 2022 06:00 - 51 minutes - 47 MBThe mailbag was bulging, so we dived in to answer your science questions this week. Including how many calories you'd find in a human brain, why methane's a worse greenhouse gas than CO2, and the claim that MI5 phoned up the makers of a James Bond movie for advice on making a special agent gadget.
Dealing with Dogma
September 18, 2022 05:00 - 51 minutes - 47.3 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. In today’s programme: the plastic that sterilises itself, and why sweeteners are worse for you than sugar. Plus we look at scientific dogmas and find out how to mentally immune yourself so you don’t fall for dodgy data.
The Human Microbiome
September 13, 2022 15:25 - 52 minutes - 47.8 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. Including: Scientists uncover the world’s earliest amputation patient, and are GP zoom appointments as good at getting the diagnosis as a face to face consultation? Plus how transplanting microbes from the bowel of one person to another can cure diseases. We delve into the world of the human microbiome.
Moderna vs Pfizer, Marijuana, Coffee and Cancer, and water water not everywhere...
September 04, 2022 05:00 - 51 minutes - 47.1 MBThis week we explore the grounds for the vaccine spat between two rival pharmaceutical giants, a study shows marijuana users are less laid back than we thought, is coffee linked to cancer, and, in the grip of drought, what the UK needs to do to safeguard water security...
Walking the Solar System without leaving Earth
August 28, 2022 09:42 - 51 minutes - 46.8 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team look at the latest developments in Malaria vaccines, how to immunise people against fake news and explore the Solar System from the safety of the Earth.
The new Moderna vaccination and a revolution in kidney transplant treatment
August 21, 2022 05:00 - 49 minutes - 45 MBChris Berrow looks at what the new Moderna vaccination is capable of and discusses a revolution in kidney transplant treatment.
5 Live Science
July 24, 2022 05:00 - 50 minutes - 45.9 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. In today’s programme: Why woodpeckers don’t get brain damage. Plus rocket fuel, but not as we know it and much more sustainable. And we look at gene edited food … what does it mean, and why might we want to control our food in this way?
Chatbots that look like they're alive, and what colour wine bottles to avoid
July 17, 2022 05:57 - 52 minutes - 47.7 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs. The week the team review some of the scientific highlights of the last month, including what the James Webb telescope will reveal about our place in the Universe, how orcas are giving great white sharks a hard time in South Africa, and why clear glass wine bottles might be better off avoided.
Ghost Pond Resurrection
July 10, 2022 05:30 - 50 minutes - 46 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientists with science news stories and analysis.
Putting Emerging Infections Under The Microscope
July 03, 2022 06:30 - 52 minutes - 48.2 MBChris Smith is joined by Julia Ravey to examine how emerging infections can spread, they look at a new way of managing pain that doesn't involve drugs and explore what can be done in the Metaverse.
Keeping the lights on with renewable energy
June 26, 2022 05:00 - 52 minutes - 47.8 MBDr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientists with science news stories and analysis. In today’s programme: Scientists discover the world’s biggest bacterium, evidence that we pick our friends based on how they smell, and do brain training apps really work? Plus... we tackle a thorny issue - if we rely too heavily on solar and wind power, and the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow where the demand is, how do we keep the lights on? Dr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the l...
5live Science JUNE SCI-LIGHTS
June 19, 2022 05:00 - 50 minutes - 46.1 MBFrom conserving wildlife and ivory to Love Island fashion, predicting volcanic eruptions and the possibility of life on Venus, these are the science stories everybody ought to be talking about...
Bad Air, 4 day working week and where did chickens come from?
June 10, 2022 15:56 - 50 minutes - 46.3 MBThe hottest science news, stories and analysis from Dr Chris and the Naked Scientists.
70 Years of Science Innovation
June 05, 2022 06:10 - 51 minutes - 46.7 MBChris Smith looks at the scientific highlights from the 70 years of the Queen's reign, as well as why teenage girls are more likely to develop depression than teenage boys. Plus, tidal power is the next alternative energy source under the microscope.