We received this question from Chani... "My socks never stay together in the wash. One always disappears. Is there a scientific explanation for where those socks go? Why are they so unhappy in monogamous relationships?"Izzie Clarke asked Rob Eastaway, mathematician and author of "How Many Socks Make A Pair", to sort out the odds. For more podcasts, head to nakedscientists.com or like and subscribe to The Naked Scientists or Question of the Week on your favourite podcast app. Like this podcast? P...
Mar 18, 2019•4 min•Ep. 406
Donald asked us what specific effects ethanol has on the brain and why certain regions are more impacted than others when we have a drink. This week, Joe Galea, from the University of Birmingham, helps us to distil the answer... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Mar 04, 2019•4 min•Ep. 405
Lia asked us why some people seem to be naturally good at imitating voices and accents. To get the last word, Adam Murphy got an answer from Jonathan Goodman, from the Language Sciences Department at Cambridge University... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Feb 18, 2019•4 min•Ep. 404
Richard was wondering why do candles make more smoke and smell after they've gone out. Jenny Gracie has been sniffing out an answer from Duncan Graham at the University of Strathclyde and Ricky Carvel from the University of Edinburgh to help shed some light on the question... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Feb 04, 2019•4 min•Ep. 403
Bree asked: If a person is born completely deaf and can't hear a thing, what language do they think in? We asked Dr Mairead MacSweeney, director of the Deafness Cognition and Language Research Centre at University College London... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Jan 28, 2019•4 min•Ep. 402
Marcus was wondering how trees, such as giant oaks, can grow so huge and not make a hole in the ground. Where does their mass come from if not from the dirt? Jenny Gracie has been digging deep to find an answer, with help from Andrew Weatherall from the National School of Forestry at the University of Cumbria... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Jan 21, 2019•3 min•Ep. 401
When a bar of soap gets used a lot and gets smaller, it seems to struggle to form suds properly. Is something other than just a smaller surface area going on? Eva Higginbotham has been scubbing up to answer this question with the help of Phillip Broadwith, Business Editor at Chemistry World, and Paul Dauenhauer from the University of Minnesota... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Jan 14, 2019•4 min•Ep. 400
This week, Malcolm's been watching the science fiction film, Passengers. He wanted to know what happens to air bubbles in water if gravity was suddenly turned off. Adam Murphy spoke to Stuart Higgins from Imperial College London, and to David Kinahan from Dublin City University, to get an answer to this weighty question... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Dec 17, 2018•4 min•Ep. 399
Do we know if a Great Dane meeting a Chihuahua recognises it as another dog? We asked Professor Donald Broom from Cambridge University and Dr Charlotte Duranton to help us sniff out the answer to Dotty's question. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Nov 26, 2018•4 min•Ep. 398
This week, Daniel wants to know why hurricane researchers seem to use propeller-driven planes when flying into the eye of the storm. Eva Higginbotham spoke to Dr Anna Young of the University of Cambridge's Whittle laboratory, to find out what's 'up' in the field of aeroplane engines. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Nov 19, 2018•4 min•Ep. 397
With the help of Cambridge University's Professor Robert Foley, Sam Brown took a trip back in time to answer Stuart's question: If you could bring a baby from the past to grow up in the present, how far back could you go before people would notice that this was a time travelling baby? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Nov 12, 2018•4 min•Ep. 396
Poo comes in many shapes and sizes. We are used to seeing it on the street or accidentally stepping in different forms including tubes from dogs, pellets from rabbits or big splats from cows, but I have never come across cubic poo. Tamsin Bell asked Dr Louise Gentle from Nottingham trent University to help us out with this stinker... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Oct 29, 2018•3 min•Ep. 395
Is it true that second hand smoking or passive smoking is more likely to give you cancer than smoking a cigarette? Tamsin Bell put this to Stefan Marciniak from the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Oct 21, 2018•4 min•Ep. 394
When standing barefoot in water, we don't feel the water pressure on our feet. But when wearing Wellington boots, we do feel a pinching - why? We asked Colm-cille Caulfield, Professor at Cambridge University, to help us wade through the science of Daniel's question... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Sep 30, 2018•4 min•Ep. 393
Tom asked us "Why is Blu-Tack sticky?" Adam Murphy spoke to Jennifer Gaughran, researcher at Dublin City University, to see if she could help with a question that had us stuck... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Sep 23, 2018•3 min•Ep. 392
Chad asked us "Is it possible to terraform the Moon, so that humans could live there long-term?". Tamsin Bell spoke to David Rothery, Professor of Planetary Geosciences at the Open University, to see what he had to say... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Sep 16, 2018•3 min•Ep. 391
On Twitter, Andrew asked us: "Do wild animals suffer from allergies, and if so, does this occur at the same rate as in humans?" We spoke to Wild Immunologist Andy Flies, from the University of Tazmania, to sniff out an answer... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Sep 02, 2018•3 min•Ep. 390
Are there more grains of sand on Earth or stars in the sky, and who counted them? We search heaven and Earth to answer Jeff's question, recruiting astronomer Michael Merrifield from Nottingham University to help out... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Aug 19, 2018•4 min•Ep. 389
Martin asked us "What's the science behind non-stick pans? What prevents the sticking?"; To help out with this sticky situation, we spoke to Jess Wade, a materials scientist at Imperial College London, to get her take... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Aug 05, 2018•4 min•Ep. 388
Charlie asked us to field the question, "what is the minimum area required to sustain one human being in terms of oxygen and food?" Marika Ottman brought this cultivation conundrum to Marco Springmann, the Senior Researcher on Environmental Sustainability and Public Health at the University of Oxford... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Jul 30, 2018•4 min•Ep. 387
Tuomo asks, "Does your brain respond differently when you're listening to an audiobook compared to when you're reading a book? And does this affect how much information you can retain?". Isabelle Cochrane put this to Dr Matt Davis, Programme Leader in Hearing Language at Cambridge's MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Jul 15, 2018•4 min•Ep. 386
Theo and Simon Hall asked Why do humans get bored? And what is the evolutionary advantage of boredom? Adam Murphy put this question to Dr. Brian Little at the University of Cambridge to get his less than boring answers... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Jul 01, 2018•4 min•Ep. 385
Chris Taylor wonders how astronauts can weigh things in space. Marika Ottman asks Michael Foale, a former NASA Astronaut and Commander of the International Space Station, to weigh in and assess the gravity of the situation... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Jun 24, 2018•4 min•Ep. 384
Eamonn asked us to chew over this alien question: If some-day we managed to travel to another planet and discovered aliens, what is the likelihood that we could eat them?We turned to Gareth Corbett, gastroenterologist at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, to see if he had any food for thought... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Jun 03, 2018•3 min•Ep. 383
Listener Mike asked us to sniff out an answer to cold conundrum... When I cycle my bike in cold weather my nose runs, it doesn't happen in warm weather and is their anything I can do to help with it?We took this snotty situation to Ears nose and throat specialist, Neil Donelly, from Addenbrookes hospital. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
May 20, 2018•3 min•Ep. 382
Matt asked how big an animal or human has to be before a fall would kill it. Katie Haylor put this perilous pondering to physicist Stuart Higgins from Imperial College London... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Mar 05, 2018•4 min•Ep. 381
Switzerland has now banned boiling lobsters live. Do they experience pain; how do we know? Georgia Mills asked Professor Bob Elwood from Queen's University, Belfast, for his take on this hot topic. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Feb 12, 2018•4 min•Ep. 380
Izzie Clarke's been chilling out with this Question of the Week from Trent... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Feb 05, 2018•3 min•Ep. 379
Martin wanted to know why fresh pasta rises to the surface of the pot when it's ready. We asked Dr Chris Brock from London South Bank University. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Jan 29, 2018•4 min•Ep. 378
The Waite family wanted to know if fish yawn, so Heather Wark spoke to Iain Barber from Nottingham Trent University, to find out. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Dec 18, 2017•4 min•Ep. 377
