Does hypnosis work? Science(ish) explores the mend-bending neuroscience behind the Oscar-winning film Get Out. If you think your brain perceives reality in an fixed way, it’s time you opened the door to the world of hypnotic suggestion, trance-inducing handshakes, and intoxicating placebo alcohol... Your brain will never be the same again. Featuring: Prof Amir Raz See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 19, 2018•38 min•Season 3Ep. 23
Can we create an unbreakable code? Through the film Enigma, Science(ish) delves into the murky history of cryptography and the hunt for the perfect cipher. Our modern world so fundamentally relies on secure digital communication and yet current ‘state-of-the-art’ encryption is actually breakable. Will the code-makers ever beat the code-breakers for good? Enter quantum physics... Featuring: Prof Artur Ekert See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choice...
Jul 12, 2018•39 min•Season 3Ep. 22
Inspired by the latest blockbuster Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, the boys explore the alarming science of extinction. Humans may have conquered the planet, but have we also triggered the “6th Mass Extinction Event”? With the future of life on Earth in our great ape hands, Science(ish) tackles one of the biggest questions we face: how far should we intervene in the ebb and flow of other species? Featuring: Dr James Borrell See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more abo...
Jul 05, 2018•43 min•Season 3Ep. 21
Could we ever cure dementia? Science(ish) takes on one of the biggest public health challenges of the 21st century: unravelling the science of Alzheimer’s disease. From chance discoveries to next generation brain imaging, the search for a cure is now beginning to gather momentum - an achievement that would change the lives of millions around the world. Featuring: Prof John Hardy See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoi...
Jun 29, 2018•35 min•Season 3Ep. 20
Is there another ice age coming? And if so, when? Delving into the science behind the animated film Ice Age, Rick and Michael explore the most fundamental question that we all ponder while eating our breakfast cereal: could we survive the next ice age? Featuring: Prof Siwan Davies See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 21, 2018•28 min•Season 3Ep. 19
It’s the question all Science(ish) listeners have asked themselves: what’s makes me a genius? With the all-time classic Good Will Hunting, Rick and Michael explore the neuroscience of truly exceptional intelligence and creativity. Is genius innate or can it be fostered? And most importantly: is Michael’s brain over the hill? Featuring: Prof Rex Jung See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 14, 2018•36 min•Season 3Ep. 18
If Keanu Reeves can create a revolutionary new energy source in the film Chain Reaction, then why can’t we do the same in real life? Rick and Michael tackle the challenge of getting nuclear fusion - the ‘Holy Grail of Energy’ - to work on Earth. From superheated plasma to doughnut-shaped magnetic fields, will fusion always be the energy of the future? Or could it actually save us all? Featuring: Prof Steve Cowley See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad...
Jun 07, 2018•34 min•Season 3Ep. 17
Coming straight from the very 90s classic Demolition Man, Rick and Michael tackle the science of freezing yourself in time: from human cryogenics to anti-freeze frogs who scoff in the face of winter, might we all be signing up to be frozen in the future? Featuring: Dr Greg Fahy See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 31, 2018•33 min•Season 3Ep. 16
Rick and Michael delve into the world of the animated sitcom which (very nearly) bears their name: Rick and Morty. It’s time for quantum theory, parallel realities, and the end of physics as we know it in this extra-special LIVE episode. Haven’t you always wondered if there really is another 'you' out there? Featuring: Prof Brian Greene See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 24, 2018•48 min•Season 3Ep. 15
Donating a kidney to a total stranger you’ll never meet sounds crazy - but then why do hundreds of people voluntarily do it every year? This week Rick and Michael tackle the neuroscience of empathy with the film Seven Pounds. Is there really no such thing as a selfless good deed? And of course: how big is your amygdala? Featuring: Prof Abigail Marsh See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 17, 2018•35 min•Season 3Ep. 14
Science(ish) marks the 100-year anniversary of the devastating Spanish Flu outbreak by exploring the real threat behind the film Contagion: How vulnerable are we to the next deadly pandemic? Are we ready for it? And will you stop touching your face so bloody much after listening to this episode? Featuring: Dr Jonathan Quick See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 10, 2018•36 min•Season 3Ep. 13
Inspired by Netflix series Altered Carbon, Rick and Michael tackle the science behind Silicon Valley’s ultimate wet dream: uploading our minds to a computer. Isn’t it time you moved beyond your pathetic human biology and treated yourself to an upgrade? Featuring: Dr Randal Koene See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 03, 2018•35 min•Season 3Ep. 12
Could we reverse ageing and live forever? Science(ish) confronts our own mortality and explores the growing field of research which is bringing The Curious Case of Benjamin Button closer to reality. Might immortality be possible? And what would you be willing to do to get it... faecal transplant, anyone? Featuring: Dr Aubrey de Grey See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 26, 2018•36 min•Season 3Ep. 11
Inspired by the 109-year-old novel ‘The Machine Stops’ which remarkably predicted the internet as we know it today, Rick and Michael explore whether someone could ever switch our machine off - and if the internet might someday ‘wake up’? Featuring: Prof Milton Mueller See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 19, 2018•37 min•Season 3Ep. 10
With the Doomsday Clock now at two minutes to midnight, the boys go nuclear and explore the legendary political satire Dr. Strangelove. Could Trump fire off a nuke like he fires off a tweet? And how close are we to complete annihilation? The questions are big, the answers are bigger. Featuring: Prof Peter Feaver See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 12, 2018•39 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Through the sci-fi horror ‘The Cell’, Rick and Michael delve into the murky ‘grey zone of consciousness’ which separates life from death. Their quest: to discover if we could communicate with someone in a coma. Featuring: Prof Adrian Owen See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 05, 2018•30 min•Season 3Ep. 8
A treat for all the vegans out there. Rick and Michael tackle John Wyndham’s ‘The Day of the Triffids’, exploring whether plants can think, feel, and learn. And of course, the most fundamental question of all: who’s the real master of the earth - humans or wheat? Featuring: Prof. Monica Gagliano See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 29, 2018•31 min•Season 3Ep. 7
With the help of a real-life hacker, Rick and Michael go worldwide(web) by asking 'how vulnerable are we to hackers?'. We're talking Stuxnet, the internet of things, and baby monitors that talk back. Featuring: Jake Davis (formerly; Topiary of Anonymous) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 22, 2018•36 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Michael decides it’s time to get cerebral and opts for Neil Burger’s ‘Limitless’. We’re talking brain myths, we’re talking nootropics, and of course, we’re talking/taking modafinil. Featuring: Professor Barbara Sahakian See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 15, 2018•31 min•Season 3Ep. 5
The boys go deadly serious with 1990 sci-fi classic ‘Flatliners’. Brain death, consciousness, and everything in between. Featuring: Professor Leslie Whetstine Produced By: Max Sanderson Sound Designer: Ivor Manley See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 08, 2018•28 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Michael continues the dystopia with Alfonso Cuarón’s fertility thriller ‘Children of Men’ by asking ‘could humans go infertile?’ (Includes hints of a mid-life crisis from a certain Rick Edwards - not to be missed). Featuring: Professor Shanna Swan See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 01, 2018•31 min•Season 3Ep. 3
After 3 years of asking, Rick finally gets his dream episode with Kazuo Ishiguro’s ‘Never Let Me Go’ (apparently; also a film). Ghost hearts, chimeras, and sentient pigs - what more could you want? Featuring: Dr Jun Wu See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 22, 2018•38 min•Season 3Ep. 2
The boys start the new series with a bang. And a new format. One question, one scientist, plenty of relatively well-informed chat. To kick off, Rick and Michael go extra-terrestrial with 2016’s linguistic thriller ‘Arrival’. We’re talking a hundred words for snow, we’re talking babies on an island, and we’re talking (not so) Universal Grammar. Featuring: Dr Jessica Coon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 15, 2018•35 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Science(ish) is back! As of Thursday 15th February 2018, Rick Edwards and Dr Michael Brooks will be beaming into your ears every week and tackling the biggest scientific questions behind popular fiction. From holding conversations with aliens, to whether humans are going infertile - the new season of Science(ish) is about to arrive... and with a brand new format waiting for you all! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/ad...
Feb 01, 2018•6 min
Rick and Michael decide to get nostalgic with a festive wrap of Season 2 by revisiting their favourite questions. We're talking fringe theories, we're talking spider goats, and we're talking simulated universes. Happy Christmas everyone! https://radiowolfgang.com/s/scienceish See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 21, 2017•38 min
To celebrate the release of the Science(ish) book, Rick and Michael travel to the Wigtown Book Festival in Scotland to record a special live episode on dystopian classic 'Gattaca'. Are we more than our genes? Can they predict our future? And should we use genetic technology to create the perfect human? This episode features; Professor Steven Rose and Professor Peter Singer. https://radiowolfgang.com/s/scienceish See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad ...
Oct 06, 2017•1 hr
Rick and Michael cast their eyes to space and go asteroid-hunting as per Michael Bay’s 1998 disaster classic ‘Armageddon’. How can we spot ‘em? How can we destroy ‘em? And how can an army of painter-decorators potentially save the day? https://radiowolfgang.com/s/scienceish See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 26, 2017•54 min
Rick and Michael take a trip down memory lane, as told through the romantic science fiction comedy-drama (yes; that’s a thing) ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’. What is a memory? How reliable are they? Can we selectively erase them? And, of course, when will Michael stop telling his Alan Alda story?! Featuring: Dr Catherine Loveday, Dr Julia Shaw, Dr Steve Ramirez, and Professor Joseph Le Doux. https://radiowolfgang.com/s/scienceish See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out informatio...
Jul 14, 2017•53 min
The Brooks-Edwards hybrid delves into the world of chimeras, as seen in David Cronenberg’s classic ‘The Fly’. We’re talking teleportation. We’re talking spider-goats. We’re talking the “Brundlefly.” Be afraid, be very afraid. https://radiowolfgang.com/s/scienceish See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 17, 2017•55 min
Rick and Michael delve into the world of olfaction, as seen through the lens of Patrick Süskind’s psychopathic thriller ‘Perfume’. How do we smell? How can it affect us? And is Lynx Africa the world’s most perfect scent? https://radiowolfgang.com/s/scienceish See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 24, 2017•54 min
