The Paris Olympic Games are well underway so of course we have questions! Ellie, Antonia and Jasmin debate whether skill or physical ability is more important and consider whether equipment, psychology, or other factors affect them. Read more: Here’s the blog Antonia mentions about gymnasts getting older A research article about the perfect age to compete Jasmin’s guide to shoes for track and field A news article based on research that controversially showed spikes on athletic shoes make runners...
Aug 08, 2024•30 min•Ep. 90
They get a bad rap in the movies but just how dangerous are they really? Laura, Ellie and Jasmin compare human-shark interactions to other – seemingly less dangerous – activities, and talk about shark behaviour as well as their senses and evolutionary history to figure out their tactics for swimming with sharks. Read more: London’s Natural History Museum for a selection of sharkey facts NOAA fisheries for some more fun facts The Australian Institute of Marine Science for data on shark attacks an...
Jul 25, 2024•28 min•Ep. 89
Did you know you have fungi living in your gut? Ellie and Laura share recent improvement in anti-fungal drugs, the relatively new discovery that fungi are found in many types of cancer and speculate on what this might mean for future cancer therapies. They also consider their own experiences with fungus and how they can bias a person's point of view. Ellie mentions a book in relation to how fungi in the gut affect mental health: The Immune Mind by Dr. Monty Lyman . Read more about antifungal dru...
Jul 11, 2024•22 min•Ep. 88
As the world tries to wean itself of fossil fuels, alternative ways of producing and storing energy are being developed. Antonia, Jasmin and Sophie talk about how hydrogen can be used to store energy, different ways it can be created, how developed the technology is, and what hydrogen is currently used for.
Jun 27, 2024•24 min•Ep. 87
Ever wondered what society would look like if we lose our entire infrastructure? Antonia, Jasmin and Ellie discuss how they might survive based on their own science and engineering knowledge combined with inspiration from film and TV. They discuss movies such as Water World , consider where they would look for information if the internet were affected, and examine how global society could be rebuilt in the absence of modern infrastructure that many of us take for granted. It turns out there isn’...
Jun 13, 2024•46 min•Ep. 86
Do you ever think about how technology like your smartphone has improved with time and wonder how science made it happen? In this episode with an audience from the Engineering Development Trust, Antonia, Laura and Jasmin talk about metals needed in clean energy technology as well other technologies such as hard disk drives and display screens. They debate whether we're replacing fossil fuels with other finite resources and consider efforts to start mining on the moon. Antonia refers to a report ...
May 30, 2024•31 min•Ep. 85
They're used in lots of things but you don't often hear about it. Antonia, Laura and Emma discuss their use in medicine for radiation therapy, electronics and sun screen. They also explain why these tiny particles are so interesting to scientists. References: The study about zinc nanoparticles and lung cells was summarised for the media in 2012 but advice from experts explains why you should wwar suncreen . The Antibacterial Mechanism of Silver Nanoparticles and Its Application in Dentistry , pu...
May 16, 2024•19 min•Ep. 84
Do you find activists like Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil annoying or do you support their fervour? Laura, Antonia and Jasmin discuss whether there is any evidence that their disruptive tactics will convince companies and governments to take more drastic action to curb the climate emergency. They look at why people might join a cause and whether facts or emotion are the most powerful tool an activist can use to persuade. The team mention a report from the Tyndall Centre for Friends of th...
May 02, 2024•28 min•Ep. 83
We've seen lots of news stories about a global sand shortage but what's really going on? Ellie, Antonia and Laura (joined by Ellie's cat Sparkles) analyse the facts, look at what sand is used for, discuss the effect that sand supplies have on people and the environment and speculate on what should be done next. Read some of the news coverage , digest some sandy facts explained using handy graphics , read the most recent report from the United Nations , or read the research that uncovers how sand...
Apr 18, 2024•28 min•Ep. 82
Many breakthroughs in medicine have been made from studying rats. Antonia, Laura and Ellie discuss several studies of rat behaviour that have mapped how parts of the brain work and discuss how the results could be applied to humans to develop prosthetic limbs or help recover memory after a brain injury. They look at studies where rats are tickled until they laugh , learn to drive cars , navigate virtual reality and perform a Jedi mind trick ....
Apr 04, 2024•31 min•Ep. 81
Ever watch an action movie where someone is hurled across the screen during an explosion and wondered how likely that is? Antonia, Laura, Nick and Ellie talk about movie portrayals, nuclear weapons, disaster investigations, and exploding animals.
Mar 21, 2024•46 min•Ep. 80
In an earlier episode on apex predators we had a bit of a tech fail! Here's a big chunk of speculative conversation from Antonia, Ellie and Jasmin that that follows some sort of weird logic but somehow arrives at a sensible conclusion.
Mar 07, 2024•8 min•Ep. 79
To help tackle the climate crisis, we'll need a lot of new technology to reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Ellie, Jasmin and Laura share a load of facts about the chemicals, energy requirements and land use involved in technology to capture carbon dioxide from the air. They also look at how planting trees compares to this technology and answer questions from a live audience from the Engineering Development Trust about Taylor Swift's private jet and why we're spendin...
Feb 22, 2024•21 min•Ep. 78
If you could take a pill to halt ageing and become immortal, would you? Laura, Jasmin and Ellie take a look at some long-lived species, discuss just some of the science behind ageing and decide, if they could, whether they'd want to stay in their biological bodies forever or upload themselves to live digitally. Read more about the science stories they discuss: Determining how long the Greenland shark lives for Jonathan the tortoise Ming the clam Earth's longest living organism Some other long-li...
Feb 08, 2024•35 min•Ep. 77
We've been around for a while and we have a lot of influence over our environment but are we really better than a lion or an orca? Antonia, Jasmin and Ellie discuss whether humans the top of the food chain or whether nature still does it better than we do.
Jan 25, 2024•22 min•Ep. 76
You might be surprised to know that new species are discovered pretty much every day. Laura and Ellie talk about how these discoveries are made and debate whether it's easier to find an exctinct, fossilised species or one that's still alive. You can send your spare pennies to our ko-fi fund to support the podcast here . Read about the discoveries that Ellie and the team at IFL Science have reported on including the Carlsberg beetle , a dinosaur in Utah , a dinosaur hand , the golden mole , a fos...
Dec 21, 2023•31 min•Ep. 75
The COVID pandemic led to rapid development of vaccines. Laura, Emma and Antonia look at the history of vaccine development, the rapid development of the mRNA vaccine, and speculate on whether future vaccines could be so quickly developed. Read about how viruses are weakened to be used as vaccines , some mechanisms of vaccination , how smallpox vaccines were developed in the 18th century , whether mRNA vaccines could be used to fight HIV , and the recent Nobel prize for the mRNA vaccine used aga...
Dec 10, 2023•34 min•Ep. 74
We may not know it, but pop culture is pretty good at influencing our views. Antonia and Laura discuss several action films that rely on radiation for plot points and discuss whether these plot points could be backed-up by science. They talk about using radiation to trace chemical leaks, environmental changes and to find things in the human body. Is there any way of using radiation to trace money the way thta Batman does? Can injecting yourself with a substance protect you from radiation like th...
Nov 23, 2023•25 min•Ep. 73
It's contributing to the climate emergency but you don't usually hear about it. Laura, Jasmin and Antonia discuss where it comes from, why it's important, and what can be done to reduce emission of this gas into the atmosphere. Jasmin's research involves methane. Check out her research profile at Imperial College London . Antonia mentions the gates of hell firepit in Turkmenistan....
Nov 09, 2023•32 min•Ep. 72
AI is rapidly evolving and we want to know what will happen next. Antonia, Ellie and Jasmin discuss their experience of AI, what intelligence actually means, how AI works, and how it could affect their individual careers as zoologists, science communicators and analysts. Jasmin talks about her experience with chatbots and references a study on whether people trust them . Antonia references some opinions of experts shared by Pew Research Centre , The World Economic Forum and AI Experts as well as...
Oct 26, 2023•34 min•Ep. 71
Like it or not, plastic is a big part of our lives. Laura, Jasmin and Antonia discuss how different plastics are made, how bioplastics are different to ones made from fossil fuels, what is really meant by biodegradable plastics, and whether plastic can be sustainable. The discussion is also peppered with more weird offshoots than normal as real-life examples add to the conversation. Did you know that lots of clothes include plastic fibres? Ever wondered how easy it is to recycle them? Are you be...
Oct 12, 2023•31 min•Ep. 70
The dinosaurs might take all the glory but well before they existed there was a very important period. Laura and Ellie discuss the 'explosion' in animal biodiversity that started around 541 million years ago and how we know it happened. They also speculate on what sort of animal might be missing from the fossil record and somehow come to the strange conclusion that balloon animals might have been real. Sources of information for the factual stuff: Rocks (iron) absorbed free oxygen from britannic...
Sep 28, 2023•36 min•Ep. 69
Whether you're a scientist or engineer you'll probably handle a lot of data. Laura, Emma and Antonia discuss how they use various data analysis techniques in their different disciplines of energy analysis and physics. They highly recommend towards data science as a resource to learn more and discus a specific example of principal component analysis (the rotating graph) from builtin.com ....
Sep 14, 2023•40 min•Ep. 68
A lot of effort goes in to studying birds and their habits. Laura, Ellie and Antonia talk about nesting habits, what we can learn from them and why it’s important for scientists to know about them. They also talk about what you can do at home to help birds survive as climate and their environment changes.
Aug 31, 2023•46 min•Ep. 67
An audience from the Engineering Development Trust's Insights to University course quizzes Antonia, Jasmin, Alasdair and Sophie about how they chose their degree course, what sort of research they worked on, if they got to choose modules about climate change, and whether it’s better to do undergraduate masters or a bachelor’s degree. They also discuss how their individual choices led each of them to work in different aspects of the energy industry and whether they would change anything about how...
Aug 17, 2023•37 min•Ep. 66
Although carbon capture technology is in use now, there are quite a few hurdles to jump before it becomes widely used. Laura, Jasmin and Antonia are joined by a live audience from the Engineering Development Trust 's Routes to STEM course to talk about industrial applications of carbon capture in various industries. They field questions from the audience about the wider energy industry, discuss how options for storage compare to using the gas in a circular carbon economy and consider whether pla...
Aug 03, 2023•38 min•Ep. 65
It’s a weird mash-up of biology and physics and it really is useful. Antonia, Emma and Laura talk about how to simulate biology on a computer, how physics is involved, and speculate on how artificial intelligence could help improve the simulations and lead to speedier, cheaper drug development.
Jul 20, 2023•40 min•Ep. 64
It’s not often you hear about a new discovery of theory in science that makes you say 'wow!' Laura and Antonia talk about some of their moments of astonishment when they've learned something about black holes or dinosaurs.
Jul 06, 2023•27 min•Ep. 63
Meteor showers are well worth staying up late for but how often do heavenly bodies fall to Earth and what do they look like? Ellie and Laura discuss this, what to do if you find one, how they compare to terrestrial objects like gold, and discuss whether they're valuable. They also get interrupted by various animals and can't help mention rewilding.
Jun 22, 2023•31 min•Ep. 62
Could artificial intelligence take some of the most highly skilled jobs? Would you want to see an AI for healthcare and get a diagnosis? Would you trust it more than a real life person? Laura, Antonia and Sarah discuss all this and more. Sarah uses her considerable experience as a medical doctor and teaching of surgery to guide us through the pros and cons of AI in healthcare and the team speculate on what the future might hold. Ever thought about what you'd want your ideal doctor to act like?...
Jun 01, 2023•40 min•Ep. 61
