Question of the Week - From the Naked Scientists, iTunesU: Recent Episodes
Dr Chris Smith
Each week we set out to solve one of the world's weirdest, wackiest, funniest and funkiest scientific puzzles. And along with the answer there's a brand new question to think about for next time... iTunesU
This week, a question from Bill. My question is about Chernobyl and why it is that wildlife seems to be thriving there and yet we understand that humans still can't survive there. Why is this? Phil Sansom spoke to someone who's actually been there - Victoria Gill, a science correspondent for BBC News...
This week, Manik from Canberra asked if it's possible to tell whether it's sunrise or sunset from looking at a photo or a painting. Ankita Anirban spoke to painter James Gurney and physicist William Livingston to shed light on the situation...
This week we are answering a question from Alex: "Are huskies (or dogs in general) able to insulate themselves from the cold of winter and from the heat of a hot summer's day as well?" Matthew Hall asks Christof Schwiening from Cambridge University's Department of Physiology...
This week we are answering a question sent in by Mark: is it possible to have so many blood transfusions that your blood type changes? Emma Hildyard asks Cedric Ghevaert, from the Department of Haemotology at the University of Cambridge...
Patrick sent us this question: "My wife wants me to light a candle after doing my number two, to get rid of the smell. Does this actually do anything?" Phil Sansom has been sniffing out an answer, with the help of Kit Chapman from Chemistry World.
Greg sent us this question: When I exhale, my breath contains carbon atoms. How long ago were they in my food or drink? We were hungry for answers, so Ruby Osborn asked Fred Warren from the Quadram Institute Bioscience to break it down....
Sean asked "Why is it that when you look directly at a small faint star it disappears, but when you look at a point near it, you can see it again?" Ben McAllister has been searching far and wide for the answer to this cosmological conundrum...
We received this question from Aidan, "Consuming orange carrots in high excess can turn your skin orange, because of the beta-carotene. What about purple carrots?" Jack Tavener and Katie Haylor have been crunching through some research to get to the root of this question.
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review. Plus, for more podcasts by The Naked Scientists head to nakedscientists.com/podcasts.
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.
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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.
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.
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?
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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.
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...
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.
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.
The Waite family wanted to know if fish yawn, so Heather Wark spoke to Iain Barber from Nottingham Trent University, to find out.
Anthony wanted to know if firing space rockets out of giant guns would be a better way to blast off. Heather Wark spoke to Dr Stuart Grey of Strathclyde University to find out...
This week we answered the sticky query, Why do people pick their noses?. Lewis Thomson put it to Liverpool GP Dr Laura Wark.
Elizabeth wanted to know whether she'd be safe if her car was hit by lightning or whether the engine would cut out. Izzie Clarke spoke to Philip Garsed from Cambridge University to spark up the debate on this electrifying question.
In the 1940's there was a chicken who survived for 18 months without a head, how long can humans survive for without a head?
Jayson wanted to know if living near a cell phone tower could be affecting his and his family's health. Stevie Bain spoke to physicist Tony Kent from the University of Nottingham to shed some light on the situation.
Jon wanted to know whether approaching a fly slowly would make it easier to swat. With the help of animal vision specialist Kate Feller from Cambridge University, Michael Wheeler's been swotting up on swatting flies.
Zettie wanted to know how much alcohol stays behind in food when you cook with it. Alexandra Ashcroft asked Vayu Maini Rekdal, from Harvard University, to turn up the heat on this question...
David wanted to know how our pet dogs compare to other animals, such as primates and dolphins, when it comes to intelligence. Stevie Bain spoke to Ben Ambridge from the University of Liverpool, and author of 'Are You Smarter than a Chimpanzee?', to find out more.
This week, we aired out Norm's question: if water is a solid, as ice, below 0 degrees Celsius, a gas above 100 degrees Celcius and a liquid between this range, why does washing dry when the air temperature is below 100 degrees Celsius. Alexandra Ashcroft asked Dr Thomas Ouldridge, from Imperial College London, to hang Norm's question out to dry...
This week, Mark has a conundrum about chloroplasts: If we could go green and harvest energy from the sun, like plants, how big would our skin need to be to sustain a normal level of activity? Georgia Mills recruited Christopher Mason, associate professor at Weill Cornell Medicine to shed some light on the answer.
Caitlin asked whether detergent residues left on crockery and cutlery could be bad for our health. Katie Haylor spoke to Rob Chilcott from the University of Hertfordshire to find out.
Jim asked whether being in a warm room - like in a hot yoga class - really does help your muscles to warm up quicker. Katie Haylor spoke to Christof Schweining from the University of Cambridge to find out.
Like physical activity, can we exercise our brain to improve at difficult mental challenges? Izzie Clarke spoke to Duncan Astle from Cambridge University about this tiring task...
Why does the same musical note sound different when played on different instruments? Why does, for example, an A-sharp on a piano sound different to an A-sharp on a trumpet?
David wanted to know why the blue lights he saw in Christmas trees were often harder to make out. Izzie Clarke spoke to Dr George Dobre from Kent University to shed some light on the issue.
Listener George wondered why, in films, missiles make a descending sound as they fall? And what would it sound like if it fell into a bottomless pit? Izzie Clarke asked Peter Main from King's College London to explain what actually happens...
Ricky Navthani has been trying to shed some light of Philip's question, about when he should replace his old CFL lights for more efficient LEDs.
Listener David got in touch to ask about whether mirrors in space could show us what Earth was like a million years ago. Graihagh Jackson asked Cambridge's Anna Hourihane to explain how this might work...
If birds are dinosaurs, why didn't they get killed by the asteroid 60 million years ago? Tom O'Hanlon put Fay's query to David Norman from the University of Cambridge.
Listener Tim got in touch to ask: Why do the poles go north-south as opposed to east-west? Graihagh Jackson spoke to Imperial College's Stuart Higgins to find out...
Do ants or other insects feel pain in the same way as humans do? And what does it have to do with robots? Tom Crawford gets some ant-sight from the University of York's Eleanor Drinkwater...
What would peeing on the moon look like? Is it even possible? Tom Crawford puts this astronomical question to Dr. Chris Messenger from the University of Glasgow...
Water contains hydrogen and oxygen, both of which are important in combustion, so why is it used to put out fires? Why doesn't water burn? Graihagh Jackson put this to chemist Peter Wothers from the University of Cambridge...
Why is it when we break a magnet in half, we get two new magnets? Why don't we just get separate north and south poles formed? Liam Messin set out to find the answer with Tim Boyd, a Cambridge undergraduate...
Why don't you get thrown backwards when you switch on your torch? Kerstin Gpfrich made her way to the Nanophotonics Centre in Cambridge to find out from Dr. Anna Lombardi. The answer to Matt's question may blow you away...
Could a jaunt to Jupiter be the physics-version of anti-wrinkel cream? This week, Kerstin Gpfrich convinced physicist Dr Stuart Higgins to go on a mission to answer Troy's question...
This week, Connie Orbach has been cleaning up, answering Dale's question he sent in on Facebook: does soap really kill off germs?, with the help of Cherly Trundle from Addenbrooke's hospital infection control team.
To get a handle on this shaky question Connie Orbach called in Dr Alex Copley from Cambridge University's Department of Earth Sciences...
Joshua asked us whether animals could ever experience the placebo effect. To find out, Laura Brooks spoke to Eleanor Drinkwater, researcher in animal behaviour at the University of York...
Kevin got in touch ask why clothes dried on a washing line can end up feeling rough, crunchy and stiff... To find out, our Laura Brooks contacted Neil Lant at the Fabric and Home Care research and development division of Proctor and Gamble, who make Lenor fabric softener.
It is not only learning that can appear to be quite hard; it's unlearning that we struggle with. How do we unlearn? Is there any technique for unlearning things? Claire Armstrong put this to neuroscientist Laura Ford, from the University of Cambridge...
Lucka Bibic spoke to Prof Marian Holness from University of Cambridge to take her through Robert's question...
This week, Natasha from Australia wrote in to ask why her stomach grumble when she is hungry. Lucka Bibic enlisted Dr Roshini Raj from Medical Trinity Center in New York to find out what causes the rumbly in our tumbly!
Listener Loot got in touch to ask how the moon got its markings. Claire Armstrong looked towards the heavens for the answer and spoke to the Open University's planetary expert Professor David Rothery.
Listener Kat got in touch to ask if cavemen really did have names and when did humans start naming each other. Lucka Bibic went in search of cavemen's names with the Professor of Linguistics at MIT, Shigeru Miyagawa.
Listener Android got in touch to ask how octopuses camouflage themselves if they are colour blind. Graihagh Jackson went under the sea to see if the seaweed is always greener on the other side with Cambridge University's Felicity Bedford...
Mark got in touch to find out how noise cancelling headphones work. Can they damage your ears by playing back loud background noise? Fanny Yuen spoke to Trevor Cox to cut the rumble...
Listener Solomon emailed us to find out exactly what role cooking plays in digestion. Emma Sackville met up with Dr. Giles Yeo to break down the question.
This week, Jeff wrote in to ask whether we would be able to recognise and understand an encrypted message from space. Emma Sackville enlisted Dr. Duncan Forgan from the University of St. Andrews to help decode this question...
Listener Paul got in touch to ask if it's true that there's almost no restriction in the speed an elevator could ascend when it comes to the human body, but that there was a limiting speed for the descent. Graihagh Jackson was perplexed and intrigued by the question and so went to meet engineer, Dr Philip Garsed from Cambridge University to get up to speed...
Connie Orbach get's to grip with Lebonhang's question and ask Dr Clemency Booth to help...
This week, Jonathan asked us if it's possible for two planets to share the same orbit. Naked Scientist Graihagh Jackson put this to Dr Stuart Higgins from Cambridge University...
People can certainly smell whiffy and sometimes this is attractive, other times not so much but is this a feature of pheromones? Lots of species of mammals have them, so what makes us humans any different? This week , Felicity Bedford sniffed out the answer with Tristan Wyatt from the University of Oxford...
Felicity Bedford enlisted the help of Glasgow University's Heather Ferguson for this biting question...
The number of stars in space is huge, so why is it so chilly? Felicity Bedford spoke to Ryan MacDonald from the Cambridge University Institute of Astronomy to find out more...
Why is it that our voice sounds so different to us than when we hear it back on a recording? Connie Orbach persuaded Dr Nick Gibbons, voice surgery specialist from Lewisham Hospital to take her through Che's question...
Unless you are an identical twin it's unlikely you've found anyone else who looks just like you. But, why do we all look so different? Felicity Bedford spoke to population geneticist Sir Walter Bodmer from Oxford University who is characterising thousands of faces as part of the People of the British Isles Project...
We've all had days when we're tired and wish we didn't have dark circles under our eyes. But why do we get these puffy eyes and do they serve a purpose? Felicity Bedford spoke to Dr Sean Lanigan, President of the British Cosmetic Dermatology Group to find out more...
Reduced sea ice is threatening polar bears in the Arctic. Listener Kevin wanted to know if they would thrive at the south pole instead?
Jess wanted to know what would happen if she plucked a guitar in space. Would her music be out of this world? Felicity Bedford spoke to Professor Jim Woodhouse from the University of Cambridge to find out.
Winter is coming and with it comes a runny nose but how can we stop a snotty hooter? Listener Amanda was keen to nose the answer, so Felicity Bedford spoke to GP Adam Forman to find out...
It would appear that people on go bald on their heards, but why? And why not elsewhere? Rosalind Davis has been pulling her hair our over this one with Professor Robert Foley from the University of Cambridge...
Eleanor wanted to know why people enjoy looking at views. Do we learn this socially or is it innate? Rosalind Davies spoke to Michael Forster from the University of Vienna to find out.
With Halloween just around the corner, Stephen asks the spooky question, Are zombies feasible?. Charis Lestrange investigates with the help of pathologist Suzie English from the University of Cambridge and immunologist Khalil Thirlaway from the University of Nottingham.
Marco got in touch after his truck tipped over on the motorway. He wanted to know what speed the wind would need to be blowing at to cause this, so he knew when to stop driving in the future. Rosalind Davies spoke to Zephyr Penoyre, a PhD student at Columbia State University, to find out the answer.
Anders asked the electrifying question, "Why do power lines make so much noise?";. This seemed rather complicated so Charis Lestrange asked Dr Andrew Griffiths, a semiconductor engineer from the company IQE.
Katie asked the very seasonal question of Why is gooseberry jam red, when gooseberries are green?. This really baffled the Naked Scientists, so Joanna Kerr put this thorny question to Dr Sarka Tumova, a food scientist at the University of Leeds.
Is it brain fatigue? Or do we go into autopilot? Sam Mahaffey asked Dr Steve Fleming from the Wellcome Trust centre for Neuroimaging at UCL why this happens. And if there is anything we can do to stop it.
Fingernails seem to have obvious uses but what are our toenails for? Was their some evolutionary benefit? And does that mean we'll evolve toenail-less feet? Sam Mahaffey and Dr Isabelle Winder from the University of York go in search of a gripping answer...
This week Dave asked why does a minor key sound mournful and a major key sound happy? Amy Goodfellow asks music psychologist Dr Andrea Schiavio from the University of Sheffield if this is really true.
This week Brian Lucas wanted to know: where are we within the universe? Joanna Kerr decided to try and find out with help from Dr Sean McGee, an astrophysicist from the University of Birmingham.
This week Louise asked, how many people are needed to avoid inbreeding in a population? To answer her question Connie Orbach looks into setting up her own desert island with the help of Professor Mike Weale, a population geneticist from Kings Collge London.
What are wormholes, and how would one be created? James Farr investigates the secrets of the universe...
This week Amy Goodfellow took a trip to the country to answer Jerry's question - how much bread it takes to make one wholemeal loaf. She spoke to Andrew Whitley, the co-founder of the Real Bread Campaign...
This week, Graihagh Jackon drilled into John's question to try and find out what the most expensive element in the world is... But first, how do we define 'expensive?' Chemist Mark Lorch set us straight...
This week, Tom Crawford put Helen's question under the magnifying glass to try and find out whether fingerprints really are unique and if so, whether the same applies to toeprints? We put this to Forensic Scientist, Professor Niamh Nic Daeid form Dundee University...
This week we've been sequencing Lorianna's question: if babies have different genetic sequences from their mother, and are technically foreign objects in the womb, why doesn't the mother's immune system attack? Ziyad Yehia asked Dr Lucy Fairclough, an immunologist from Nottingham University to find out...
This week we tackle Allana's question: If we were to travel to gas giant Jupiter, would we sink to the core? Or float straight on through? Heather Douglas put this to Dr Marc Rayman from NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab to see if he could clear the air...
How do black boxes work? When a plane crashes, there's always a huge search for the elusive 'black box' to solve the mystery. But what is this, and how does it work? Heather Douglas put this to David Barry, senior lecturer in aviation safety, from Cranfield University
Unripe pears are dry, yet ripe pears are juicy so how do they become moist? Philip Garsed put Dennis' question to plant scientist Sonja Dunbar, from Cambridge University...
Chris wanted to know if it's true what your mum always told you. Does cheese really give you nightmares? Danielle Blackwell spoke to Max Sanderson, a neuroscientist to find out more...
Bonga tweeted us asking if we could ever use eels as a source as electricity? Would it be efficient? And how would it compare to other energy sources? Khalil Thirlaway caught up with Dr David LaVan from the National Institute of Standards and Technology to find out...
From worms to fleas and even microscopic single celled organisms, our pets can transfer a world of parasites to us if we are not careful. Prof Susan Little, a Veternary Parasitologist tells us what parasites we might catch and how we might prevent them.
Have you ever noticed that you urinate more frequently in cold weather? Why does this happen?
It's said that taxi drivers' brains have increased growth in certain areas from navigating around cities. Is increasing smartphone use having a similar effect on other parts of our brains?
Is homosexual behaviour seen in other species? What do they do? Why? Find out in this week's Question of the Week...
We find out why petrol creates a rainbow effect when in contact with water, and how the behaviour of light can create all these colours.
Could we clean up our oceans of plastics by fitting vacuum cleaners to ships to suck them up?
Different waking dream states can affect whether you feel resfreshed or not after a nights sleep.
We chew over some important questions relating to vitamins, including what are they? Do we really need them? Can our bodies store them? And what would happen if we didn't consume any?
The tectonic plates below our feet move. But where does the energy for this come from? Apparently the reason is analogous to how your porridge gets heated up in the morning. We find out why!
Why do we yawn? Is it because we're short on air? Matthew Boniface wanted to know this and whether he could catch a yawn from his cat. We spoke to Dr Hugh Matthews from Cambridge University to find out what makes them so contagious...
14 hour flights sound like your idea of hell? Paul Jenn wrote in asking whether it was possible to speed up plane journeys, so we went to Neil Scott, head of engineering at Airbus, to find out.
If you were swallowed by a whale, could you swim out and up through the oesophagus or would you be digested by the stomach acid? Plus, we ask about the future of flight: Are we going to be forever stuck in this air speed? What are the constraints of aerodynamics? Are noise rules the issue? Can a supersonic jet be ever built with decent fuel economy?
Facial hair a different colour to that on your head? We stroke our beards to ponder why. Plus we ask, what happens when you get swallowed by a whale?
Will we cause our own demise by burning the candle at both ends? Or will it be something like the giant impact that caused the dinosaurs to go extinct? What do you think?
Listener Ahmed has been struck by lightning twice! Is he prone to attracting lightning, or just unlucky?
Windows, computer screens and phones that never get grubby? What's the chemistry making that self cleaning glass possible?
We hack our heads to find out how we can make a secure password. Plus we scrub up the issue and ask: how does self-cleaning glass work?
If you accidentally relocate a bee in your car, what happens? Would it join another colony or would that be it for the lost bee? For the answer to this insterest-sting question, we spoke to Henry Ferguson-Gow from the Zoological Society of London.
Could we get solar power from space and if so, how would we be able to transmit this energy back to Earth and use it? We spoke to John C. Mankins from Artemis Innovation Management Solutions to find out...
Humans are the only animals that cry tears of emotion as well as pain. But does each type of tear differ in its chemical composition, and can you tell why someone was crying from looking at this?
Music: a concentration aid or a complete distraction? Why do some people find it helpful and others disruptive?
This week, we tackle the burning issue of spontaneous human combustion. Reported cases of people bursting into flames nowhere near a fire. Is there any scientific explanation for this?
Which organs are vital and which are luxuries of life? We asked Elena Teh, Medical student at Cambridge University, for the gory details...
We sniff out the science asking does sneeze volume and sound indicate personality type?
Can you combat brain fogginess and help with french homework by munching sweets? We find out if there is any scientific rationale for this sweet toothed strategy to deal with brain fatigue.
Would a scattering of your beloved's ashes be good for plant growth? Or could it be toxic? We take this question to Cambridge University's Botanic's Head Gardener.
Are there antimatter planets out there? What would they look like? And how would we tell they exist? We find out!
What's the difference between aspirin, paracetamol and ibuprofen? We turn to a Professor of Pain for the answer.
We light up our brains with this burning question, igniting the issue with a Professor of Chemistry and Fire Science, Richard Hull, from Lancaster University.
Do you feel tired, irritable and bored during the week? Yet full of beans and enthusiasm at the weekend? We find out why this could be!
Why does my PC need more data storage than my DNA? Surely human processing power is greater than a computers? We crunch into the data to find out!
Is technology changing at too fast a pace for our genetic material? Has human evolution halted? We find out!
Could we banish planes and instead use the Earths natural spin to help long distance travel across it's surface?
We zoom into MRI scanning to find out why it is so low resolution and ask, if it was improved could that help diagnosing disorders of the brain?
We find out if other animals exhibit handed'ness. Plus what does it mean to be left handed and right footed?
There's not that many bugs around this time of year, but those that are seem to collect by by kitchen light. Why is that?