Archive

Series 1

Here are the episodes from our very first series with Ceri Harrop and Greg Counsell.

Episode 1

Includes:

• ecstasy as a possible cure for leukemia,
• why humans have eyebrows,
• how slime moulds are being used to study stem cellsand
• all about plant clocks

Episode 2 

Includes:

• How the Indian summer confused plants
• what is a sponge? and
• the recent Nobel Prize for Medicine.

Episode 3

Includes:

• ROBO-MONKEYS
  Further info about this item can be found here: Walk Again Project.
• Why we yawn
• and if sloths really are the slowest mammals on the planet

Episode 4

Includes:

• how Evolutionary Computing is being used in to find
  new stroke treatment
• why we find some sounds to be so unpleasant
• and new research on the endangered Loggerhead turtle

Episode 5

Includes:

• how training can improve your sense of smell
  Link to Nature paper: Bidirectional plasticity of cortical pattern recognition and behavioral sensory acuity
• we ask the public why we blush
• and we’re in the studio with the University of Manchester Conservation Society
  Links to: Facebook and University of Manchester Conservation Society

Episode 6

In this Christmas-themed edition of the Life Science podcast we find out: 

• Why Reindeer are the ultimate sleigh pulling beasts
• in the spirit of Saint Nick, we speak to the public aboutwhy we laugh
• and we discover the unusual history behind some of our festive plants

Episode 7

In the first episode of 2012 we find out about:

• the microbes that live in our gut
• why we humans are symmetrical
• and why spider silk is the holy grail of material science

Episode 8

We discuss:

• the discovery of our sixth taste, fat
• just why it is that your stomach rumbles in seminars
• the hot topics at this year’s ScienceOnline conference 2012

Episode 9

Includes:

• can you die of a broken heart
• what makes our knuckles crack
• the world’s first stem cell burger

Episode 10

We discuss:

• the modern world of palaeontology [Link: Dinosaur Sabbatical]
• why we dream, and
• ovarian stem cells

Episode 11

Episode 11 is a little different from our other podcasts… It’s an interview with Professor Steve Jones, a geneticist from University College London. Professor Jones talks about the relationship between science and the media, following his report commissioned by the BBC Trust.

Episode 12

Includes:

• Orang-utan nest building (see movie below)
• Britain leads the fight against Dementia
• Tracing the roots of agriculture using ancient DNA

Episode 13

Includes:

• Professor Sir John Sulston talking about sustainable development
• How Synthetic Biology will change the world
• Radioactive Tuna, better than it sounds!

Episode 14

In the final episode of series 1:

• we talk to Professor Bambos Kyriacou about biorhythms
• we hear from Dr Simone Turchetti about his new book The Pontecorvo Affair
• we say goodbye to “the rarest animal on Earth”