Episodes

  • Can we harness nuclear energy without steam?

    Can we harness nuclear energy without steam?
    Dec 13 2024
    Dave writes in wanting to know whether there is any way to get nuclear energy onto the grid without heating up water to turn a steam turbine. A great question that sees James Tytko dip his toe into the uranium heated waters of nuclear engineering... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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    4 mins
  • How long does it take to create a galaxy?

    How long does it take to create a galaxy?
    Dec 6 2024
    David wants to know, after looking at distant galaxies in the night sky, how long it took to create them. James Tytko took on the question with the help of the University of Cambridge's Public Astronomer, Matt Bothwell... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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    5 mins
  • How do parasites know they are in the right place?

    How do parasites know they are in the right place?
    Nov 29 2024
    Parasites have to come up with all sorts of tricks to evade the immune system of their hosts. But Kate wants to know, how do they know they've found the right place? James Tytko took her question on with help from Catherine Merrick, professor of parisitology at the University of Cambridge... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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    6 mins
  • Why are plane and boat propellers in different places?

    Why are plane and boat propellers in different places?
    Nov 22 2024
    Thanks to Cambridge University's Andy Wheeler for the answer! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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    5 mins
  • Why do geese honk while flying in formation?

    Why do geese honk while flying in formation?
    Nov 15 2024
    Rick wants to know why the Canada geese he's been observing, who are preparing to migrate for the winter, are honking so incessantly while flying in formation. Viola Ross-Smith from the British Trust for Ornithology was on hand to help James Tytko with the answer... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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    5 mins
  • Are multi cancer screening tests worth the money?

    Are multi cancer screening tests worth the money?
    Nov 8 2024
    Van writes in with, 'A friend is encouraging me to take a cancer screening test that screens for many different cancers. A review of one test says: "While overall it picks up 90% of stage 4 cancers, it only detects an average of 17% of stage 1 cancers. Yet it is being touted as a test that can detect cancer early." Are these tests worthwhile?' James Tytko took on the question with the help of Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald, Founding Director of the Early Detection Institute at the University of Cambridge... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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    5 mins
  • Could man have thrived if dinosaurs still roamed?

    Could man have thrived if dinosaurs still roamed?
    Nov 1 2024
    If dinosaurs hadn't been wiped out by a mass extinction event, would there have been room for humans to grow into the successful species we are today? That's what Colin wants to know, and James Tytko has promised to find the answer. He spoke with Dr Charlotte Kenchington from the University of Cambridge's Department of Earth Sciences... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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    5 mins
  • What is the spread of chemical isotopes on other planets?

    What is the spread of chemical isotopes on other planets?
    Oct 25 2024
    Pamela wants to know whether the distribution of chemical isotopes is the same on other planets as it is on Earth. Take carbon, for example, 99% of which is carbon-12 on Earth while 1% is carbon-13? To find the answer, James Tytko asked Xander Byrne from the University of Cambridge's Institute of Astronomy... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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    6 mins