Curious Cases

From mouldy bread to athlete’s foot, fungi don’t exactly scream “home improvement.” But what if this misunderstood kingdom is the secret to the sustainable materials of the future?Listener Alexis - definitely not a gnome - wants to know how much of our homes we could build with fungi. Professor Katie Field describes how the mushroom is the just tip of the iceberg - it’s the network of thread-like...

What happens in your brain when Cupid’s arrow strikes? As a teenager, Alison developed an intense crush on George Harrison from the Beatles. But, she wants to know, why do we develop these feelings for pop stars we’ve never actually met? And what potent swirl of neurochemistry drives those fierce emotions?With neuroscientist Dr. Dean Burnett and evolutionary anthropologist Dr. Anna Machin as...

Hannah and Dara tackle a disarmingly simple question: is anything in the universe truly invisible? After ruling out mysterious Nordic spirits and ‘Dara’s ire’, our curious duo start to track down the invisible waves all around them. Including, it turns out, some which are emanating from their VERY OWN FACES! An infrared camera reveals Hannah’s nose as a particular hotspot.Turning their gaze to...

For any of you who have ever told a porkie pie, don't worry, this week we hear why we all do it... and discover that deception is actually good for social bonding. From the red squirrels who cry wolf to scare off the competition, to kids who look you in the eye as they tell bare faced lies, this is a behaviour that occurs across all species. And one man who's particularly good at it is Traitors...

“Diamonds are nonsense!” Hannah boldly proclaimed in a previous episode. But listener Guy is a diamond enthusiast, and he and his diamond-loving pals were NOT OKAY WITH THIS. He demanded we re-open the case, and here we are...SO in this glittering showdown, Dara is on a quest to flip Hannah’s perspective from “meh” to “marvelous.” And for Hannah, some uncomfortable facts soon emerge. It turns out...

Hannah Fry and Dara Ó Briain return to tackle listener's questions with the power of science!

The buzz of a fly hovering just above your head has got to be one of the most irritating sounds around, but this week we try to work out just how fast they could be flying. Could a claim horseflies reach speeds of up to 90 mph possibly be true, and Dara wants to know if this is what makes them so difficult to swat?Entomologist Erica McAlister is better known as the ‘fly lady’ and speaks up in...

Anyone who has ever done a long car journey with kids will be familiar with the idea of being bored to death – but can this feeling really be fatal? Hannah and Dara hear about a club where members count roundabouts and collect milk bottle tops, but boredom expert Wijnand van Tilburg explains these dull-sounding hobbies might actually have mental health benefits. He explains that science and...

When you die, would you want to be frozen so that one day you might be brought back to life? Listener Elspeth wants to know if that’s even possible. So Hannah and Dara embark on a quest to explore the chiling science of ‘cryobiology’: preserving living things at really low temperatures.It turns out there are already thousands of people alive who were once suspended in antifreeze and stored in...

Wake up! It’s time for a dreamy new episode of Curious Cases all about the science of sleepwalking. Listener Abigail has done some strange things in her sleep, from taking all the pictures off the wall, to searching for Turkish language courses. And she wants to know: WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?It turns out Abigail is not alone. Hannah and Dara hear weird and wonderful stories of extreme sleepwalkers...