Introducing Why Do We Do That?07 December 2022Ella Al-Shamahi introduces her new series, Why Do We Do That? An anthropologist's guide to the modern world. Listen and subscribe on BBC Sounds.00:01:19
The Puzzle of the Plasma Doughnut20 September 2022What do you get if you smash two hydrogen nuclei together? Helium and lots of energy. That’s no joke – it's nuclear fusion! Nuclear fusion is the power source of the sun and the stars. Physicists and engineers here on earth are trying to build reactors than can harness fusion power to provide lim...00:39:00
The Riddle of Red-Eyes and Runny-Noses13 September 2022Sneezes, wheezes, runny noses and red eyes - this episode is all about allergies. An allergic reaction is when your immune system reacts to something harmless – like peanuts or pollen – as if it was a parasitic invader. It’s a case of biological mistaken identity. Professor Judith Holloway fro...00:36:31
The Problem of Infinite Pi(e)06 September 2022Hungry for pi? Chow down on this! Pi is the ratio between a circle’s diameter and its circumference. Sounds dull – but pi turns out to have astonishing properties and crop up in places you would never expect. For a start, it goes on forever and never repeats, meaning it probably contains your name...00:35:56
The Suspicious Smell30 August 2022Why are some smells so nasty and others so pleasant? Rutherford and Fry inhale the science of scent in this stinker of an episode. Our sleuths kick off with a guided tour of the airborne molecules and chemical receptors that power the sense of smell. Armed with a stack of pungent mini-flasks, Prof...00:38:47
The Wild and Windy Tale23 August 2022How do winds start and why do they stop? asks Georgina from the Isle of Wight. What's more, listener Chris Elshaw is suprised we get strong winds at all: why doesn't air just move smoothly between areas of high and low pressure? Why do we get sudden gusts and violent storms? To tackle this breez...00:38:55
The Case of The Missing Gorilla16 August 2022DO WE HAVE YOUR ATTENTION? Good! But how does that work!? Our intrepid science sleuths explore why some things immediately catch your eye - or ear - while others slip by totally unnoticed. Even, on occasion, basketball bouncing gorillas. Professor Polly Dalton, a psychologist who leads The Att...00:37:14
Silly Studies: The Pre-Series Tease09 August 2022We asked you to send us the boldest, barmiest bits of published research you could find and, dear Curios, you didn't disappoint! It’s time for some silly science.00:10:05
The Colour Conundrum24 March 2022The world is full of colour! But, wonders listener Maya Crocombe, ‘how do we see colour and why are some people colour blind?’ Dr Rutherford and Professor Fry set out to understand how special light-sensitive cells in our eyes start the process of colour perception, why people sometimes have very d...00:35:56
The Turn of the Tide17 March 2022Mathematician Hannah Fry and geneticist Adam Rutherford investigate your everyday science queries. Today, they get stuck into two questions about tides. Lynn Godson wants to know why isn’t high tide at the same time at all points around the coast? Whilst Tim Mosedale asks, could we ever harness tida...00:34:29
