Whether you’re curious about getting healthy, the Big Bang or the science of cooking, find out everything you need to know in under 30 minutes with Instant Genius. The team behind BBC Science Focus Magazine talk to world-leading experts to bring you a bite-sized masterclass on a new subject each week.Then when you’ve mastered the basics with Instant Genius. Dive deeper with Instant Genius Extra, where you’ll find longer, richer discussions about the most exciting ideas in the world of science and technology. Only available on Apple Podcasts. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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Could 'counterfactuals' solve the biggest problems in physics?
Most laws of physics tell us what must happen. Throw a ball in the air and it will come back down. But physicist Chiara Marletto, a Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, says that laws like this only tell us part of the story.She believes that the rest lies in 'counterfactuals': things that could be.In her new book, The Science of Can and Can’t (£20, Allen Lane), she explains how these counterfactual properties could solve many of science’s biggest outstanding problems.Let us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts.Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Sticher, RSS, OvercastListen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:Prof Avi Loeb on what 'Oumuamua tells us about the problem with modern physicsMarcus Chown: Does the Big Bang really explain our Universe?Dr Douglas Vakoch: Should we try to contact aliens?Katie Mack: How will the Universe end?Sonia Contera: How will nanotechnology revolutionise medicine?Everything You Wanted To Know About… Physics with Jim Al-Khalili See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
What happens to you after 40 days with no natural light?
Around two months ago, a group of 15 people – scientists, explorers and medics – travelled deep into a cave in the south of France. The expedition descended to a point so deep that natural light could not reach them, and there the team stayed for 40 days and 40 nights without clocks, phones or anyway of telling the time.The project’s goal was to understand what happens to our brains and bodies when we’re deprived of an external measure of time and they hoped to discover how a group of people could adapt to such an extreme situation.Just two weeks ago, that team emerged from the cave, and Christian Clot, the expedition’s leader and the designer of the DEEP TIME mission, joins editor Daniel Bennett on this week's episode of the Science Focus Podcast to talk about what the experiment discovered, how the expedition changed him and what ultimately happened when the team returned to the surface.Let us know what you think of the Science Focus Podcast by filling out our survey. By submitting it, you enter the prize draw to win one of seven £100 Voucher Express Gift Cards. It should take no more than five minutes. UK residents only. Full T&Cs.Take part in the surveySubscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Sticher, RSS, OvercastListen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:Why realistic humanoid robots need to learn to lip-syncThe psychology of the sea shanty: Why work songs are such earwormsMental health and your brain: What happens when it goes wrongWhy you can’t multitask (and why that’s a good thing)How to maximise your motivation, according to a neuroscientistProf John Drury: The psychology of lockdowns See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Why do humans make music?
Our lives are full of music, from the songs we sing along to on the radio to the orchestral scores that bring a film to life. But why is it that humans love to make music, and how did it evolve in the first place?Musicologist Prof Michael Spitzer, author of the new book The Musical Human (£30, Bloomsbury), joins BBC Science Focus online assistant Sara Rigby on this week’s episode to explain.Let us know what you think of the Science Focus Podcast by filling out our survey. By submitting it, you enter the prize draw to win one of seven £100 Voucher Express Gift Cards. It should take no more than 5 minutes. UK residents only. Full T&Cs.Take part in the surveySubscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Sticher, RSS, OvercastListen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:The psychology of the sea shanty: Why work songs are such earwormsCould these gloves be the future of music? – Imogen HeapThe neuroscience of happiness – Dean BurnettDr Pete Etchells: Do video games encourage gambling behaviour?Why you can’t multitask (and why that’s a good thing)Phobias, paranoia and PTSD: Why virtual reality therapy is the frontier of mental health treatment See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
The future of human flight, with real-life Iron Man Richard Browning
In this week's episode of the Science Focus Podcast, we talk to the "real-life Iron Man" – not Marvel's Tony Stark, but inventor Richard Browning.He’s the creator of the ‘Jet Suit’, which can fly one person through the air at speeds of 135km/h. He’s also founder and chief test pilot of Gravity Industries and author of new book Taking on Gravity (£20, Bantam Press).He explains his quite literal rise to success – and the future of human flight.Let us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts.Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Sticher, RSS, OvercastListen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:Podcast: Why realistic humanoid robots need to learn to lip-syncRitu Raman: Can you build with biology?Dr Erin Macdonald: Is there science in Star Trek?Meet the computer scientist teaching an AI to play Dungeons and DragonsHow virtual reality is helping patients with phobias, anxiety disorders and moreDr Pete Etchells: Do video games encourage gambling behaviour? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Why realistic humanoid robots need to learn to lip-sync
In this week's episode of the Science Focus Podcast, commissioning editor Jason Goodyer speaks to Dr Carl Strathearn, a research fellow at the School of Computing at Edinburgh Napier University.He's currently conducting research on realistic humanoid robots, specifically on more realistically synchronising their speech and mouth movements.He tells us about how to get robots out of the Uncanny Valley, why the way a robot looks is so important, and why Data from Star Trek is an inspiration for his work.Read an edited excerpt from this interviewLet us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts.Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, OvercastRead the full transcription of this episode [this will open in a new window]Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:How virtual reality is helping patients with phobias, anxiety disorders and moreDr Pete Etchells: Do video games encourage gambling behaviour?Rana el Kaliouby: What if computers could read our emotions?Ritu Raman: Can you build with biology?Dr Erin Macdonald: Is there science in Star Trek?Robert Elliott Smith: Are algorithms inherently biased? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
How to understand statistics in the news and when to trust them
In this week's episode of the Science Focus Podcast, editor Daniel Bennett speaks to Tom Chivers and David Chivers.Tom is a veteran science journalist and author and David is lecturer in economics at the University of Durham. As well as a surname, they share a passion for statistics, or more precisely for the way that numbers are used and presented in the media. Together they’ve written a new book: How to Read Numbers: A Guide to Statistics in the News and Knowing When to Trust Them.They talk to Daniel about how to understand the sometimes confusing stats surrounding health and risk, how to spot a suspicious claim when you see one, and how to think about the current concerns surrounding the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.Let us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts.Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, OvercastRead the full transcription of this episode [this will open in a new window]Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:Sir David Spiegelhalter: There's no such thing as Blue MondayMatt Parker: What happens when maths goes horribly, horribly wrong?Hannah Fry: How much of our lives is secretly underpinned by maths?Prof Linda Scott: Why is there still economic inequality between men and women?Hannah Fry: What's the deal with algorithms?Robert Elliott Smith: Are algorithms inherently biased? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
The bizarre biology of the mantis shrimp
What is your favourite animal? If you know anything about the mantis shrimp, it might well be your top pick. Dwelling in shallow tropical waters, these mysterious predators not only wield one of the strongest punches in nature, but also a one-of-a-kind visual system that scientists are only just making sense of.One of these scientists is Dr Martin How from the University of Bristol. He joins us on this week's episode of the Science Focus Podcast to reveal more about mantis shrimp and their remarkable abilities.Let us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts.Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, OvercastRead the full transcription of this episode [this will open in a new window]Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:Everything you ever wanted to know about… the deep sea with Dr Jon CopleyAndrew Hunter Murray and Dan Schreiber: Is there really no such thing as a fish?Brad Lister: Are we facing an insect apocalypse?Neil Gemmell: The genetic hunt for the Loch Ness MonsterNeil Shubin: How do big changes in evolution happen?Mark Lynas: Could leaving nature to its own devices be the key to meeting the UK’s climate goals? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
The creator of Bellingcat on using the internet to investigate global affairs
In this episode of the Science Focus Podcast, we speak to Elliot Higgins, the founder of Bellingcat. If you haven’t heard that name before, then you might be surprised to know that Bellingcat is behind some of the biggest news revelations of the decade.They use social media and information freely available online to carry out what they call open source investigation.Their work has uncovered the use of chemical weapons in Syria, identified suspects in the Skripal poisoning in Salisbury and identified the people responsible for downing flight MH17 over Ukraine.Eliot speaks to editor Dan Bennett about his new book, We Are Bellingcat (£20, Bloomsbury), which tells the story of how a group of amateur hobbyists ended up taking on Russian spies.Read an edited excerpt of this interviewLet us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts.Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, OvercastRead the full transcription of this episode [this will open in a new window]Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:Dr Julia Shaw: Why do we do bad things?Marcel Danesi: Why do we want to believe lies?Project Discovery: Could computer games help find a cure for COVID-19?Chris Lintott: Can members of the public do real science?Lara Martin: Meet the computer scientist teaching an AI to play Dungeons and DragonsRana el Kaliouby: What if computers could read our emotions? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Prof Avi Loeb on what 'Oumuamua tells us about the problem with modern physics
In 2017, the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii spotted an interstellar object passing by Earth for the first time. Shortly after, Harvard’s Prof Avi Loeb was met with a backlash from the scientific community for suggesting it could be of alien origin.Now, several years on, he has written a book, Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth, outlining why we still can’t out rule the possibility, and why scientists should always keep an open mind.We speak to Avi on this week's episode of the Science Focus Podcast. He tells us why he believes the object, 'Oumuamua, was of alien origin, and what problems this reveals about the way modern physics is conducted.Read an edited excerpt of this interviewLet us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts.Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, OvercastRead the full transcription of this episode [this will open in a new window]Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:Dr Douglas Vakoch: Should we try to contact aliens?Bergur Finnbogason: Project Discovery and its search for exoplanetsDr Erin Macdonald: Is there science in Star Trek?What if the Earth’s magnetic field died? – Jim Al-KhaliliBuilding a base on the Moon, and crafting believable sci-fi – Andy WeirDr Becky Smethurst: How do you actually find a black hole? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Meet the computer scientist teaching an AI to play Dungeons and Dragons
Many of us have had a one-to-one interaction with artificial intelligence. Whether that’s through an automated chat service for customer service, or trying our hand at beating an AI built to play chess. But these experiences aren’t flawless, they’re not as smooth as our interactions with other human beings.One researcher trying to improve the language abilities of AI is Lara Martin, a postdoc at the University of Pennsylvania. More specifically, Lara is trying teach AI to tell stories.Let us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts.Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, OvercastRead the full transcription of this episode [this will open in a new window]Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:Rana el Kaliouby: What if computers could read our emotions?Aleks Krotoski: What happens to your data when you die?Robert Elliott Smith: Are algorithms inherently biased?Pete Etchells: Are video games good for us?Jamie Susskind: How technology is changing politicsJim Al-Khalili: Why AI is not the enemy See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
International Women’s Day: The forgotten female scientists of history
Today is International Women’s Day, and in this episode of the Science Focus Podcast, online assistant Sara Rigby talks to science historians Anna Reser and Leila McNeill, authors of Forces of Nature: The Women who Changed Science (£20, Frances Lincoln).They tell us about the women who engaged in science throughout history but don’t always get remembered – the midwives, the astronomers, and the wives and sisters.Read an edited excerpt from the interviewLet us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts.Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, OvercastRead the full transcription of this episode [this will open in a new window]Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:Why aren't there more women in science?Angela Saini: Inequality in scienceCaroline Criado Perez: Does data discriminate against women?Kathryn D. Sullivan: What is it really like to walk in space?Subhadra Das: What part has science played in racism?Kevin Fong: What happened to Apollo 13? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
How to maximise your motivation, according to a neuroscientist
As the UK enters its 13th month of lockdown restrictions and home-working, many surveys cite a slump in mental wellbeing and general productivity.But are there any scientific ways we can maximise our motivation and prevent procrastination?In this episode of the Science Focus Podcast, neuroscientist Dr Gabija Toleikyte, author of Why the F*ck Can't I Change, tells us all about it.Let us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts.Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, OvercastRead the full transcription of this episode [this will open in a new window]Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:Why you can’t multitask (and why that’s a good thing)Dean Burnett: The neuroscience of happinessDaniel Freeman: How virtual reality is helping patients with phobias, anxiety disorders and moreAnthony David: Why is there still such stigma around mental health?Pete Etchells: Are video games good for us?Sandro Galea: What is the difference between health and medicine?Helen Russell: What does it mean to be happy? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Inside the February issue with the BBC Science Focus team
In this episode of the Science Focus Podcast, we chat through the February 2021 issue of the magazine, which is on sale now.Managing editor Alice Lipscombe-Southwell opens the episode by telling us why it's so important artificial intelligence learns how to tell stories.Next up is editor Dan Bennett, who tells us about the world’s first airport for drones and flying cars, which is opening in Coventry, UK.Finally, commissioning editor Jason Goodyer tells about the latest developments in the study of dark matter.Let us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts.Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, OvercastListen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:Hannah Fry: How much of our lives is secretly underpinned by maths?Robert Elliott Smith: Are algorithms inherently biased?Bergur Finnbogason: Project Discovery and its search for exoplanetsRitu Raman: Can you build with biology?Robin Ince: Inside the mind of a comedianFinding the fun in science – Dara Ó Briain See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Mental health and your brain: What happens when it goes wrong
In the UK, one in four people experience a mental health problem each year. The reality of living with common problems like depression and anxiety is increasingly well-known.But how much do you actually know about what’s going on in your brain when your mental health suffers?Neuroscientist Dean Burnett, author of the new book Psycho-logical, tells us all about it on this episode of the Science Focus Podcast.Let us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts.Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, OvercastListen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:Dean Burnett: What’s going on in the teenage brain?The neuroscience of happiness – Dean BurnettProf John Drury: The psychology of lockdownsHow virtual reality is helping patients with phobias, anxiety disorders and moreElisa Raffaella Ferrè: What happens to the brain in space?Dr Guy Leschziner: What is your brain doing while you sleep? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Why rewilding success stories make us hopeful for the future
There are few places left on Earth that have been untouched by humans, and biodiversity is being lost at an unprecedented rate.Luckily, there are ambitious rewilding programmes around the world that aim to fix this by returning land to nature.In this week's episode of the Science Focus Podcast, we speak to Dr Andrea Perino, a scientist from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research and an expert on rewilding. She tells us about the benefits of rewilding, whether it's acres of forest or just a tiny patch in your back garden.Read more about rewildingLet us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts.Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, OvercastListen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:Mark Lynas: Could leaving nature to its own devices be the key to meeting the UK’s climate goals?Merlin Sheldrake: How have fungi shaped the world?Samantha Alger: What can we do to save the bees?Ross Barnett: Why should we be interested in prehistoric animals that aren’t dinosaurs?Sir David Attenborough: How can we save our planet?Brad Lister: Are we facing an insect apocalypse? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.