Explorations in the world of science.
World Service,·1460 episodes
Kepler's Snowflake
Philip Ball tells the story of Johannes Kepler and the six cornered snowflake.
14 Jan 2019,·26 mins
Ibn al-Haytham: The Father of Modern Optics
The Arabic scholar who showed how light and the human eye produce our sense of vision
21 Jan 2019,·26 mins
Philip Ball tells the story of Arthur Eddington's confirmation of general relativity
31 Dec 2018,·26 mins
The story of one of the most iconic photos of the last 50 years
24 Dec 2018,·26 mins
Alex Bellos meets the supercalculators taking part in the Mental Calculation World Cup.
17 Dec 2018,·26 mins
Why We Fell In Love with Plastic
Professor Mark Miodownik explores our love/hate relationship with plastic.
26 Nov 2018,·26 mins
How Much Plastic Can We Recycle?
03 Dec 2018,·26 mins
The China Syndrome
China's ban on importing other countries' waste plastic is having a big impact
10 Dec 2018,·26 mins
Viagra and CRISPR
Viagra was first developed to treat heart disease, but it had some surprising side-effects
05 Nov 2018,·26 mins
The Big Bang and Jet Streams
Evidence for the big bang was initially thought to be a mistake in the data
12 Nov 2018,·26 mins
Finding the Coelacanths
A huge, four-limbed fish, was discovered 65 million years after its supposed extinction
19 Nov 2018,·26 mins
In search of the first animals on the Earth, more than half a billion years ago
29 Oct 2018,·26 mins
How can we adapt and prepare our cities for extreme weather conditions?
22 Oct 2018,·26 mins
Who To Believe?
Matthew Hill explores the Chinese approach to organ transplantation.
08 Oct 2018,·26 mins
Tourism and Transparency
15 Oct 2018,·26 mins
The Long Hot Summer
Roland Pease asks why the Northern Hemisphere had unusually high temperatures this year.
24 Sep 2018,·26 mins
The Long Hot Summer - Part Two
How did mild temperatures in the Arctic affect 2018's extreme weather?
01 Oct 2018,·26 mins
Fluorine
How the feared element ended up giving us better teeth, mood and health
03 Sep 2018,·26 mins
Iron
How iron has shaped human biology and culture
10 Sep 2018,·26 mins
Sodium
Why sodium powers everything we do
17 Sep 2018,·26 mins
The Real Cyrano de Bergerac
Philip Ball on the real Cyrano de Bergerac and his 17th century space ship.
30 Jul 2018,·26 mins
Making Natural Products in the Lab
How 19th century chemist Wohler made a natural product in the lab
06 Aug 2018,·26 mins
Descartes' "Daughter"
Philip Ball goes back to the 17th Century to talk about Descartes and his "daughter"
13 Aug 2018,·26 mins
Hypatia: The Murdered Mathematician
Naomi Alderman on the life and death of Hypatia, the ancient Greek mathematician
20 Aug 2018,·26 mins
Mary Anning and Fossil Hunting
How a poor woman became one of 19th-century Britain's most successful fossil finders
27 Aug 2018,·26 mins
The Aztec Salamander
Saving a cultural icon and biomedical marvel from extinction.
16 Jul 2018,·26 mins
The Nun’s Salamander
Why are Mexican nuns breeding a rare salamander? Could they save this remarkable species?
23 Jul 2018,·26 mins
Manipulating Our Hidden Half
New research into manipulating our microbiome to stay healthy and beat chronic disease
25 Jun 2018,·26 mins
Dirt and Development
How the microbes in us set us on a path of health or chronic disease
02 Jul 2018,·26 mins
Gateway to the Mind
Could our microbiome have an influence on our mood and behaviour?
09 Jul 2018,·26 mins
