How High Can We Build?

In the news, counting the calories: The UK government want shops to help us put 100 fewer calories in our baskets to beat obesity. So will it work? Also, archaeologists uncover the world's oldest fat factory - it turns out that Neanderthals were processing bones for their grease ... Show More

This episode was produced and presented by Dr Marushka Soobben, a scientist from South Africa who's been taking part in an internship here at the Naked Scientists. And this week, a journey into the world of proteins. What are they? why do they matter? And why did predicting their ... Show More

In this edition of The Naked Scientists, weight loss jabs being prescribed by GPs in England, but do we know enough about the side effects? Also, a new simple test to replace endoscopies for patients with Barrett's oesophagus. And we hear from one of the engineers at the Vera Rub ... Show More

Sign up for the Great Courses Plus today and enjoy the first month for free: https://bit.ly/podcast-great-courses-plus We know the history of this planet and asteroids isn't good...just ask the dinosaurs. So, what if we were faced with the same situation now? How much time would ... Show More

After reading the science headlines this week, we have A LOT of questions. Is chocolate really that good for your health? How do solar flares affect life on earth? And what's the big deal about scientists identifying the chemical motivation for tsetse fly sex? Luckily, it's the j ... Show More

Is there a killer asteroid with Earth’s name on it? The dinosaurs ruled for many millions of years before coming to their violent end. Will humanity prevail or are we doomed to succumb like the dinosaurs? It’s a question that will keep you up at night. No wonder our listeners Zar ... Show More

We close out our season with another edition of our always enlightening, always intriguing listener question show. We have answers to questions like: What would happen if a comet side-swiped our atmosphere? What determines a bird's speed of flight? Can you store light in a batter ... Show More

Sign up for the Great Courses Plus today and enjoy the first month for free: https://bit.ly/podcast-great-courses-plus Not like we don't have enough things on our mind...but in case you don't, "What If we blew up an asteroid?". Assuming we'd be considering this, it'd be safe to s ... Show More

Sign up for Policy Genius today: https://bit.ly/policy-genius-what-if-discussed The Hubble telescope has helped discover over 4100 exoplanets in recent years, some of those being categorized as "Super Earths". But what exactly does that mean? What makes them so "Super"? Are they ... Show More

Using lasers or asteroids to move our planet away from the sun may sound extreme, but a few scientists have come up with plans to do just that. The sun’s power is slowly increasing. Over the next billion years or so, the extra energy is going to boil off the oceans and make the e ... Show More

Earth is in a cosmic shooting gallery. With so many asteroids zipping around, how can we find them all before they find us?