This marsupial mouse enters its first mating season with a thirty-fold increase in testosterone. It copulates at a frenetic rate, only to collapse afterwards, dying from its exertions. But now climate change is posing a much more serious threat to the species than sex
Jun 2023
Dragging STEM forward, Lucy’s muscles, Canada Jay sibling rivalry, skateboards for preemies and sweet and sour cockroach treats
Dragging STEM forward - LGBTQ scientists perform their work for inclusion; Lucy was swole! Scientists reconstruct a 3.2 million-year-old hominid’s muscles; Canada Jay siblings fight to see who lives at home, and who moves out; Baby skateboard gives a boost to preemie development; ... Show More
54m 11s
Mar 2024
Chimp Menopause, Ancient Tsunami, Sexism in Science
Today, you’ll learn about how a population of female chimps have surprisingly been found to go through menopause and live well beyond their reproductive years, an ancient tsunami and its devastating impact on stone age populations, and the dire effects of sexism in science. Chimp ... Show More
12m 20s
Feb 2018
The Enigma of Sex, Part 2
The second instalment in our double bill on the science of sex, answering this question from Robert Turner, a Curio from Leeds: "Why do we only have two sexes?"Drs Rutherford and Fry look for anomalies in the animal kingdom that go beyond the traditional mechanics of human reprod ... Show More
22m 35s
Feb 2023
Giraffe romance, CO2 record interruption, stone-age farmer violence, recycled water purity and fears of a fungal future
Male giraffes drink and savour female giraffe urine to see if she’s ready to mate; What scientists do when a volcano upsets their climate change record; Europe’s first farmers suffered more violence than their hunter-gatherer ancestors; Recycled wastewater can be cleaner than con ... Show More
54m 11s
Feb 2022
Political Animals: Sex, Monkeys and the 'Coy Female' Myth - 1/3
Zoologist Lucy Cooke is on a mission: to break down the 'sexist stereotype' she believes has permeated our understanding of the natural world...In Political Animals, she sets out to prove that females of the species can be just as fiesty, ardent, manipulative, aggressive, varied, ... Show More
28m 59s
Nov 2021
The fastest way to slow climate change | Ilissa Ocko
"Cutting methane is the single fastest, most effective opportunity to reduce climate change risks in the near term," says atmospheric scientist Ilissa Ocko. That's because, unlike carbon dioxide, methane's warming power doesn't come from a gradual buildup over time but is almost ... Show More
10m 22s