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PODCAST

Oxford Sparks Big Questions

"Will my bacon sandwich kill me?", "Is vaping better than smoking?", "How do you become an astronaut?" - just some of the Big Questions we ask some of the brightest minds behind Oxford science. Join us in each podcast as we explore a different area of science.

science natural sciences

All Episodes

13:52

How do you measure a Mars quake?

Oxford Sparks Big Questions ·

2018/01/29

In this episode of the Big Questions podcast, we visited Dr Neil Bowles, Jane Hurley and Tristram Warren from the Atmospheric Oceanic & Planetary Physics Department to ask the question: how do you measure a Mars quake? When the ground shakes on Earth we call them earthquakes. Even weak ones can be detected by 'seismometers' and from listening carefully to them we can learn a lot about the makeup of the planet - that it has a solid core, molten mantle under a thin crust. But can we learn anything

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10:43

What happens after a storm?

Oxford Sparks Big Questions ·

2018/01/10

In our latest episode of the Big Questions podcast we visited Dr Peter Walton, a geography teacher turned fellow of the Environmental Change Institute, at the University of Oxford, to ask: What happens after a storm? Does this sound familiar? ‘This is definitely the coldest winter’, ‘we haven’t experienced strong winds like this before’, ‘what a deluge!’ It is easy to blame climate change for the latest bad weather conditions – but how do we really know? In our latest Oxford Sparks podcast where we

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15:11

Is vaping better than smoking?

Oxford Sparks Big Questions ·

2018/01/09

As many of you set your new year’s resolution to quit smoking and start vaping, we thought we’d ask the question: Is vaping better than smoking? And could it help you quit? E-cigarettes are the new kid on the block. They’re getting lots of attention from many scientists across the world curious to see if this is the trick that’s needed to separate 1 billion people from cigarettes! Yes, 1 billion people smoke! When we first saw an e-cigarette, it felt like we had been transported in time - gone were

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11:57

How do you survive the office Christmas party?

Oxford Sparks Big Questions ·

2018/01/09

‘Tis the season to be merry, so it’s time for the annual Christmas party. For some employers it can be more fraught than fun! In this episode of the Oxford Sparks Big Questions podcast we ask: how do you survive the office Christmas party? Everyone has a story about an office Christmas party that got a bit out of hand. On this episode of the Oxford Sparks Big Questions podcast we are getting festive and asking – how do you survive the office Christmas party? We visited Professor Robin Dunbar,

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09:51

Where have all the cicada’s gone?

Oxford Sparks Big Questions ·

2017/11/27

In this episode for the Big Questions podcast we went to the New Forest and met up with Professor Alex Rogers, from the department of Computer Sciences from the University of Oxford, to ask: Where have all the cicada’s gone? The New Forest Cicada is the only cicada native to the UK. During May to July it sings with a very characteristic high-pitched song, which is at the limits of human hearing, and is particularly difficult for most adults to hear. Sightings of the cicada within the New Forest date

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12:56

How do you run a marathon with two kids?

Oxford Sparks Big Questions ·

2017/11/08

Last month Jessica attempted to break a world record for pushing a double buggy, with two children inside, while running a marathon! Jessica Bruce (Nee Leitch) is a Bio-mechanical Engineer at The University of Oxford and a mother of 2, and is putting regular marathon runners to shame. Last month Jessica attempted to break a world record for pushing a double buggy, with two children inside, while running a marathon! Listen to find out if she did it:

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10:50

How fast is Greenland moving?

Oxford Sparks Big Questions ·

2017/08/31

Greenland has some many fascinating facts like it’s the world's largest island, it belongs to Denmark, it actually isn’t that green but mostly covered in ice. But did you know that Greenland is actually on the move? To walk us through how an ice sheet moves, we visited Professor Ian Hewitt from Mathematical Institute Oxford to ask the big question: How fast is Greenland moving?

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13:50

Should I take a selfie with a wild animal?

Oxford Sparks Big Questions ·

2017/06/02

Travel companies around the world profit from some of the cruellest types of wildlife tourist attractions on earth. Travel companies around the world profit from some of the cruellest types of wildlife tourist attractions on earth. Whether it is riding elephants, taking selfies with tigers, or performing dolphin shows, these activities can cause lifelong suffering for wild animals. In the latest edition of the Oxford Sparks Big Questions podcast, we visit Conservation Ecologist Dr Tom Moorhouse to

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12:34

What does Hollywood get right and wrong when science...

Oxford Sparks Big Questions ·

2017/06/02

What does hollywood get right?

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13:55

How open should open data be?

Oxford Sparks Big Questions ·

2017/06/02

Open data impacts everybody. Through it we can access healthcare services, understand our governments better and, of course, travel to places more easily. But, how open should open data be? Do you remember life before Citymapper? Thanks to Transport for London opening its data, a new wave of innovative transport apps were made possible. This is just one example of how open data has contributed to our everyday lives financially, socially, culturally and more. Open data impacts everybody. Through it

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12:37

What happened to the first soviet scientist to solve...

Oxford Sparks Big Questions ·

2017/05/08

New episode for the Oxford Sparks Big questions series.

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10:01

How do you teach a machine to a drive a car?

Oxford Sparks Big Questions ·

2017/03/28

Autonomous cars have been a staple of science fiction for years featuring in films like Minority Report and I Robot. But how far away are we really from enjoying a hassle-free driving journey? To find out the answer we visited Dr Ingmar Posner, Associate

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12:11

Will supersonic transport ever make a comeback?

Oxford Sparks Big Questions ·

2017/03/13

The Concord is seen as an iconic aircraft and a technological breakthrough – so why can we only see them in museums? In our episode of The Big Questions podcast series we visited Dr Neil Ashton from the E-Research Centre at the University of Oxford to ask

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11:41

How do you turn an orange into a grapefruit?

Oxford Sparks Big Questions ·

2017/02/27

Favouring. It’s a global industry and here in Oxford a group of scientists are getting a ‘taste’ of the action by making natural flavours by manipulating enzymes.

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11:32

Earthquakes, can we make smarter buildings?

Oxford Sparks Big Questions ·

2017/02/09

Major earthquakes across the world have damaged or destroyed numerous buildings, bridges, and other structures. But is there a way of monitoring the building structures to see if it is at risk of falling after an earthquake has struck?

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11:00

What can a power ballad can teach us about the sex...

Oxford Sparks Big Questions ·

2017/01/27

Music provides the soundtrack to our lives. The highs, the lows and the heartache. So why wouldn’t it be the same for a fruit fly? On this episode of the Oxford Sparks Big Questions podcast, we mix music with sex education of fruit flies!

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10:34

How do we stop our social media obsession from making...

Oxford Sparks Big Questions ·

2017/01/17

How vulnerable are we to crime by the statuses we post on our social accounts? The popularity of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat have transformed the way we understand and experience crime and victimisation. But, how do we stop our social media obsession from sharing too much online and making us a target for crime? We visited Dr Jason Nurse from the Computer Science Department at the University of Oxford to ask about social media and crime: the good, the bad and the

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12:44

How do you make scientific equipment space proof?

Oxford Sparks Big Questions ·

2016/12/21

Since the 1960’s man has been sending missions to Mars. Some successes, some failures. This hasn’t stopped scientists trying to explore this incredible red planet. The question though is, how do they design devices to survive millions of kilometres travel to planet Mars (it’s 54.6 million km) and yet be sensitive enough to measure something like wind on the surface of the planet? In this week’s episode of Oxford Sparks Big Questions podcast we speak to Colin Wilson, researcher at the atmospheric

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13:07

What would life be like if Parasitoid Wasps didn’t...

Oxford Sparks Big Questions ·

2016/12/14

Our Festive episode of our Oxford Sparks podcast follows the traditional Christmas story of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’. In our narration though, the role of George Bailey is played by the Parasitoid Wasp and its guardian angel is postdoctoral researcher Chris Jeffs. In this podcast as part of our Big Questions series, we ask the question: what would life be like if these insects didn’t exist?

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11:42

Can bubbles help cure cancer?

Oxford Sparks Big Questions ·

2016/12/02

On this episode, can bubbles cure cancer? What do you think of when you hear the word ‘bubble?’ Does it make you think of soap bubbles you would have blown when you were a small child? In our latest podcast, as part of The Big Question series, we ask Professor Eleanor Stride from Oxford University's Institute of Biomedical Engineering whether bubbles can be used help cure cancer.

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206 results

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