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PODCAST

Instant Genius

Whether you’re curious about getting healthy, the Big Bang or the science of cooking, find out everything you need to know 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. New episodes are released every Monday and Friday and you can subscribe to Instant Genius on Apple Podcasts to access all new episodes ad-free and all old episodes of Instant Genius Extra. Watch full episodes of Instant

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All Episodes

37:57

Monica Grady: What is the future of space science?

Instant Genius ·

2019/10/02

Today on the Science Focus Podcast, we’re talking to Professor Monica Grady, planetary and space scientist, ahead of World Space Week. World Space Week runs from 4 to 10 October, and this year’s theme is ‘The Moon: Gateway to the Stars’. Events to celebrate World Space Week are being held in the UK and across the world, including Monica’s talk at the Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh. Monica’s research spans to the Moon and beyond, and Asteroid 4731 is named Monicagrady, in honour of her contributions to

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41:21

Dr Tilly Blyth: How has art influenced science?

Instant Genius ·

2019/09/25

Science and art have not always been separately defined. Leonardo Da Vinci studied anatomy, neuroscientist Cajal created beautiful drawings of the cells in the cerebellum and hippocampus, and the painter John Constable observed the skies with an almost scientific study. Though their pursuits have diverged into distinct fields, the relationship between art and science has remained tightly woven together. Documenting the history of this tumultuous relationship is The Art of Innovation. Comprised of a

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42:59

Richard Dawkins: Can we live in a world without...

Instant Genius ·

2019/09/18

Richard Dawkins is considered one of the top British intellectuals of the 21st Century. He’s known for his opinions on atheism and his books on evolution. In his most recent book, Outgrowing God, he talks about his own experience with religion, and how science offers us a far more convincing and concrete view of the world we live in. We sat down with Richard to discuss his views on faith, flat-earthers and Facebook. Let us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you

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42:26

Does data discriminate against women? – Caroline...

Instant Genius ·

2019/09/11

When Apple launched its health tracker app HealthKit in 2014, they promised users the ability to track everything from their blood pressure to their copper intake – but not their periods. This seems like a startling oversight, but Apple aren’t alone in failing to consider women’s needs. For example, it wasn’t until 2015 that the EU required new cars to be tested on a female crash-test dummy. Caroline Criado Perez, whose book Invisible Women (£16.99, Chatto and Windus) has been shortlisted for the

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52:57

How do you launch a successful space mission? – Mark...

Instant Genius ·

2019/09/04

Launching a rocket into space doesn’t come cheap. That much won’t surprise anybody, but what goes into the planning, construction and the science before the mission even gets off the ground? And when it’s up there, what does it do, and what makes it a success? One man that knows how to put a space project together is Mark McCaughrean, senior advisor for science and exploration at the European Space Agency. During his 10 years at ESA, he’s worked on numerous projects, including the Rosetta mission to

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44:13

What does our skin tell us about ourselves? – Dr...

Instant Genius ·

2019/08/28

The largest organ in the body isn’t the lungs or the brain, but the skin. Our skin performs a vast array of functions for us, from protecting us from disease to helping us make friends. Dr Monty Lyman, author of The Remarkable Life of The Skin (£20, Bantam Press), calls skin the ‘Swiss Army Organ’ because of all the tasks it carries out. Monty talks to BBC Science Focus Online assistant Sara Rigby about what the skin is for, why vanity is good for you, and what kind of creatures inhabit our skin. We

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41:14

Are Generation Z our only hope for the future? – John...

Instant Genius ·

2019/08/21

If you grew up on a steady stream of Hollywood blockbusters filled with killer robots, alien invasions and apocalyptic natural disasters, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the future looks pretty bleak. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be that way. In fact, according John Higgs, a writer who specialises in finding previously unsuspected narratives hidden in obscure corners of our history and culture, the group of adults of school-leaving age might be just the sort of individuals we need

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21:33

Is an implantable electronic device the future of...

Instant Genius ·

2019/08/14

Materials scientist Gordon Wallace is the director of ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science at the University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. He is developing the ‘sutrode’, a medical device made from graphene that combines the electrical properties of an electrode with the mechanical properties of a suture. The device is wrapped around damaged or malfunctioning nerve bundles and used to stimulate them and return their regular function. Though still in its early stages,

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36:08

How accurately can we predict the weather? – Andrew Blum

Instant Genius ·

2019/08/07

Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast of the United States in October 2012, causing $65bn of damage. Remarkably, weather forecasters managed to predict its impact on the US eight days in advance, when it was barely even a storm. How did forecasts get to be so good? It’s a story that begins with the invention of the telegraph and ends with supercomputers. We talk to Andrew Blum, author of The Weather Machine (£16.99, Bodley Head), about the history of weather forecasting, why we shouldn’t trust the

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36:01

What happened at Bluedot festival 2019? – Libby...

Instant Genius ·

2019/07/31

In mid-July this year, science and music lovers alike donned their Wellington boots and rain ponchos and made the journey to Jodrell Bank Observatory for the fourth annual Bluedot festival. The star-studded line-up included Helen Sharman; the first British astronaut, Jim Al-Khalili; science writer and author, an incredible 3-D concert experience from Kraftwerk and the post-punk sounds of New Order. We sent BBC Science Focus’ new editorial assistant Amy Barrett to the festival, where she chatted to a

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36:05

What does a world with an ageing population look...

Instant Genius ·

2019/07/24

We can’t reverse the slow march of time, but thanks to the wonders of technology and modern medicine, we have a lot more of it in our lives. But as people live longer, and the birth rate declines, how are we going to manage a world with an ageing population? That one of the questions Sarah Harper, Professor of Gerontology at the University of Oxford, has been trying to find an answer for. She talks to BBC Science Focus editorial assistant Helen Glenny about how we cope with dramatic shifts in

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41:23

What does it mean to be a man? – Gary Barker

Instant Genius ·

2019/07/17

In the past few years, traditional male stereotypes have come under increasing scrutiny. These stereotypes often come under the term ‘Toxic masculinity’, which has been widely used to explain certain male actions and characteristics that conform to established gender roles, which do harm to both themselves or the society that they live in. Gary Barker has a PhD in developmental psychology and studies how we raise and socialise boys and men. In the late 1990s he founded Promundo, which carries out

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36:27

Dr Guy Leschziner: What is your brain doing while you...

Instant Genius ·

2019/07/10

For most of us, switching off the light and curling up in a warm, cosy bed is the welcome reward for a good day done (or much-needed respite from a bad one). But not everybody can soak up their allotted hours in joyful slumber before the alarm goes off. In fact, according to the Mental Health Foundation, it is estimated that 20 per cent of adults suffer from some form of insomnia, while many more of us experience issues like sleep walking, sleep apnoea and night terrors. Dr Guy Leschziner is a

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31:37

What can the father of Gaia theory tell us about our...

Instant Genius ·

2019/07/03

This week on the Science Focus Podcast, we spend some time with James Lovelock – the visionary scientist and environmental thinker who this month turns 100 years old. James Lovelock is best known as the creator of the Gaia hypothesis, which proposes that our planet and all the life on it functions as a single self-regulating organism. Less well known is that he also developed scientific instruments for NASA missions to Mars; he invented the electron capture detector, with which he became the first

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20:49

Could leaving nature to its own devices be the key to...

Instant Genius ·

2019/06/26

The UK government’s official climate advisors recently reported that the country’s greenhouse gas emissions must fall to zero by 2050 in order to tackle the growing threat of manmade climate change. However, it seems unlikely that we will be able to reach this target by simply burning less fossil fuel and cutting down on international travel. So what else can be done? Environmental charity Rewilding Britain thinks that the answer is to let large areas of the country return to their pre-agricultural

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39:05

Is there really no such thing as a fish? – Andrew...

Instant Genius ·

2019/06/19

We like to think our Science Focus Podcast is something really rather special (really, you should tell all your mates about it). But let’s face it, it pales in comparison to the hugely popular podcast No Such Thing As A Fish, which bagged Apple’s prestigious ‘Best New Podcast’ award in 2014. Numerous awards later, including the 2019 Heinz Oberhummer Award in science communication, they have amassed a whopping 700,000 subscribers for their irreverent podcast about the weird and wacky things they’ve

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44:46

Is racism creeping into science? – Angela Saini

Instant Genius ·

2019/06/12

After World War II, mainstream science denounced eugenics and the study of racial differences. Yet there remained a staunch group of scientists who continued to research race. For a few decades, these people remained on the fringes of research. Yet now, in the 21st Century, fuelled by a rise in the far right and extremist views, an increasing number of researchers are framing race as a biological construct rather than a social one. Yet even well-meaning scientists continue to use racial categories

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39:11

Can we really predict when doomsday will happen? –...

Instant Genius ·

2019/06/05

In this episode of the Science Focus Podcast, we’re going to try to guess when the end of the world will happen. Don’t worry, it’s not as gloomy as it might sound. Those people waving ‘The End is Nigh!’ placards are probably completely wrong about an immanent doomsday… Probably. There is a formula that has circulated for the last 50 years which suggests we can pinpoint the end of something with a reasonable amount of certainty. It has been used to predict any number of things, including successful

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29:37

Is body positivity the answer to body image issues? –...

Instant Genius ·

2019/05/29

We live in a society that values looks, but only if they fit into a restrictive set of ideals regarding size and shape, age, skin colour, as well as many other features of our bodies. The result is an immense pressure to look a certain way. According to a recent survey by the Mental Health Foundation, one in five adults in the UK had experienced shame over their body at some point in the last year. The rise of social media has provided a platform for a rebellion against these ideals in the form of

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30:33

Why is the Moon landing still relevant 50 years on? –...

Instant Genius ·

2019/05/22

If you were to picture the Moon landing in your head right now, you could probably conjure up images of Neil Armstrong’s famous first steps, accompanied by his inspirational (and often misquoted) speech, despite it happening many years before most of us were even born. But this remarkable achievement did not come easily, and the decade-long mission culminated in the final nerve wracking 13 minutes it took the Moon lander to arrive safely on the surface. This moment, and the people who contributed

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630 results

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