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PODCAST

CrowdScience

BBC World Service

We take your questions about life, Earth and the universe to researchers hunting for answers at the frontiers of knowledge.

science

All Episodes

26:28

How can we save the Great Barrier Reef?

CrowdScience ·

2026/02/27

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is one of the richest and most complex natural ecosystems on earth, and it’s home to over 600 species of coral – marine animals that are most closely related to jellyfish. But the coral is under threat, with climate change, ocean acidification and marine heatwaves endangering the reef and the many iconic animals that depend on it. CrowdScience listener Felix, aged 9, wants to know what we’re doing to protect it, and presenter Caroline Steel is on the case. In this

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26:28

Why don't more animals have opposable thumbs?

CrowdScience ·

2026/02/20

On a recent kayaking trip, CrowdScience listener Lanier sliced through his right thumb, putting it out of action for a while. This made life difficult, as he couldn’t button his shirt, tie his shoelaces or type efficiently on his smartphone. Missing the use of his thumb made him wonder: since opposable thumbs are so advantageous to those of us who have them, why didn’t they evolve in more species? Host Marnie Chesterton unpicks the evolution of our own unique thumbs with the help of

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26:28

Can we cancel light waves?

CrowdScience ·

2026/02/13

Noise cancelling headphones filter out sound waves that we don’t want to hear. Listener Ahmed in Libya loves wearing his and, as he was listening to them, he had a thought: ‘Could we cancel out light waves in a similar way to how noise cancelling headphones do it?’ He sent his question to CrowdScience and now presenter Alex Lathbridge is getting deep into the physics, to find out if light cancelling devices could replace curtains and shutters. Alex starts at the Ray Dolby Centre in Cambridge in the

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29:01

Do multiple choice questions make us biased?

CrowdScience ·

2026/02/06

CrowdScience listener Griffith in Ghana, isn’t JUST a CrowdScience listener. He’s also a listener to our sister show on the World Service, Unexpected Elements. But he’s noticed something funny. In the weekly Unexpected Elements multiple-choice quiz, the answer is almost NEVER ‘a’. It’s nearly always ‘b’, or ‘c’. Why is this? When we set the quiz, why are we so reluctant to choose option ‘a’? His question leads presenter Alex Lathbridge on a journey into the murky depths of our brain, where he

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26:28

Why do I tan more in the US?

CrowdScience ·

2026/01/30

CrowdScience listener Namrata and presenter Chhavi Sachdev have something in common. They both get more tanned in the summer in the United States than back home in India. Namrata wants to know why she came back from her run in Boston with such a deep tan and doesn’t have the same experience in India. She’s got quite a few theories herself and wonders if it’s to do with the angle of the sun, pollution or humidity. Chhavi talks to dermatologist Neelam Vashi, who’s based in Boston, to find out how we

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26:28

Do fish know what they look like?

CrowdScience ·

2026/01/23

There’s something fishy going on in the Czech Republic, where CrowdScience listener Ian lives. He keeps tropical fish, and he’s noticed that when he adds new ones to his tank, they swim with others of the same breed. He wants to know how they recognise each other. Do they know what they look like, and recognise others that look the same, or is there something else going on?Presenter Anand Jagatia takes a deep breath and dives into the science. At the Blue Reef Aquarium in Portsmouth, Dr Lauren

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26:27

Why do I find silence unbearable?

CrowdScience ·

2026/01/16

Is silence blood-curdling or blissful? CrowdScience listener Ziqi finds it intolerable and thinks that there’s a good reason for it – silence is so rare in nature that it could be a signal for danger. Presenter Marnie Chesterton is on a mission to test Ziqi’s theory, starting with her own tolerance for silence. She meets acoustic engineer Trevor Cox in the UK to find out whether silence is something we can measure. To do that she steps into an anechoic chamber, a place that’s designed to absorb

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26:29

How do cicadas know what season it is?

CrowdScience ·

2026/01/09

Crowdscience listener Ryosuke grew up in Japan, and spent his childhood summers catching cicadas in the park. For people in Japan, the sound of their chirping signals the first true summer day. But until they emerge, these enigmatic insects live underground - often for many years. Ryosuke wants to know how they know the time is right, and CrowdScience is on the case. Presenter Anand Jagatia pieces together the story of the species, and meets the small but dedicated group of academics worldwide

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26:28

Did I inherit my laugh?

CrowdScience ·

2026/01/05

CrowdScience listener Limbikani in Zambia is always being told he has his Dad’s laugh, so he set us the challenge of trying to find out whether a laugh can be passed down in our genes or if it’s something we learn from our environment. Presenter Caroline Steel steps into the world of one of the world’s greatest laughter experts, Professor Sophie Scott, neuroscientist at University College London. In her office stuffed with memorabilia of a life filled with fun, they discuss how the shape of our

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35:57

The CrowdScience quiz of the year

CrowdScience ·

2025/12/26

In 2025, the crack team of intrepid presenters here on CrowdScience have been on some incredible adventures. They’ve wondered whether water is wet, and gone a hunt for a missing tangerine. They’ve wondered why animals swallow rocks, imagined what would happen if the earth spun backwards and pondered whether atoms are immortal. But, as the year draws to a close, Anand Jagatia is wondering… have they REALLY been paying attention? Time to put them to the test! In this special programme, Anand gathers

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26:29

How do we adapt to the cold?

CrowdScience ·

2025/12/19

When some people are wandering around in shorts and a t-shirt, others are wrapped up in warm coats and jumpers. How come our responses to cold weather are so different? People have been living in cold environments for thousands of years. So why do some of us struggle with the cold more than others, and what, if any, adaptations have our bodies made to cope in freezing temperatures? CrowdScience listener Anne from the UK is amazed by the warm houses of her neighbours, and wants to know whether her

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26:29

Can you play the guitar underwater?

CrowdScience ·

2025/12/12

Smashing up guitars is a classic rock star activity, but how about drowning them? 7-year-old listener Cornelius has set CrowdScience a challenge: to find out what happens if you play a guitar underwater. Could this be the next avant-garde music sensation? Host and amateur musician Caroline Steel tackles Cornelius’ question with the help of one increasingly soggy guitar. The UK’s National Physical Laboratory is our first port of call, with a guitar-sized water tank at the ready, and acoustic

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33:04

Can we turn deserts green?

CrowdScience ·

2025/12/05

Can we turn the world’s deserts green? CrowdScience listener Youcef is captivated by the idea of bringing water back to Earth’s driest landscapes. With sea levels rising and huge stretches of land drying out each year, he wonders whether redirecting seawater inland could offer a solution to both problems. Presenter Alex Lathbridge sets out to investigate… starting with a kettle of salty water. Alex speaks with scientists about how deserts form, and how human actions like overgrazing can tip a

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29:03

How big is a rainbow?

CrowdScience ·

2025/11/28

When listener Sakura’s husband came home from his morning walk in Cambridgeshire, UK, he told her about a massive rainbow he’d seen. But when he showed her a picture, she didn’t think it was particularly large. So how big is a rainbow really? Are they always the same size? And if some are bigger than others, is there a limit? To find the answers, presenter Marnie Chesterton meets independent rainbow expert Philip Laven in a pitch-black studio to simulate how a rainbow is formed. He demonstrates how

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30:00

Why do we cry?

CrowdScience ·

2025/11/21

Tears of joy, tears of sadness, tears of frustration or tears of pain - humans are thought to be the only animals that cry tears of emotion. CrowdScience listener Lizzy wants to know: why do we cry for emotional reasons? What is its evolutionary benefit? And why do some people cry more than others? It turns out that humans cry three types of tear: basal, reflex and emotional. The first kind keeps our eyes nice and lubricated and the second flushes out irritants such as fumes from the pesky onion,

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26:54

Do tsunamis affect marine life?

CrowdScience ·

2025/11/14

Tsunamis destroy buildings, habitats and danger to everything in its path on land. But how do they affect life under the water? That's what CrowdScience listener Alvyn wants to know, and presenter Anand Jagatia is searching beneath the waves for answers. Anand meets Professor Syamsidik who is learning about how tsuanami waves are formed to help protect against future disasters. He runs the Tsunami and Disaster Mitigation Research Center at Universitas Syiah Kuala, Indonesia. With him at this

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26:26

Are Near Death Experiences real?

CrowdScience ·

2025/11/07

In your final moments, they say, you may walk down a tunnel of light. You might rise above your body, watching the scene below before passing into another world. Perhaps you’ll be met by glowing figures, see your life flash before your eyes, or feel a deep, unearthly calm. These are the stories of people who’ve reached the edge of death and returned. They’re not rare, nor random, and they have a name: Near-Death Experiences. CrowdScience listener Steven in Chile first heard of them during a CPR

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31:26

Why do people love horror films?

CrowdScience ·

2025/10/31

For some they’re the stuff of nightmares, but many of us can’t get enough of horror films. For Halloween, CrowdScience investigates the science of why we enjoy films that scare the living daylights out of us. CrowdScience listener Maria from Taiwan is one of those people who would rather avoid frightening films, yet her husband loves them and is always trying to get her to watch with him. She wants to know why people like her husband are so drawn to horror films. To try and find out, presenter Anand

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27:12

Should we help maggots and caterpillars?

CrowdScience ·

2025/10/24

We all know insects are important, but one CrowdScience listener worries that they don’t seem to have equal billing when it comes to human love and attention. In Scotland’s capital Edinburgh, listener Ruth loves to sit and listen to the birds, the bees and the hoverflies as they go about their daily chores. And it’s got her wondering why bees and butterflies seem to get all the conservation efforts. What do we need to do to protect butterflies as less beautiful caterpillars, and ladybirds as less

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26:29

Can we record our senses?

CrowdScience ·

2025/10/17

How would you record a special moment? Maybe you could take a photograph, film a little video, or record some audio. We have lots of ways of recording what life LOOKS and SOUNDS like, but is the same true for the other senses? What if you wanted to record the smells that greet you on entering your favourite restaurant? Or record the way your loved ones hand feels in yours? These are the questions on the mind of listener Aravind, from California in the USA. He wants to know if there are any ways of

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482 results

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