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PODCAST

Making Science with Tom Whipple

What connects 200 hand-holding monks, a lump of gold hidden in a beaker, and irradiated cocktails? Welcome to Making Science with Tom Whipple, Science Editor at The Times and Sunday Times. This is the podcast where history, innovation, and the unexpected collide, as we uncover jaw-dropping stories behind the scientific discoveries we take for granted. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

science natural sciences

All Episodes

11:09

Breakthroughs in Cancer Research

Making Science with Tom Whipple ·

2025/11/21

Are we in a “golden age” of cancer research? Cancer Research UK thinks we are. From the cancer vaccines it is supporting to the cheaper diagnostic tools that catch tumours early, the charity believes they are on the cusp of advances that change how we think about cancer. In this bonus episode Tom hears from leading research scientist, Professor Peter Sasieni to discuss the remarkable recent breakthroughs CRUK hasachieved supporting the HPV Vaccine, and the difference this is making to cervical

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12:01

Time-lords and the extra seconds

Making Science with Tom Whipple ·

2025/08/11

The start of the New Year in 2017 began in the usual way, with a countdown. But what happens when that countdown is eleven seconds rather than ten? In this final episode of the first series, Tom Whipple explores the evolution of time measurement, the complications a leap second can cause, and the ongoing debate among international 'time lords’ about what's to be done about it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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13:53

The Tree of Life

Making Science with Tom Whipple ·

2025/08/04

In this episode of Making Science, Tom Whipple tells the story of physician and alchemist Johannes Baptist van Helmont. In the 17th-century Van Helmont believed he had created the Philosopher's Stone, a substance that could turn base metals into gold. Whilst this might have been a pipe dream his work indirectly paved the way for a monumental scientific discovery - photosynthesis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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9:08

Glow in the dark cocktails and radioactive health drinks

Making Science with Tom Whipple ·

2025/07/28

The Sunshine Dinner of 1904 in New York was known for its glow-in-the-dark theme, featuring illuminated decorations, paint and of course, drinks. But what made these cocktails glow? It turned out to be none other than radium. In this episode ofMaking Science, Tom Whipple goes back to a time when radioactive products touted alluring health benefits. What they didn’t know then, was that the substance was unstable and would prove deadly. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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10:52

The kilogram that lost its weight!

Making Science with Tom Whipple ·

2025/07/21

For over a century, the kilogram was defined by a single, shiny lump of metal locked in a vault near Paris. But what happens when your definition of mass starts...losing mass? In this episode, Tom Whipple, Science Editor atThe Times, unpacks the surprisingly dramatic story of the kilo - from the French Revolution’s quest for order, to a quantum reimagining of what “weight” really means. Enter the kibble balance: a machine so precise it can weigh light itself. Sort of. Hosted on Acast. See

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8:46

How do you hide a lump of gold in plain sight?

Making Science with Tom Whipple ·

2025/07/14

It's April in 1940. The Nazis are occupying Copenhagen. As they march through the streets, a stark realisation hits the physicist Niels Bohr. He has hours - maybe less - to make two Nobel Prize medals disappear completely. What might a substance named Aqua Regia and a humble beaker do conceal two huge lumps of gold? And bring it back again...a decade later. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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11:46

How far can bull frogs jump? (And why it matters!)

Making Science with Tom Whipple ·

2025/07/07

The story of a frog who broke records and confounded science. Professor Tom Roberts from Brown University spent his whole career studying the biomechanics of frog jumping to understand how muscles work. He and other scientists had determined the average bullfrog's jump to be just over 1 meter. Very impressive, until, that is, they met 'Rosie the Ribeter'. This bull frog had achieved a 2.2 meter jump at a local competition. But how? Professor Roberts was perplexed when he could repeatedly failed to

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8:53

Are friars electric?

Making Science with Tom Whipple ·

2025/07/01

In 1746, Antoine Nolie conducted an experiment with 200 monks to determine the speed of an electric current - by making the monks stand in a circle holding brass poles and connecting them to a large battery. What could possibly go wrong? And what would this experiment reveal about the way electrons flow? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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9:04

Islands of Ice and Straw

Making Science with Tom Whipple ·

2025/06/23

In this episode of Making Science, Tom Whipple delves into the intriguing science of latent heat and the thermodynamic properties of water - and how this science played a pivotal role in one of the strangest Allied schemes during World War II - a plan to create an 'iceberg aircraft carrier' known as Project Habakkuk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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9:23

War, stones and metals!

Making Science with Tom Whipple ·

2025/06/16

When the Stone Age met the Bronze Age? It's time for Tom to explore the profound impact of alloys on a clash of Stone and Bronze Age technologies in battle. Who would have thought blending copper and tin would have such an impact on human history! How are alloys created? What properties made them useful? And what transformative role did they play in ancient toolmaking and modern engineering? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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9:21

Death rays and other would-be inventions!

Making Science with Tom Whipple ·

2025/06/09

In the first of the series of Making Science, Tom Whipple, Science Editor at the Times, explores the strange history of a 'death ray’ that supposedly promised to change modern warfare forever. In 1924, engineer and inventor Harry Grindell Matthews claimed to have created a beam that could stop an engine, ignite gunpowder, and incapacitate enemy soldiers from up to four miles away. Harry Grindell Matthews never revealed how his technology worked and few had seen the ray in action. So was it true

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1:42

Introducing Making Science with Tom Whipple

Making Science with Tom Whipple ·

2025/06/03

Welcome to Making Science with Tom Whipple, Science Editor at The Times and Sunday Times. This is the podcast about the often bizarre mixture of innovation, determination and the unexpected that collide at a point in history to make science happen. Follow us now for weekly stories on the reality of discovery. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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