The Naked Scientists Podcast

Charlene Rodriguez, a UKHSA public health researcher, explores the genetic changes behind Kent’s severe meningitis outbreak. Evolutionary biologist Sonia Vernez traces bats to ancient Europe, while microbiologist Beryl Rappaport meets an amoeba thriving at 63°C. Egyptologist Kate Spence investigates the enduring mystery of Nefertiti’s burial and hidden chambers near Tutankhamun’s tomb.

David Nutt, an Imperial College neuropsychopharmacologist, explores psilocybin and mental health. Mycologist Nathan Smith takes us foraging through fungal networks, while Joni Wildman reveals how mycelium can become packaging, insulation and textiles. Magnus Ivarsson of MycoMine discusses fungi that digest pollution and recover metals. Along the way: fairy rings, tree-to-tree connections and the surprising reasons mushrooms can be poisonous.

Gemma Bousher, a global health security researcher, explores how AI could lower barriers to designing dangerous pathogens. Cancer researcher Fouad Rouhani discusses genetic scars left by childhood chemotherapy. Ido Praslavsky reveals how proteins and cellulose could create crack-resistant ice for construction, while astronomy researcher Merle Shraddha tracks weather on brown dwarfs using infrared observations.

Meteorologist Peter Gibbs, former BBC weather forecaster, explores why El Niño 2026 could be unprecedented. Economist Vicky Pryce examines threats to food prices, trade and household finances. Public-health experts Rachel Tolhurst and Teresa Zakaria discuss floods, disease, food insecurity, pregnancy risks and emergency preparedness. The conversation spans Pacific heat, global weather disruption and building resilient communities.

Neurosurgeon Oase Jelani reveals a world-first spring-assisted skull reshaping procedure for a baby. Oxford AI expert Mike Wooldridge explores alarming safety failures, cyberattack risks, and whether advanced systems could threaten humanity. Marine scientist Mads-Peter Heide-Jørgensen explains how sensor-carrying narwhals map Greenland’s warming fjords, while space journalist Richard Hollingham reports on Europe’s first commercial orbital rocket launch from Norway.

We've partnered with the Royal Institute of Navigation to explore driverless vehicles, also known as autonomous vehicles, or AVs. The Naked Scientists ride on a self-driving bus in Cambridge to see what makes them tick. We hear from 'driver' Nick Bailey, as well as Daniel Clarke from Greater Cambridge Partnership, Jamie Wilson from Alexander Dennis, Jim Hutchinson from Fusion Processing, Ramsey Faragher at the Royal Institute of Navigation, and Edward Cameron at Whippet Bus. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Coming up: El Niño weather phenomenon will be 'exceptional' and last months, say forecasters. What should we know about it? We also hear from the team behind a successful at-home bladder cancer test, learn about the science behind the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope, and meet a Harvard researcher who has created an app to help visually impaired people get around. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Coming up: how chemistry is transforming 21st-century healthcare. Jeremy Nicholson from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology talks about phenomics. Gemma Sharp shares how the world's largest menstrual fluid biobank was created. David Nutt from Imperial College explains drug mechanisms, and Nobel Prize winner David Baker discusses the role of AI in treating diseases. Leilani Arrow-Smith, a chemistry student at the University of Cambridge, produced this episode. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Coming up, groundbreaking research suggests the shingles vaccine can greatly reduce the risk of heart attacks. What's the science behind it? Also ahead: the New Space Race between the US and China goes up a gear as Beijing unexpectedly delays the launch of its Chang'e 7 mission. Plus, the frozen 'poo pills' that scientists hope can help keep allergies at bay. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Today, we are exploring the lives of insects, and some of the incredible abilities they've evolved to enable them to thrive. Coming up, the fly larvae that can withstand huge pressures in some of the world's deepest lakes; the butterfly caterpillar that pretends it's an ant to blag free board, lodgings and even ant grubs to eat inside ant nests, and the remarkable visual systems of wasps that enables them to home-in unerringly on picnics. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists