Instant Genius

Science journalist and presenter Ginny Smith tells us about the chemicals that run your brain.Once you’ve mastered the basics with Instant Genius, dive deeper with Instant Genius Extra, where you’ll find longer, richer discussions about the most exciting ideas in the world of science and technology. Only available on Apple Podcasts.Produced by the team behind BBC Science Focus Magazine. Visit our website: https://www.sciencefocus.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Food scientist, doctor and TV presenter Stuart Farrimond tells us about how you can use science to upgrade your cooking.Once you’ve mastered the basics with Instant Genius, dive deeper with Instant Genius Extra, where you’ll find longer, richer discussions about the most exciting ideas in the world of science and technology. Only available on Apple Podcasts.Produced by the team behind BBC Science Focus Magazine. Visit our website: https://www.sciencefocus.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Theoretical astrophysicist, author and one of Twitter’s most-followed scientists Dr Katie Mack tells us about the Universe's ultimate fate.Once you’ve mastered the basics with Instant Genius, dive deeper with Instant Genius Extra, where you’ll find longer, richer discussions about the most exciting ideas in the world of science and technology. Only available on Apple Podcasts.Produced by the team behind BBC Science Focus Magazine. Visit our website: https://www.sciencefocus.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The podcast that gives you the chance to be an expert in everything. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While Daft Punk may have sadly split, machine-created music may be about to skyrocket in popularity. Not only are artificial intelligence neural networks now capable of creating original melodies, but scientists are also developing robots capable of playing – and improvising – live music.So, will AI and androids soon top the charts? And could they even replace human musicians entirely?On this week's episode of the Science Focus Podcast, Prof Nick Bryan-Kinns, director of the Media and Arts Technology Centre at Queen Mary University of London, joins staff writer Thomas Ling to explain groundbreaking new music technology.Let us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts. Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Sticher, RSS, Overcast Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast: Could these gloves be the future of music? – Imogen Heap Why do humans make music? The psychology of the sea shanty: Why work songs are such earworms Meet the computer scientist teaching an AI to play Dungeons and Dragons The creator of Bellingcat on using the internet to investigate global affairs The future of human flight, with real-life Iron Man Richard Browning Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Most laws of physics tell us what must happen. Throw a ball in the air and it will come back down. But physicist Chiara Marletto, a Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, says that laws like this only tell us part of the story.She believes that the rest lies in 'counterfactuals': things that could be.In her new book, The Science of Can and Can’t (£20, Allen Lane), she explains how these counterfactual properties could solve many of science’s biggest outstanding problems.Let us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts. Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Sticher, RSS, Overcast Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast: Prof Avi Loeb on what 'Oumuamua tells us about the problem with modern physics Marcus Chown: Does the Big Bang really explain our Universe? Dr Douglas Vakoch: Should we try to contact aliens? Katie Mack: How will the Universe end? Sonia Contera: How will nanotechnology revolutionise medicine? Everything You Wanted To Know About… Physics with Jim Al-Khalili Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Around two months ago, a group of 15 people – scientists, explorers and medics – travelled deep into a cave in the south of France. The expedition descended to a point so deep that natural light could not reach them, and there the team stayed for 40 days and 40 nights without clocks, phones or anyway of telling the time.The project’s goal was to understand what happens to our brains and bodies when we’re deprived of an external measure of time and they hoped to discover how a group of people could adapt to such an extreme situation.Just two weeks ago, that team emerged from the cave, and Christian Clot, the expedition’s leader and the designer of the DEEP TIME mission, joins editor Daniel Bennett on this week's episode of the Science Focus Podcast to talk about what the experiment discovered, how the expedition changed him and what ultimately happened when the team returned to the surface.Let us know what you think of the Science Focus Podcast by filling out our survey. By submitting it, you enter the prize draw to win one of seven £100 Voucher Express Gift Cards. It should take no more than five minutes. UK residents only. Full T&Cs. Take part in the survey Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Sticher, RSS, Overcast Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast: Why realistic humanoid robots need to learn to lip-sync The psychology of the sea shanty: Why work songs are such earworms Mental health and your brain: What happens when it goes wrong Why you can’t multitask (and why that’s a good thing) How to maximise your motivation, according to a neuroscientist Prof John Drury: The psychology of lockdowns Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our lives are full of music, from the songs we sing along to on the radio to the orchestral scores that bring a film to life. But why is it that humans love to make music, and how did it evolve in the first place?Musicologist Prof Michael Spitzer, author of the new book The Musical Human (£30, Bloomsbury), joins BBC Science Focus online assistant Sara Rigby on this week’s episode to explain.Let us know what you think of the Science Focus Podcast by filling out our survey. By submitting it, you enter the prize draw to win one of seven £100 Voucher Express Gift Cards. It should take no more than 5 minutes. UK residents only. Full T&Cs. Take part in the survey Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Sticher, RSS, Overcast Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast: The psychology of the sea shanty: Why work songs are such earworms Could these gloves be the future of music? – Imogen Heap The neuroscience of happiness – Dean Burnett Dr Pete Etchells: Do video games encourage gambling behaviour? Why you can’t multitask (and why that’s a good thing) Phobias, paranoia and PTSD: Why virtual reality therapy is the frontier of mental health treatment Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this week's episode of the Science Focus Podcast, we talk to the "real-life Iron Man" – not Marvel's Tony Stark, but inventor Richard Browning.He’s the creator of the ‘Jet Suit’, which can fly one person through the air at speeds of 135km/h. He’s also founder and chief test pilot of Gravity Industries and author of new book Taking on Gravity (£20, Bantam Press).He explains his quite literal rise to success – and the future of human flight.Let us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts. Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Sticher, RSS, Overcast Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast: Podcast: Why realistic humanoid robots need to learn to lip-sync Ritu Raman: Can you build with biology? Dr Erin Macdonald: Is there science in Star Trek? Meet the computer scientist teaching an AI to play Dungeons and Dragons How virtual reality is helping patients with phobias, anxiety disorders and more Dr Pete Etchells: Do video games encourage gambling behaviour? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this week's episode of the Science Focus Podcast, commissioning editor Jason Goodyer speaks to Dr Carl Strathearn, a research fellow at the School of Computing at Edinburgh Napier University.He's currently conducting research on realistic humanoid robots, specifically on more realistically synchronising their speech and mouth movements.He tells us about how to get robots out of the Uncanny Valley, why the way a robot looks is so important, and why Data from Star Trek is an inspiration for his work.Read an edited excerpt from this interviewLet us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts. Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, Overcast Read the full transcription of this episode [this will open in a new window] Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast: How virtual reality is helping patients with phobias, anxiety disorders and more Dr Pete Etchells: Do video games encourage gambling behaviour? Rana el Kaliouby: What if computers could read our emotions? Ritu Raman: Can you build with biology? Dr Erin Macdonald: Is there science in Star Trek? Robert Elliott Smith: Are algorithms inherently biased? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices