Instant Genius

Prof Jim Al-Khalili helps us get to grips with the big concepts in cosmology. We talk space time, relativity and, of course, the end of the Universe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Prof Jim Al-Khalili breaks down the building blocks of the Universe and reveals what simplicity, beauty and elegance have to do with physics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Let your curiosity run wild. No question is off-limits in this new podcast series from the team behind BBC Science Focus magazine. In Everything You Wanted To Know About… world-leading experts answer Google’s most searched for queries and tackle questions from our listeners. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we talk to the Sandro Galea, Dean of the school of public health at Boston University.His book, called Well: What We Need to Talk About When We Talk About Health (£18.99, OUP) takes a deep look at the differences between health and medicine, and looks at how everything from the environment, taxation, education and even luck plays a part in the overall health of a nation.Speaking before the coronavirus pandemic, he explains the surprising factors that influence public health, which countries are doing it well, and why he felt he had to write this book. Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, Overcast Read the full interview transcript [opens in a new window] Let us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts.Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast: Anthony Warner: Are we really too fat? Aleks Krotoski: What happens to your data when you die? Marcel Danesi: Why do we want to believe lies? Jim Al-Khalili: Why should we care about science and scientists? Bill Bryson: What should we know about how our bodies work? Caroline Criado Perez: Does data discriminate against women? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we talk to the philosopher Toby Ord about the end of civilisation as we know it.Ok, it’s not all doom and gloom. As Toby says, he’s an optimistic person, but in his new book The Precipice (£25, Bloomsbury) he explains why we’re at a point in time where we, as a species, are teetering on the edge of extinction.We discuss how much potential us homo sapiens have, what’s putting our continued survival at risk, how civilisation as we know it could come to an end, and what are the odds we’ll see out the century.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, Stitcher, RSS, Overcast Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast: Michio Kaku: The future of humanity William Poundstone: Can we really predict when doomsday will happen? John Higgs: Are Generation Z our only hope for the future? Brad Lister: Are we facing an insect apocalypse? Randall Munroe: How do you find the worst solution to any problem? Sir David Attenborough: How can we save our planet? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this week's Science Focus Podcast chef and author of the book The Truth About Fat: Why Obesity is Not that Simple (£9.99, Oneworld), Anthony Warner chews the fat about, well, fat.Pretty much all of us have been tempted at some point in our lives to shed some weight around our midriff, especially when we see our BMI creeping over 25, but what does this actually mean, and is it really a reliable measure of general health?He speaks to our editorial assistant Amy Barrett about why the body needs fat, what influences our body shape, and why there is so much stigma about being obese.Read the full transcriptionLet 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 Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast: Samantha Alger: What can we do to save the bees? Randall Munroe: How do you find the worst solution to any problem? Bill Bryson: What should we know about how our bodies work? Phillippa Diedrichs: Is body positivity the answer to body image issues? Professor Catharina Svanborg: Is the cure for cancer hiding in human breast milk? Giles Yeo: Eating for your genes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr Camilla Pang is a bioinformatician, who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder when she was eight years old.Her first book, Explaining Humans (£14.99, Viking), is a guide to navigating life, love and relationships using the lessons she’s learned in her scientific career so far.In it she draws on examples from how the different proteins in the human body can reflect the different roles in a social group, to the way how light refracts through a prism helping her to break down fear into something manageable.In this episode of the Science Focus Podcast, she discusses her current work using disease and cancer data, along with machine learning methods, to find patterns that can be used in healthcare and lead to the development of therapies.She also explains how her neurodiversity has affected the way she works.If you have a burning science question you want an expert to answer, send them to us on twitter at @sciencefocus, and we may answer them in a future episode. Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, Overcast Let us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts.Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast: Why AI is not the enemy – Jim Al-Khalili What we got wrong about pandas and teenagers Jim Davies: How do you use your imagination? Dean Burnett: What’s going on in the teenage brain? Dr Guy Leschziner: What is your brain doing while you sleep? Everything that's wrong with the human body – Nathan Lents Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we catch up with Kevin Fong about the new series of his award-winning podcast 13 Minutes to the Moon.Whereas the first series celebrated the 50th anniversary of one of humanity’s greatest scientific achievements, the Moon landing, the new season follows what could have been one of our worst disasters – an explosion aboard the spacecraft Apollo 13.We discuss what happened on this ill-fated mission, how it impacted the astronauts and staff at Mission Control, and whether catastrophe at space could ever happen again.If you have a burning science question you want an expert to answer, send them to us on twitter at @sciencefocus, and we may answer them in a future episode. Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, Overcast Let us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts.Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast: Kevin Fong: Why is the Moon landing still relevant 50 years on? Katherine Johnson: mathematician and NASA pioneer dies age 101 Dr Erin Macdonald: Is there science in Star Trek? Dr Becky Smethurst: How do you actually find a black hole? Mike Garrett: Is there anybody out there? Monica Grady: What is the future of space science? Richard Wiseman: The mindset behind the Moon landing Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What happens to all your digital data once you die? We ask social psychologist, host of BBC Radio 4's Digital Human and BBC Science Focus columnist Aleks Krotoski about life after death, and she enlightens us on how much digital data is really out there, the value of virtual gravestones and why big data firms really don’t care if you’re alive or dead.If you have a burning science question you want an expert to answer, send them to us on twitter at @sciencefocus, and we may answer them in a future episode. Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, Overcast Let us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts.Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast: Dr Kathryn Mannix: What it’s really like to die Robert Elliott Smith: Are algorithms inherently biased? Gretchen McCulloch: How has the internet affected how we communicate? Caroline Criado Perez: Does data discriminate against women? John Higgs: Are Generation Z our only hope for the future? Jesse Bering: What psychology can tell us about suicide Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, we’re going on a search for the theory of everything.The two main theories of physics are at odds with one another. Einstein's general relativity explains gravity, but it contradicts quantum theory: how we understand matter, atoms and particles.Theoretical physicist at Imperial College London Professor Fay Dowker has been working on a solution to this quantum gravity problem, and tells us why the theories are incompatible, and how she plans to bring them together.If you have a burning science question you want an expert to answer, send them to us on twitter at @sciencefocus, and we may answer them in a future episode. Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, Overcast Let us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts.Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast: Dr Erin Macdonald: Is there any science in Star Trek? Dr Becky Smethurst: How do you actually find a black hole? Kathryn D. Sullivan: What is it really like to walk in space? Hannah Fry: How much of our lives is secretly underpinned by maths? Robert Elliott Smith: Are algorithms inherently biased? Monica Grady: What is the future of space science? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices