Instant Genius

Imagine, just for one moment, that you’re flying. What can you see? How high up are you? Can you feel the rush of wind in your face? Keep these thoughts in mind while you listen to this week's podcast.Your imagination is a strange old thing, with some people experiencing vivid senses while some struggle to picture anything at all. In this episode, we speak to Jim Davies, whose book, Imagination: The Science of Your Mind's Greatest Power (£21.99, Pegasus), sheds light on this mysterious function of the brain.As you can imagine, we go deep into the neuroscience of conjuring up mental images, but we also find out why your memory doesn’t need to be perfect, the joys of playing video games after a bad day, the benefits of imaginary friends, and, rather bizarrely, how to make a better door.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: Dean Burnett: What’s going on in the teenage brain? Gordon Wallace: Is an implantable electronic device the future of medicine? Dr Guy Leschziner: What is your brain doing while you sleep? Gustav Kuhn: Do you believe in magic? Helen Russell: What does it mean to be happy? 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

You’ve probably bought something from a corner shop and taken it home in a plastic bag that says it’s biodegradable, or eaten takeaway food with a compostable fork.But when you’re done with your bag or your fork, what do you do with them? Can you put them in your food waste bin, your compost heap, or even the recycling bin?To find out, we spoke to materials scientist Professor Mark Miodownik. Mark is leading the Big Compost Experiment, a nationwide citizen science experiment to explore whether home-compostable plastics really do compost in your garden.If you sent us a question for Mark, listen out for his answer towards the end of the episode.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: Solving the plastic problem – Mark Miodownik How can we save our planet? – Sir David Attenborough Chris Lintott: Can members of the public do real science? Dr Erin Macdonald: Is there any science in Star Trek? John Higgs: Are Generation Z our only hope for the future? Mark Lynas: Could leaving nature to its own devices be the key to meeting the UK’s climate goals? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we’re boldly going where no Science Focus Podcast has gone before.Dr Erin Macdonald is the new science consultant for the Star Trek franchise. With the release of Star Trek: Picard on Amazon Prime, she takes us through the science of both the new and classic series.She tells our production assistant and resident Trekkie Holly Spanner about supernovae, what a science consultant really does, and whether warp drive is possible. 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: What if the Earth’s magnetic field died? – Jim Al-Khalili Building a base on the Moon, and crafting believable sci-fi – Andy Weir Dr Becky Smethurst: How do you actually find a black hole? Kathryn D. Sullivan: What is it really like to walk in space? Mark McCaughrean: How do you launch a successful space mission? Colin Stuart: The most mysterious objects in the Universe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Adam Rutherford is a geneticist at the University College London, which has one of the most prestigious population, genetics and evolution departments in the world.However, the university was also the home of ideas such as eugenics and race science.Times have changed, and although our current understanding of genetics and biology should have consigned them to history, these insidious ideas are making their way back into the mainstream.In his new book, How to Argue with a Racist (£12.99, Weidenfeld & Nicolson), Adam wants to show his readers that what we understand as race doesn’t really hold up with the genomic data, why professional sport is not a particularly good data set for studying race, and whether we can ever truly remove racism from science.He speaks to our editorial assistant Amy Barrett. 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: Marcel Danesi: Why do we want to believe lies? Gaia Vince: What part does culture play in our evolution? Robert Elliott Smith: Are algorithms inherently biased? Caroline Criado Perez: Does data discriminate against women? Angela Saini: Is racism creeping into science? John Higgs: Are Generation Z our only hope for the future? 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’re investigating long-extinct animals. No, not dinosaurs, they get plenty enough coverage already. Instead, we’re going to look at creatures that lived in the Pleistocene era, a period of time that covered the last known ice age.During this period enormous creatures roamed the Earth, with some surprising animals making what we now know as the British Isles their home.What makes these often-enormous animals so interesting is that they lived side-by-side humans and other early human species, which means we have more than just fossilised bone fragments to learn from - we have cave art, sculpture, tools and even cooking utensils that we can use to build our understanding.Ross Barnett is a palaeontologist, whose recent book The Missing Lynx: The Past and Future of Britain's Lost Mammals (£16.99, Bloomsbury Wildlife) explores the story of Britain’s lost megafauna.He speaks to our online assistant Sara Rigby about Britain’s biggest beasts, humans’ role in their extinction, and what they can teach us about the future of conservation. 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: Samantha Alger: What can we do to save the bees? Brian Switek: How did bones evolve? Mark Lynas: Could leaving nature to its own devices be the key to meeting the UK’s climate goals? Brad Lister: Are we facing an insect apocalypse? Steve Brusatte: The truth about dinosaurs Neil Gemmell: The genetic hunt for the Loch Ness Monster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We all appreciate the buzz of the humble bee in the garden, however, not a summer goes past without hearing news that our bee population is under threat, with the finger usually pointing at habitat loss or chemicals containing neonicotinoids.But in reality, there are a whole host of reasons why our vital bee population is in decline.And given they provide pollination services for every one in three bites of the food we eat, their survival is critical to our very way of life.In this episode of the Science Focus Podcast, University of Vermont environmental scientist and pollination specialist Samantha Alger talks about her work uncovering the secret life of bees, what is causing the decline in bee numbers, and what we can do so save them. 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: Mark Lynas: Could leaving nature to its own devices be the key to meeting the UK’s climate goals? Andrew Hunter Murray and Dan Schreiber: Is there really no such thing as a fish? Brad Lister: Are we facing an insect apocalypse? Nick Lyon: Filming a Dynasty Neil Gemmell: The genetic hunt for the Loch Ness Monster Steve Brusatte: The truth about dinosaurs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We all love a good story, and sometimes a lie is more interesting to hear than the truth, but there is more to it than spinning a good yarn.According to Marcel Danesi, linguist and author of the book The Art of the Lie (£11.95, Prometheus Books), throughout history certain ‘Liar Princes’ have perfected the art of lying to gain fame, fortune and notoriety.In this week’s podcast, he explains what makes them so effective at this so-called ‘Machiavellian intelligence’, what happens in the brain when we twist the truth, and why we’re all liars in one way or another. 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: Dean Burnett: What’s going on in the teenage brain? Gretchen McCulloch: How has the internet affected how we communicate? Lewis Dartnell: How geology can influence elections Jamie Susskind: How technology is changing politics Jack Lewis: Sin and why we do the things we shouldn't Trevor Cox: To become Prime Minister, change your voice Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

By day Dr Becky, is an astrophysicist, unravelling the mysteries of supermassive black holes, but by night entertains science buffs like us on her YouTube channel.In this week's episode of the Science Focus Podcast she explains how to find a black hole (and why they’re actually incredibly bright), what an astrophysicist does all day, and why flooding YouTube with scientists is the best way to counteract disinformation and bogus theories.Her book Space: 10 Things You Should Know (£9.99, Orion), is out now and you can read an extract from it here. 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: Kathryn D. Sullivan: What is it really like to walk in space? Monica Grady: What is the future of space science? Mark McCaughrean: How do you launch a successful space mission? Kevin Fong: Why is the Moon landing still relevant 50 years on? Bruce Banerdt: What NASA's InSight will tell us about Mars Natalie Starkey" What asteroids can tell us about our Solar System Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hopefully by now the last crumbs of mince pie will be wiped clean and Grandad has woken up from his Christmas day nap.If you’re anything like us, that period between Christmas and New Year means only one thing – lazing in front of the TV and watching the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. This institution has been sharing the wonders of science and entertaining children and adults alike for generations, and this year’s host hopes this year will be no different.Our editorial assistant Amy Barret sat down with Hannah Fry, only the fourth mathematician to deliver one of the lectures, who’ll be showing the audience how maths secretly underpins much of the world around us in her lecture series called Secrets and Lies, broadcast on BBC Four on 26-28 December at 20:00. 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: Aoife McLysaght: What makes me 'me'? Adam Kay: Is Christmas really the most wonderful time of the year on labour ward? Chris Lintott: Can members of the public do real science? Jim Al-Khalili: Why should we care about science and scientists? Robert Elliott Smith: Are algorithms inherently biased? Hannah Fry: What's the deal with algorithms? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you’re stuffing your face with mince pies this Christmas Day, spare a thought for the hundreds of thousands of people working in the NHS providing vital medical support over the festive period.One person who has seen his fair share of Christmas shifts is comedian and writer Adam Kay, who in a previous life worked as a junior doctor. His new book, Twas the Nightshift before Christmas (£9.99, Harper Collins), is at times, a graphically intimate diary of what happens on a labour ward over the holidays.Our editorial assistant Amy Barrett spoke to Adam over the phone about whether Christmas is more dangerous than other seasons, some of the issues facing healthcare at this time of the year, and life after medicine. 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: Dean Burnett: What’s going on in the teenage brain? Sarah Harper: What does a world with an ageing population look like? Andrew Hunter Murray and Dan Schreiber: Is there really no such thing as a fish? Matt Parker: What happens when maths goes horribly, horribly wrong? Robin Ince: Inside the mind of a comedian Dara Ó Briain: Finding the fun in science Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices