Instant Genius

Sleep psychologist Prof Alice Gregory on the science behind a satisfying slumber Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we speak to Dr Lucy Rogers, who casts aside any Hollywood depictions of skull-crushing Terminators, and look at the real-life robots that are making a positive impact in our lives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Comedian Dara Ó Briain thinks the word nerd has been co-opted by too many people who don’t deserve it: Infinity Wars fans, for example. Studying maths and mathematical physics at university, he’s a true nerd, with a favourite science joke that backs that up. He’s released his second science book for kids, so we’re talking to him about his career, communicating science to children, and what really happened to the Brontosaurus.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Psychologist and science writer Jesse Bering explains the factors that lead someone to take their own life, and how we might be able to help those who are at risk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Scientists Lucy Cooke and Sarah-Jayne Blakemore’s books have been shortlisted for the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize. They tell us the unexpected truth about animals and the secret life of the teenage brain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How helpful would you be if you were stranded in the past? Ryan North imagined telling people how cool computers are, but if they asked him how to make one, he’d be stumped. So he did some research, and in his hilarious new book he’s teaching us how to invent everything.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Girls are not picking as many STEM A-levels as boys, while professional female scientists are dropping out of the field. Is it time for change? In this episode we talk to four women currently working in STEM about their experiences, the problems faced by women and girls, and how we can fix the issues.The panel: Dr Suzie Imber - Associate professor of planetary science at the University of Leicester. Last year she won the BBC Two series Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes? Angela Saini - Award-winning science journalist who wrote Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong. Dr Aoife Hunt - Associate director and mathematician at Movement Strategies, which is a company that specialises in crowd flow planning. Dr Jess Wade - Physicist at Imperial College London. This year she won the Daphne Jackson prize from the Institute of Physics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Five violent murders were committed by a man dubbed ‘Jack the Ripper’ between August and November 1888 in Whitechapel. Criminologist David Wilson and actor Emilia Fox, with the help of the country’s leading criminal investigators, apply the latest scientific techniques to the case in a new BBC Science documentary. We asked Wilson if they identified the killer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jim Al-Khalili explains how artificial intelligence has changed the world, who benefits from it, and why we probably shouldn’t be afraid of it destroying humanity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Imogen Heap has pushed the creative boundaries in the creation of electronic music, but now she is using technology a different way that she hopes will create a fairer and more inclusive future for musicians. She talks to us about how blockchain could revolutionise the music industry, and how her innovative mi.mu gloves are changing the way we create and perform electronic music. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices