The Life Scientific Podcast
Professor Jim Al-Khalili talks to leading scientists about their life and work, finding out what inspires and motivates them and asking what their discoveries might do for us in the future
Episodes to download
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Graham MacGregor on tackling the demons in our diet
Tue 25 Apr 2017
Jim Al-Khalili talks to Prof Graham MacGregor about his remarkable war on sugar and salt.
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Liz Sockett on friendly killer bacteria
Tue 18 Apr 2017
Jim Al-khalili talks to Professor Liz Sockett about the evil genius of predatory bacteria.
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Nick Fraser on Triassic reptiles
Tue 11 Apr 2017
Nick Fraser tells Jim Al-Khalili about some extraordinary fossil finds.
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Daniel Dennett on the evolution of the human brain
Tue 4 Apr 2017
Daniel Dennett talks to Jim Al-Khalili about the evolution of the human brain.
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Alison Woollard on what she has learnt from mutant worms
Tue 28 Feb 2017
Geneticist Alison Wollard explains her enthusiasm for a tiny nematode worm.
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Alan Winfield on robot ethics
Tue 21 Feb 2017
Alan Winfield talks to Jim Al-Khalili about the ethics of robots, from drones to androids.
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Simon Wessely on unexplained medical syndromes
Tue 14 Feb 2017
Simon Wessely on medically unexplained symptoms and syndromes.
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Sean Carroll on how time and space began
Tue 7 Feb 2017
Sean Carroll tells Jim why he abandoned Einstein for quantum entanglement.
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Alison Smith on algae
Tue 31 Jan 2017
Professor Alison Smith talks to Jim Al-Khalili about the many and varied uses of algae.
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Sadaf Farooqi on what makes us fat
Tue 24 Jan 2017
Sadaf Farooqi describes how she found ten rare genetic disorders that cause obesity.
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Jan Zalasiewicz on the Age of Man
Tue 17 Jan 2017
Geologist Jan Zalasiewicz talks to Jim Al-Khalili about the Anthropocene, the Age of Man.
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Michele Dougherty on Saturn
Tue 10 Jan 2017
Michele Dougherty tells Jim Al-Khalili why she diverted the Cassini mission to Saturn.
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Neil de Grasse Tyson on Pluto
Tue 20 Dec 2016
US science superstar, Neil de Grasse Tyson describes why Pluto isn't a planet.
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Richard Morris on how we know where we are
Tue 6 Dec 2016
Neuroscientist Richard Morris explains how brain cells remember.
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Julia Higgins on polymers
Tue 29 Nov 2016
Professor Dame Julia Higgins shares her passion for polymers with Jim Al-Khalili.
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Roger Penrose on black holes
Tue 22 Nov 2016
Sir Roger Penrose talks to Jim Al-Khalili about black holes and flaws in quantum physics.
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Ian Wilmut on Dolly the sheep
Tue 11 Oct 2016
Jim Al-Khalili talks cloning with the creator of Dolly the sheep, Ian Wilmut.
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Frans de Waal on chimpanzees
Tue 4 Oct 2016
Frans de Waal tells Jim Al-Khalili why we should expect chimpanzees to be clever.
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Trevor Cox on sound
Tue 19 Jul 2016
Acoustic engineer Trevor Cox discusses the science of sound with Jim Al-Khalili.
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Georgina Mace on threatened species
Tue 12 Jul 2016
Georgina Mace talks to Jim Al-Khalili about her Red List of Threatened Species.
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Faraneh Vargha-Khadem on memory
Tue 5 Jul 2016
Faraneh Vargha-Khadem talks to Jim Al-Khalili about how memories are made.
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Nick Davies on cuckoos
Tue 21 Jun 2016
The battle between cuckoos and warblers, as told by Nick Davies to Jim Al-Khalili.
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Sheila Rowan on gravitational waves
Tue 14 Jun 2016
Sheila Rowan talks to Jim Al-Khalili about her role in the search for gravitational waves.
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Marcus du Sautoy on mathematics
Tue 7 Jun 2016
Marcus Du Sautoy shares his passion for mathematics with Jim Al-Khalili.
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Lawrence Krauss on dark energy
Tue 31 May 2016
Author and cosmologist Lawrence Krauss discusses dark energy with Jim Al-Khalili.
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Carolyn Roberts on flood control
Tue 22 Mar 2016
Environmental scientist Carolyn Roberts talks to Jim al-Khalili about floods and forensics
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Helen Sharman, the first British astronaut (2016)
Tue 15 Mar 2016
Helen Sharman talks to Jim Al-Khalili about the ups and downs of being in space.
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Venki Ramakrishnan on ribosomes
Tue 8 Mar 2016
Jim Al-Khalili talks to Nobel Prize-winner Venki Ramakrishnan.
Sleep – the mystery state
What is the secret to a good nights sleep? Professor Jim Al-Khalili explores.
Is your mind a machine?
Daniel Dennett thinks so. Here is what we learned from his Life Scientific.
