CrowdScience Podcast
We take your questions about life, Earth and the universe to researchers hunting for answers at the frontiers of knowledge.
Episodes to download
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Do plants have immune systems?
Fri 1 Oct 2021
Can plants remember diseases or stressful events they have previously experienced?
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How do flowers know when to bloom?
Fri 24 Sep 2021
Find out what influences when flowers open and the various factors that slow the process
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How did eyes evolve?
Fri 17 Sep 2021
How did evolution produce the clever organs with which you’re reading this?
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Can we transfer electricity wirelessly?
Fri 10 Sep 2021
Could power be beamed into hard to reach communities?
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Can we save our night skies?
Fri 3 Sep 2021
How to combat the light pollution that blots out starry skies and disrupts wildlife
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How did our ancestors sleep?
Fri 27 Aug 2021
How have our sleep patterns changed over history and pre-history?
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Why is human skin so rubbish?
Fri 20 Aug 2021
We’re dissecting our skin’s structure and roles and asking if science can give it a boost
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How can smart tech tackle climate change?
Fri 13 Aug 2021
How can clever computing help us reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
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Can video games help me or harm me?
Fri 6 Aug 2021
What’s the scientific evidence for how gaming affects us?
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Do I really have to clean my recycling?
Fri 30 Jul 2021
We tackle questions about the best ways to recycle.
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Why do my cables keep getting tangled?
Fri 16 Jul 2021
Can science explain why cables and headphones become tangled up and knotted?
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Why is standing more tiring than walking?
Fri 9 Jul 2021
We tackle questions about walking, standing, sitting and running
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Why do I feel hungry?
Fri 2 Jul 2021
A buffet of food & flavour questions from listeners reaching from stomachs to outer space
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What happened to my sense of smell?
Fri 25 Jun 2021
What happens when our sense of smell is disrupted or disappears all together?
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Why do I have such a sweet tooth?
Fri 11 Jun 2021
How our genes help determine how much sugar we should eat
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What is the point of menstruation?
Fri 4 Jun 2021
Why did humans evolve to have periods and do we have to have them each month?
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Is my neighbour’s noise harming my health?
Fri 28 May 2021
Noise can be a source of annoyance – but could it even be damaging to our health?
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How old are the elements?
Fri 21 May 2021
Can you pick a random atom on earth & tell how old it is, or what its cosmic history is?
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Could we turn poisonous plants into edible crops?
Fri 14 May 2021
Detoxifying plants may reveal untapped food ready for the picking
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Why is learning stuff harder as you get older?
Fri 7 May 2021
Why as children we effortlessly absorb new skills but as adults we don’t
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Why are seeds such different sizes?
Fri 30 Apr 2021
Why are seeds the size they are? Does their size affect how big the plant grows?
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What can we learn from wastewater?
Fri 23 Apr 2021
Sewage testing could help stop the spread of disease
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Why does grief leave me feeling this way?
Fri 16 Apr 2021
Grief can be crippling. Why have we evolved to be so affected by loss?
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Why do we gossip?
Fri 9 Apr 2021
Are we hardwired to seek out salacious stories and can we harness gossip for good?
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If a tree falls in a forest does it make a sound?
Fri 2 Apr 2021
If a tree falls in a forest, and there’s no-one there to hear it, does it make a sound?
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Can space exploration be environmentally friendly?
Fri 19 Mar 2021
Are the space junk and carbon footprint issues of extra-terrestrial endeavours solvable?
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