What are ligons and tigers? What is a species? Read more
now playing
The Zedonk Problem
What are ligons and tigers? What is a species?
The Space Burrito
Is there a point in space where the Sun could heat a burrito perfectly? And other puzzles
Steve Haake
Steve Haake talks to Jim al-Khalili about how technology improves sporting ability
Evolutionary biologist Alice Roberts
What can we learn from human remains? Alice Roberts talks bones with Jim Al Khalili
Hopes and fears for Covid-19 vaccines
Vaccines and virus mutations
Climate meltdown
Wildfires, floods, hurricanes made 2020 record breaking. What it says about climate change
Marine conservationist Heather Koldewey
Saving seahorses and turning old fishing nets into luxury carpets.
Astrophysicist Andy Fabian
Professor Andy Fabian on supermassive black holes and their dramatic hold over galaxies
Plant scientist Dale Sanders
Why the world needs more plant scientists. Prof Dale Sanders talks to Jim Al-Khalili.
Science Trumped
Let science speak, health expert Tony Fauci pleaded last week. So how was it sidelined?
The Evidence: The Shapeshifting Virus
Will new vaccines work against the more infectious versions of the coronavirus?
The power of celibacy
Lucy Cooke discovers why some species reproduce without sex or the need for males
The power of one
Lucy Cooke explores why some species shirk company in favour of a solitary life
The power of night
Lucy Cooke examines why it pays to stir when the sun goes down
The Life Scientific: Giles Yeo
Professor Jim Al-Khalili talks to leading scientists about their life and work.
The Evidence: Keeping out Covid-19
The virus knows no borders, so do international travel restrictions work for Covid-19?
The Life Scientific: Cath Noakes
How good ventilation dramatically reduces the risk of inhaling tiny airborne pathogens.
The Life Scientific: Jane Hurst
Jane Hurst reveals how mice are ruled by their noses.
The Evidence: Mental health and the pandemic
Mental health distress has risen around the world. How can people's suffering be eased?
Lithium: Chile’s white gold
Why lithium makes such good batteries
The equal rights stuff
When women and minorities first went into space
The Martian Mission
Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Hannah Fry investigate everyday mysteries sent by listeners.
The Hamster Power Hypothesis
How many hamsters on wheels would it take to power London? asks Judah from Virginia, USA.
The noises that make us cringe
Why do some people find noises like a fork scraping a plate so terrible?
Patient zero: Back from the brink
When polio returned to Asia Pacific
The Evidence: Sharing Vaccines – what’s gone wrong?
The ethics of putting children in rich countries ahead in the global vaccine queue
Peter Goadsby on migraine
Peter Goadsby on migraine attacks and the new treatments his research has inspired.
Tooth and claw: Lions
Our complex relationship with Earth’s greatest predators by the people who know them best
The Evidence: How Covid damages the human body
Covid the chameleon - the multiple ways this virus attacks our bodies
Tooth and claw: Bears
Adam Hart explores our complex relationship with bears
Tooth and claw: Tigers
What's it like facing a charging tiger and how best can we protect their growing numbers?