Discovery

Explorations in the world of science.

World Service,1473 episodes

Episodes

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In Their Element
Fluorine
How the feared element ended up giving us better teeth, mood and health
03 Sep 2018,26 mins
In Their Element
Iron
How iron has shaped human biology and culture
10 Sep 2018,26 mins
In Their Element
Sodium
Why sodium powers everything we do
17 Sep 2018,26 mins
Science Stories: Series 6
The Real Cyrano de Bergerac
Philip Ball on the real Cyrano de Bergerac and his 17th century space ship.
30 Jul 2018,26 mins
Science Stories: Series 6
Making Natural Products in the Lab
How 19th century chemist Wohler made a natural product in the lab
06 Aug 2018,26 mins
Science Stories: Series 6
Descartes' "Daughter"
Philip Ball goes back to the 17th Century to talk about Descartes and his "daughter"
13 Aug 2018,26 mins
Science Stories: Series 6
Hypatia: The Murdered Mathematician
Naomi Alderman on the life and death of Hypatia, the ancient Greek mathematician
20 Aug 2018,26 mins
Science Stories: Series 6
Mary Anning and Fossil Hunting
How a poor woman became one of 19th-century Britain's most successful fossil finders
27 Aug 2018,26 mins
A Tale of Two Axolotls
The Aztec Salamander
Saving a cultural icon and biomedical marvel from extinction.
16 Jul 2018,26 mins
A Tale of Two Axolotls
The Nun’s Salamander
Why are Mexican nuns breeding a rare salamander? Could they save this remarkable species?
23 Jul 2018,26 mins
The Second Genome
Manipulating Our Hidden Half
New research into manipulating our microbiome to stay healthy and beat chronic disease
25 Jun 2018,26 mins
The Second Genome
Dirt and Development
How the microbes in us set us on a path of health or chronic disease
02 Jul 2018,26 mins
The Second Genome
Gateway to the Mind
Could our microbiome have an influence on our mood and behaviour?
09 Jul 2018,26 mins
Killing Insects: The Rights and Wrongs
Killing Insects for Conservation
Killing insects in the name of research upsets some people. How do scientists justify it?
11 Jun 2018,26 mins
Killing Insects: The Rights and Wrongs
Do Insects Feel Pain?
Do insects experience pain and suffering?
18 Jun 2018,26 mins
What’s the Tiniest Dinosaur?
And how do bats differentiate their own echolocation signals?
04 Jun 2018,26 mins
Can Anything Travel Faster Than Light?
Plus, how can we measure the age of the Universe?
28 May 2018,26 mins
Why Do We Dream?
And are machines better than humans when it comes to recognising faces?
21 May 2018,26 mins
Can We Use Chemistry to Bake the Perfect Cake?
And what makes something sharp?
14 May 2018,26 mins
Why Do Some Songs Get Stuck in Your Head?
And why do I get so many static shocks?
07 May 2018,26 mins
Crossing Divides
The Cooperative Species
Why human cooperation fails online
23 Apr 2018,26 mins
Crossing Divides
Behaving Better Online
Gaia Vince meets the scientists studying our built in human behaviour
30 Apr 2018,26 mins
Bringing Schrodinger's Cat to Life
Roland Pease meets the quantum scientists hoping to bring Schrodinger's cat to life
16 Apr 2018,26 mins
Science Stories: Series 5
Barbara McLintock
Philip Ball tells the story of US geneticist and 1983 Nobel prize winner Barbara McLintock
09 Apr 2018,26 mins
Science Stories: Series 5
D'Arcy Thompson
A man who put maths into biology and saw physics in shells, seeds and bees 100 years ago
02 Apr 2018,26 mins
The Far Future
What fragments of our civilisation will persist 10,000 years in the future?
26 Mar 2018,26 mins
Killing Insects for Conservation
Killing insects in the name of research upsets some people. How do scientists justify it?
19 Mar 2018,26 mins
Why We Cut Men
Across the world, 1 in 3 men are circumcised. Mary-Ann Ochota investigates why we cut men
19 Mar 2018,26 mins
The Power of Sloth
Lucy Cooke discovers the joy of sloth and sloths and the benefits of being really slow.
19 Feb 2018,26 mins
The Anatomy of Pain
Seeing Pain
Why do some people feel more pain than others and what happens in the brain during surgery
22 Jan 2018,26 mins