Episodes

  • How long does a lap of the water cycle take?

    How long does a lap of the water cycle take?
    Jun 27 2025
    Thanks to Jess Neumann for the answer! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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    5 mins
  • Why do clouds move in a different direction to the wind?

    Why do clouds move in a different direction to the wind?
    Jun 20 2025
    When Tony is cycling around, he notices that the clouds above him are not always moving in the same direction as he feels the wind blowing him down on the ground. Why might this be? James Tytko took on the question with help from Paul Williams, Professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of Reading... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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    5 mins
  • Do photons have a size?

    Do photons have a size?
    Jun 13 2025
    Donald wants to know, 'how big is a photon?' Marushka Soobben took on his query with help from Ben Allanach, professor of theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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    4 mins
  • How much brain capacity do our senses take up?

    How much brain capacity do our senses take up?
    Jun 6 2025
    David wants to know, 'How much do the senses take up in brain capacity and what sense occupies the largest part of the brain (I would guess it would be sight?)' James Tytko took on his query with help from Holly Bridge, professor of neuroscience at the University of Oxford... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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    5 mins
  • Do lower oxygen levels in planes contribute to jet lag?

    Do lower oxygen levels in planes contribute to jet lag?
    May 30 2025
    This time on Question of the Week, Mark wants to know what effect lower levels of oxygen in aeroplanes might have on how we feel after a flight, and what impact the smoking ban might have had. As a follow up, he wonders about jet lag and whether it's possible to suffer its consequences after a long haul flight to somewhere in the same time zone. James Tytko asked Malcom von Schantz, Professor of chronobiology at Northumbria University, for help with the answer... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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    5 mins
  • Why hasn't light from the earliest galaxies gone past us?

    Why hasn't light from the earliest galaxies gone past us?
    May 23 2025
    Darren wants to know, 'Why can we see the light from the first galaxies. Why hasn't that light already passed us if it is from so long ago when the universe was smaller.' Strap in for a mind bending journey across the universe with James Tytko and Daniel Whiteson, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. Be sure to check out Daniel's podcast: 'Daniel and Kelly's Extraordinary Universe.' Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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    5 mins
  • What happens when you are injected with your own stem cells?

    What happens when you are injected with your own stem cells?
    May 16 2025
    Joao wants to know what happens when stem cells of our own, which have been cultivated outside the body, are reintroduced to the bloodstream. This got James Tytko thinking about autologous stem cell transplants, used as a treatment for some forms of blood cancer. He asked Tania Dexter, haematology registrar, and senior medical officer at the Anthony Nolan Institute, to help explain... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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    5 mins
  • How would the world differ if we rotated the landmass?

    How would the world differ if we rotated the landmass?
    May 9 2025
    Will wants to know what the implications would be for our world if the landmass was rotated 90 degrees, so current day Mexico was nearer the South Pole. Trying to wrap his head round all of the possible implications, James Tytko enlisted Dr Alex Farnsworth, Senior Research Associate from the School of Geographical Sciences at the University of Bristol, to help come up with an answer... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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    7 mins