Episodes

  • 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
  • How would an AI converse with another AI?

    How would an AI converse with another AI?
    May 2 2025
    Brian wants to know, if 2 AI's were to have a conversation with one another, what would they talk about? James Tytko put this query to the test, and asked Mike Pound, professor of computer vision at the University of Nottingham, to help make sense of it all... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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    5 mins
  • Could the measles virus treat autoimmune diseases?

    Could the measles virus treat autoimmune diseases?
    Apr 25 2025
    Thanks to John Maher for the answer! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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    6 mins
  • How do some animals understand human commands?

    How do some animals understand human commands?
    Apr 18 2025
    Kiran wants to know how animals like dogs are able to follow commands from humans. James Tytko asked Nicky Clayton, Professor of Comparative Cognition at the University of Cambridge, to help with the answer... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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    6 mins
  • How do animals adapt to a changing magnetic field?

    How do animals adapt to a changing magnetic field?
    Apr 11 2025
    Alan writes in, acknowledging that many animals use the Earth's magnetic field for navigation purposes. Given the shifts in poles and field intensity we experience due to convection currents in the Earth's core, how do they stay on course? James Tytko asked Miriam Liedvogel, professor of ornithology, to help find the answer... James - The best supported ideas include the presence of a tiny compass needle of magnetic iron oxide in the beaks of some birds. Or there's the radical pair hypothesis, which explains magnetoreception with quantum mechanics. Mirjam Liedvogel is director of the Institute... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
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    5 mins