We bet you never knew that your brain is plastic. But yes, it really is! Plastic in the old sense of the word, meaning that it's endlessly adaptable. Join us this week in our attempts to bend our understanding around the topic of neuroplasticity. It's a subject that we guarantee will fire your neurons.
They have eight legs, nine brains and hundreds of tongues. And yet, somebody somewhere managed to put one inside a jam jar. But not for long! Yes it's time for our fascinating dive into the wonderful world of the octopus, the smarty-pants of the oceans.
Part two of our crusade into the weirdest of quantum weirdness sees us delve into Bose-Einstein condensates, super-solids, quark-gluon plasmas and on into the densest parts of the universe where mountains can fit inside teaspoons. Grab your cutlery drawer, and buckle up!
This week we're taking a left turn out of weird, straight into the downright exotic. Yes, it's time for part 1 of our cruise through some of matter's most exotic states, and the quantum weirdness that gives rise to them. We'll even discover that levitation is a real thing, but it's way cooler than you ever imagined.
The third and final part of our quest to tune into radio technology, explores the move from analogue to digital transmission, and how that made it possible for us to enjoy clear phone calls and pictures of cats on our cell-phones. With the result that the air around us is now an ocean of ones and zeroes, zipping around the world.
How is it that you can hear our soothing tones as they waft gently though your headphones? Join us for part 2 of our guide to radio to find out how technology allows us to speak around the around the world without shouting.
That slab of glass and plastic in your pocket only exists because of 170 years of heroic scientific innovations in the field of radio. Join us as we tune into the amazing evolution of radio technology, including Marconi's stunning discovery that invisible waves bounce around the world.
The second part of our quest to understand the human immune system gets to grips with the superhero that is our adaptive system. It custom builds an army for every invader it meets; even ones it never saw before. And the key to it all is a locksmith who can open every lock that will ever be made.
There's an ancient war that's been going on for millions of years. It's a never-ending quest to keep invisible invaders at bay, and you are one of it's battle-hardened heroes! Join us this week for the first part of our tour around the fantastic human immune system, where we'll discover why a hot battle is a good battle.
In this stellar episode our two hosts try to take the confusion out of nuclear fusion. It makes the stars shine, but what is it, and why are governments around the world trying to tame it? Along the way we'll discover that the holy grail of limitless energy may indeed be a donut!
Joe and Senan come back in from the cold to discover what causes our weather in this episode. Yes in part 2 of our delve into the mysteries of the atmosphere, we'll be talking about wind, rain, lightning, greenhouse gases and the joys of living in a permanently soggy climate, where every day is a soft day.
The air we breathe. We can't see it, we can't feel it, but luckily it's always there, like warm blanket protecting us. Join us for part one of our glide through the mysteries of Earth's atmosphere. There's definitely something in it...
It's time for time! On this week's show we explore all the different ways that animals, plants and the human brain keep track of time, and make sure that things happen when they ought to. And we'll discover how salmon might even be masters of quantum physics.
Halloween will soon be here, so what better time to talk about dark monsters. The real ones! Yes it's time for our plunge into the depths of Black Holes. Along the way we'll find out that the scariest things in the universe can even make spaghetti. But the main ingredient is YOU!
Find out what happened when your two hosts took a deep dive into slime and goo. There's sticky, stringy gloop all over this episode. It even got tangled in Issac Newton's wig, as he fired up nature's slime cannon.
Welcome to Season 2! Joe's been up all night worrying about the end of the universe, and wondering where all the energy is going to end up. Senan's attempts to explain what energy is all about, fail to reassure him the slightest little bit. And now he's worrying about cats too...
Moon dust! Nobody worried about it before we went to the moon, but it turned out to be the stuff of nightmares. Tune in to this week's show to find out all about the clingy lunar pest.
This week we are setting sail in our space yacht, to voyage around the outer planets of the solar system. We'll discover that a gas giant is not in fact an overweight comedian, and how one of them in particular is humanity's saviour.
It's time for part two of our quest to unravel the mysteries of the electromagnetic spectrum. We'll tune into radio waves, feel the heat of infra-red and see what's inside of x-rays. And of course we'll discover why everyone might have taken a wrong turn on GPS, thanks to Einstein's time-bending theories.
Ever wondered what radio waves, light, heat, UV, x-rays and gamma rays have in common? Join us for part one of our deep dive into the electromagnetic spectrum, and you'll find out. Oh, and yes, you'll also discover why ice is a source of heat.
Welcome to the one about rockets. Senan's enthusiasm for this subject is off the charts, and Joe does his best to reign in the torrent of rocket facts. Which is all very well till he discovers that all the satellites are indeed falling!
This week we are digging up some extinct human species. Well, not exactly 'human'. Human-like or pre-human is probably a better way of putting it. Whatever you want to call them, join us for a tour of the many different species who looked a bit like us, but weren't fully human, and who sadly have all gone extinct. And yes, two of them really are called Lucy and Nutcracker.
This week we are taking you deep beneath the waves, to find fun on the sea floor. Who would have believed it, but there's an ocean of cool facts out there, just waiting to be lampooned. From Zombie Bacteria, via the Whale Superhighway, to the Jacuzzi of Despair.
This week we are taking a deep dive into the wacky world of paints, dyes and colours. What is colour anyway? We'll find that out, and along the way take you on a trip through the many weird things that people have done in the name of colour.