Science Weekly
Alok Jha and the Guardian's science team bring you the best analysis and interviews from the worlds of science and technology.
Face value: the science of first impressions – Science Weekly podcast
Hannah Devlin delves into the world of human faces and asks: how does the brain process them? And how do faces affect our ideas about people?
Solar spacecraft: two missions to the sun - Science Weekly podcast
Nicola Davis speaks with two scientists about their respective missions to the sun - what burning questions do they hope to answer? And what are some of the obstacles?
Cross Section: Robbert Dijkgraaf – Science Weekly podcast
This week, Nicola Davis sits down with mathematical physicist Professor Robbert Dijkgraaf to discuss The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge
The Bell-Beaker folk - Science Weekly podcast
Hannah Devlin looks at a genome study that may explain the spread of bell-shaped pottery beakers across Europe 4,500 years ago
Science weekly: can we cure Alzheimer's?
Alzheimer’s disease affects millions of people worldwide. But despite decades of research costing hundreds of millions of dollars, we have no cure. Why?
How Artificial Intelligence will change the world: a live event - Science Weekly podcast
Recorded in front of a live audience as part of our Brainwaves series, Ian Sample asks a group of experts how AI will change our social landscape - for better or worse
Breakthrough Starshot: getting to Proxima Centauri b – Science Weekly podcast
Hannah Devlin explores the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative, which aims to use lasers to propel spherical sails to Alpha Centauri - our closest star system - over four light years away
The evolution of reason: a new theory of human understanding – Science Weekly podcast
Ian Sample and Nicola Davis delve into the world of reason and ask why do we have it? How does it work? And what insights might our evolutionary past provide?
Cross Section: Lawrence Krauss - Science Weekly podcast
Nicola Davis asks theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and science communicator Professor Lawrence Krauss about the secrets of the universe
Built on bones: the history of humans in the city - Science Weekly podcast
Ian Sample and bioarchaeologist Brenna Hassett explore the history of our relationship with an urban lifestyle – the good, the bad, and the ugly
Cryogenic preservation: from single cells to whole organs – Science Weekly podcast
Hannah Devlin looks at recent advances in the field of cryopreservation and asks how close we are to applying these technologies to whole organs
How to write a successful science book – Science Weekly podcast
To celebrate the announcement of the 2017 Wellcome Book Prize shortlist, Hannah Devlin asks three of its featured authors about the secrets to writing a successful science book
Is it time for an update to evolutionary theory? - Science Weekly podcast
The extended evolutionary synthesis is controversially proposed as an update to evolutionary theory as we know it. Nicola Davis explores the arguments
Exoplanets orbiting Trappist-1 and the search for life – Science Weekly podcast
Hannah Devlin explores the research behind the recent announcement of seven Earth-size planets and asks how we might probe their nature, including a suitability for life Exoplanet discovery: seven Earth-sized planets found orbiting nearby star
Nudge theory: the psychology and ethics of persuasion - Science Weekly podcast
This week, Ian Sample explores the psychology behind ‘nudging’, its usage by governments, and some of the ethical quandaries involved
A neuroscientist explains: magnetic resonance imaging
Dr Daniel Glaser explores the history and science behind a well known method of brain imaging, including a trip for producer Max into an MRI scanner
Poison tales: the chemistry of crime fiction – Science Weekly podcast
Nicola Davis sits down with Dr Kathryn Harkup to discuss a shared love of crime fiction and the chemistry contained within their poisonous plots
A neuroscientist explains: listener's emails about empathy
Responding to some of our listener’s emails, Dr Daniel Glaser ponders whether dogs have a Theory of Mind, the neuroscience behind bilingualism, and the value of introspection
Is emergent quantum mechanics grounded in classical physics? - Science Weekly podcast
Does strange quantum behaviour emerge from run-of-the-mill classical physics? If so, what does this tell us about the fundamental nature of reality?
A neuroscientist explains: listener's emails about memory
Responding to some of our listener’s emails, Dr Daniel Glaser explores the role of photographs for recall, and the vividness of musical memory