The Life Scientific Podcast
Professor Jim Al-Khalili talks to leading scientists about their life and work, finding out what inspires and motivates them and asking what their discoveries might do for us in the future
Episodes to download
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DNA detective Turi King
Tue 9 Jul 2019
How geneticist Turi King identified the 500 yr old skeleton of Richard III.
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Ewine van Dishoeck on cosmic chemistry
Tue 2 Jul 2019
Astrochemist Ewine van Dishoeck tells Jim Al-Khalili about the space between the stars.
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Plastic pollution with Richard Thompson
Tue 25 Jun 2019
How Richard Thompson alerted the world to the micro-plastics in the ocean.
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Erica McAlister on the beauty of flies
Tue 16 Apr 2019
Dr Erica McAlister talks to Jim Al-Khalili about the beautiful world of flies.
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Richard Peto on why smoking kills but quitting saves lives
Tue 9 Apr 2019
Epidemiologist Richard Peto on the links between tobacco, disease and early death
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Irene Tracey on pain in the brain
Tue 2 Apr 2019
Irene Tracey tells Jim Al-Khalili how imaging the brain reveals how and why we feel pain.
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Paul Davies on the origin of life and the evolution of cancer
Tue 26 Mar 2019
Physicist Paul Davies on the origin of life, aliens and the evolution of cancer.
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Corinne Le Qu茅r茅 on the global carbon cycle
Tue 19 Mar 2019
Professor Corinne Le Qu茅r茅 talks to Jim Al-Khalili about tracing global carbon.
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Ken Gabriel, Why your Smartphone is Smart.
Tue 12 Mar 2019
How working with robots in the 1980s kicked off a microelectronics revolution.
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2018 Nobel Prize winner, Donna Strickland, on laser physics
Tue 5 Mar 2019
Donna Strickland, the first woman to win a Physics Nobel Prize in 55 years.
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Gwen Adshead on treating the minds of violent offenders
Tue 26 Feb 2019
Gwen Adshead tells Jim Al-Khalili how she treats the minds of violent offenders.
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2018 Chemistry Nobel Prize winner, Sir Gregory Winter
Tue 19 Feb 2019
Sir Gregory Winter, winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize for Chemistry
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Sue Black on women in tech
Tue 12 Feb 2019
Sue Black tells Jim Al-Khalili how she became a software engineer.
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Jim Al-Khalili on HIS life scientific
Tue 5 Feb 2019
Physicist Jim Al-Khalili tells Adam Rutherford what motivates and inspires him.
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Clive Oppenheimer on the volcanic offerings of our angry earth
Tue 11 Dec 2018
Clive Oppenheimer on volcanoes that shake the world.
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Sky at Night presenter Maggie Aderin-Pocock
Tue 4 Dec 2018
Sky at Night presenter Maggie Aderin-Pocock talks to Jim Al-Khalili about astronomy.
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Banning chemical weapons with Alastair Hay
Tue 27 Nov 2018
Alastair Hay talks with Jim Al-Khalili about ridding the world of chemical weapons.
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Formula One engineer Caroline Hargrove
Tue 20 Nov 2018
Formula One engineer Caroline Hargrove talks to Jim Al-Khalili.
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Mike Stratton and cancer genes
Tue 13 Nov 2018
Mike Stratton talks about searching for cancer genes with Jim al-Khalili.
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Detective of the mind Dr Suzanne O'Sullivan
Tue 6 Nov 2018
Detective of the mind Dr Suzanne O'Sullivan talks about brain seizures with Jim Al-Khalili
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Noel Fitzpatrick on becoming a supervet
Tue 30 Oct 2018
Supervet, Noel Fitzpatrick, talks to Jim Al-Khalili
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Jacqueline McGlade on monitoring the environment from space
Tue 23 Oct 2018
Jacqueline McGlade on monitoring the environment from space.
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Rachel Mills exploring the sea floor
Tue 19 Jun 2018
Rachel Mills on volcanoes under the sea and how metal deposits feed the oceans.
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Frank Close and particle physics
Tue 12 Jun 2018
Jim Al-Khalili discusses quarks and popularising particle physics with Frank Close.
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Sheena Cruickshank on the wonders of the human immune system
Tue 5 Jun 2018
DIY Faecal Transplants? Don't do this at home, immunologist Sheena Cruickshank tells Jim.
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John Taylor on being an inventor
Tue 29 May 2018
John Taylor tells Jim Al-Khalili how his inventions transformed the electric kettle.
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Cat Hobaiter on communication in apes
Tue 22 May 2018
Jim Al-Khalili talks chimp gestures with Dr Cat Hobaiter.
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Caroline Dean reveals the genetic secrets of flowering
Tue 15 May 2018
Professor Dame Caroline Dean on why some plants need cold before they can flower.
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Carlo Rovelli on why time is not what it seems
Tue 8 May 2018
Carlo Rovelli describes how he abandoned the concept of time.
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Callum Roberts on the urgent need for marine conservation
Tue 1 May 2018
Callum Roberts on coral reefs and the urgent need for marine reserves.
Sleep 鈥� the mystery state
What is the secret to a good nights sleep? Professor Jim Al-Khalili explores.
Is your mind a machine?
Daniel Dennett thinks so. Here is what we learned from his Life Scientific.
