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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Jan Zalasiewicz on the Age of Man
Tue 17 Jan 2017
Geologist Jan Zalasiewicz talks to Jim Al-Khalili about the Anthropocene, the Age of Man.
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Michele Dougherty on Saturn
Tue 10 Jan 2017
Michele Dougherty tells Jim Al-Khalili why she diverted the Cassini mission to Saturn.
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Neil de Grasse Tyson on Pluto
Tue 20 Dec 2016
US science superstar, Neil de Grasse Tyson describes why Pluto isn't a planet.
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Richard Morris on how we know where we are
Tue 6 Dec 2016
Neuroscientist Richard Morris explains how brain cells remember.
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Julia Higgins on polymers
Tue 29 Nov 2016
Professor Dame Julia Higgins shares her passion for polymers with Jim Al-Khalili.
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Roger Penrose on black holes
Tue 22 Nov 2016
Sir Roger Penrose talks to Jim Al-Khalili about black holes and flaws in quantum physics.
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Ian Wilmut on Dolly the sheep
Tue 11 Oct 2016
Jim Al-Khalili talks cloning with the creator of Dolly the sheep, Ian Wilmut.
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Frans de Waal on chimpanzees
Tue 4 Oct 2016
Frans de Waal tells Jim Al-Khalili why we should expect chimpanzees to be clever.
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Trevor Cox on sound
Tue 19 Jul 2016
Acoustic engineer Trevor Cox discusses the science of sound with Jim Al-Khalili.
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Georgina Mace on threatened species
Tue 12 Jul 2016
Georgina Mace talks to Jim Al-Khalili about her Red List of Threatened Species.
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Faraneh Vargha-Khadem on memory
Tue 5 Jul 2016
Faraneh Vargha-Khadem talks to Jim Al-Khalili about how memories are made.
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Nick Davies on cuckoos
Tue 21 Jun 2016
The battle between cuckoos and warblers, as told by Nick Davies to Jim Al-Khalili.
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Sheila Rowan on gravitational waves
Tue 14 Jun 2016
Sheila Rowan talks to Jim Al-Khalili about her role in the search for gravitational waves.
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Marcus du Sautoy on mathematics
Tue 7 Jun 2016
Marcus Du Sautoy shares his passion for mathematics with Jim Al-Khalili.
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Lawrence Krauss on dark energy
Tue 31 May 2016
Author and cosmologist Lawrence Krauss discusses dark energy with Jim Al-Khalili.
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Carolyn Roberts on flood control
Tue 22 Mar 2016
Environmental scientist Carolyn Roberts talks to Jim al-Khalili about floods and forensics
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Helen Sharman, the first British astronaut (2016)
Tue 15 Mar 2016
Helen Sharman talks to Jim Al-Khalili about the ups and downs of being in space.
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Venki Ramakrishnan on ribosomes
Tue 8 Mar 2016
Jim Al-Khalili talks to Nobel Prize-winner Venki Ramakrishnan.
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George Davey-Smith on health inequalities
Tue 1 Mar 2016
Epidemiologist Prof George Davey-Smith talks to Jim Al-Khalili about health inequalities.
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Dr Nick Lane on the origin of life on earth
Tue 23 Feb 2016
Dr Nick Lane of UCL talks about studying the origin of life on earth with Jim Al-Khalili.
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Naomi Climer on engineering
Tue 16 Feb 2016
Naomi Climer tells Jim Al-Khalili why engineers should be as famous as rock stars.
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Peter Piot on tackling ebola and HIV
Tue 9 Feb 2016
Peter Piot talks to Jim Al-Khalili about Zika, Ebola and HIV.
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Paul Younger on energy for the future
Tue 17 Nov 2015
Professor Paul Younger talks to Jim Al-Khalili about keeping the lights on in the future.
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Kathy Willis on botany
Tue 10 Nov 2015
Kathy Willis, Kew Gardens' director of science, discusses biodiversity with Jim Al-Khalili
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Patrick Vallance on pharmaceuticals
Tue 3 Nov 2015
Jim Al-Khalili meets Patrick Vallance heading drug development at a pharmaceutical company
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Robert Plomin on the genetics of intelligence
Tue 20 Oct 2015
Professor Robert Plomin talks to Jim Al-Khalili about the genetics of intelligence.
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Danielle George on electronics
Tue 13 Oct 2015
Engineer Danielle George tells Jim about her passion for getting children into electronics
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Dame Carol Black on public health
Tue 6 Oct 2015
Expert health advisor and professor of medicine Carol Black talks to Jim Al-Khalili.
Sleep – the mystery state
Is your mind a machine?
Daniel Dennett thinks so. Here is what we learned from his Life Scientific.
