The Naked Scientists Podcast

In this special episode, in partnership with Frontiers Science House, we launch our new Why? series by asking one of the biggest questions of our time: Why AI? Why has artificial intelligence advanced so rapidly, why does it work the way it does, and why could it fundamentally change how we think, work, and live? To explore the answers, we hear from four remarkable voices at the heart of the AI conversation: Geoffrey Hinton, Mike Wooldridge, Cristina Criddle, and Wendy Hall. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

New CRISPR technology tool uncovers genes that have become resistant to chemotherapy drugs. We speak with the scientist behind the cancer discovery. Plus, how butterflies use their wing patterns to confuse and evade predators; why Fiji has declared HIV a national emergency; and how SpaceX's Starship rocket launch is fuelling the race back to the Moon. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Today, in partnership with British Heart Foundation (BHF), we take on the world's biggest killer: heart disease. This episode features BHF's Ruth Goss on why this disease kills so many people; Will Watson at the Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge on what arterial disease looks like under a microscope; Cathy Shanahan at King's College London on attempts to stop blood vessels from becoming hard and stiff; and BHF's Sonya Babu-Narayan on risk management and heart disease treatment. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Coming up, scientists discover why the UK's recent men B outbreak was so severe. How did they do it? Also ahead: an international study suggests that bats originated in Europe 65 million years ago; how a tiny single-celled organism can survive at high temperatures; and the search for the resting place of Egypt's heretic queen, Nefertiti. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Coming up, we forage for mushrooms to unearth fascinating alternative uses for fungi, from cleaning up pollution and making building materials to treating mental health. This episode, produced by Laura Verdina at Queens' College, Cambridge, features Laura and Nathan Smith at Grantchester Meadows; Joni Wildman from the University of Bath on mycelium-based materials; Magnus Ivarsson at MycoMine; and David Nutt on psilocybin, a compound being studied to treat depression. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists