Mon, 1 October 2012
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Dr. Maia Sauren. The Ig Nobel Prizes honour achievements that first make us laugh, then make us think. We take a look at this year’s winners: from ponytails to reports about reports about reports.
Psychology prize: Lean a little to the left, do I look shorter to you?
Peace prize: Ammo is a girl’s best friend?
Acoustics prize: The SpeechJammer. The shut up machine for the passive aggressive.
Neuroscience prize: Scanning Dead Salmon in fMRI Machine Highlights Risk of Red Herrings
Chemistry prize: Why Did Hair Turn Green for Residents of a Certain Town?
Literature prize: I think we need another report.
Physics prize: Like How Your Hair Hangs? Praise the Laws of Physics
Fluid dynamics prize: Physicists Dive into Oscillation Frequency of Coffee
Anatomy prize: Chimps can recognise friends by their behinds
Medicine prize: When people explode during colonoscopies
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Fri, 21 September 2012
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Dr. Simon O’Toole. Topics covered: The Lesula, a newly discovered monkey: cute or creepy? A brain implant improves thinking in monkeys. Scientists explore whether bacteria will swap genes with other similar or different species. NASA's GRAIL mission releases it's first set of results, with surprising new information about our moon. Stem cells improve the hearing of deafened gerbils. And a team develops a coating that makes water boil without bubbles! |
Fri, 14 September 2012
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday. Topics covered: The ENCODE project reveals function in previously thought 'junk' DNA. The role of malaria in human evolution. The mystery of the missing dinosaur tales. Could man-made structures like wharves and oil rigs be causing a bloom of jellyfish? Brain-controlled robot legs could help the paralyised walk again, and remote-controlled cockroaches could take over the world and enslave humankind. This episode uses audio from the video "ENCODE: The story of you", produced by Nature and copyright © 2012 Nature Publishing Group, used with permission. |
Fri, 7 September 2012
Hosts: Ed Brown, Lucas Randall, Greg Wah, Dan Beeston. Topics covered: Could reality television partly fund a colony on Mars - by 2023? Does the shape of the glass affect how much beer you drink? Mapping the genome of a Denisovan (an ancient human cousin). Bacteria that makes insects destroy their own brains and genitals. And astronomers discover a star with a tasty ring of sugar. |
Mon, 3 September 2012
Hosts: Ed Brown, Dr. Shayne Joseph, Penny Dumsday, Alan Kerlin. Topics covered: Death of Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon. Could antibiotics be making us fat? A step closer to the male pill. Bacterial infections controlled by RNA, and bonobos can make and use tools. |