Audio episodes

How do physicists know what will happen in situations that haven’t been tested? How sure can we be that physical laws are constant? Katy Clough explains how we are pushing the limits of what we know about the universe.

We might think that exploring Antarctica, one of the most inhospitable regions of the world, is something that has no relevance to us or future generations. According to Martin Siegert, we couldn’t be more wrong.

Imagine if we could correct genetic mutations as easily as correcting a typo in Microsoft Word, and thereby cure Alzheimer’s, depression and other neurological disorders. Sounds like the plot of a sci-fi film, right? According to neuroscientist Gabriele Lignani, this ...

The search for liquid water on Jupiter’s moons could reveal a habitat suitable for life. Space physicist Mehdi Ben Slama guides us through that search.

As the legendary Italian poet Dante turns 750, what can he tell us about the human experience? Dante scholar John Took takes us through his timeless angst and joy ridden ponderings on love, despair and existence.

Almost 50 years after it was first proposed, evidence for the elusive Higgs boson finally emerged. But how can you detect a particle that only exists for a tiny fraction of a second? Jonathan Butterworth takes us through the experiments ...

The medical effects of sport seem to be well understood, there being a consensus that it is good for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. But what about its non-medical effects? For example, are the effects of sport on society generally positive? ...

For many people, contemporary art is a strange place where artists are charlatans who take us for fools. But are they really, or should we take them seriously? Miguel Dos Santos tackles the issue.