Episodios

  • How bats became one of the planet’s most successful animals

    How bats became one of the planet’s most successful animals
    Sep 18 2025
    It’s a little-known fact that bats are one of the most successful animals on Earth, with almost 1,500 different species currently identified. Their agility in flight and prowess as hunters, wide-ranging diversity in size and behaviour and ability to adapt to almost any environment have allowed them to conquer almost every corner of the globe. But despite their success, many species of bats are now under threat. In this episode, we’re joined by ecologist and neurobiologist Prof Yossi Yuval to talk about his latest book, The Genius Bat – Understanding our Most Mysterious Mammal. He gives us a breakdown of bats’ sophisticated ability to ‘see’ the world using sound, tells us how despite their reputation as terrifying blood-thirsty predators, vampire bats have highly developed social networks and will even share their meals with other members of their roosts, and also explains how the loss of bats could have a huge effect on the ecosystems in which they live. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    30 m
  • Why penguins are one of the planet’s most unique bird species

    Why penguins are one of the planet’s most unique bird species
    Sep 14 2025
    Thanks to their comical waddle-like way of walking, striking tuxedo-patterned plumage or graceful ability to seemingly ‘fly’ beneath the water, penguins are without doubt one of the planet’s most instantly recognisable animals. But the fact is that they are also one of its most endangered species of bird. In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Peter Fretwell, lead scientist at the British Antarctic Survey, to talk about his latest book The Penguin Book of Penguins – An Expert’s Guide to the World’s Most Beloved Bird. He tells us how, despite popular belief, penguins are found all over the globe, not just in Antarctica, why exactly they have such a comical way of walking and the actions we need to take if we want to save these charismatic birds from extinction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    26 m
  • Busting the biggest myths in neuroscience

    Busting the biggest myths in neuroscience
    Sep 11 2025
    Relatively speaking neuroscience and psychology are young fields of scientific research that only really got going over the last hundred years or so. However, during this time several stubborn myths have arisen that, zombie-like, just don’t seem to go away. In this episode, we speak to neuroscientist, best-selling author and long-time BBC Science Focus contributor Dr Dean Burnett. He tells us how much of our brain we really use, explains whether polygraphs can really tell if we’re lying, and explains the real difference between our left and right brains. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    42 m
  • The positive tipping points that can help us solve the climate crisis

    The positive tipping points that can help us solve the climate crisis
    Sep 7 2025
    When it comes to climate change, we often think of tipping points as having a huge negative effect. Be it the loss of ice sheets in the Arctic, the deforestation of the Amazon rain forest or the alteration of ocean currents, scientists have identified several key systems on the Earth that will be impossible to reverse if they cross a critical threshold. But if we look at the situation from the opposite side, there are also several positive tipping points that, given the correct momentum, can potentially halt the crisis the planet is facing. In this episode, we’re joined by Prof Tim Lenton, chair in Climate Change and Earth System Science at the University of Exeter, to talk about his latest book Positive Tipping Points – How to Fix the Climate Crisis. He tells us how the pop group A-ha helped Norway to lead the way in the adoption of electric vehicles, how government mandates can act as powerful amplifiers to get us closer to these vital climate tipping points, and how each positive tipping point can feed into another to push us closer to a greener future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    28 m
  • How cats became one of our most-loved domestic pets

    How cats became one of our most-loved domestic pets
    Sep 4 2025
    From Lewis Carrol’s mysterious grinning Cheshire Cat and Jim Davis’s lazy, lasagne-loving comic strip tabby Garfield to the depictions of big cats found in palaeolithic cave art and the ancient Egyptian’s practice of worshipping cat-like deities, it’s clear we humans have had a long-standing fascination with felines. But how did this obsession with these charismatic animals begin? In this episode, we’re joined by Jerry D Moore, a professor of anthropology at California State University, Dominguez Hills, to talk about his latest book Cat Tales: A History – How We Learned to Live with Them… He tells us how ancient cultures feared and revered the big cats they shared their land with thanks to their prowess as apex predators, how human’s development of agriculture and the storage of grain gave wild cats a reliable hunting ground in which to catch rodents, and how the domestic house cats of today may have chosen to live with us and much as we chose to live with them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    27 m
  • How the health of the oceans is vital for the health of the planet

    How the health of the oceans is vital for the health of the planet
    Aug 31 2025
    Despite being a land-based species, the fact is that we humans live on a planet that is largely covered by oceans. The oceans play a key role in regulating the Earth’s climate and provide us with many of the resources essential for our continued survival – even down to the oxygen we breathe. The sad truth is our oceans aren’t in good shape. But there is still hope. With directed effort we can all help to preserve this vital resource and improve the health of the planet and all who live on it. In this episode, we catch up with oceanographer, environmentalist and grandson of the legendary ocean explorer and innovator Jacques Cousteau, Philippe Cousteau Jr. He breaks down the huge importance the oceans have on the health of the planet, explains how taking positive environmental action can benefit us both culturally and economically and how educating the next generation is key to safeguarding the future of the planet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    34 m
  • The tiny molecules tackling the planet’s biggest challenges

    The tiny molecules tackling the planet’s biggest challenges
    Aug 28 2025
    In this episode, we’re joined by Professor Omar Yaghi – a pioneer of materials chemistry whose inventions are shaping the future of clean energy, clean air, and even clean water. He’s best known for creating metal–organic frameworks, or MOFs, and covalent organic frameworks, COFs – ultra-porous materials that can capture carbon, store hydrogen, and even pull drinking water out of desert air. His work has opened up an entirely new field of chemistry, and his breakthroughs are now being developed into technologies that could help us tackle some of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    35 m
  • How to build a healthier, longer-living society

    How to build a healthier, longer-living society
    Aug 24 2025
    The most commonly held narrative states that we’re all ultimately responsible for our own health and wellbeing. While there’s undoubtedly truth in this idea, the bigger picture shows that the societies we live in and the policies shaped by our governments also play a huge role in our quality of life and longevity. In this episode, we’re joined by Devi Sridhar, professor of global public health based at the University of Edinburgh, about her latest book, How Not to Die (Too Soon) – The Lies We’ve Been Sold and the Policies That Can Save Us. She explains how the key to longevity begins with education, discusses the lessons we can learn from some of the world's longest-lived populations, and outlines the positive societal changes governments can implement to help us all live longer, healthier lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    32 m