Shows / Talking Science
Talking Science
Talking Science is your weekly dive into the wonders of the scientific world. Join our hosts as they break down complex ideas into fun, engaging conversations—covering everything from cutting-edge discoveries and mind-bending theories to everyday science that shapes our lives. Whether you’re a curious learner, a science enthusiast, or just someone who loves a good "aha!" moment, Talking Science makes big ideas accessible, entertaining, and thought-provoking.
Episodes
Talking ScienceThe Carbon Cycle
Every carbon atom in your body has been around for billions of years, cycling endlessly between air, oceans, rock and living things. Understanding this carbon…
Talking ScienceCancer – What Goes Wrong in a Cell
Cancer isn't one disease but hundreds, and at its root it's a problem of control: a cell that stops obeying the rules that keep a body working as a team, and…
Talking ScienceThe Immune System – Your Body's Standing Army
Right now, without any conscious effort from you, an enormous distributed defence network is identifying and destroying threats inside your body. We look at…
Talking ScienceThe Periodic Table – Order from Chaos
The periodic table isn't a list, it's a map, and once you can read it, it predicts how elements behave before you ever test them. We look at how Mendeleev…
Talking ScienceOur Moon – How It Formed and Why It Matters
The Moon is so familiar we barely look at it, but it is genuinely peculiar, far too large for a planet our size, and we are fairly sure it exists because…
Talking ScienceVolcanoes – Windows into the Deep Earth
Volcanoes are the only direct route we have from the surface into the Earth's interior. We look at why some erupt as gentle rivers of lava while others…
Talking ScienceVaccines – How They Actually Work
A vaccine is a training exercise for your immune system, a way of acquiring the memory of an infection without the danger of having one. We look at what is…
Talking ScienceAtoms – What Everything Is Made Of
Everything you have ever touched is made of atoms, and atoms are almost entirely empty space. We trace how we worked out what atoms are without ever seeing…
Talking ScienceThe Deep Ocean – Earth's Last Frontier
We have better maps of Mars than of our own sea floor. The deep ocean is the largest habitat on Earth and the least explored, a world of crushing pressure…
Talking ScienceJupiter and Its Ocean Moons
Jupiter is so large it is better thought of as a failed star than an oversized planet, and its gravity has shaped the entire solar system. But the real…
Talking ScienceAntibiotics and the Resistance Crisis
Antibiotics are arguably the most consequential medical advance in history, and we are steadily losing them. We look at how antibiotics actually kill bacteria…
Talking ScienceThe Search for Life Beyond Earth
Are we alone? It's the oldest question we have, and for the first time in history we have instruments capable of actually answering it. We look at where life…
Talking ScienceDNA – The Instruction Manual for Life
Every living thing on Earth runs on the same molecule: DNA. We look at what DNA actually is, how a code written in just four chemical letters can build an…
Talking ScienceQuantum Mechanics – The Rules That Make No Sense
Quantum mechanics is the most precisely tested theory in the history of science, and also the most baffling. We walk through the famous double-slit experiment…
Talking ScienceEarthquakes – Why the Ground Shakes
Earthquakes are the planet releasing centuries of accumulated strain in a matter of seconds. We look at what is actually happening underground, why the…
Talking SciencePlate Tectonics – The Moving Skin of the Earth
The ground beneath you is moving, about as fast as your fingernails grow. Plate tectonics is the single idea that explains earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain…
Talking ScienceMars – Why We Keep Going Back
More missions have been sent to Mars than to any other planet, and roughly half have failed. We look at why Mars holds such a grip on us: the evidence that it…
Talking ScienceThe Human Brain – Three Pounds of Mystery
Your brain is about 1.4 kilograms of tissue with roughly 86 billion neurons, and it is the least understood organ in the body. We cover how neurons actually…
Talking ScienceEinstein's Relativity – Time Is Not What You Think
Time runs at different speeds depending on how fast you are moving and how strong the gravity around you is. That is not a thought experiment, it is measured…
Talking ScienceCRISPR – Editing the Code of Life
For the first time in history we can edit the genetic code of a living organism cheaply, quickly and precisely. CRISPR began as a bacterial immune system and…
Talking ScienceThe Life and Death of Stars
Stars are not eternal. They form from collapsing clouds of gas, burn for millions or billions of years, and then die, some quietly and some in explosions…
Talking ScienceBlack Holes – What Happens at the Edge of Forever
Black holes are the most extreme objects in the universe — regions where gravity has won so completely that not even light can escape. We unpack what a black…