Inside The Petri Dish

From telling your tits apart to badgers in your garden, wildlife expert George Cook takes us through getting into bird spotting and supporting our local wildlife species.

Behind the scenes of a museum is a mystery to most. Brittney Elizabeth Stoneburg, Collections Manager at the Western Science Centre in California, takes us into the meticulous world of museum collection – from discovering mammoths in construction sites to 3D models uncovering new species.

Ageing isn’t only skin deep. Our brains also age. Dr Dani Beck tells us about the structural changes we see in our brain throughout our lifespans, as well as what lifestyle choices can age our brains faster.

At a time of year where we normally gather our family around, the pandemic is bringing up some difficult decisions about how to keep our families safe whilst we mark the holiday. This is a Christmas Special Episode with a difference – Dr Amber joins us again to talk us through the Covid-19 guidelines at Christmas and how we can expect a third wave in the New Year thanks to confusing governme...

With the breaking news that the UK will be rolling out Covid-19 vaccines before the New Year, the global effort for solving this global pandemic comes into questions. We are at risk of wealthier countries hoarding the vaccines and gatekeeping them from other countries. Dr Farah joins us to explore how we can combat vaccine nationalism and the importance of a world-wide collaborative approach to in...

When deployed to the ebola outbreak, Dr Janet Scott worked with patients experiencing long-term health problems after recovering from the virus. In the current global pandemic, we are also seeing many people suffering from a multitude of issues after recovering from coronavirus – known as Long Covid. Dr Janet Scott has been working to investigate what long term issues people may face, even i...

Despite their role in community-focused medicine and their intimate knowledge of their patients, GPs were left behind during the COVID pandemic. Dr Amber Wheatley tells us about life in general practice during the coronavirus crisis and why this has been a downfall in tackling the virus for the UK’s most vulnerable patients.

Given the global pandemic and wide circulation of misinformation, experts will be joining the Inside the Petri Dish team (virtually – for socially distancing) to get to grips with COVID19. Yesterday, Boris Johnson announced the UK is on lockdown. This can be a scary thought for pregnant people or those with newborns. Tay speaks to Dr Sofia Komninou, a lecturer in Public Health, Policy and So...

Given the global pandemic and wide circulation of misinformation, experts will be joining the Inside the Petri Dish team (virtually – for socially distancing) to get to grips with COVID19. Alice speaks to a close friend, Dr Harry Ferguson, who is staffing a coronavirus ward in Wales, about what symptoms we should look out for, what it’s like to work in the unit as well as what we shoul...

Tay, Vicki and Alice return to Cardiff Science Festival to host another live podcast, this time they tackle the science of sex. Joined by Sian Jones, from Scarleteen, Inside the Petri Dish examines everything from the misconceptions of sex to HPV and contraception. Join them for a less-than-serious chat about the down-belows.