Ask the Naked Scientists

Can you bring someone back from the dead? Can a special diet help flexibility in older people? What is the best way to get rid of hiccups? Are hovercrafts safe? Why is yawning contagious? Does hot water sound different to cold water? Are there tardigrades on the ISS? Dr Chris Smith and Zain Johnson have all the answers... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

In a break from the usual format, the producers of The Naked Scientists take over from Clarence Ford to ask Dr Chris Smith some of your burning scientific questions. How does intuition work? Can you transplant a pancreas? Could we mine our second Moon? Why do lights flicker in our peripheral vision? Can one testicle still let you reproduce? Why do we dislike fairground rides as we age? Do we know...

Should you wash every day? Does washing your clothes damage them? Should you have a washcloth just for your face? Why does moving air make the temperature go down? Dr Chris Smith and Relebojile Mabotja have all the answers... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Why do some people struggle to read? Are more male babies born after a war? Are some people allergic to hot skin? Why do some men's breasts swell up? Why do we use different frequencies for different broadcasts? Why do traffic lights go red when you're in a hurry? Dr Chris Smith and Relebogile Mabotja have all the answers... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Why do some people grind their teeth? Can someone's heart keeping beating when they're dead? How does the brain interpret words? How do we know how long something has been dead for? Dr Chris Smith and Relebojile Mabotja have all the answers... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

How much do wildfires contribute to carbon release? How do bones heal themselves? Why do weeds seem to grow faster than other plants? Why do some animals float, but others sink? Why do ducks like spinach? How did we evolve different blood types? Why do some people's temperature go down when they're feeling ill? How many of our metals come from space? Why do snails come out in the rain? Dr Chris Sm...

What is monkeypox, and how can we tackle it? Why can't you walk through walls if atoms are mostly empty space? If X-Rays are harmful, why are microwaves and infrared not harmful? What are the benefits of the Large Hadrin Collider? Does taking Vitamin C harm your immune response? Dr Chris Smith and Clarence Ford have all the answers... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scien...

Will we ever run out of helium? Will any planets in the solar system get knocked out of orbit? What causes ovulation pain? Is it wise to pop a zit? Why are two astronauts stuck in space? Have we re-invented lost inventions? Dr Chris Smith and Sara-Jayne Makwala King have all the answers... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, Dr Chris and Relebongile find out how dietary salt affects the body, how loneliness and loss of a loved one can cause ill-health, what a blind person "sees" in their mind's eye, how broken fingers heal, how many cigarettes does it take to get hooked, and why does alcohol withdrawal cause shaking and tremors... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Questions for Dr Chris Smith on this week's Ask! include: What are the health benefits of exercise? How do you explain deja vu? Can you be in two places at once? What factors influence the weather? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Dr Chris answers a wide range of listener science questions. What is entropy and how does it reconcile with equilibrium? What happens when they put dogs to sleep? Why can I read words when the vowels are removed? How do hair implants work? How does a bird find worms? Can birds see their own tails? Why do I cry when I have a bad cold? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scient...

Why does your washing sometimes smell bad? What is the difference between forecast temperature and 'real feel'? Why can't other apes grow long head hair? What is the difference between a sprinter and a marathon runner? Why do Greenland sharks live so long? Can parrots see themselves in the mirror? Dr Chris Smith and Clarence Ford have all the answers... Like this podcast? Please help us by support...

Dr Chris answers listener submitted questions including: would it be possible to slingshot continuously around the Earth and Mars? When does our consciousness 'switch on?' How worried should we be if we're outside during a thunderstorm? Is 0 positive or negative? What maintains our body temperature? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Do women suffer from flatulence, and what affects your level of flatulence? Does hitting someone on the head actually knock them out? Is being a psychopath down to nature or nurture? Why does the weather stay warm when the seasons shift? Why can we only recycle some types of plastic? Can a swollen heart be reduced in size? Can nuclear rods power spaceships? Can mattresses and pillows reduce snorin...

Does laying on your left side clean your organs? Are faces the only difference that different populations have, and why do we notice facial differences? What happens to the body when your body drops drastically? How does the body react to extreme trauma? Why do we get blemishes on our skin? Could you transplant muscles around the body? How do you seek help after a suspected rabies bite? Dr Chris S...

What causes monkeypox? Would an organ donor's DNA be in your body? Why does alcohol abate the symptoms of a hangover? Can you get bird flu from bird poo? Why do birds bob their head when they walk? Where does the word 'humour' come from? Is there a scientific basis on the laws of attraction? Dr Chris Smith and Clarence Ford have all the answers... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting th...

Dr Chris Smith answers listener science questions; what factors impact the onset of glycosuria? Might we have contaminated Mars with organisms from Earth? Why did the universe form the way that it did? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Are skin tags an indication of diabetes? Why don't cattle flee from fire? Do apples stimulate your appetite? Why are some cats great at hunting, and others not? Why doesn't dust fill up our lungs? What is the sediment at the bottom of frozen wine? When did our tail become a coccyx? What causes ringworm? What drives the magnetic field? Dr Chris Smith and Krystal Orderson have all the answers... Lik...

Dr Chris Smith chats with Relebogile Mabotja and her listeners about their science questions. Today: do older people yawn less frequently? And should you avoid zero sugar fizzy drinks whilst pregnant? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This time on Ask!, Dr Chris explains how tree rings helped scientists confirm last summer was the hottest for 2000 years. Also, how were the pyramids built? And where are we with understanding and treating Alzheimer's disease? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Chris Smith covers another cast of interesting queries submitted by listeners. They include: Why do we have accents? Is there such a thing as the "devil's hour?" What is acid reflux? Is there such a thing as race? If you had unfettered access to the James Webb Space Telescope, what would you point it at? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Dr Chris takes on listener questions: how long can someone survive without food and water? Why are some of us more prone to hangovers? Do gorillas drink water? Does spicy food cause vivid dreams? What causes insomnia? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

In this week's selection of science questions, Dr Chris explains the impact of sweetners on the body, what happens when we suffer a stroke, and where the other half of the moon disappears to... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Why are viruses so contagious? Are there any treatments for macular degeneration? How are we treating depression with psychedelics? Why do people lose their sense of smell? Is cloud seeding a real thing? Dr Chris Smith and Relebogile Mabotja have all the answers... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Is our perfect total eclipse just a total coincidence? Where do our dreams come from? Can you launch a missile without it being picked up by satellites? Which animals have the best memory? Do humans have any instincts? Can gravity be 1g on a planet with a greater mass than Earth? Where could we go when Earth becomes uninhabitable? What was there before the beginning of the Universe? Dr Chris Smith...