Instant Genius

Thanks to hundreds of years of scientific progress we now know, that like every other living thing on Earth, human beings are simply assemblages of atoms and molecules that evolved over eons through a series of complex, iterative processes. But somewhere along this long and meandering journey we developed consciousness – the deep sense of self-awareness that allows us to think, feel and even allow...

Stars feel like a fundamental feature of the Universe – as essential as planets, galaxies and space itself. But since we know the Universe had a beginning (the Big Bang), there must also have been a first star. Before it, there was only darkness; after it, the cosmos as we know it began to take shape. Exactly what those first stars were like – and how they transformed everything that followed – re...

Humanity is beautifully diverse. Some of that diversity is visible, but hidden beneath the surface, there is also a hidden web of genetic variation that collectively tells a story about how people have adapted to their environments, sometimes in weird and wonderful ways. In this episode, we speak to Prof. Herman Pontzer, an evolutionary anthropologist at Duke University, USA, and the author of Bur...

Chances are that when most of us think about the notion of crime our minds turn to acts committed against an individual – be it theft, fraud or even physical assault. But every day ecological crimes are committed against the planet we all live on that often fly under the radar despite the significant, far-reaching effects they have on all of us. In this episode, we’re joined by criminal psychologi...

Be it a cold, drafty room in a creaky old country house or a still, quiet forest on a dark night, chances are that at one point or another we’ll all have entered an environment that for some reason made us feel uneasy. But what exactly makes a certain place or situation feel so creepy, and why do we get these feelings in the first place? In this episode, we’re joined by psychologist and magician P...

Chances are when we’re treated with medicines in hospital or pick up our prescriptions at the pharmacy, we don’t give much thought about how the drugs that are so vital for our health and wellbeing came to be. The fact is the journey that a new medicine takes from its beginnings in the laboratory to finally being administered to patients can be long and arduous. It typically takes the work of coun...

Is our planet under threat from the depths of space? In this episode, we talk to solar physicist Dr Ryan French. Normally, Ryan is busy unravelling the mysteries of our Sun, but today we’ll be delving into a slightly darker topic – the many risks posed to our delicate planet from space. In his recent book, "Space Hazards: Asteroids, solar flares and cosmic threats”, Ryan covers all the many danger...

Many of us treat our pet dogs or cats with the same love and attention that with give to our human babies, some of us give our cars or other prized possessions human names and may even, at times, talk to them. This is known as anthropomorphism – the tendency within many of us to assign human qualities to non-human animals and even inanimate objects. In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Justin Gregg...

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...

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 S...

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...

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 opp...

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,...

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...

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 w...

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 bas...

Be it due to an increasingly demanding workload or responsibilities that need fulfilling at home, these days many of feel that there isn’t enough time in the day to get everything we need to get done. For many of us this can have a significant impact on our health and wellbeing. So, what can we do to improve our relationship with time? In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Ian Taylor, a psychologist...

We all know the feeling: thoughts racing through your mind, nervous flutters in your belly, your heart beating hard in your chest. When your whole body is screaming at you that you’re in danger, it can feel impossible to not listen. But fear doesn’t have to hold you back. In this episode, we speak to Professor Abby Marsh, a neuroscientist at Georgetown University, in the US, who recently starred i...

It’s estimated that as many as one in five of the world’s population are neurodivergent. Be it ADHD, autism or dyslexia, these differences in brain function can make everyday life more difficult for many. But maybe the natural world can provide some much-needed relief. In this episode, we speak to naturalist and author Joe Harkness about his latest book Neurodivergent by Nature – Why Biodiversity...

The luteal phase of the menstrual cycle has a really bad reputation. It’s known for premenstrual syndrome, or PMS, when many menstruating people experience low mood, bloating, food cravings and sluggishness before their period arrives. In stark contrast, we think of earlier phases in the cycle as times when we feel energetic, motivated and self-confident. In this episode, we speak to Dr Sarah Hill...

We’re no longer living in a world before climate change. Its impacts – from rising sea levels to more extreme weather – are already upon us, and will almost certainly get worse before they get better. But beyond cutting our emissions as fast as possible, what do we need to do to survive, and hopefully thrive, in this new world?  Today’s guest, researcher and author Susannah Fisher, joins us to exp...

Humans’ unique ability to communicate through complex systems of language is one of the key attributes that separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom. But how did this complex behaviour arise? In her latest book, The Origin of Language – How We Learned to Speak and Why, evolutionary biologist Madeleine Beekman argues that our ability to speak arose due to the need to take care of our childr...

For thousands of years humans have looked out into the night sky and pondered on the mysteries of the vast cosmos that we find ourselves part of. From Copernicus’ discovery that the Earth revolves around the Sun to Einstein’s revelation that gravity is the result of the curvature of spacetime, we’ve learned much about how the universe operates. But we’re still only scratching the surface. In this...

If most of us were asked what we thought was meant by the word ‘technology’ chances are the first thing that would come to mind are inventions such as cars, medicine and computers. But economist and author David McWilliams would argue these are all physical technologies and that there’s also a whole world of social technologies out there that have shaped human progress in a similarly profound way...

Dementia doesn’t have to be terrifying. We tend to think of neurocognitive decline as something to be feared and avoided, but as the population ages, more and more of us are being diagnosed with dementia – so it might be helpful to know more about it. In this episode, we speak to Dr Sabina Brennan, a neuroscientist, psychologist, bestselling author and host of the Super Brain podcast. Her new book...