Question of the Week, from the Naked Scientists

This week we hone our noses and sniff out the answer to this stinker of a question...."Why do toenails, and even feet in general, smell cheesy? Plus we ask can we make a magnet so strong that is squashes, rather thanks sticks to, our white goods? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We find out why, if the gene that codes for men having hairy chests and backs provides an evolutionary advantage in response to an environmental pressure, don't women have beards and hairy chests too? Plus we ask why feet smell cheesy....... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We find out if monitors, screens and e.books are more than your standard page turner leaving you tossing and turning and up all night. Plus we ask, why have women lost their hairy beard and chests..... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week we find out if a liberal slathering of oil based moisturiser makes up part of our daily calorie quota. Plus we ask, are monitor screens and e.books more than your standard page turner, leaving you tossing and turning and up all night?.... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week we find out why our bodies can't get their priorities right. We find out why we seek out food when we already have enough energy stored around our waists in the form of love handles and pot bellies. Plus we ask - will our skin soak up the calories in sun cream? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week we find out about the inequality of the temperature scale as a listener asks: "If we can have a lower limit on temperature - absolute zero - so cold that nothing happens, why do we not have an upper limit - a temperature that is so hot that atoms and particles are so hot that they are ripped into the most elementary units and become so excited that they cannot react with anything around...

Could you get cancer from someone else? Tasmanian devils can catch cancer transmitted through biting. Are there instances of cancers being transmitted this way in humans? Can you catch cancer through a blood transfusion? Plus we ask, why is there not an upper absolute in the temperature scale...... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

If there were a large object, say a meteorite falling straight down where you are standing, what kind of warning would you notice? Would there be an accompanying sound? Or would you not know until it's too late? Plus we ask, can you catch cancer?..... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We know that nothing persists for ever so surely plastics in the sea have to break down at some point. How long does it take? And where does the plastic end up? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

As the joke goes.....if you cross a kangaroo with a sheep you get a wooly jumper. Is it now possible with modern techniques to cross different animals to make one completely new species? Plus we ask will the plastics in the oceans ever degrade? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Which film dominates with their most realistic use of lasers? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We find out if fermentation yeast survive in Space, we ponder if it is possible to brew up a beer at zero gravity, plus we ask which is the most realistic fictional laser weapon?..... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

A 57 year old male wonders - do I have any original parts? How much of the baby that was born in 1954 is still part of me? Plus we ask can you brew beer in space..... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We're told to save electricity by switching off devices on standby. But if a home is heated solely by electricity, would there still be any savings by turning off all those devices? And a 57 male asks if any of his original parts remain..... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week I'll be getting inside your head.....with a question from Jarraryd Dunn. Plus we'll be asking is there any point in switching off your lights, TVs, and phone chargers during the winter?... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

With New Year's Resolutions in full swing here's a sweet thermal caramel quandary for us to sink our teeth into..... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Can wearing sunglasses fool your senses into thinking there is less sun and increase your risk of getting sunburn? We take on this quandry and also wonder why cooking caramel causes temperature to increases in stages.... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Why would your feet seem further away when lying down? We put our visual depth perception to the test to find out how being horizontal could change the way you see the world. Plus, we ask if wearing sunglasses increases your risk of getting sunburned? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Fish reproduce by squirting out eggs and fertilising them, so where's the joy in that? Is there any form of pleasure that fish can experience through reproducing? We explore this fishy conundrum in Question of the Week. Plus, we ask why one's feet can sometimes look farther away than they ought to..... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Why is it that the sound of nails being dragged down a blackboard makes every muscle tense and every nerve jangle? We tackle this teeth-grittingly uncomfortable problem in QotW. Plus, we ask whether fish experience extra benefits in laying eggs. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

For those who are long or short-sighted, have you ever experienced an inability to focus on objects in the mirror - even though you should be close enough to the mirror to see them clearly? Find out why in this QotW. Plus, we ask what's happening when spine-tingling sounds give you the shivers. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

When two abnormalities in space time collide, what sort of mess are they likely to produce? Will we see it? Find out in this supermassive QotW! Plus, we ask why some objects stay blurry in the mirror. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Given that a foetus is essentially a swimming thing on the end of a piece of string, how is it that the two don't become tangled more often? Find out in this jelly-like QotW. Plus, we ask what would happen if two black holes met. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

The pupil of the eye dilates in low-light conditions. Does this mean that the same amount is let into the eye when we wear sunglasses? Plus, we ask if babies can tie themselves in knots. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Many people across the world are able to grow moustaches and beards, but are these the same as whiskers? Find out in this hirsute QotW. Plus, we ask if eyes overcompensate when wearing sunglasses. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists