Big Science FM | science

On the 11th of March this year, an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale occurred off the coast of Tohoku, Japan. It was the largest recorded earthquake to hit Japan and in the top 5 anywhere in the world since 1900. It, and the tsunami that followed, killed more than 15,000 people. And it […]

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How do you make a fly with the same genes you use to make a mouse? It’s complicated. But that’s what Big Science is all about.

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From alcohol to ether and beyond, in this episode we explore the science of anaesthesiology with clinical anaesthetist, Dr Katie Grant. What are the dangers? What kinds of chemicals are in a modern anaesthetist’s drug cabinet? How do they work? How do decide what cocktail to give? Do patients under a general anaesthetic dream? And […]

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In this episode, we take a rollercoaster ride through the history of maths. From the four Greek ‘mathematics’ — geometry, astronomy, arithmetic and music. To fierce opposition to arabic numerals from European accountants. To the distaster that was Newton. All this and much more, with mathematics troubadour, Edmund Harriss.

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What so big about nanotechnology? Does it represent a brave new world? Or is it all just marketing hype? Will it eventually enable Ray Kurzweil to email his friends a pair of pants? In short, what’s in it for us? We ask nanotech guru Tim Harper.

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Science is all about truth, right? So anything that is true can be determined by science, right? Probably not. In this week’s episode, we discuss Gödel’s incompleteness theorems with mathematician Edmund Harriss, and explore what it means for science, truth and the Infinite Monkey Cage.

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In the light of events at the Fukushima nuclear plant following the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, we discuss nuclear power and the implications of the unfolding situation.

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This week we start with the question, what does DNA know about the Universe? But, as usual, we don’t stay on topic for long, instead segueing into a much more interesting discussion of Sarah Palin, fruit flies and cancer.

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There’s more to life than DNA… much more. This week we continue our exploration of proteins, the true building blocks of life. How are they made? And what exactly do they do?

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This week we go beyond DNA to the real workhorses of life, proteins. How are they made? What do they do? And how do they interact to build a hedgehog?

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Tag Archives: science

Fukushima update

Of Mice and Flies

What’s your poison? The science of anaesthetics

The History of Mathematics

Nanotechnology: What’s the Big Idea?

Truth, Gödel and Science Fundamentalism

Fukushima meltdown

What does life know?

Proteins, the building blocks of life, part two

Proteins, the building blocks of life, part one