Instant Genius Podcast
1) The animal kingdom’s mathematicians, with Brian Butterworth
Brian Butterworth, author of Can Fish Count, explains how animals approach counting and mathematics, and how they are more like humans than you might expect. Once you’ve mastered the basics with Insta...Show More
2) Why your next best friend may be an AI
Over the last several decades, the world has seen artificial intelligence undergo a rapid transformation. Since its beginnings in the 1950s as speculative theorising and novel thought experiments, AI ...Show More
3) How the arts can keep our bodies and brains healthier for longer
For many of us, consuming or making art – be it listening to music, playing an instrument, reading a book, painting a watercolour or attending a dance class – is seen as a pastime or hobby, a fun way ...Show More
4) Why social connection is vital for our health and well-being
There’s little doubt that we humans are a deeply social species; in many ways, our interactions with others define the very essence of who we are. But in recent times, studies have shown that we’re co...Show More
5) Why the new era of life-saving drugs starts with plants
Chances are that if you open your bathroom cabinet, many of the medicines you find there were first discovered by studying the chemical processes of the plants that grow all around us. But with 450,00...Show More
6) How to beat the alarming increase in childhood allergies
Currently, around 40 per cent of children in the UK have been diagnosed with an allergy of some form or another – the most common being food allergies, eczema, asthma, and hay fever. Why is this numbe...Show More
7) Our Universe could be trapped inside a black hole with no way out
It sounds like a theory plucked from the page of a science fiction novel, but according to Enrique Gaztañaga from the University of Portsmouth, our entire Universe could be trapped inside a black hole...Show More
8) The real story behind Jurassic Park’s most controversial dinosaur
Chances are that when most of us think of spinosaurs our minds will turn to the hulking, predatory sail-backed dinosaur that famously took down a T. Rex in the Jurassic Park movies. But thanks to thei...Show More
9) How neuroscience is reshaping our understanding of free will
How much control do we have over our actions and decisions? For most of us, it’s likely that the answer is that, of course, all of the choices we make are our own. But it’s long been argued by some sc...Show More
10) Why we should all be listening to animals more closely
It’s likely that if any of us step and of our front doors and take a moment to listen to what’s going on around us, we’ll hear the vocalisations of dozens of different animals. But why are they making...Show More