Question of the Week, from the Naked Scientists Podcast
1) How does the UV filter in sun cream work?
Listener Krzysztof has written in to ask how skin is protected from potentially harmful UV radiation by sun cream products. To help him with the answer, James Tytko put in a call to Antony Young, Emer...Show More
2) Will heat pumps make cities cooler?
Ian from Stockport has had a thought. If heat pumps transfer thermal energy from outside into our homes, will they counteract the relative heat of urban areas compared to the countryside? To get to th...Show More
3) What leads a guided missile to its target?
Bhavesh wants to know how guided missiles find their target. James Tytko took on his question with help from Dr David Galvao Wall, Head of the Air Platforms and Weapons Group at Cranfield University.....Show More
4) How do gravitational waves keep their energy?
In response to our programme celebrating 10 years since the first detection of gravitational waves, listeners got in touch with fascinating questions. Here, James Tytko takes on a couple, with help fr...Show More
5) Why do leaves change colour at different rates?
Trent wants to know why trees of the same species, in the same geography, seem to change the colour of their leaves at different rates. He's even noticed differences on branches of the same tree! Jame...Show More
6) Are snakes tamed by breast milk?
Sva writes in, asking whether stories of snakes being tamed by human milk have any grounding in science. James Tytko took on the question with the help of herpetologist Fortunate Mafeta Phaka, and Ang...Show More
7) What happens to celebratory bullets?
In some parts of the world, some groups will fire guns directly into the air in celebration. Mike wants to know what happens to these bullets, and if they have the potential to be dangerous. To help a...Show More
8) What would you find at the centre of Saturn or Jupiter?
Maddie wants to know what a daring adventurer might find if they journeyed to the centre of one of our Solar System's gas giants: Juptier and Saturn. James Tytko took on her question, with the help of...Show More
9) Do recent experiments prove a quantum interpretation?
Iain wants to know whether recent experiments have gotten us any closer to deciding which interpretation of quantum mechanics is most likely. This branch of physics describes the as yet unexplained in...Show More
10) Can a dog and a fox produce viable offspring?
Girts sends a question about which animals can mate to produce viable offspring. How is it that different breeds of dogs can come together to produce puppies, but add a different animal into the equat...Show More