Scienceish

The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics went to ‘a discovery that shook the world’, gravitational waves. These were detected by the LIGO experiment, a century after Einstein first predicted them. But behind the celebration, another story has been brewing which calls into question the science beneath the headlines. Might LIGO have got it wrong? Enter Science(ish)’s very own Dr Michael Brooks. Featuring: Dr Andrew Jackson See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just 66 years after the Wright brothers’ first flight, humans somehow managed to put a man on the moon. How did this happen? In this bonus episode, the boys mark the release of the film First Man by delving into the perilous science behind the original moon shot. From conspiracies to canine cosmonauts, Science(ish) brings it all down to Earth for you - and with unique insight from the behind the camera. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do some numbers have special significance? Inspired by Darren Aronofsky’s film Pi, Rick and Michael explore the greatest numbers known to humankind. From the mercurial zero which medieval Italy declared “illegal”, to the golden ratio that can explain something as abstract as beauty, this episode charts why humans have fallen so deeply in love with mathematics. Featuring: Prof Ian Stewart See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can meditation change your brain? Rick and Michael take a moment to reconnect with their breath and journey into the mystical science behind the film Doctor Strange. Exploring how monks use meditation to stave off hypothermia and send their gamma brain waves off the charts, this episode brings you the neuroscience behind the western world’s latest obsession: mindfulness.  Featuring: Dr Danny Penman See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Could we create Frankenstein’s monster? The boys celebrate the 200th year anniversary of Mary Shelley’s genre-defining novel with a deep-dive into the underbelly of science: from grave-robbing and re-animating the dead, to the cutting edge of synthetic biology, this episode tackles the fundamental ethical conundrum at the heart of science fiction’s most famous book.  Featuring: Dr Kathryn Harkup See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can science beat the casino? Through the Matt Damon-Ed Norton classic Rounders, the boys explore how mathematicians have tried to conquer the world of gambling. From gaming the national lottery to blackjack and roulette, there’s more to probability theory than predicting the weather - in this episode it’s all about the cold hard cash. Featuring: Prof Adam Kucharski See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if our universe is just a giant computer? In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy the Earth is just a computer calculating the meaning of life, and in this episode the boys tackle one of the boldest claims of modern science: that everything we think, feel, and touch is simply the product of some fundamental computer code running in the background. Buckle your ears in, it’s time to peek behind the curtain. Featuring: Prof Juergen Schmidhuber See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are we any good at predicting the future? Through David Cronenberg’s film The Dead Zone, the boys explore the fiendishly difficult science of foretelling the course of history. Why do the professional pundits get it wrong so often? Might you have what it takes to become a ‘Superforecaster’? And the biggest question of all: what exactly would baby-girl-Stalin have done? Featuring: Prof Phil Tetlock See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

‘Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep...’ These iconic words from the 80s classic A Nightmare on Elm Street have got the boys thinking: from sleep paralysis to insomnia to narcolepsy, what’s actually happening when sleep goes wrong? Are we all living through a sleep-loss epidemic? And why has Brooksy suddenly decided to take up the didgeridoo? All will be revealed in this week’s bedtime episode of Science(ish).  Featuring: Dr Henry Nicholls See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the utopian vision of a driverless world hitting the headlines, the boys cut through the hype by exploring the science of fully autonomous vehicles through the TV series Knight Rider. Will we really be better off without humans behind the wheel? And most importantly: would you rather your driverless car knocked down an elderly couple or three jay-waking criminals? Decision time... Featuring: Prof Paul Newman See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does hypnosis work? Science(ish) explores the mend-bending neuroscience behind the Oscar-winning film Get Out. If you think your brain perceives reality in an fixed way, it’s time you opened the door to the world of hypnotic suggestion, trance-inducing handshakes, and intoxicating placebo alcohol... Your brain will never be the same again. Featuring: Prof Amir Raz See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can we create an unbreakable code? Through the film Enigma, Science(ish) delves into the murky history of cryptography and the hunt for the perfect cipher. Our modern world so fundamentally relies on secure digital communication and yet current ‘state-of-the-art’ encryption is actually breakable. Will the code-makers ever beat the code-breakers for good? Enter quantum physics...   Featuring: Prof Artur Ekert See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inspired by the latest blockbuster Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, the boys explore the alarming science of extinction. Humans may have conquered the planet, but have we also triggered the “6th Mass Extinction Event”? With the future of life on Earth in our great ape hands, Science(ish) tackles one of the biggest questions we face: how far should we intervene in the ebb and flow of other species? Featuring: Dr James Borrell See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Could we ever cure dementia? Science(ish) takes on one of the biggest public health challenges of the 21st century: unravelling the science of Alzheimer’s disease. From chance discoveries to next generation brain imaging, the search for a cure is now beginning to gather momentum - an achievement that would change the lives of millions around the world. Featuring: Prof John Hardy See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is there another ice age coming? And if so, when? Delving into the science behind the animated film Ice Age, Rick and Michael explore the most fundamental question that we all ponder while eating our breakfast cereal: could we survive the next ice age?  Featuring: Prof Siwan Davies See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s the question all Science(ish) listeners have asked themselves: what’s makes me a genius? With the all-time classic Good Will Hunting, Rick and Michael explore the neuroscience of truly exceptional intelligence and creativity. Is genius innate or can it be fostered? And most importantly: is Michael’s brain over the hill? Featuring: Prof Rex Jung See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If Keanu Reeves can create a revolutionary new energy source in the film Chain Reaction, then why can’t we do the same in real life? Rick and Michael tackle the challenge of getting nuclear fusion - the ‘Holy Grail of Energy’ - to work on Earth. From superheated plasma to doughnut-shaped magnetic fields, will fusion always be the energy of the future? Or could it actually save us all? Featuring: Prof Steve Cowley See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coming straight from the very 90s classic Demolition Man, Rick and Michael tackle the science of freezing yourself in time: from human cryogenics to anti-freeze frogs who scoff in the face of winter, might we all be signing up to be frozen in the future? Featuring: Dr Greg Fahy See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rick and Michael delve into the world of the animated sitcom which (very nearly) bears their name: Rick and Morty. It’s time for quantum theory, parallel realities, and the end of physics as we know it in this extra-special LIVE episode. Haven’t you always wondered if there really is another 'you' out there? Featuring: Prof Brian Greene See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donating a kidney to a total stranger you’ll never meet sounds crazy - but then why do hundreds of people voluntarily do it every year? This week Rick and Michael tackle the neuroscience of empathy with the film Seven Pounds. Is there really no such thing as a selfless good deed? And of course: how big is your amygdala? Featuring: Prof Abigail Marsh See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices