Material World

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  Weekly

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Recent episodes (10)

• Material World 9 Feb Freud, Climate, Vostok, LARES

  Thu, 9 Feb 12

  Duration:
  29 mins

  How would Freud fare as a scientist today?; cold winters and global warming; what's next after Russians penetrate Antarctic Lake Vostok?; and LARES, the disco ball bound for space.

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• Material World 2nd Feb 2012: A genome ethics survey, having friends takes brains, emotional art and triggering an ice age

  Thu, 2 Feb 12

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Quentin discusses sharing genetic information, the link between brain size and how many friends you have, researching emotion in art and what triggered the little ice age.

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• 26 Jan The next flu pandemic, an Arctic bulge, faces and voices and the Panama Canal.

  Thu, 26 Jan 12

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Weighing up the risks and benefits of flu research, a fresh water bulge in the Arctic, how faces affect voices and cutting carbon by widening the Panama Canal.

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• Material World: 19 January. 3D Maps, Darwin, Do Stripes Make You Thinner and the Kharma Empire.

  Thu, 19 Jan 12

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Quentin hears about mapping the world in 3D, Darwin’s lost fossils, what stripes do for your body image, and drought and the fall of an empire.

  Download 14MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Material 12 Jan 12 Computers, Dark matter, Pests

  Thu, 12 Jan 12

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Quentin reports on teaching computer science, mapping dark matter, emerging garden pests and amateur science to investigate nasty noises.

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• Material 05 Jan 12 End of the World

  Thu, 5 Jan 12

  Duration:
  28 mins

  Quentin asks if the world will end in 2012 and if not, why do people make apocalyptic predictions?

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• MW 29 Dec 11: SYWTBAS judges' meeting

  Thu, 29 Dec 11

  Duration:
  28 mins

  Adam Rutherford joins our panel of judges, chaired by Sir Paul Nurse, to find out which four of the ten shortlisted entrants will have their ideas turned into experiments.

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• New planets, brain chips, amateur scientists, Christmas trees and robins - 22 Dec 11

  Thu, 22 Dec 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  A new planet the size of the Earth, simulating the brain with analogue chips, the last four in the long list of potential amateur scientists, how robins choose a sexy mate and how a warming climate is bad for your Christmas tree

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• The Higgs, MPs Meet Scientists, Moon art – 15 Dec 11

  Thu, 15 Dec 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Quentin Cooper presents the latest on the search for the Higgs particle, hears about a scheme to pair scientists with members of Parliament, announces the next group of shortlisted candidates for So You Want to Be a Scientist and sniffs the smell of the Moon from a lunar exhibition in Liverpool.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Rare Metals, Collecting Carbon, Strange Shrimp - 08 Dec 11

  Thu, 8 Dec 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Quentin Cooper asks if it's worth extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and how industry is planning for a world shortage of rare elements. A 500 million year old monster eye with 16 000 lenses and the first finalists shortlisted from listeners who want to be a scientist.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

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