Science Focus Podcast

Most laws of physics tell us what must happen. Throw a ball in the air and it will come back down. But physicist Chiara Marletto [https://www.wolfson.ox.ac.uk/person/chiara-marletto], a Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, says that laws like this only tell us part of the story. She believes that the rest lies in 'counterfactuals': things thatcould be. In her new book, The Science of Can and Can’t [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/306/306121/the-science-of-can-and-can-t/9780241310946.html] (£20, Allen Lane), she explains how these counterfactual properties could solve many of science’s biggest outstanding problems. Let us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts. * Subscribe to theScience Focus Podcast on these services: Acast [https://www.acast.com/science-focus-podcast], iTunes [https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/science-focus-podcast/id1296673906?mt=2] , Sticher [https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/immediate-media-2/science-focus-podcast], RSS [https://rss.acast.com/science-focus-podcast], Overcast [https://overcast.fm/itunes1296673906/science-focus-podcast] Listen to more episodes of theScience Focus Podcast: * Prof Avi Loeb on what 'Oumuamua tells us about the problem with modern physics [https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/prof-avi-loeb-on-what-oumuamua-tells-us-about-the-problem-with-modern-physics/] * Marcus Chown: Does the Big Bang really explain our Universe? [https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/marcus-chown-does-the-big-bang-really-explain-our-universe/] * Dr Douglas Vakoch: Should we try to contact aliens? [https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/dr-douglas-vakoch-should-we-try-to-contact-aliens/] * Katie Mack: How will the Universe end? [https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/katie-mack-how-will-the-universe-end/] * Sonia Contera: How will nanotechnology revolutionise medicine? [https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/sonia-contera-how-will-nanotechnology-revolutionise-medicine/] * Everything You Wanted To Know About… Physics with Jim Al-Khalili [https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-physics-podcast-w-jim-al-khalili/] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for privacy and opt-out information.

Around two months ago, a group of 15 people – scientists, explorers and medics – travelled deep into a cave in the south of France. The expedition descended to a point so deep that natural light could not reach them, and there the team stayed for 40 days and 40 nights without clocks, phones or anyway of telling the time. The project’s goal was to understand what happens to our brains and bodies when we’re deprived of an external measure of time and they hoped to discover how a group of people could adapt to such an extreme situation. Just two weeks ago, that team emerged from the cave, and Christian Clot, the expedition’s leader and the designer of the DEEP TIME mission, joins editor Daniel Bennett on this week's episode of theScience Focus Podcastto talk about what the experiment discovered, how the expedition changed him and what ultimately happened when the team returned to the surface. Let us know what you think of theScience Focus Podcast by filling out our survey. By submitting it, you enter the prize draw to win one of seven £100 Voucher Express Gift Cards. It should take no more than five minutes. UK residents only. Full T&Cs [https://immediateinsiders.com/uc/admin/bd48/]. * Take part in the survey [https://immediateinsiders.com/uc/admin/28b7/?a=1&b=] * Subscribeto theScience Focus Podcaston these services:Acast [https://www.acast.com/science-focus-podcast],iTunes [https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/science-focus-podcast/id1296673906?mt=2] ,Sticher [https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/immediate-media-2/science-focus-podcast], RSS [https://rss.acast.com/science-focus-podcast],Overcast [https://overcast.fm/itunes1296673906/science-focus-podcast] Listen to more episodes of theScience Focus Podcast: * Why realistic humanoid robots need to learn to lip-sync [https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/podcast-why-realistic-humanoid-robots-need-to-learn-to-lip-sync/] * The psychology of the sea shanty: Why work songs are such earworms [https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/the-psychology-of-the-sea-shanty-why-work-songs-are-such-earworms/] * Mental health and your brain: What happens when it goes wrong [https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/mental-health-and-your-brain-what-happens-when-it-goes-wrong/] * Why you can’t multitask (and why that’s a good thing) [https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/why-you-cant-multitask-and-why-thats-a-good-thing/] * How to maximise your motivation, according to a neuroscientist [https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/how-to-maximise-your-motivation-according-to-a-neuroscientist/] * Prof John Drury: The psychology of lockdowns [https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/prof-john-drury-the-psychology-of-lockdowns/] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for privacy and opt-out information.

Our lives are full of music, from the songs we sing along to on the radio to the orchestral scores that bring a film to life. But why is it that humans love to make music, and how did it evolve in the first place? Musicologist Prof Michael Spitzer, author of the new book The Musical Human [https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-musical-human-9781526602763/] (£30, Bloomsbury), joins BBC Science Focus online assistant Sara Rigby on this week’s episode to explain. Let us know what you think of the Science Focus Podcast by filling out our survey. By submitting it, you enter the prize draw to win one of seven £100 Voucher Express Gift Cards. It should take no more than 5 minutes. UK residents only. Full T&Cs [https://immediateinsiders.com/uc/admin/bd48/]. * Take part in the survey [https://immediateinsiders.com/uc/admin/28b7/?a=1&b=] * Subscribe to theScience Focus Podcast on these services: Acast [https://www.acast.com/science-focus-podcast], iTunes [https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/science-focus-podcast/id1296673906?mt=2] , Sticher [https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/immediate-media-2/science-focus-podcast], RSS [https://rss.acast.com/science-focus-podcast], Overcast [https://overcast.fm/itunes1296673906/science-focus-podcast] Listen to more episodes of theScience Focus Podcast: * The psychology of the sea shanty: Why work songs are such earworms [https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/the-psychology-of-the-sea-shanty-why-work-songs-are-such-earworms/] * Could these gloves be the future of music? – Imogen Heap [https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/could-these-gloves-be-the-future-of-music/] * The neuroscience of happiness – Dean Burnett [https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/the-neuroscience-of-happiness/] * Dr Pete Etchells: Do video games encourage gambling behaviour? [https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/dr-pete-etchells-do-video-games-encourage-gambling-behaviour/] * Why you can’t multitask (and why that’s a good thing) [https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/why-you-cant-multitask-and-why-thats-a-good-thing/] * Phobias, paranoia and PTSD: Why virtual reality therapy is the frontier of mental health treatment [https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/phobias-paranoia-and-ptsd-why-virtual-reality-therapy-is-the-frontier-of-mental-health-treatment/] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for privacy and opt-out information.

In this week's episode of the Science Focus Podcast, we talk to the "real-life Iron Man" – not Marvel's Tony Stark, but inventor Richard Browning. He’s the creator of the ‘Jet Suit’, which can fly one person through the air at speeds of 135km/h. He’s also founder and chief test pilot of Gravity Industries and author of new book Taking on Gravity [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/111/1116680/taking-on-gravity/9781787630895.html] (£20, Bantam Press). He explains his quite literal rise to success – and the future of human flight. Let us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts. * Subscribe to theScience Focus Podcast on these services: Acast [https://www.acast.com/science-focus-podcast], iTunes [https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/science-focus-podcast/id1296673906?mt=2] , Sticher [https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/immediate-media-2/science-focus-podcast], RSS [https://rss.acast.com/science-focus-podcast], Overcast [https://overcast.fm/itunes1296673906/science-focus-podcast] Listen to more episodes of theScience Focus Podcast: * Podcast: Why realistic humanoid robots need to learn to lip-sync [https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/podcast-why-realistic-humanoid-robots-need-to-learn-to-lip-sync/] * Ritu Raman: Can you build with biology? [https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/ritu-raman-can-you-build-with-biology/] * Dr Erin Macdonald: Is there science in Star Trek? [https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/dr-erin-macdonald-is-there-any-science-in-star-trek/] * Meet the computer scientist teaching an AI to play Dungeons and Dragons [https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/meet-the-computer-scientist-teaching-an-ai-to-play-dungeons-and-dragons/] * How virtual reality is helping patients with phobias, anxiety disorders and more [https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/how-virtual-reality-is-helping-patients-with-phobias-anxiety-disorders-and-more/] * Dr Pete Etchells: Do video games encourage gambling behaviour? [https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/dr-pete-etchells-do-video-games-encourage-gambling-behaviour/] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for privacy and opt-out information.

In this week's episode of theScience Focus Podcast, commissioning editor Jason Goodyer speaks to Dr Carl Strathearn [https://www.napier.ac.uk/people/carl-strathearn], a research fellow at the School of Computing at Edinburgh Napier University. He's currently conducting research on realistic humanoid robots, specifically on more realistically synchronising their speech and mouth movements. He tells us about how to get robots out of the Uncanny Valley, why the way a robot looks is so important, and why Data fromStar Trek is an inspiration for his work. * Read an edited excerpt from this interview [https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/lip-syncing-robot-gets-one-step-closer-to-crossing-the-uncanny-valley/] Let us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts. * Subscribeto theScience Focus Podcaston these services:Acast [https://www.acast.com/science-focus-podcast],iTunes [https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/science-focus-podcast/id1296673906?mt=2] ,Stitcher [https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/immediate-media-2/science-focus-podcast], RSS [https://rss.acast.com/science-focus-podcast],Overcast [https://overcast.fm/itunes1296673906/science-focus-podcast] * Read the full transcription of this episode [https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/podcast-transcript-dr-carl-strathearn-on-realistic-humanoid-robots/] [this will open in a new window] Listen to more episodes of theScience Focus Podcast: * How virtual reality is helping patients with phobias, anxiety disorders and more [https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/how-virtual-reality-is-helping-patients-with-phobias-anxiety-disorders-and-more/] * Dr Pete Etchells: Do video games encourage gambling behaviour? [https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/dr-pete-etchells-do-video-games-encourage-gambling-behaviour/] * Rana el Kaliouby: What if computers could read our emotions? [https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/rana-el-kaliouby-what-if-computers-could-read-our-emotions/] * Ritu Raman: Can you build with biology? [https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/ritu-raman-can-you-build-with-biology/] * Dr Erin Macdonald: Is there science in Star Trek? [https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/dr-erin-macdonald-is-there-any-science-in-star-trek/] * Robert Elliott Smith: Are algorithms inherently biased? [https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/robert-elliott-smith-are-algorithms-inherently-biased/] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for privacy and opt-out information.