Biology Questions

Produced by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), these naked Scientist podcasts look at biology questions in an accessible and informative way.

Can we create a living organism?
Is it possible to create life from basic elements? This podcast discusses the production of simple cells from basic elements in the laboratory. The podcast also discusses why women live longer than men.

Are muscle transplants possible?
This podcast includes a crop of questions from Talk Radio 702 in South Africa. In this edition, questions include: are muscle transplants possible, how do self-focusing binoculars work, what is the bone structure of a snake and what happens when several sounds interact? Plus many other questions from listeners on wide ranging subjects.

The Tour de France
In this podcast from the Naked Scientist, the science and technology behind the Tour de France is explored. It includes the science and materials technology of professional road bikes, training the human physique to endure thousands of kilometres on the saddle and eating the right food to keep racers on the road. The podcast meets the fans, doctors, mechanics and organisers that turn the Tour de France into the well oiled machine that it is.

Why do we get circles around our eyes?
Eye circles plague many of us at one time or another. Some of us have them all our lives, but what causes them?

Why does the right side of the brain control the left side of the body?
The podcast discusses the advantage of having each side of the brain control the opposite side of the body. The answer could lie deep in evolutionary biology and may relate to the way binocular vision has evolved or to reduce errors in the formation of nerve pathways during development.

STFC is a part of the Research Councils UK (RCUK) partnership of research councils.