Science Podcast
Scientific principles, theory, and the role of key figures in the advancement of science.
Episodes to download
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The Evolution of Lungs
Thu 12 Jun 2025
From the mechanics of the first breaths on Earth to the reason we hiccup.
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Lise Meitner
Thu 8 May 2025
The Austrian-Jewish physicist who, in 1938, solved the question of nuclear fission.
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Pollination
Thu 6 Mar 2025
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the interplay between plants and pollinators.
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The Habitability of Planets
Thu 12 Dec 2024
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss ideas about where life may begin in the universe and how.
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The Antikythera Mechanism
Thu 14 Nov 2024
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the mysterious ancient Greek astronomical computer.
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Wormholes
Thu 26 Sep 2024
Melvyn Bragg and guests test the idea that there are shortcuts between distant galaxies.
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Bacteriophages
Thu 4 Jul 2024
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how viruses can help us track and cure bacterial illnesses
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Nikola Tesla
Thu 4 Apr 2024
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the celebrated Serbian-American inventor.
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Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle
Thu 29 Feb 2024
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Heisenberg's key role at the outset of quantum mechanics
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Hormones
Thu 8 Feb 2024
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the chemical signals that control the ways our bodies work
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Plankton
Thu 5 Oct 2023
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the tiny lifeforms that sustain so much life on earth.
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Albert Einstein
Thu 14 Sep 2023
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Einstein's astonishing impact on theoretical physics.
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Mitochondria
Thu 1 Jun 2023
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the power-packs within cells in all complex life on Earth.
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Linnaeus
Thu 20 Apr 2023
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas and legacy of the pioneering Swedish botanist.
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Paul Erdős
Thu 23 Feb 2023
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of the prolific Hungarian mathematician.
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Tycho Brahe
Thu 2 Feb 2023
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 16th-century astronomer, renowned for his accuracy.
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Superconductivity
Thu 26 Jan 2023
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss why some materials lose all electrical resistance.
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The Challenger Expedition 1872-1876
Thu 24 Nov 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the great global Victorian voyage of scientific discovery.
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The Fish-Tetrapod Transition
Thu 20 Oct 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the great stages in the evolution of life on Earth.
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The Electron
Thu 29 Sep 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the atomic particle that's proved a gateway to modernity.
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The Death of Stars
Thu 9 Jun 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how the ends of stars can lead to new planets and new life
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Homo erectus
Thu 14 Apr 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the two-million-year span of our most adaptable ancestor.
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Seismology
Thu 10 Mar 2022
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how the study of earthquakes helps reveal Earth's secrets.
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William and Caroline Herschel
Thu 11 Nov 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the siblings at the forefront of 18th-century astronomy
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Corals
Thu 28 Oct 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the simple animals which form the now-threatened reefs.
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The Manhattan Project
Thu 7 Oct 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the race to build an atom bomb before anyone else in WW2
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The Evolution of Crocodiles
Thu 16 Sep 2021
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the land animals of the Triassic that dominated dinosaurs.
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