Clik here to view.
Catherine Mercer on sexual health
Catherine Mercer is a statistician based at University College London who is undertaking a particularly interesting questionnaire: the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles 2010. She talks...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Val Curtis on public hygiene
Val Curtis is a behavioural scientist based at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She talks the Wellcome Collection’s Lisa Jamieson about the protective power of disgust, and find out...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mark Zuckerman on viruses and virology
Mark Zuckerman is a clinical virologist based at the Health Protection Agency London Regional Laboratory at King's College Hospital. He talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about which is the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dan Martin on extreme environments
Dan Martin is an extreme environment physiologist and anaesthetist at University College London Hospitals, and a member of the Caudwell Xtreme Everest research group. He talks to the Wellcome Trust's...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rachel Armstrong on living materials
Rachel Armstrong is a synthetic biologist working at the Bartlett School of Architecture. She talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about connecting the natural world with the built environment...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pete Coffey on losing sight
Age-related macular degeneration is the most common cause of blindness in the developed world. Pete Coffey talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about how he and his team at University College...
View ArticleClik here to view.
John Hutchinson on dinosaurs
Was Tyrannosaurus rex a fast runner? Were dinosaurs warm-blooded? How can answering questions such as these help captive elephants to live a healthier and longer life? John Hutchinson, an expert in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tali Sharot on optimism
It is estimated that 80 per cent of the population are optimists. But how do we maintain a positive outlook in the face of reality? At the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Tali Sharot is teasing...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Charlie Dunnill on glass
Self-cleaning glass - such as the roof of St Pancras station - has revolutionised architecture. But UCL materials scientist Charlie Dunnill is taking this technology one step further, and hopes that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Jonathan Butterworth on CERN
The Large Hadron Collider may be at CERN in Geneva, but it's a truly international project. Jonathan Butterworth, Professor of Physics at UCL, is a leading member of the British team working at CERN on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lewis Dartnell on Mars
The possibility of life on Mars has long fascinated scientists, science fiction writers and David Bowie. Lewis Dartnell, an astrobiologist at UCL, is going one step further and developing ways to look...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Jane Wardle on Food
Why do some people always reach for that extra chocolate biscuit, while others seem to have no problem holding back? Professor Jane Wardle, a health psychologist at UCL, is investigating factors that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Isabel Jones on skin
Few people have as intimate a knowledge of the delicate layers of the skin than those who try to repair it after trauma. Isabel Jones is a surgeon at the Burns Unit at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nick Lane on complexity
The origins of complex life have long fascinated scientists. Nick Lane, a biochemist at UCL, is investigating what drove the shift from simple bacteria to the vast diversity of plants and animals, and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Peter Ayton on decisions
We make thousands of decisions every day, many of them unconscious and many of them less logical than we would like to believe. Peter Ayton, a psychologist at City University in London, studies human...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Eleanor Stride on bubbles
Every Agatha Christie fan knows the murderous potential of an air bubble injected directly into the bloodstream. But, for Eleanor Stride, a biomedical engineer at UCL, bubbles may hold the key to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Joe Devlin on brains
Would you let your brain be temporarily switched off? Joe Devlin, a neuroscientist at UCL, regularly does this to willing volunteers as part of his research into the neurological basis of language,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Chris Bakal on cells
Cells come in many shapes and sizes. Chris Bakal, a systems biologist at the Institute of Cancer Research, is fascinated by their ability to change shape and migrate around the body - a process that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Celia Morgan on drugs
What’s it like being a scientist with a licence to possess illegal drugs? Celia Morgan, a psychologist at UCL, works on cannabis and ketamine, conducting experiments on people who are high on their own...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Kevin Fong on Space
Space flight wreaks havoc on the body, but its effects will have to be overcome if we are ever to investigate the far reaches of our solar system. Kevin Fong is co-director of the Centre for Aviation...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ifat Yasin on hearing
We hear by amplifying the sounds that go into our ear. But our ears can be tricked using auditory illusions. Ifat Yasin, Lecturer in Auditory Anatomy and Physiology at UCL Ear Institute, thinks these...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Adrian Martineau on vitamin D
Most of us know that vitamin D comes from the sun and that a little bit is essential to keep us healthy. But for Adrian Martineau, Senior Lecturer in Respiratory Infection and Immunity at Barts and The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Shunmay Yeung on malaria
As any backpacker knows, antimalarial drugs are powerful things – unpleasant, but hopefully worth it for the protection they bring. But in some parts of the world these drugs are becoming less...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ian Goodfellow on Dirt
Norovirus - better known as winter vomiting disease - is something that most of us have heard of and some of us, unfortunately, have experienced directly. But how does the infamous virus wreak its...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Zarinah Agnew on mirror neurons
Mirror neurons are thought to be the key to human mimicry, allowing us to ape the actions of others and maybe even forming the basis for empathy. Zarinah Agnew is a neuroscientist at the UCL Institute...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mary Fewtrell on breastfeeding
The Department of Health recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life. But is this supported by the best available scientific evidence? Mary Fewtrell is a paediatrician at the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Chris French on parapsychology
Psychics, paranormal activity, precognition - psychologist and sceptic Chris French, of Goldsmiths, University of London, has spent his career subjecting paranormal claims to scientific scrutiny. He...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ron Douglas on deep-sea vision
Ron Douglas is Professor of Visual Science at City University, and an expert on the biology of deep-sea creatures. He talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about how vision works 4000 metres down.
View ArticleClik here to view.
Zita Martins on meteorites
How did life originate on Earth, and are we alone in the universe? These are the questions that Zita Martins, an astrobiologist at Imperial College London, is determined to answer. She talks to the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wendy Barclay on influenza
Flu is the scourge of the winter months - but how does it work? Wendy Barclay of Imperial College London talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about investigating influenza pandemics in the lab...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Essi Veding on antisocial behaviour
The tendency toward antisocial behaviour may be inherited. But for psychologist Essi Viding heritability isn't inevitability. Environmental factors are important too. She talks to the Wellcome Trust's...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sandra Shefelbine on bones
How does the work our bones do influence their size, shape and resilience? Bioengineer Sandra Shefelbine combines number crunching with imaging and practical experiments. She talks to the Wellcome...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gerry Thomas on radiation
A year after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, how has human health been affected - and what lessons were learned from previous nuclear accidents? Drawing on her work at the Chernobyl Tissue Bank, Gerry...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mary Morrell on sleep apnoea
Up to 4 per cent of adults, and as many as one-third of older people, suffer from sleep apnoea, or interrupted breathing during sleep. Mary Morrell’s research sleep lab at the Royal Brompton Hospital...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Stephen McMahon on pain
Pain is an important warning signal that can help us to avoid harm, but for people living with prolonged, chronic pain it can have devastating consequences. Stephen McMahon, Director of the London Pain...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sarah Bell on sewers
Hosepipe bans, torrential rain, flooding - water was constantly in the news in 2012. Sarah Bell, a civil engineer at UCL, is an expert on water systems (and sewers in particular). She talks to Benjamin...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Michael Banissy on synaesthesia
What colour is the number 3? What do words taste like? This might sound like nonsense, but for people with synaesthesia this crossing of the senses creates a unique - and very real - way of perceiving...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Matt Piper on diet and ageing
How does what we eat affect how we age? Is it a question of quantity, or is quality the key? With the global population getting older and many of the world's most devastating diseases linked to the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Malcolm Finlay on the heart
Can you die of a broken heart? Perhaps not, but heart attacks have been known to be triggered by intense emotion and mental stress. Malcolm Finlay, Senior Clinical Research Fellow at UCL, is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Kate Jones on bats
Bats – according to international bat expert Kate Jones – are cool. From the wonders of echolocation to a surprisingly long lifespan, they possess a fascinating set of special skills and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Caspar Addyman on baby laughter
What makes babies laugh? This is a question that fascinates psychologist Caspar Addyman. His research at the Birkbeck Babylab investigates this, alongside other aspects of infant cognition. Join him to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Anne Lingford-Hughes on addiction
Most people enjoy the occasional drink, but what happens when it goes too far? Anne Lingford-Hughes is an addiction psychiatrist at Imperial College London who works on alcohol and heroin addiction....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hugo Spiers on Navigating the City
Hugo Spiers, Lecturer in Cognitive and Perceptual Brain Sciences at UCL, sends his experimental subjects out into the streets of Soho and works with London cabbies to study the way the brain constructs...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Katharina Wulff on Body Clocks
City life, with its shift work, artificially lit offices and bright computer screens may be disrupting our natural rhythms - a phenomenom called social jetlag. Katharina Wulff, a neurobiologist at the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Henrietta Bowden-Jones on Gambling
Half of the UK's 500,000 problem gamblers are in London, making this a very urban issue. Henriette Bowden-Jones is founder and director of the National Problem Gambling Clinic in Soho, whose clientele...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Therese Hesketh on Population
What is the impact of China’s one-child policy? Since its introduction in 1979, the policy has had a direct impact on the lives of over one-fifth of the world’s population. It has influenced...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tim Smith on cinema
Film directors are entertainers, artists, auteurs… and natural psychologists. That’s the perspective of Tim Smith, a cognitive psychologist at Birkbeck, University of London, who is fascinated by the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Seif Shaheen on asthma
The last half-century has seen an epidemic of asthma in the UK. Despite years of study, science is still unable to fully explain its rise. Seif Shaheen is Clinical Professor of Respiratory Epidemiology...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Anne Koerber on Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes may seem to bite us indiscriminately, but some people are targeted more than others. Join Nina Stanczyk to hear about how mosquitoes use smell to find people, why our body odour makes some...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nina Stanczyk on mosquito bites
Mosquitoes may seem to bite us indiscriminately, but some people are targeted more than others. Join Nina Stanczyk to hear about how mosquitoes use smell to find people, why our body odour makes some...
View Article