Question of the Week

Felicity Bedford enlisted the help of Glasgow University's Heather Ferguson for this biting question…

29 Feb 2016 3 min

The number of stars in space is huge, so why is it so chilly? Felicity Bedford spoke to Ryan MacDonald from the Cambridge University Institute of Astronomy to find out more…

7 Feb 2016 2 min

Why is it that our voice sounds so different to us than when we hear it back on a recording? Connie Orbach persuaded Dr Nick Gibbons, voice surgery specialist from Lewisham Hospital to take her through Che's question…

31 Jan 2016 4 min

Unless you are an identical twin it's unlikely you've found anyone else who looks just like you. But, why do we all look so different? Felicity Bedford spoke to population geneticist Sir Walter Bodmer from Oxford University who is characterising thousands of faces as part of the People of the…

24 Jan 2016 3 min

We've all had days when we're tired and wish we didn't have dark circles under our eyes. But why do we get these puffy eyes and do they serve a purpose? Felicity Bedford spoke to Dr Sean Lanigan, President of the British Cosmetic Dermatology Group to find out more…

17 Jan 2016 3 min

Listener Sterling wanted to know what causes sleepwalking and how to prevent it.

13 Dec 2015 3 min

Reduced sea ice is threatening polar bears in the Arctic. Listener Kevin wanted to know if they would thrive at the south pole instead?

6 Dec 2015 3 min

Jess wanted to know what would happen if she plucked a guitar in space. Would her music be out of this world? Felicity Bedford spoke to Professor Jim Woodhouse from the University of Cambridge to find out.

29 Nov 2015 3 min

Winter is coming and with it comes a runny nose but how can we stop a snotty hooter? Listener Amanda was keen to nose the answer, so Felicity Bedford spoke to GP Adam Forman to find out…

23 Nov 2015 3 min

It would appear that people on go bald on their heards, but why? And why not elsewhere? Rosalind Davis has been pulling her hair our over this one with Professor Robert Foley from the University of Cambridge…

15 Nov 2015 3 min

Eleanor wanted to know why people enjoy looking at views. Do we learn this socially or is it innate? Rosalind Davies spoke to Michael Forster from the University of Vienna to find out.

31 Oct 2015 3 min

With Halloween just around the corner, Stephen asks the spooky question, Are zombies feasible?. Charis Lestrange investigates with the help of pathologist Suzie English from the University of Cambridge and immunologist Khalil Thirlaway from the University of Nottingham.

18 Oct 2015 4 min

Marco got in touch after his truck tipped over on the motorway. He wanted to know what speed the wind would need to be blowing at to cause this, so he knew when to stop driving in the future. Rosalind Davies spoke to Zephyr Penoyre, a PhD student at Columbia…

10 Oct 2015 4 min

Anders asked the electrifying question, "Why do powerlines make so much noise?";. This seemed rather complicated so Charis Lestrange asked Dr Andrew Griffiths, a semiconductor engineer from the company IQE.

4 Oct 2015 3 min

Katie asked the very seasonal question of Why is gooseberry jam red, when gooseberries are green?. This really baffled the Naked Scientists, so Joanna Kerr put this thorny question to Dr Sarka Tumova, a food scientist at the University of Leeds.

20 Sep 2015 4 min

Is it brain fatigue? Or do we go into autopilot? Sam Mahaffey asked Dr Steve Fleming from the Wellcome Trust centre for Neuroimaging at UCL why this happens. And if there is anything we can do to stop it.

13 Sep 2015 4 min

Fingernails seem to have obvious uses but what are our toenails for? Was their some evolutionary benefit? And does that mean we'll evolve toenail-less feet? Sam Mahaffey and Dr Isabelle Winder from the University of York go in search of a gripping answer…

6 Sep 2015 4 min

This week Dave asked why does a minor key sound mournful and a major key sound happy? Amy Goodfellow asks music psychologist Dr Andrea Schiavio from the University of Sheffield if this is really true.

23 Aug 2015 4 min

This week Brian Lucas wanted to know: where are we within the universe? Joanna Kerr decided to try and find out with help from Dr Sean McGee, an astrophysicist from the University of Birmingham.

17 Aug 2015 3 min

This week Louise asked, how many people are needed to avoid inbreeding in a population? To answer her question Connie Orbach looks into setting up her own desert island with the help of Professor Mike Weale, a population geneticist from Kings Collge London.

9 Aug 2015 4 min