Podcasts about oxford sparks

Discover how the ancient art of origami is revolutionising sustainable energy! Researcher Jingyi Yang, from the Department of Engineering Science, has loved origami since childhood. Now she's channelling that passion to tackle engineering challenges. Using the intricate papercraft to develop clam-like models, Jinyi's creative engineering may be the key to improving the efficiency of energy produced by the waves hitting the UK's coastline.  Find out more about this imaginative approach to scientific discovery in this podcast!

Have you ever had a song stuck in your head that you just can't shake? A few bars or lyrics that just keep looping all day long? Well, we have delved into the science behind 'earworms' with Dr Jacob Kingsbury Downs from the Faculty of Music. A melodic mix of musical imagery, auditory neuroscience, memory and impressive compositions can leave a little ditty echoing in our minds long after the last note has played. But what you really want to know is how to get rid of an earworm, right? Tune in to find out! 

Are seals the fishermen's friends or foes? The UK is home 35% of the world's grey seals and we know they like to get their flippers on many of the same fish as we do. So, how are seals impacting the fishing industry? In our latest podcast, Dr Claire Tanner from the Department of Biology explores the unseen conflict beneath the waves and the complex dynamics between these marine mammals and fisheries. Tune in to find out how understanding more about the behaviour of the UK's seal populations can shape marine management policies.

Volcanoes are pretty amazing! But how do they work on other planets?   Take Mars – it has the largest volcano in the solar system! But volcanologist Tamsin Mather reveals that the red planet is now considered geologically dead, with no volcanic activity for around 500 million years. How do we know how this volcano formed then? Well, space missions have put probes and landers on Mars' surface, providing evidence of a long lost hot spot beneath the surface.   What about the rest of the solar system? There are glimpses of volcanism on Venus and Jupiter's moon, Io, too. But how do scientists know? Listen to our latest podcast to find out!   If you would like to learn even more about the volcanoes of Earth and beyond, why not give Tamsin's new book, Adventures in Volcanoland, a read!

We are out in the wild today talking to bees!   In this behind the scenes episode, we visited Dr Rachel Parkinson's bee recording studio to see insect neuroscience research in action.    You might know that honeybees communicate with each other using the waggle dance, a minute choreography that shows other bees the way to the flower buffet. But little is known about how bumblebees communicate.   To understand more about bee behaviour, Rachel has created a series of small arenas with cameras and microphones. Using AI, visual and audio recordings can be matched up to create a database of sounds and behaviours which will, in time, hopefully reveal the secret language of bees!

Cats are pretty adorable! Those big eyes, fluffy paws and cheeky personalities mean that most people find felines cute. But what is the science behind this reaction? Neuroscientist Professor Morten Kringelbach reveals how special technology can track what happens to signals in the brain in response to sounds and images of babies and small animals. In just a thousandth of a second, our brain decides that something is cute. This almost instantaneous cuteness reaction is thought to be a deep-rooted evolutionary feature of humans, encouraging us to look after young babies and animals to help species to survive. Cats (and other fluffy pets) can bring us so much joy, so next time you find yourself smiling at a cat video or your beloved pet, make sure to spread the love and bring someone else a dose of happiness.

You might have seen them in a hotel. You might have read about them in the news. Maybe you've seen them star in social media videos filmed on the London underground. But should we really be worried about bed bugs?   The little critters evolved from feeding on bats and birds to humans thousands of years ago and were part of society for hundreds of years. But with the invention of synthetic pesticides, bed bug populations declined significantly after the Second World War. However, as pesticide resistance grows and the world becomes increasingly connected, bed bugs are making a resurgence.   Entomologist Liam Crowley, from the Department of Biology, tells us what to look out for and how to keep them at bay in our latest podcast. But don't worry, they're not as common as you might think!

Have you ever considered when kissing first started? Who, or what, first decided that this was a good way to show affection?   Ancient historian, Troels Pank Arbøll, and hedgehog researcher, Sophie Lund Rasmussen, joined forces to attempt to find an answer. Cuneiform scripts, which are the world's oldest written text, have the first mention of romantic kissing in a mythological narrative dating back to 2500 BCE.   But animals can also help us to answer this question. Bonobos have been shown to kiss romantically to strengthen pair bonds and assess a mate's suitability. Perhaps the origins of kissing could be much older than human history! Find out more by listening to our latest podcast.

How do we battle the energy use and soaring costs required to keep our homes warm? We spoke to Dr Brenda Boardman from the Environmental Change Institute about the best ways to keep out the winter chill. Did you know that draughts not only let cold air in, but they also push the warm out of your home? And that sitting or sleeping next to external walls can make you colder? Discover simple and inexpensive methods you can try to stay toasty, starting with the idea of heating the human rather than the home. Tune in to learn more!

People have been interested in wine growing and quality vintages since the Roman times, but as the climate warms, what does this mean for the future of wine growers in the UK (and beyond)?   Andrew Wood, from the Department of Biology, has been studying the records of wine critics, which reveal much more than whether the bottle is a good vintage or not. The vintage can tell scientists what the growing conditions were like for the grapes in a given year – was it hot or cold? Was there flooding or drought? Was light more intense?   As the UK experiences more ‘BBQ summers', we may see new grape varieties flourishing, producing new flavours of wine. But it's not good news for all vineyards. Find out why in our latest podcast!

As we count down to the festive season and the days get colder, will we see a white Christmas this year? In the last episode of the Big Questions podcast for 2023, Dr Neven Fučkar from the Environmental Change Institute tells us more about the science behind weather forecasts and how climate change is impacting Earth's weather patterns. Using advanced modelling, scientists can predict weather patterns to different degrees of certainty. So in a few days' time, we should know whether we will see snow on the big day. But what do the predictions look like for the next five or ten years? Find out in this podcast! We hope you have enjoyed getting into the science of the everyday questions you want to know the answers to. We'll be back in the new year to share more science from the University of Oxford. See you in 2024!

Lions are iconic species, but they are threatened with extinction. In Zambia, researchers and conservationists are working together to find ways of conserving these majestic animals and preventing them from becoming by-catch of poaching. In this new episode of the Big Questions podcast, we speak to Dr Egil Dröge from the Department of Biology to share the steps involved in bringing lions back to a national park in Zambia. Careful selection of a few young female lions which are genetically similar to those lost from the national park, and collaboration with local communities could pave the way for lions to return to the area over the next decade.

Welcome to the new series of the Big Questions podcast, where we ask Oxford scientists to shed light on everyday questions that you really want to know the answer to.   Remember those photos or videos online that don't look quite right? Perhaps you've heard a celebrity's voice somewhere unexpected? In this episode, we chat to computational social scientist Dr Bernie Hogan from the Oxford Internet Institute about deepfakes; media synthetically generated by technology to capture someone's likeness. As AI and machine learning technology develop rapidly, how can we regulate the creation of deepfakes to know what is real? Tune in to find out!

About a year ago, we asked astrophysicist Dr Becky Smethurst why the James Webb Space Telescope is such a big deal. Her answers were pretty exciting, to say the least. So, in the months that have passed since then, what has it found out? What mysteries of the universe has it begun to unravel, and has it lived up to expectations? We got back in touch with Becky for an update.  This is the last episode in this series of the Big Questions Podcast! We hope you've enjoyed learning about everything from Martian craters to the human microbiome. Be sure to look out for our next series, beginning in October 2023, and until then, you can find a catalogue of our episodes on the Oxford Sparks website. Have a big question that you'd like answered next series? Let us know on social media!

Many of us will have had to deal with a bacterial infection at some point or another. The solution? Often, antibiotics. But as the issue of antibiotic resistance becomes more and more of a concern, might there be an alternative to tackling bacterial infections with drugs? We chat to biomedical engineer Dr Sara Keller about how sound waves could potentially be used to break down bacterial cells.

Forced displacement of human populations owing to conflict or natural disasters is very difficult to measure. During these crises, the traditional methods of assessing changes in populations - which mostly rely on surveys - are simply not possible. We chat to Dr Douglas Leasure from Oxford's Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science about how his team have been using social media data to assess the internal displacement of populations in Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022, in order to help ensure humanitarian aid is delivered as effectively as possible. If you would like to read the original research paper about Doug's work, you can access it here: 'Nowcasting Daily Population Displacement in Ukraine through Social Media Advertising Data'. You can find out more about the work of researchers at the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science in this Oxford Sparks micro-documentary: 'Demography: Understanding Our World'.  

If our internal body clock is telling us it's 3am, but the external environment is telling us it's 12 noon, that's called jet lag. It's a mis-match between what's going on inside our bodies and what's happening outside. Those who have travelled abroad - particularly to somewhere in a significantly different time zone - will be familiar with the feeling, but it's not just stepping off a plane that can cause it. 'Social jet lag' is a particular problem for shift workers, for example. An out-of-sync body clock can make us feel terrible, so, is there a cure for the condition on the horizon? We speak to neuroscientist Prof Aarti Jagannath from the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences about her work investigating potential drug treatments for jet lag.

This week John was joined by Professor Tamsin Mather from Oxford University. Tamsin is professor of Earth Sciences and her research centres around volcanoes and volcanic behaviour.  Thanks to Collins for sponsoring series 6 of GeogPod. Links from the pod Public Lecture: Volcanoes and past climate: adventures with deep carbon Blog about Masaya and volcanic gases Volcano watching: weapons of ash eruption University of Oxford Earth Sciences undergraduate course The Geological Society university pathway page Teaching resources Tamsin helped create: Your science out there - Oxford Sparks Using your science to understand volcanic eruptions - Oxford Sparks

The gang were unable to record together this week, so please enjoy Ed's recent appearance on the Big Questions podcast from Oxford Sparks at the University of Oxford. Host Emily Elias spoke to Ed about the science in films like King Kong, Pi, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Office Space and Superman III, and they listened to scientists assess just how feasible those "what if" scenarios might be. There's also a brief Recommendations segment at the end for good measure.

Just over ten years ago a couple of communications staff at Oxford University realised that there was need for a one-stop-shop where members of the public could go to find out more about the university's scientific research. Oxford Sparks was the result. It started out as a website and has since grown into a multi-faceted digital engagement programme, including including podcasts, animations, blogs, teaching resources and live streaming events. In charge of it all is Michaela Livingstone Banks, who is this week's podcast guest. In this episode of Research Comms she discusses the need to be realistic when defining a target audience, getting scientists into bed for Facebook Live, overcoming social media algorithm changes and the power of networking. www.orinococomms.com

In our latest episode of the Big Questions podcast we visited Dr Peter Walton, a geography teacher turned fellow of the Environmental Change Institute, at the University of Oxford, to ask: What happens after a storm? Does this sound familiar? ‘This is definitely the coldest winter’, ‘we haven’t experienced strong winds like this before’, ‘what a deluge!’ It is easy to blame climate change for the latest bad weather conditions – but how do we really know? In our latest Oxford Sparks podcast where we ask the Big Questions to the brightest minds across the University of Oxford, we asked: What happens after a storm? We visited Dr Peter Walton a geography teacher turned fellow of the Environmental Change Institute, at the University of Oxford, to find out!

Our Festive episode of our Oxford Sparks podcast follows the traditional Christmas story of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’. In our narration though, the role of George Bailey is played by the Parasitoid Wasp and its guardian angel is postdoctoral researcher Chris Jeffs. In this podcast as part of our Big Questions series, we ask the question: what would life be like if these insects didn’t exist?

Latest episode from Oxford Sparks, this episode on how to predict the weather.

From people on the the ground to satellites in the air - how do we monitor and understand volcanos in an attempt to understand when they might erupt? Professor David Pyle discusses how combinations of different types of information is pieced together to help volcanologists better understand how different volcanoes behave. Each volcano has it's own 'fingerprint' so a more detailed knowledge of their behaviour can be used to inform policies for communities that live near volcanoes, helping to avoid tragedy. Produced by Steve Pritchard for Oxford Sparks. Music is by Chris Zabriskie, CC BY 4.0. http://chriszabriskie.com/licensing/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Oxford Sparks explore what chirality is. What links drugs, shells, springs and vines? Chirality, when mirror images of things don't look the same, is explored and we learn what maths can tell us about it - from designing drugs to the very meaning of life.

Take a journey around the brain with Ossie from Oxford Sparks. Find out more and read about the science behind the animation at www.oxfordsparks.net/mri.

Take a journey through a jet engine with Ossie from Oxford Sparks. Find out more and read about the science behind the animation at www.oxfordsparks.net/jet.

Oxford Sparks presents an adventure in X-ray crystallography. Find out more and read about the science behind the animation at www.oxfordsparks.net/crystal.

Oxford Sparks presents a journey around the planets. Find out more and read about the science behind the animation at www.oxfordsparks.net/planet.

Oxford Sparks presents a visit to the Stromboli volcano. Find out more and explore other volcano resources at www.oxfordsparks.net/animations/volcano.

Oxford Sparks presents a look at how a single change in DNA can cause the human heart to go wrong. Find out more and read about the science behind the animation at www.oxfordsparks.net/animations/heart.

Oxford sparks presents a ride to the land of the extremely cold. Find out more, and read the science behind the animation at www.oxfordsparks.net/animations/coldchem.

Oxford Sparks presents a visit to the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva. Find out more and explore other LHC resources at www.oxfordsparks.net/animations/lhc No protons were harmed in the making of this animation.