Podcast Episodes

Why do people love horror films?

For some they’re the stuff of nightmares, but many of us can’t get enough of horror films. For Halloween, CrowdScience investigates the science of why we enjoy films that scare the living daylights o…

Published on 1 day, 1 hour ago

Should we help maggots and caterpillars?

We all know insects are important, but one CrowdScience listener worries that they don’t seem to have equal billing when it comes to human love and attention.

In Scotland’s capital Edinburgh, listene…

Published on 1 week, 1 day ago

Can we record our senses?

How would you record a special moment? Maybe you could take a photograph, film a little video, or record some audio. We have lots of ways of recording what life LOOKS and SOUNDS like, but is the same…

Published on 2 weeks, 1 day ago

Are atoms immortal?

Atoms are the building blocks of our world. Many have been around since right after the Big Bang created the universe nearly 14 billion years ago. And if life on Earth is made of atoms that are from …

Published on 3 weeks, 1 day ago

Why are some animals black and white?

Listener Jude in Canada wants to know why some animals are black and white. Why do zebras risk being so stripy? Why do pandas have such distinct marking? And do they have something in common? Pres…

Published on 4 weeks, 1 day ago

Answers to even more questions

Sometimes in science, when you try to answer one question it sparks even more questions.

The CrowdScience inbox is a bulging example of that. We get tons of new questions every week and many of thos…

Published on 1 month ago

Do birds understand us?

CrowdScience listener David is a bird whisperer.

On his family farm in Guinea, he would mimic the call of the black-headed weaver. He could replicate it so well that the birds would fly in close, cu…

Published on 1 month, 1 week ago

Why am I so sentimental?

CrowdScience listener Kerry started thinking about his sentimental attachment to his possessions when he began sorting through an old trunk, full of objects from his past. He wants to know why we get…

Published on 1 month, 2 weeks ago

Will drinking milk help me live longer?

Milk: drink a lot of it and we’ll grow big and tall with strong bones. That’s what many people are told as children, but just how true is this accepted wisdom? CrowdScience listener JJ in Singapore i…

Published on 1 month, 3 weeks ago

How long will traces of our civilisation last?

What will remain of us hundreds of millions of years from now? And how can we be so certain that we are the first technologically advanced species on Earth?

These unsettling questions have been haunti…

Published on 2 months ago