Explore every episode of the podcast Oxford Sparks Big Questions

Summer is here, and with heatwaves forecast, how do we keep our homes cool without relying on air conditioning?

In the UK, soaring summer temperatures can be brief but powerful. So, what can we do? Nicole Miranda, from the Department of Engineering, shares practical, energy-efficient and eco-friendly strategies to help you stay comfortable during the hot months. And yes, ice creams are encouraged!

This is the final episode of this season. We hope that you have enjoyed learning the science behind the many weird and wonderful aspects of our world. If you have a big question, get in touch and we will try to find you an answer in the next season.

Scientists are returning to the moon, but when they get there, what time is it?

Dr Carly Howett from the Department of Physics explains the basics: what time is, and how we found a globalised way of understanding time zones so we can meet for a 3pm coffee or international video call, and everyone is in the right place at the right time.

But how does that translate to space and why could the consequences of incorrect timekeeping be disastrous for space craft docking missions?

If you want to get to grips with the weird and wonderful world of lunar time, then tune in to our latest podcast to find out more!

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.

As the UK government proposes new plans to reduce the number of people who smoke, we talk to behaviour change researcher Nicola Lindson from the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences to find out how the plan would work. Could we see a generation that is smoke free? Would banning flavours in e-cigarettes stop children from taking up smoking? Tune in to the latest episode of the Big Questions podcast to find out more.

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!

What might an experimental petrologist (someone who makes rocks in the lab) and an immunologist (someone who studies the body's defence system) have in common? Well, it turns out, a shared interest in iron might be one thing. And what does all this have to do with aliens, and, specifically, whether you would want to meet one? Well, you'll have to listen to find out! With Prof Jon Wade from the Department of Earth Sciences.

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!

"Life finds a way"...This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of Stephen Spielberg and Universal Studio's dinosaur masterpiece 'Jurassic Park'. A rousing soundtrack, gutsy kids, and graphics which have stood the test of time remarkably well - the film has undeniably become a classic. But - here's the big question - could it actually happen? Using today's technologies, could we actually extract ancient dinosaur DNA from blood-sucking mosquitoes preserved in amber? And then use that DNA to clone a prehistoric beast? We ask palaeontologist Dr Ricardo Pérez-de la Fuente to help us sort the science fact from the science fiction. 

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.

Increasing levels of CO2 in our atmosphere are a big cause for concern. So what if we could find a way to not only remove some CO2 from the air, but turn it into something useful too? That's exactly what Dr Tiancun Xiao and his team have been working on...and they've found a way to turn CO2 into jet fuel!

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'.

Demographers (researchers who study the statistics of human populations) look at factors such as birth rates, death rates, migration and life expectancy. But what exactly is meant by the term 'life expectancy'? How is it calculated, and how has it changed after the pandemic? We speak to Prof Jennifer Dowd from the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science to find out.

You can find out more about Prof Dowd's work in our micro-documentary Demography: Understanding Our World: https://www.oxfordsparks.ox.ac.uk/videos/demography-understanding-our-world/

More than half the world's population is at risk from dengue fever, a viral infection that is spread via the bite of an infected mosquito. While some cases of the disease can be mild, others can be extremely dangerous and even fatal - particularly if someone has contracted the virus previously. When cases of dengue fever are high, those at risk can take some preventative measures, such as wearing clothing that covers as much skin as possible, using mosquito nets at night, and avoiding standing water. As such, some way of predicting high levels of the virus before they arrive would be invaluable. This is exactly what Dr Sarah Sparrow and her colleagues at the DART (Dengue Advanced Readiness Tools) project are hoping to achieve - using climate data to create a forecast, similar to a pollen forecast, for dengue fever.

Our gut microbiome (that's all the microorganisms - such as bacteria, viruses and fungi - living in our gut) is really important for healthy digestion. But did you know that it's also linked to our mental health? In this episode of the Big Questions Podcast we chat to neuroscientist Prof Philip Burnet from Oxford's Department of Psychiatry about how our gut is connected to our brain, and how taking prebiotic and probiotic supplements could even help in the treatment of mood and psychotic disorders.

We've talked about a lot of different types of research on this podcast...from investigations into drought, to space exploration, to the future of food. But what about researching 'research' itself? That's right, on this week's episode of the Big Questions Podcast, we're going meta! We chat to Dr Patricia Logullo, a meta-researcher from the Nuffield Department for Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, about why it is so important to examine the practice of research itself, and how scientists such as herself help to ensure research reporting is transparent, complete and reproducible. 

Not everyone is the biggest fan of spiders...we know that. They might not be the first thing that springs to mind when it comes to romance, either! But, you've got to admit, when it comes to engineering, they're pretty incredible. Capable of making up to seven types of silk, and able to sense vibrations through thousands of 'ears' on their legs, there's a lot we can learn from spiders when it comes to new materials and sensor technologies. So, on this year's Valentine's episode of the Big Questions Podcast, we're asking arachnologist Dr Beth Mortimer how spider mating rituals could help us become better engineers.

Ask an internet aficionado what the 'next big thing' is, and they might respond with 'the metaverse'. This is the idea that we could soon be wandering in a virtual world - a kind of global, immersive video game. But are we really just one VR headset away from paradise? Or is the metaverse doomed before it's even really got off the ground? We chat to Dr Bernie Hogan from the Oxford Internet Institute to find out if Big Tech's confidence in the metaverse might be misplaced.

When you think of fossils, you probably imagine dinosaurs. But did you know that soft body parts, like the brain, can become fossils too? 

In this episode, forensic anthropologist Alexandra Morton-Hayward explores the science of brain fossilisation. Skeletons have been found in wells, Incan temples, salt mines and many other unusual locations, often with no other organs, hair or skin preserved. With only a brain nested in the skull, we are asking … how can this happen?

Listen now to find out and discover how this research is unravelling ancient human history!

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.

While the tradition of eating turkey at Christmas can be traced back to Henry VIII, it's really only been a staple part of our Christmas dinner since the early 20th Century. However, in the UK, it's now hard to imagine a Christmas spread without a turkey at its centre! But - with meat consumption linked to negative impacts on both our health and the planet - should we feel guilty about enjoying this part of the festive feast? In the opinion of social psychologist Elif Naz Çoker, the answer is no, you shouldn't feel guilty - turkey is a wonderful treat for a special occasion. However, we should try and reframe our attitudes towards meat consumption, and see it as an occasional indulgence rather than a daily staple. Join us for this Christmas episode of the Big Questions Podcast, where Elif shares some of her tips for making the transition to a less meat-centric diet.

Around 10% of us will experience kidney stones at some point in our life. They occur when waste products in the blood form small crystals, which gather together in the kidneys to form hard lumps. Small kidney stones (<4mm in diameter) usually pass through the body naturally, with no medical intervention required. However, larger kidney stones may require treatment. For example, a laser beam can be used within the kidney to break a large stone up into smaller pieces. During this laser treatment, bubbles are formed in the kidneys - which can be a help or a hindrance. In this episode, we chat to applied mathematician Sophie Abrahams, who uses mathematical modelling to explore the best ways to pulse a laser to achieve the 'best bubbles' during the treatment of kidney stones. 

When a space rock smashes into the surface of a planet, a hole - or crater - is formed. New craters might be relatively straightforward to identify on Earth, but what about on other planets, such as Mars? In this episode we hear from Dr Ben Fernando, a researcher from Oxford's Department of Physics and a scientist on NASA's InSight mission, about the techniques used to discover new craters on the red planet.

We often hear that we're remarkably similar to our primate relatives, both in terms of our genetics and our behaviour. We're social beings. We use tools. But only humans have come to dominate the planet - why? Could the answer lie in the small differences between the human brain and that of other primates? In this episode of the Oxford Sparks Big Questions Podcast, we talk to neuroscientist Dr Rogier Mars about what makes the human brain so special.

Please note that Dr Rogier Mars and his team work on the brains of non-human primates that have died of natural causes, and have subsequently been donated for research purposes.

Here in the UK, we have a reputation for grey, drizzly weather. But there's no denying that this summer was HOT and this summer was DRY. With soaring temperatures and little to no rain for weeks on end, it was no surprise that we found ourselves in a drought, with a ban on hosepipes declared and careful use of water encouraged. But, did you know that we're still in that drought? In this episode of the Big Questions Podcast we chat to Dr Anna Murgatroyd to find out what characterises a drought, why we're still in one, and - faced with a changing climate - how we can maintain access to a safe and reliable water source into the future.

Are we alone in the Universe? What exactly lies at the centre of our galaxy? Just like our podcast, the James Webb Space Telescope aims to answer some *very big questions*. Launched on Christmas Day 2021 and hurtling towards an orbit 1.5 million miles from the Earth, the JWST (as it's known to those in the business!) is a follow-up to the Hubble Space Telescope - and it's three times bigger. Decades in the making, the JWST will begin collecting and transmitting scientific data in July 2022, making this a really exciting time for astrophysicists such as Dr Becky Smethurst. We catch up with her to find out more.

Steel has become an essential commodity in modern society - used in everything from our cars and our buildings to the cutlery we use to eat our dinner. Unfortunately, the process used to traditionally produce steel (mining iron ore and combining it with carbon in a blast oxygen furnace) releases a huge amount of CO2. So, is there a cleaner way of producing steel? In this episode, we chat to Prof Barbara Rossi about 'green steel', and how it could improve the sustainability and resilience of the construction industry. 

How do you retrieve data from sensors embedded in underwater settings - such as those monitoring ecosystem change, for example? Well, when human divers aren't an option (which is often the case) it's over to the autonomous robots! In this episode of the Big Questions Podcast we speak to Prof Nick Hawes from the Oxford Robotics Institute about the challenges - and possibilities - that such robots bring to the field.

Is there anything nicer than a fresh, juicy, home-grown tomato on a summer's day? Whether you like them sliced up in a sandwich or blended into a delicious sauce, in this episode of the Big Questions podcast we reveal the secrets behind growing the perfect tomato. Let us transport you to Trap Grounds Allotments in Oxford, where Emily is joined by plant scientist Christian Norton, who is ready to reveal his five easy steps to the ultimate crop!

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! 

Misinformation about the war in Ukraine - and countless other topics, such as the pandemic and climate change - spreads like wildfire online. It aims to confuse people, make them question their own knowledge, and ultimately raise suspicion and doubt. But how exactly does this misinformation spread, why is it so prevalent on social media, and what are the various platforms doing to help prevent it? We chat to Dr Aliaksandr Herasimenka from the Oxford Internet Institute to find out.

Masks, social distancing, lockdowns. We've become intimately familiar with numerous COVID-19 control measures over the past two years. Now, with most restrictions gone (at least here in England), does that mean that the pandemic is really over? In this episode, we chat to Erica Charters, Professor of the Global History of Medicine at the University of Oxford and Principal Investigator of the 'How Epidemics End' interdisciplinary project. 

Over the past year, we've seen our energy bills reach unimaginable heights. The war in Ukraine is having devastating effects for Ukrainians and creating ripples for international fuel costs. We're now in the midst of a 'perfect storm' when it comes to energy supply - but where are we in the story? Is the energy crisis going to get worse, and what are the potential solutions to bringing those prices down? We chat to Phil Grünewald who considers the current situation a wake-up call to improve our housing stock, diversify how we heat our homes and to use new and sustainable fuels that could change the geopolitics of energy for good.

In this episode of the Big Questions podcast, we're talking about one of our favourite guilty pleasures - ordering a pizza! From the machinery required to harvest the wheat for the dough, to the cardboard packaging your finished pizza is delivered in, we're considering all aspects of a pizza's journey and asking: is ordering a pizza bad for the climate? Environmental scientists Eleanor Hammond and Dr Mike Clark are here to provide some answers, and tell us about '4 steps 4 the Earth'. (Don't worry, they're not banning pizza!)

What do you think of when someone says “the most dangerous animal in the world”? A lion perhaps? Or a poisonous frog? Well, one species of mosquito – Anopheles gambiae – is often referred to as such, owing to its enhanced ability to transmit malaria, a deadly disease which led to 627,000 deaths in 2020 alone. A. gambiae isn’t the only species of mosquito that is able to effectively transmit malaria, and each species exhibits different behaviours and requires a different management strategy. But how do you tell them apart? In this episode, we chat to Dr Marianne Sinka, Senior Researcher on the Humbug Project (https://humbug.ox.ac.uk/) which uses smartphones to identify mosquito species using their unique ‘hums’.

Did you know there are different types of pain? In this episode of the Big Questions Podcast, we chat to Dr Lydia Coxon, a researcher in the Nuffield Department of Women's and Reproductive Health at Oxford. Lydia is looking at the mechanisms that cause pain in patients with endometriosis - a common gynaecological condition where tissue that normally grows inside the womb is found outside the womb. Through her research she hopes to better understand the type of pain that endometriosis causes, so that it can be treated more effectively.

One way to delve deep into the ancient history of the Earth - or other planetary bodies for that matter - is to examine the magnetism recorded by rocks. Kind of like a fossilised magnetic fingerprint. But trying to do this in an environment where another magnetic field exists (i.e. everywhere on Earth!) is pretty challenging. Enter the 'magnetically shielded room'! Join us as we catch up with Prof James Bryson from Oxford's Department of Earth Sciences, and find out all about this very special DIY project. 

"Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose..." Many of us will be very familiar with Santa's famous antlered friend. But did you know that many reindeer actually do have red noses? But why? In this festive episode of the Big Questions Podcast, we ask Oxford polar biologist Ignacio (Nacho) Juarez Martinez to share some of the reasons we find red pigments in animals, and to explain why he thinks Rudolph's nose is so red!

Online communication channels are popular, to say the least. For instance, there are 187 million active Twitter users per day alone. Sadly, these open channels of communication also open up the potential for harm, through online hate speech. The problem is so large that we require AI to help detect it. But what about when it comes to emoji? According to some reports, ten billion emoji are sent in messages around the world every day. When the same emoji can have vastly different meanings depending on the context, how can we use AI to detect their use as hate speech? We speak to Oxford AI researcher Hannah Rose Kirk 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.

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic there was a lot of confusion, as we all tried to figure out what we should and shouldn't do to best protect ourselves and others. Fortunately, we now have more definitive answers to some of our most pressing questions - which are backed-up by data - including "umm...should I be wearing a mask?". As COVID cases are again on the rise across Europe, this is the question we're putting to demographer and behavioural scientist Prof Melinda Mills.

Satellites have been orbiting our planet for the past few decades. We might be familiar with how they can be used to track weather, or beam television and phone signals around the world. But did you know, that by capturing images of the Earth outside the visible spectrum, they're able to offer a unique perspective of the ground beneath our feet? They could even - as Earth observations specialist Maral Bayaraa tells us - provide a remote early warning system for an environmental catastrophe, dam collapse.

From California to Greece to Australia, it seems like every time we switch on the news there's another wildfire report. Some fires are natural - in fact, they're a fundamental part of many ecosystems - but the severity and frequency of the wildfires we are now witnessing is beyond natural levels. Human-ignited "megafires" are causing devastation across the planet. Climate change and inadequate ecosystem management are key contributors to the problem, but what are the possible solutions? In this special COP26 edition of the Big Questions Podcast, we ask Dr Imma Oliveras all about megafires.

Chocolate. It’s rare to find anyone who isn’t partial to a square or two of this delicious treat. But is its very existence in danger? (*Cue worried faces.*) In this episode of the Big Questions Podcast we chat to chocoholic and researcher Acheampong Atta-Boateng, who studies the relationship between cocoa trees and their micro-pollinators. We hear about how monocropping, pesticides and climate change all pose a risk to the cocoa tree and ask – could chocolate go extinct?