Tales of data and discovery with Hannah Fry.
Published on Monday, 2nd October 2023.
What is the 'imaginary' number - and why is it so incredibly useful?
Published on Tuesday, 14th February 2023.
'How do anaesthetics work?' asks Alicia.
Published on Tuesday, 7th February 2023.
Can we bring extinct species back from the dead?
Published on Tuesday, 31st January 2023.
Did aliens build the pyramids!?
Published on Tuesday, 24th January 2023.
What is a magnetic field? wonders Lucas.
Published on Tuesday, 17th January 2023.
'Why can't I see images in my mind?' asks Jude from Australia.
Published on Tuesday, 10th January 2023.
We’re almost back! As a cheeky aperitif, our sleuths review some surprising science.
Published on Thursday, 5th January 2023.
“How does fusion work, and how can we do it safely on earth?” asks Les Walker
Published on Tuesday, 20th September 2022.
“Are allergies really on the increase?” wonders Ally
Published on Tuesday, 13th September 2022.
'How did we discover pi? How do we know that it’s infinite and never repeats?' asks Alex.
Published on Tuesday, 6th September 2022.
Why do our bodies smell? And does our smell influence how much we like each other?
Published on Tuesday, 30th August 2022.
“How do winds start and why do they stop?” asks Georgina from the Isle of Wight
Published on Tuesday, 23rd August 2022.
'How can I be immersed in a book, and still notice my name?' asks Charlotte.
Published on Tuesday, 16th August 2022.
We’re back! Rutherford and Fry review the silliest studies sent in by Curios
Published on Tuesday, 9th August 2022.
'How do we see colour - and why are some people colour blind?’ asks Maya Crocombe.
Published on Thursday, 24th March 2022.
Why are tide times and ranges so different around the UK, asks Lynn?
Published on Thursday, 17th March 2022.
Can human hair turn white overnight from shock? Hannah and Adam investigate greying hair.
Published on Thursday, 10th March 2022.
We’ve got two eyes, two arms, two legs - but only one heart. Why!? asks Joanne.
Published on Thursday, 3rd March 2022.
“How does Wi-Fi work - is it magic?” asks Abby
Published on Thursday, 24th February 2022.
Why do my teens struggle to get out of bed in the morning? asks Michelle.
Published on Thursday, 17th February 2022.
Rutherford and Fry return for a new series of scientific sleuthing
Published on Friday, 11th February 2022.
The science sleuths unwrap some of the biggest ideas in this year's BBC Reith Lectures.
Published on Thursday, 23rd December 2021.
Published on Wednesday, 15th December 2021.
Published on Wednesday, 8th December 2021.
Published on Wednesday, 1st December 2021.
Will a venomous snake die if it bites itself? asks Janni in Amsterdam
Published on Thursday, 11th November 2021.
'What is the most slippy thing in the world?' asks 8 year old Evelyn from London
Published on Thursday, 4th November 2021.
Why does my heart not ache after exercise? Drs Rutherford and Fry investigate
Published on Thursday, 28th October 2021.
Adam Rutherford and Hannah Fry attempt to answer more questions on why water is weird
Published on Thursday, 21st October 2021.
Please explain the weirdness of water? Drs Rutherford and Fry investigate.
Published on Thursday, 14th October 2021.
How do guide dogs know where they're going?
Published on Thursday, 7th October 2021.
The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry
Published on Thursday, 30th September 2021.
Why do people like to be scared?
Published on Tuesday, 23rd February 2021.
What determines left or right handedness? asks Neal Shepperson
Published on Tuesday, 16th February 2021.
Is dark matter a fudge to fit existing theories to inexplicable observations?
Published on Tuesday, 9th February 2021.
How does gravity pull us? asks Emma
Published on Tuesday, 2nd February 2021.
Do individuals perceive time differently? asks Joe from North Yorkshire
Published on Tuesday, 26th January 2021.
What’s the point of mosquitoes? asks Cathy
Published on Tuesday, 19th January 2021.
Could there be something to astrology? asks Dan in Australia
Published on Tuesday, 12th January 2021.
Why do some people find noises like a fork scraping a plate so terrible?
Published on Tuesday, 5th January 2021.
Can I make a pizza that contains my recommended daily intake of everything? asks Paul
Published on Tuesday, 29th December 2020.
"Why are some fungi helpful and others harmful?" asks Paul Glaister in Reading.
Published on Tuesday, 22nd December 2020.
What would it take for humans to live on Mars? Drs Rutherford and Fry investigate.
Published on Tuesday, 15th December 2020.
How many hamsters on wheels would it take to power London?
Published on Tuesday, 8th December 2020.
Published on Tuesday, 1st December 2020.
Is there a point in space where the Sun could heat a burrito perfectly? And other puzzles.
Published on Tuesday, 14th July 2020.
What are ligons and tigers? What is a species?
Published on Tuesday, 7th July 2020.
When and how is the universe going to end?
Published on Tuesday, 30th June 2020.
What’s the point of wasps? Science sleuths Drs Rutherford and Fry investigate
Published on Tuesday, 23rd June 2020.
Can we make it rain?
Published on Tuesday, 16th June 2020.
Why do our tummies rumble - and when they do, does it always mean we are hungry?
Published on Tuesday, 9th June 2020.
A preview of series 16: Longer, louder and locked down.
Published on Wednesday, 3rd June 2020.
What are wormholes and do they really exist?
Published on Friday, 6th March 2020.
From cold feet to cold water swimming, Rutherford and Fry answer your chilling questions
Published on Friday, 28th February 2020.
Why do we get more colds in winter?
Published on Friday, 21st February 2020.
What is ASMR and why does it only affect some people?
Published on Friday, 14th February 2020.
Adam Rutherford concocts an Old Fashioned cocktail - listen after our episode on ASMR.
Hannah Fry mixes a mojito - listen after our episode on ASMR.
How does love affect our brain?
Published on Friday, 7th February 2020.
How do you make gold?
Published on Friday, 31st January 2020.
A preview of Series 15, plus more strange-but-true science papers
Published on Friday, 24th January 2020.
What would become the dominant species if, or when, humans go extinct?
Published on Monday, 9th December 2019.
Why is it so difficult to predict the weather?
Published on Friday, 22nd November 2019.
How do you make antimatter? Science sleuths Drs Rutherford and Fry investigate.
Published on Friday, 15th November 2019.
Stephen Fry asks the duo to investigate why he struggles to remember faces.
Published on Friday, 8th November 2019.
Rutherford and Fry board a rollercoaster to investigate why we enjoy being scared
Published on Friday, 1st November 2019.
Why do we enjoy horror? Rutherford and Fry explore the thrill of fear
Published on Friday, 25th October 2019.
Rutherford and Fry are back with an extended podcast trailer to celebrate the new series
Published on Friday, 18th October 2019.
What sound did dinosaurs make?
Published on Friday, 3rd May 2019.
What would life be like if we had two moons?
Published on Friday, 26th April 2019.
Where did the Moon come from?
Published on Friday, 19th April 2019.
Why do instruments sound different?
Published on Friday, 12th April 2019.
How do you discover a new chemical element?
Published on Friday, 5th April 2019.
Is hypnotism real? Drs Rutherford and Fry find out by visiting a hypnotist
Published on Friday, 29th March 2019.
Hannah and Adam return to crack open the Curious Cases they’ll be examining in Series 13
Published on Friday, 22nd March 2019.
Why do we get hangovers and are some drinks worse than others?
Published on Friday, 21st December 2018.
Why does bad food taste so good? Science sleuths Drs Rutherford and Fry investigate.
Published on Friday, 14th December 2018.
Is anything in the Universe infinite? Science sleuths Drs Rutherford and Fry investigate.
Published on Friday, 7th December 2018.
Does infinity exist? And why are some infinities bigger than others?
Published on Friday, 30th November 2018.
Why do we have regional accents?
Published on Friday, 23rd November 2018.
How do ancestry DNA tests work?
Published on Friday, 16th November 2018.
Why do we all have different pain thresholds?
Published on Friday, 7th September 2018.
Is anything really random?
Published on Friday, 31st August 2018.
How fast can a human run?
Published on Friday, 24th August 2018.
Are intelligent aliens out there?
Published on Friday, 17th August 2018.
How do we look for alien life, and what are we expecting to find?
Published on Friday, 10th August 2018.
Why do birds sing? And why are some songs so complex?
Published on Friday, 1st June 2018.
How do I win the lottery?
Published on Friday, 25th May 2018.
Why do we get déjà vu?
Published on Friday, 18th May 2018.
Why do our voices change as we get older?
Published on Friday, 11th May 2018.
Is there a fifth dimension? Hannah and Adam visit CERN to find out.
Published on Friday, 4th May 2018.
How do we measure the age of the universe?
Published on Friday, 2nd March 2018.
What makes things sharp?
Published on Wednesday, 28th February 2018.
Which is the tiniest dinosaur?
Published on Friday, 23rd February 2018.
Why don't we have more than two sexes?
Published on Friday, 16th February 2018.
Why does sex exist? And why aren't we all the same sex?
Published on Friday, 9th February 2018.
Could we shoot a laser to the moon?
Published on Friday, 12th January 2018.
Are machines better than humans at identifying faces?
Published on Friday, 5th January 2018.
Can anything travel faster than the speed of light? Drs Rutherford and Fry investigate.
Published on Friday, 29th December 2017.
Why don't children like vegetables?
Published on Friday, 22nd December 2017.
How do bats echolocate? And why don't they get confused by neighbouring signals?
Published on Friday, 15th December 2017.
Why do we dream? Drs Rutherford and Fry delve into the science of sleep.
Published on Friday, 29th September 2017.
Why do we get static shocks? Our science sleuths try to crack another case.
Published on Friday, 22nd September 2017.
Why do tunes get stuck in our heads? And what makes some songs stickier than others?
Published on Friday, 15th September 2017.
What would happen if the Earth's magnetic poles flipped?
Published on Friday, 8th September 2017.
How to make the perfect sponge using the power of science.
Published on Friday, 1st September 2017.
Can sound kill? Inspired by a Kate Bush song, we ask whether sonic weapons could work.
Published on Friday, 16th June 2017.
Why do we itch and should we scratch?
Published on Thursday, 15th June 2017.
What is fire? Is it a solid, liquid or a gas? Adam Rutherford and Hannah Fry investigate.
Published on Wednesday, 14th June 2017.
The science sleuths investigate the question 'What's inside a black hole?'.
Published on Friday, 2nd June 2017.
How do cats find their way back to their old home when they move house?
Published on Friday, 19th May 2017.
Why do we have different blood types? Drs Rutherford and Fry investigate.
Published on Wednesday, 15th March 2017.
Why don't we remember the first few years of our lives?
Published on Friday, 10th March 2017.
'How far up can a helium balloon go? Could it go out to space?' asks Juliet Gok, aged 9.
'Why does the Earth spin?' asks Joe Wills from Accra in Ghana.
How much does the bacteria inside my body weigh?
Why do some people have a terrible sense of direction?
Published on Friday, 2nd December 2016.
Does the full moon make us act strangely?
How zero was discovered and why it allows us to forecast the future.
Does nothing exist? Our scientific duo consider the nature of nothing.
'Why is my mother tone deaf?' asks listener Simon. The team investigates.
What is the strongest thing in the universe?
Published on Friday, 7th October 2016.
Could we live on another planet?
Published on Wednesday, 5th October 2016.
What causes middle-aged spread?
How being left-handed affects your brain and behaviour.
Published on Tuesday, 4th October 2016.
What makes people left-handed?
Published on Monday, 3rd October 2016.
Can horses count? And which animal is the best at maths?
Published on Thursday, 2nd June 2016.
How does leg hair know to grow back the same length? And why do we have body hair?
Published on Monday, 30th May 2016.
Why is everything in space round? Drs Rutherford and Fry investigate.
Published on Thursday, 26th May 2016.
Why do we cry, and does it makes us feel better?
What's the optimum scientific method for making the perfect cup of tea?
Can we send our waste into the sun? Drs Rutherford & Fry investigate.
Published on Thursday, 18th February 2016.
Why do we faint, and does it serve any useful purpose?
Published on Thursday, 11th February 2016.
Why do people shout on their mobile phones?
What makes traffic jam? Rutherford & Fry search for a solution.
Why are gingers ginger, and are redheads dying out?
