Hannah Fry

Programas

Episodios

  1. Why We Cry Out In Pain

    HACE 2 DÍAS

    Why We Cry Out In Pain

    Have you stubbed your toe and shouted an unrepeatable word? Isaac Newton and Robert Boyle were two of the greatest minds in humanity. Did their egos and competition with one another hold them back or drive them onto huge breakthroughs? Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens explore the bizarre neurology of vocalised pain, revealing how a good yelp actually acts as a biological off-switch for suffering and unearth if Newton was the biggest crybaby in science. Plus, Hannah gives us a behind-the-scenes look at her brand-new series exploring the cutting edge of Artificial Intelligence. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking ⁠here⁠.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    55 min
  2. What's The Most "Vegetable" Vegetable?

    HACE 4 DÍAS

    What's The Most "Vegetable" Vegetable?

    Botanically speaking, there is no such thing as a vegetable, so what exactly is sitting on your dinner plate? And if our culinary world is built on biological lies, which plant is actually the most vegetable like? Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens tackle a chaotic intersection of linguistics, plant taxonomy, and nutrition, dismantling the arbitrary categories we use to organise our food, revealing that our supermarket aisles are a scientifically lawless wasteland. It is a strangely profound look at how human language struggles to categorise the natural world, proving that the things we eat every day are far weirder than we think with biological definitions that turn cucumbers and eggplants into fruits, and the nutritional benchmarks we use to invent the concept of a "vegetable" from scratch. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli OakleyVideo & Social: Bex TyrrellResearcher: Hannah Dodd-VastiauAssistant Producer: Imee MarriottSenior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-CarterHead Of Digital: Samuel OakleyExec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    51 min
  3. You Don't Exist For One Third Of Your Life

    3 MAR

    You Don't Exist For One Third Of Your Life

    Humans have split the atom, we can stream movies from space and are working towards everlasting life. 
 So why in the world are we still spending a third of our lives unconscious? In this episode of The Rest Is Science, Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens ask a deceptively simple question: Can human beings cure sleep? Why do evolutionary forces cause us to lie helpless for eight hours a night when predators might lurk? Why can elephants survive on two hours but bats basically exist to nap? And what really happens inside human bodies when we try to cheat this essential system? From WWII amphetamines to witch trial torture tactics, fatal insomnia to the strange possibility that dreams are just your brain…shivering, this episode explores the biology, history, and weirdness of unconscious human sleep. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Researcher: Sophia Constantinou Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    1 h y 1 min
  4. How To Fall To Earth (Without Burning Up)

    26 FEB

    How To Fall To Earth (Without Burning Up)

    Rockets are built to slice cleanly through the atmosphere on the way up. Coming home, it turns out, requires... not turning into a fireball before a bellyflop When Space Shuttles reenter Earth’s atmosphere at 17,000 miles per hour, they don’t dive nose first. Instead they turn broadside to the atmosphere, deliberately creating more drag, more friction, more heat. At those speeds, oncoming air compresses into a shockwave hotter than molten lava. In this episode of Field Notes, Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens explore the strange physics of coming home. Why is leaving Earth easier than returning to it? And what does a small, almost empty black tile reveal about the problem of meeting the world at 17,000 miles per hour? Along the way, they revisit controversial experiments in human fear, calculate which superhero power would bankrupt you in calories, and reflect on the thin boundary between surface and survival. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    44 min
  5. You (Don't) Know Where You Are

    24 FEB

    You (Don't) Know Where You Are

    If someone asked you to point to yourself, where would you point? Your chest? Your head? Somewhere just behind your eyes? Where are you? In this episode, Professor Hannah Fry and VSauce’s Michael Stevens explore how the brain maps and understands out location, from the inner ear fluid that tells us which way is up, to the grid and place cells that build a kind of internal GPS. But how do London taxi drivers rewire their brains to memorise entire cities when the rest of us can’t? How does language change the way we orient in space? And what happens when your senses disagree about your where in the world you are? Moving from avalanches and virtual reality to ancient philosophy and modern neuroscience, Hannah and Michael move from how to find ourselves on a map to how locating the “self” inside the body may be one of the deepest mysteries in science. Why did Aristotle believe the self lived in the heart instead of the head? If we’re asked to find the self where do we point? What does it mean to say that you are somewhere…at all? ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠. Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Researcher: Hannah Dodd-Vastiau Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    1 h y 3 min
  6. How Big Is A Piece Of Chocolate?

    19 FEB

    How Big Is A Piece Of Chocolate?

    At what exact chemical ratio does our beloved chocolate devolve into a mere structure of fats and sugars? How far can you dilute chocolate before its fundamental identity vanishes? And what could a comically tiny novelty stool possibly reveal about Michael Stevens? Unlike a block of pure iron or a vial of chlorine, chocolate is not one single substance but a complex and heterogeneous mixture we all take for granted. Hannah and Michael explore the chemistry and nutritional boundaries of this everyday treat. Where does the stool come in? You'll have to listen to find out. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fear Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    1 h y 3 min
  7. There Are Four Ways To Lie

    17 FEB

    There Are Four Ways To Lie

    Is deception a uniquely human trait, or is the natural world built on a foundation of fraud? When a cuttlefish shifts its skin to mimic a female and sneak past a rival male, this may be deceptive but is it telling a lie? Professor Hannah Fry and VSauce's Michael Stevens explore the evolutionary biology of dishonesty across the animal kingdom. What is the neurological difference between a biological reflex and a calculated bluff? What kind of cognitive processing is needed for true artifice, and are human beings the only creatures on earth who possess it? Moving from tactical falsehoods by the Adélie Penguin, to the complex betrayals seen in Macaques and Great Apes, Hannah and Michael apply evolutionary game theory to the wild to evaluate the psychology of false signals and the battle between perception, manipulation, illusion and power. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Researcher: Hannah Dodd-Vastiau Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    54 min
  8. The Evolution Of The Butthole

    12 FEB

    The Evolution Of The Butthole

    Topologically speaking, a human is just a donut with seven holes. It sounds like a joke, but it is a fundamental biological reality. Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens explore the strange geometry of the human body, tracing how we evolved from simple tubes into complex toruses. They investigate the "design flaw" at the boundary of our existence, the fragile transition where skin meets internal lining, and ask why nature built us with so many vulnerabilities to the outside world.But before mapping our topology, Michael and Hannah tackle the instability of knowledge itself. From the suggestion our current physics is almost certainly wrong, to the edges of logic where mathematics fundamentally breaks down. Plus, they unpack the hidden psychology of symmetry: why is the human brain so obsessed with centering pictures, and what does it tell us about how we order our reality?-------------------For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ.-------------------Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠-------------------Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli OakleyVideo & Social: Bex TyrrellAssistant Producer: Imee MarriottSenior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-CarterHead Of Digital: Samuel OakleyExec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    49 min
  9. (Finite) Numbers So Large They'd Destroy You

    10 FEB

    (Finite) Numbers So Large They'd Destroy You

    It starts as a friendly challenge: who can name the biggest number? The only rule? Infinity doesn’t count. What follows is a journey through the biggest finite numbers ever imagined. From Archimedes’ grains of sand to Graham’s Number, a sequence so vast it stretches the limits of human comprehension, Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens tumble through this strange landscape of scale, tracing how mathematicians have pushed counting to its absolute edge. But beyond vast calculations, perhaps this is less about numbers and more about us. Why do humans push at the limits of finitude at all? How do we represent the biggest numbers in existence? Why can’t our brains feel the difference between a million, a billion, and a trillion? And when do big numbers affect our ability to empathise with others? ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    58 min
  10. Can We 'Solve' Sports?

    3 FEB

    Can We 'Solve' Sports?

    Is it possible to make a sport too good? Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens explore how science, data, and optimisation are transforming modern sports improving athletes and teams, while quietly changing how games are played, watched, and understood. From the Tush Push in the NFL and defensive shifts in Major League Baseball, to dirty air in Formula 1, expected goals in Premier League football, and the statistical dominance of seven footers in the NBA, they examine how prediction, probability, and performance analysis reshape decision making on the pitch, the court, and the track. Along the way, they wonder whether the heart of the games we love are defined by 'unnecessary obstacles', how prediction and probability have reshaped decision making, and why humans might enjoy watching messy problems unfold on the pitch much more than optimised solutions. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience ⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Producer: Becki Hills Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    1 h y 2 min
  11. What Day Is It, Really?

    30/12/2025

    What Day Is It, Really?

    What day is it, really? And who decided? What happens to time when we leave the Earth? And when might future humans be counting down to the dawn of a New Year in the middle of the day? From missing days and meddling popes to atomic clocks and vanishing centuries, Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens dive headfirst into one of the slipperiest questions in science and society: what IS the time and date? On the way they trace a tiny error by Julius Caesar, a correction by Pope Gregory XIII, and how time itself has bent to human will. In the process, faiths have quarrelled, centuries have blurred or been deleted altogether and yet, we crave precision in a universe that drifts, producing clocks so exact they must pause to let the Earth turn. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠clicking ⁠here⁠.⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Producer: Becki Hills Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    48 min
  12. Would You Kill One Person To Save Five?

    22 ENE

    Would You Kill One Person To Save Five?

    Can we store summer’s heat to warm our homes in winter? Could humans perceive a fourth dimension? And why does light bend around gravity even though it has no mass? Small questions from YOU which open doors to enormous worlds. In this episode of Field Notes, Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens discuss underground heat batteries in Canada and Einstein’s thought experiments, from how the universe hides its secrets and how we uncover them. Later, Michael presents a story which leads to an exploration of human behaviour, the experiments that reveal how authority influences our actions and why ordinary people can be pushed to act against what they say their values really are. Welcome to The Rest Is Science: Field Notes. Every Thursday, Hannah and Michael share the science behind the world around us from the surprising to the unsettling and show how it shapes both the universe and ourselves. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Producer: Becki Hills Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    43 min
  13. Are Magnets The Most Familiar Mystery On Earth?

    6 ENE

    Are Magnets The Most Familiar Mystery On Earth?

    Deep beneath our feet, churning molten metals create an invisible shield that holds our atmosphere in place and protects all life from the Sun. Some animals can sense it directly. Take the quantum effects in a robin’s eye, whales who cross oceans using no landmarks at all, or the bacteria that line themselves up to this unseen force. Join Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens as they explore magnetism and ponder how a compass knows where to point? Where did the original source our magnetic field come from? What that field might feel like? And why magnets just be the most familiar mystery on Earth. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience ⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton Video & Social: Bex Tyrrell Assistant Producer: Imee Marriott Producer: Becki Hills Senior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-Carter Head Of Digital: Samuel Oakley Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    44 min
  14. Are You REALLY Made Of Stars?

    16/12/2025

    Are You REALLY Made Of Stars?

    What happens when the universe throws a random curveball at one of the most precise communities on Earth? Cosmic rays high energy particles from deep space are invisible, unpredictable, and capable of interfering with electronics in ways gamers never expect. Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens explore a surprising story from the speed running community, where split-second timings and frame-perfect precision collide with the chaos of the cosmos. How did a tiny particle from a distant supernova end up altering a world record attempt? And why does this single event highlight the hidden role of chance, physics, and electronics in competitive gaming? From the science of cosmic rays to their real world impact on gaming hardware, this episode uncovers the strange intersection of the cosmos, human skill, and digital records, revealing how even the universe can play a part in our most meticulously measured achievements. Join Professor Hannah Fry and YouTube educator Michael Stevens as they uncover the strange, revealing story of the human tear: why we cry, what our tears communicate, and how this uniquely human response shapes the way we connect.-------------------For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ.-------------------Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠-------------------Video Editor: Oliver OakleyVideo & Social: Bex TyrrellAssistant Producer: Imee MarriottProducer: Becki HillsSenior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-CarterHead Of Digital: Samuel OakleyExec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    36 min