IFLScience - The Big Questions IFLScience

Science can’t be sexist, we hear you cry, it’s methodical, rational. And yet science is carried out by humans who are often a product of the time and place they operate in, struggling to overcome intrinsic biases and outside influence.
Host Katy Evans is joined by zoologist and presenter Lucy Cooke, author of Bitch: A Revolutionary Guide to Sex, Evolution and the Female Animal, to discuss how these biases have affected – and sometimes prevented – what we know about animal biology in some truly eye-opening ways, and hopefully debunk some myths along the way. 

It’s no secret that the planet is getting warmer, but how are our bodies responding to increased exposure to extreme conditions? From record-breaking temperatures to an uptick in severe weather warnings, the consequences of the climate crisis are all around – so how is climate change impacting our health?
This is The Big Question host Rachael Funnell put to author and neuroscientist Clayton Aldern. Author of The Weight of Nature: How a Changing Climate Changes Our Minds, Brains and Bodies, Aldern is well versed in the science that backs up what we know about how extreme weather can alter the way we think, act, and feel.
You can listen to this episode and subscribe to the podcast on all your favorite podcast apps: Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, Podbean, Amazon Music, and more. A transcript of the conversation is available here.

Homo sapiens – us – are the only surviving human species. The question, and it is a big one, is why? Who were the species that came before us, or lived alongside us, and what happened to them?
Host Dr Alfredo Carpineti is joined by Professor Chris Stringer, human evolution research lead at the Natural History Museum, London, to explore the journey that we and the other human species took to end up here.

Here is a little teaser for our brand new podcast: Break It Down! Coming soon to a podcast app near you...

During the holiday season, many of us will be tucking into delicious meals which may well include a whole host of meats. But have you ever thought about going meat-free this time of year? With concerns over the impact of meat consumption on the planet, thoughts are turning to the future of the industry and how the tastes and textures that many people enjoy can be replicated in meat-free alternatives.
In a bonus holiday episode of IFLScience The Big Questions, available on all platforms, host Eleanor Higgs speaks with Daniel Dikovsky, chief technology officer at Redefine Meat, to find out how scientists and engineers are working to create plant-based, 3D-printed meat alternatives without the environmental impact.

Solar activity goes through cycles. The main one is about 11 years long and its maximum is marked by powerful eruptions of electromagnetic radiation known as solar flares, as well as releases of plasma known as coronal mass ejections. The most powerful known flare happened in 1859 and led to telegraph stations catching fire across the US, and Northern and Southern Lights becoming visible in the tropics.
Host Dr Alfredo Carpineti spoke with Dr Ryan French, astronomer at the National Solar Observatory and author of The Sun: Beginner's Guide to Our Local Star, to find out about solar flares and what would happen if a massive one took place today.