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Science & Medicine

eLife

Dr Chris Smith

The eLife Podcast, from eLife, the researcher-led, open access digital publication for outstanding research in life science and biomedicine.

Episodes

20 of 104 episodes

Individuality, and non-monogamy boosts chickadee cognition

In this episode, the origins of our individuality, how synaesthetes' pupil size changes just by thinking of a colour, female chickadees expa...

00:39:51Sep 21, 2026

Gorilla sperm, and subversive gambling machines

This time, macho male gorillas trade stature for sperm count, how gambling machines use sound and light to take the sting out of losing, whe...

00:33:34Jul 27, 2026

Genetic cancer sensors, and why crabs walk sideways

This month, a genetic sensor to self-destruct cancer cells, what fish with a gene mutation are revealing about brain blood vessel disease, e...

00:37:33May 21, 2026

Moths hear plants, and what fingerprints do for touch

In this episode, how kangaroos alter their postures to store more energy in their Achilles tendons and boost movement efficiency, the moths...

00:37:42Feb 28, 2026

Nocebos, and why the eyes of some species stay shut at birth

This month, compelling evidence for why some species keep their eyes closed for sometimes several weeks after birth, scientists prove that t...

00:40:06Nov 30, 2025

Ants doing gene therapy, and tadpole microbiomes

This month, as the eLife Podcast hits its century, we hear how getting frog dads to cross-foster tadpoles has revealed the way in which some...

00:43:15Sep 8, 2025

Finland's giant virus, and monkeys take care of their teeth

In the eLife podcast, a university compost heap has turned up Finland's first documented "giant virus". Also, why monkeys de-sand their supp...

00:38:48Jun 19, 2025

Frog toxicity, and what a year's schooling does to the brain

What is the impact of an extra year at school on the brain? Also, how poison dart frogs come by their toxins, using movies to track the deve...

00:35:28Apr 24, 2025

Hollywood helps brain scientists probe thoughts

This month, how films are helping neuroscientists link brain activity patterns to specific thought processes, a breakthrough in managing opi...

00:40:51Feb 26, 2025

Evolving flu, and the desert decomposition conundrum

Predicting how influenza viruses will evolve, how deserts decompose matter despite the dry, what worms are revealing about a gene linked to...

00:30:59Dec 20, 2024

Cancer mood control, and birth products blocking pain

This month, signs that cancers communicate with the brain to alter mood, why antibodies are unreliable in research, evidence that social tra...

00:33:06Nov 1, 2024

Vampire bacteria, "hangry" males, and ants using moonlight

This month, Chris Smith hears how blood-thirsty bacteria sniff out wounds to trigger infections, how ants navigate at night, how male and fe...

00:30:50Sep 10, 2024

How termites build their nests, and drivers of new diseases

This month, how human encroachment and conflict on nature drives emerging diseases, the role of "stigmergy" in guiding the nest-building fea...

00:34:28Jun 18, 2024

Hibernation, Ketamine and Aphantasia

This month, how animals hibernate and evidence that muscle myosin makes its own heat in the cold, brain scans to reveal how ketamine relieve...

00:37:53Apr 19, 2024

Apes reveal language origins, and being dyslexic in science

This month we hear what orangutans can tell us about the origins of human speech, we ask if science making life even harder for dyslexics, w...

00:36:04Mar 8, 2024

Bees can't taste pesticides, and how albatrosses get aloft

In the eLife Podcast this month, signs that bees are oblivious to pesticides in nectar, sea anemone stinging strategies, a new means of cell...

00:34:46Nov 30, 2023

Cold haemoglobin, and teaching old dogs new ethics

This month, how an extinct marine mammal made its haemoglobin work in the cold, how does learning compassion change the shape of the human b...

00:35:35Sep 29, 2023

How many friends for best brain health?

This month join host Dr Chris Smith to hear how a nuclear power station provides the opportunity to test theories of the effects of global w...

00:31:02Jul 31, 2023

Social media and febrile fish

This month we look at a method to raise the bar on the quality and trustworthiness of information shared over social media networks, how fis...

00:36:50Jun 6, 2023

Ancient Genes and Trust in New Tech

This month, the genetic variants inherited from millions of years back that protect from disease but can cause illnesses; also, signs that w...

00:39:18Apr 11, 2023