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The Life Scientific

The Life Scientific is a BBC Radio 4 science programme, presented by Jim Al-Khalili, in which each episode is dedicated to the biography and work of a living scientist.[1][2][3][4]The programme consists of an interview between Al-Khalili and the featured scientist, with others contributing anecdotes.[4]

The Life Scientific
Running time30 minutes
Home stationBBC Radio 4
Hosted byJim Al-Khalili
Written byJim Al-Khalili
Original release11 October 2011 (2011-10-11)
No. of episodes281 (As of 28 March 2023)
WebsiteThe Life Scientific at BBC Online

It is broadcast on Tuesday mornings in the UK,[4] and is available online and via BBC Sounds, as is an archive of past episodes.[5] There have been over 200 episodes since the first, an interview with Sir Paul Nurse 12 years ago.[6] In October 2021 the programme reached its 10-year anniversary with discussion between Ottoline Leyser, Paul Nurse, Christopher Jackson and Sue Black about what makes a scientist a scientist.[7]

Guests

Guests have included:[8]

NumberNameDateTopicProgramme page
1Paul Nurse11 October 2011Biology, winning the Nobel Prize and being President of the Royal Society[6]
2Steven Pinker18 October 2011Science writing and cognitive psychology[9]
3Jocelyn Bell Burnell25 October 2011Astrophyics and winning the Nobel Prize[10]
4Michael Marmot1 November 2011How stress kills[11]
5Colin Blakemore8 November 2011Neuroscience[12]
6Molly Stevens15 November 2011Growing human bones in a test tube[13]
7Nicola Clayton22 November 2011The intelligence of birds[14]
8John Sulston29 November 2011Biology[15]
9Uta Frith6 December 2011Changing how we view brain disorders[16]
10Tim Hunt13 December 2011Molecular biology and winning the Nobel Prize[17]
11Robert Winston20 December 2011IVF, the House of Lords and scientists' ethical responsibility[18]
12Colin Pillinger27 December 2011Life on Mars[19]
13Robin Murray7 February 2012The cause of schizophrenia[20]
14Chris Stringer14 February 2012Paleoanthropology and who our ancestors were[21]
15Tony Ryan21 February 2012The future of nanotechnology[22]
16Iain Chalmers28 February 2012Health services[23]
17Martin Rees6 March 2012The multiverse[24]
18John Lawton13 March 2012Ecology[25]
19Tejinder Virdee20 March 2012The search for the Higgs boson[26]
20Angela Gallop27 March 2012Forensic science[27]
21James Lovelock8 May 2012The Gaia hypothesis, microwave ovens[28]
22Frances Ashcroft15 May 2012The link between blood sugar and insulin[29]
23Lloyd Peck22 May 2012Giant sea spiders[30]
24Barbara Sahakian29 May 2012Neurotransmitters[31]
25Bob May5 June 2012Public trust[32]
26John Pickett12 June 2012GM wheat[33]
27Steve Jones7 August 2012Snail studies[34]
28Pat Wolseley14 August 2012Her obsession with lichen[35]
29Martin Siegert21 August 2012Under the Antarctic ice[36]
30Ann Dowling28 August 2012Silent aircraft[37]
31Richard Dawkins4 September 2012Being a biologist and author[38]
32Andrea Sella11 September 2012Why my chemistry demonstrations are filling theatres[39]
33David Nutt18 September 2012Research into drugs and the brain[40]
34Sunetra Gupta25 September 2012Being a scientist and novelist[41]
35Mark Walport2 October 2012Being Government Chief Scientific Advisor[42]
36Hugh Montgomery9 October 2012The gene for fitness[43]
37Monica Grady16 October 2012Life on Mars[44]
38Jared Diamond4 December 2012Gall bladders, global history and the birds of Papua New Guinea[45]
39John Gurdon18 December 2012Cloning a frog decades before Dolly the Sheep[46]
40Amoret Whitaker8 January 2013Insects and their role in helping solve crimes[47]
41Robert Mair15 January 2013Tunnelling under Big Ben, Crossrail and engineering for the future[48]
42Annette Karmiloff-Smith22 January 2013Should babies under two watch TV?[49]
43Noel Sharkey29 January 2013Robotics and psychology[50]
44Valerie Beral5 February 2013Breast cancer[51]
45Alan Watson19 February 2013His quest to discover the source of cosmic rays[52]
46Sue Ion26 February 2013Working in the nuclear industry[53]
47Nancy Rothwell7 May 2013Neuroscience[54]
48Sanjeev Gupta14 May 2013What links the English Channel to valleys on Mars?[55]
49John Krebs21 May 2013Birds, foot and mouth disease and badgers[56]
50Linda Partridge28 May 2013The science of longevity[57]
51Athene Donald4 June 2013The physics behind everyday stuff[58]
52Ewan Birney11 June 2013Deciphering the human genome and junk DNA[59]
53David Spiegelhalter18 June 2013Risk and uncertainty[60]
54Elizabeth Stokoe25 June 2013Studying real-life conversations[61]
55Russell Foster20 August 2013Circadian rhythms and jet lag[62]
56Joanna Haigh27 August 2013Climate[63]
57Mark Lythgoe3 September 2013Medical imaging and mountain climbing[64]
58Michael Benton10 September 2013Digging up dinosaurs in remote places[65]
59Ian Stewart17 September 2013Sci-fi and popularising maths[66]
60Sophie Scott24 September 2013The science of laughter[67]
61Jenny Graves1 October 2013Kangaroos and the death of the Y chromosome[68]
62Wendy Hall8 October 2013The development of the web[69]
63Peter Higgs18 February 2014The real story of the Higgs boson[70]
64Sue Black25 February 2014Identifying human bodies[71]
65Vikram Patel4 March 2014Global mental health[72]
66Mark Miodownik11 March 2014Nuclear weapons, 3D printers and smart materials[73]
67Anne Glover18 March 2014Glow-in-the-dark bacteria and advising ministers[74]
68Alf Adams25 March 2014His small idea that changed the world (the strained-layer quantum-well laser)[75]
69Veronica van Heyningen1 April 2014The gene that builds the eye[76]
70Julia Slingo8 April 2014Being chief scientist at the Met Office[77]
71Michael Rutter3 June 2014Child psychiatry[78]
72Janet Hemingway10 June 2014Malaria and the coming of insecticide resistance[79]
73Chris Lintott17 June 2014Crowd sourced astronomy and Galaxy Zoo[80]
74Sandra Knapp24 June 2014Her adventures collecting plants in South America[81]
75Christopher Llewellyn Smith1 July 2014Nuclear fusion[82]
76Zoe Shipton8 July 2014Fracking[83]
77Jeremy Farrar15 July 2014Fighting viruses[84]
78Carol Robinson22 July 2014Chemistry[85]
79Brian Cox23 September 2014Quantum mechanics[86]
80Jackie Akhavan30 September 2014Explosives[87]
81Elspeth Garman7 October 2014Crystallography[88]
82Chris Toumazou14 October 2014Inventing medical devices[89]
83Margaret Boden21 October 2014Artificial intelligence[90]
84Richard Fortey28 October 2014Fossils[91]
85Sally Davies4 November 2014Public health[92]
86Dave Goulson11 November 2014Bees[93]
87John O'Keefe10 March 2015Memory[94]
88Matt Taylor17 March 2015The Rosetta space mission[95]
89Sarah-Jayne Blakemore24 March 2015Teenage brains[96]
90Jane Francis31 March 2015Antarctica[97]
91Steve Shirley7 April 2015Computer coding[98]
92Nigel Shadbolt14 April 2015The World Wide Web[99]
93Susan Jebb21 April 2015Nutrition[100]
94Anil Seth16 June 2015Consciousness[101]
95Kate Jones23 June 2015Bats and biodiversity[102]
96Henry Marsh30 June 2015Brain surgery[103]
97Dorothy Bishop7 July 2015Language disorders[104]
98Carlos Frenk14 July 2015Dark matter[105]
99Niamh Nic Daéid21 July 2015Forensic science[106]
100E. O. Wilson28 July 2015Ants and evolution[107]
101Geoff Palmer4 August 2015Brewing[108]
102Carol Black6 October 2015Public health[109]
103Danielle George13 October 2015Electronics[110]
104Robert Plomin20 October 2015The genetics of intelligence[111]
105Patrick Vallance3 November 2015Pharmaceuticals[112]
106Kathy Willis10 November 2015Botany[113]
107Paul Younger17 November 2015Energy for the future[114]
108Peter Piot9 February 2016Tackling ebola and HIV[115]
109Naomi Climer16 February 2016Engineering[116]
110Nick Lane23 February 2016The origin of life on earth[117]
111George Davey Smith1 March 2016Health inequalities[118]
112Venki Ramakrishnan8 March 2016Ribosomes[119]
113Helen Sharman15 March 2016Being an astronaut[120]
114Carolyn Roberts22 March 2016Flood control[121]
115Lawrence Krauss31 May 2016Dark energy[122]
116Marcus du Sautoy7 June 2016Mathematics[123]
117Sheila Rowan14 June 2016Gravitational waves[124]
118Nick Davies21 June 2016Cuckoos[125]
119Hazel Rymer28 June 2016Volcanoes[126]
120Faraneh Vargha-Khadem5 July 2016Memory[127]
121Georgina Mace12 July 2016Threatened species[128]
122Trevor Cox19 July 2016Sound[129]
123Ian Wilmut4 October 2016Dolly the Sheep[130]
124Frans de Waal11 October 2016Chimpanzees[131]
125Lynne Boddy15 November 2016Fungi[132]
126Roger Penrose22 November 2016Black holes, quantum mechanics, consciousness[133]
127Julia Higgins29 November 2016Polymers[134]
128Richard Morris6 December 2016How we know where we are[135]
129Neil deGrasse Tyson20 December 2016Pluto[136]
130Michele Dougherty10 January 2017Saturn[137]
131Jan Zalasiewicz17 January 2017The Age of Man[138]
132Sadaf Farooqi24 January 2017What makes us fat[139]
133Alison Smith31 January 2017Algae[140]
134Sean Carroll7 February 2017How time and space began[141]
135Simon Wessely14 February 2017Unexplained medical syndromes[142]
136Alan Winfield21 February 2017Robot ethics[143]
137Alison Woollard28 February 2017What she has learnt from mutant worms[144]
138Daniel Dennett4 April 2017The evolution of the human brain[145]
139Nick Fraser11 April 2017Triassic reptiles[146]
140Liz Sockett18 April 2017Friendly killer bacteria[147]
141Graham MacGregor25 April 2017Tackling the demons in our diet[148]
142Ann Clarke2 May 2017The Frozen Ark[149]
143Fay Dowker9 May 2017A new theory of space-time[150]
144Ottoline Leyser16 May 2017How plants decide what to do[151]
145Tim O'Brien23 May 2017Transient stars and science and music festivals[152]
146Tamsin Mather30 May 2017Volcanology[153]
147Jennifer Doudna19 September 2017Gene editing[154]
148Tracey Rogers26 September 2017Leopard seals and Antarctica[155]
149Lucie Green3 October 2017The Sun[156]
150Steven Cowley10 October 2017Nuclear Fusion[157]
151Tim Birkhead17 October 2017Bird promiscuity[158]
152Ellen Stofan24 October 2017Being NASA Chief Scientist[159]
153Adrian Thomas31 October 2017The mechanics of flight[160]
154Eben Upton16 January 2018Raspberry Pi[161]
155Eugenia Cheng23 January 2018The mathematics of mathematics[162]
156Wendy Barclay30 January 2018The flu virus[163]
157Richard Henderson13 February 2018The molecules of life[164]
158John Burn20 February 2018The genetics of cancer[165]
159Ailie MacAdam27 February 2018The biggest construction project in Europe[166]
160Clare Grey6 March 2018Big battery challenge[167]
161Steve Reicher13 March 2018Psychology of crowds[168]
162Callum Roberts1 May 2018Marine conservation[169]
163Carlo Rovelli8 May 2018Why time is not what it seems[170]
164Caroline Dean15 May 2018Genetic secrets of flowering[171]
165Catherine Hobaiter22 May 2018Communication in apes[172]
166John Taylor29 May 2018Being an inventor[173]
167Sheena Cruickshank5 June 2018The wonders of the human immune system[174]
168Frank Close12 June 2018Particle physics[175]
169Rachel Mills19 June 2018Exploring the sea floor[176]
170Jacqueline McGlade23 October 2018Monitoring the environment from space[177]
171Noel Fitzpatrick30 October 2018Becoming a supervet[178]
172Suzanne O'Sullivan6 November 2018Detective of the mind[179]
173Michael Stratton13 November 2018Cancer genes[180]
174Caroline Hargrove20 November 2018Formula One[181]
175Alastair Hay27 November 2018Banning chemical weapons[182]
176Maggie Aderin-Pocock4 December 2018Sky at Night presenter[183]
177Clive Oppenheimer11 December 2018Volcanic offerings of our angry earth[184]
178Jim Al-Khalili5 February 2019HIS life scientific: Interviewed by Adam Rutherford
[185]
179Sue Black12 February 2019Women in Technology[186]
180Gregory Winter19 February 20192018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry[187]
181Gwen Adshead26 February 2019The minds of violent offenders[188]
182Donna Strickland5 March 20192018 Nobel Prize in Physics[189]
183Ken Gabriel12 March 2019Why your Smartphone is Smart[190]
184Corinne Le Quéré19 March 2019Global carbon cycle[191]
185Paul Davies26 March 2019Origin of life and the evolution of cancer[192]
186Irene Tracey2 April 2019Pain in the brain[192]
187Richard Peto9 April 2019Why smoking kills but quitting saves lives[193]
188Erica McAlister16 April 2019The beauty of flies[194]
189Richard Thompson25 June 2019Plastic pollution[195]
190Ewine van Dishoeck2 July 2019Cosmic chemistry[196]
191Turi King9 July 2019Ancient DNA[197]
192Katherine Joy16 July 2019Lunar rock[198]
193Robin Dunbar23 July 2019Why we have friends[199]
194Jonathan Ball30 July 2019Arms race against viruses[200]
195Richard Wiseman1 October 2019Lying, luck and the paranormal[201]
196Anne Magurran8 October 2019How to measure biodiversity[202]
197Martha Clokie15 October 2019The viruses that could improve our health[203]
198Adrian Owen22 October 2019Scanning for awareness in the injured brain[204]
199Saiful Islam29 October 2019Materials to power the 21st century[205]
200Demis Hassabis5 November 2019Artificial intelligence[206]
201Elizabeth Fisher12 November 2019Chromosomes in mice and men[207]
202Patricia Wiltshire7 January 2020How pollen can solve crimes[208]
203Susannah Maidment14 January 2020Stegosaurs[209]
204Peter Fonagy28 January 2020A revolution in mental health care[210]
205Peter Ratcliffe4 February 20202019 Nobel Prize winner for Physiology or Medicine[211]
206Polina Bayvel11 February 2020Optical communications[212]
207Myles Allen18 February 2020Understanding climate change[213]
208Anya Hurlbert25 February 2020Seeing colour[214]
209Matthew Cobb3 March 2020How we detect smells[215]
210Brian Greene28 April 2020How the universe is made of string[216]
211Jim McDonald5 May 2020Power networks[217]
212Debbie Pain12 May 2020Conserving globally threatened bird species[218]
213Frank Kelly10 March 2021Air pollution[219]
214Liz Seward26 May 2020Space science[220]
215Jane Goodall2 June 2020Life with chimpanzees in the Gombe[221]
216Emma Bunce9 June 2020Space science - gas giants of the outer solar system[222]
217Clifford Stott16 June 2020Riot prevention[223]
218Alice Roberts4 August 2020Bones[224]
219Andy Fabian11 August 2020Black holes[225]
220Dale Sanders18 August 2020Feeding the world[226]
221Heather Koldewey25 August 2020Marine conservation[227]
222Francesca Happé1 September 2020Autism[228]
223Steve Haake8 September 2020Technology, sport and health[229]
224Sarah Gilbert15 September 2020Developing a vaccine for Covid-19[230]
225Neil Ferguson22 September 2020Modelling Covid-19[231]
226Chris Jackson12 January 2021Sustainable geology[232]
227Catherine Noakes19 January 2021Making buildings Covid-safe[233]
228Giles Yeo26 January 2021How our genes can make us fat[234]
229Anne Johnson2 February 2021The importance of public health[235]
230Jane Hurst16 February 2021The secret life of mice[236]
231Richard Bentall23 February 2021The causes of mental ill health[237]
232Sarah Bridle2 March 2021The carbon footprint of food[238]
233Mark Spencer9 March 2021How plants solve crimes[239]
234Theresa Marteau13 April 2021How to change behaviour[240]
235Martin Sweeting20 April 2021Microsatellites in space[241]
236Jane Clarke27 April 2021Protein Folding[242]
237Peter Goadsby4 May 2021Migraine[243]
238Helen Scales11 May 2021Marine conservation[244]
239Nira Chamberlain18 May 2021How mathematics can solve real-world problems[245]
240Mike Tipton25 May 2021How our bodies respond to extreme conditions[246]
241Tamsin Edwards1 June 2021Uncertainty in climate science[247]
242Hannah Fry7 September 2021The power and perils of big data[248]
243David Eagleman14 September 2021Why reality is an illusion[249]
244Brenda Boardman21 September 2021Making our homes energy efficient[250]
245Derk-Jan Dijk28 September 2021The importance of sleep[251]
246Hannah Cloke5 October 2021Predicting floods[252]
247Jim Al-Khalili12 October 2021The Life Scientific at 10: What makes a scientist? Talking with Ottoline Leyser, Paul Nurse, Christopher Jackson and Sue Black.[7]
248Tim Spector19 October 2021Personalised diets for long term health[253]
249Tim Clutton-Brock23 October 2021Meerkats, red deer and evolution[254]
250Sharon Peacock2 November 2021Hunting pandemic variants of concern[255]
251Julia Shaw22 February 2022Memories that aren't true[256]
252Shankar Balasubramanian1 March 2022Decoding DNA[257]
253Stephen L. Brusatte8 March 2022The fall of dinosaurs and the rise of mammals[258]
254Ben Garrod22 March 2022Conservation and extinction[259]
255Chi Onwurah24 May 2022Why engineering is a caring profession[260]
256Pete Smith31 May 2022Why soil matters[261]
257Jacinta Tan7 June 2022Anorexia nervosa and the mind[262]
258Adam Hart14 June 2022Ants, bees and insect burgers[263]
259Vlatko Vedral21 June 2022The universe as quantum information[264]
260Martin Landray28 June 2022Saving over a million lives[265]
261Frances Arnold6 September 2022From taxi driver to Nobel Prize[266]
262Judith Bunbury13 September 2022The shifting River Nile in the time of the Pharaohs[267]
263Emily A. Holmes20 September 2022How to treat trauma[268]
264Daphne Koller27 September 2022Can computers discover new medicines?[269]
265Tim Lamont4 October 2022The sounds of coral reefs[270]
266Leon Barron11 October 2022Why study sewage?[271]
267Bambos Kyriacou18 October 2022A passion for fruit flies[272]
268Chris Elliott10 January 2023Fighting food fraud[273]
269Pamela Shaw17 January 2023Research battle against motor neurone disease[274]
270Rebecca Kilner24 January 2023Beetle behaviours and evolution[275]
271Clifford V. Johnson31 January 2023Making sense of black holes and movie plots[276]
272Adrian Smith7 February 2023The power of Bayesian statistics[277]
273Haley Gomez21 February 2023Cosmic dust[278]
274Danny Altmann28 February 2023How T cells fight disease[279]
275Julia King7 March 2023Manipulating metals and decarbonising transport[280]
276Marie Johnston14 March 2023Health psychology and the power of behavioural shifts[281]
277James A. Jackson21 March 2023Understanding earthquakes and building resilience[282]
278Julie Williams28 March 2023Alzheimer's disease[283]
279Andre Geim23 May 2023Levitating frogs, graphene and 2D materials[284]
280Gillian Reid30 May 2023Making chemistry count[285]
281Bruce Malamud6 June 2023Modelling risk for natural hazards[286]
282Anne-Marie Imafidon13 June 2023Fighting for diversity and equality in science[287]
283Deborah Greaves8 August 2023Wave power and offshore renewable energy[288]
284Gideon Henderson16 August 2023Climate 'clocks' and dating ice ages[289]
285Chris Barratt (scientist)23 August 2023Head-banging sperm and a future male contraceptive pill[290]
286Colin Humphreys29 August 2023Electron microscopes, and the thinnest material in the world[291]
286Bahija Jallal5 September 2023Biotech revolution in cancer therapies[292]
287Paul Murdin12 September 2023The first ever identification of a black hole[293]
288Alexandre Antonelli19 September 2023Learning from nature's biodiversity to adapt to climate change[294]
289Edward Witten31 October 2023M-Theory, the leading contender for a 'theory of everything'[295]
290Sarah Blaffer Hrdy7 November 2023Human evolution and parenthood[296]
291Sarah Harper14 November 2023How population change is remodelling societies.[297]
292Michael Berry21 November 2023Phenomena in physics' borderlands[298]
293Cathie Sudlow28 November 2023Data in healthcare[299]
294Harshad Bhadeshia5 December 2023Choreography of metals[300]
295Mercedes Maroto-Valer12 December 2023Making carbon dioxide useful[301]
296Michael Wooldridge19 December 2023AI and sentient robots[302]
297Jonathan Van-Tam12 March 2024Covid communication and the power of football analogies[303]
298Charles Godfray19 March 2024Parasitic wasps and the race to feed nine billion people[304]
299Sheila Willis26 March 2024Using science to help solve crime[305]
300Nick Longrich2 April 2024Discovering new dinosaurs from overlooked bones[306]
301Fiona Rayment9 April 2024Applications of nuclear for net zero and beyond[307]
302Hannah Critchlow16 April 2024The connected brain[308]
303Mike Edmunds23 April 2024The chemical make-up of galaxies and decoding the Antikythera Mechanism[309]
304Conny Aerts24 June 2024Star vibrations and following your dreams[310]

References

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