Episodi

  • Breakthroughs in Cancer Research

    Breakthroughs in Cancer Research
    Nov 21 2025


    Cancer Research UK is funding the breakthroughs that matter. Did you know that over the past 50 years, their work has helped double cancer survival in the UK? From cancer vaccines to innovative diagnostic tools and more, the charity believes its researchers are on the cusp of advances that change how we think about cancer. In this bonus episode, Tom hears from leading research scientist, Professor Peter Sasieni to discuss the remarkable recent breakthroughs Cancer Research UK has achieved supporting the HPV vaccine, and the difference this is making to cervical cancer rates in Britain. And we also hear from Dr Sam Godfrey on some of the new developments and how scientists are discovering more about cancer and its prevention, detection and treatment.


    This episode was made in partnership with Cancer Research UK.


    Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247).


    To learn more about Cancer Research UK's breakthroughs click here


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    11 min
  • Time-lords and the extra seconds

    Time-lords and the extra seconds
    Aug 11 2025

    The start of the New Year in 2017 began in the usual way, with a countdown. But what happens when that countdown is eleven seconds rather than ten? In this final episode of the first series, Tom Whipple explores the evolution of time measurement, the complications a leap second can cause, and the ongoing debate among international 'time lords’ about what's to be done about it.


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    12 min
  • The Tree of Life

    The Tree of Life
    Aug 4 2025
    In this episode of Making Science, Tom Whipple tells the story of physician and alchemist Johannes Baptist van Helmont. In the 17th-century Van Helmont believed he had created the Philosopher's Stone, a substance that could turn base metals into gold. Whilst this might have been a pipe dream his work indirectly paved the way for a monumental scientific discovery - photosynthesis.

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    14 min
  • Glow in the dark cocktails and radioactive health drinks

    Glow in the dark cocktails and radioactive health drinks
    Jul 28 2025

    The Sunshine Dinner of 1904 in New York was known for its glow-in-the-dark theme, featuring illuminated decorations, paint and of course, drinks. But what made these cocktails glow? It turned out to be none other than radium. In this episode of Making Science, Tom Whipple goes back to a time when radioactive products touted alluring health benefits. What they didn’t know then, was that the substance was unstable and would prove deadly.


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    9 min
  • The kilogram that lost its weight

    The kilogram that lost its weight
    Jul 21 2025
    For over a century, the kilogram was defined by a single, shiny lump of metal locked in a vault near Paris. But what happens when your definition of mass starts...losing mass? In this episode, Tom Whipple, Science Editor at The Times, unpacks the surprisingly dramatic story of the kilo - from the French Revolution’s quest for order, to a quantum reimagining of what “weight” really means. Enter the kibble balance: a machine so precise it can weigh light itself. Sort of.

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    11 min
  • How do you hide a lump of gold in plain sight?

    How do you hide a lump of gold in plain sight?
    Jul 14 2025
    It's April in 1940. The Nazis are occupying Copenhagen. As they march through the streets, a stark realisation hits the physicist Niels Bohr. He has hours - maybe less - to make two Nobel Prize medals disappear completely. What might a substance named Aqua Regia and a humble beaker do conceal two huge lumps of gold? And bring it back again...a decade later.

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    9 min
  • How far can bull frogs jump? (And why it matters!)

    How far can bull frogs jump? (And why it matters!)
    Jul 7 2025
    The story of a frog who broke records and confounded science. Professor Tom Roberts from Brown University spent his whole career studying the biomechanics of frog jumping to understand how muscles work. He and other scientists had determined the average bullfrog's jump to be just over 1 meter. Very impressive, until, that is, they met 'Rosie the Ribeter'. This bull frog had achieved a 2.2 meter jump at a local competition. But how? Professor Roberts was perplexed when he could repeatedly failed to replicate these results in the lab. Why was Rosie able to break records in a contest but not in the research room?

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    12 min
  • Are friars electric?

    Are friars electric?
    Jul 1 2025

    In 1746, Antoine Nolie conducted an experiment with 200 monks to determine the speed of an electric current - by making the monks stand in a circle holding brass poles and connecting them to a large battery. What could possibly go wrong? And what would this experiment reveal about the way electrons flow?


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    9 min