Instant Genius
Instant Genius
Episodes
Instant Genius
Best Episodes of Instant Genius
Mark All
As the UK builds more nuclear reactors, there is an increasing pressure to find somewhere to put the waste. But what actually is nuclear waste? Does it actually look like a bright green sludge? Where does currently go? To answer these questions
The idea of the multiverse, a hypothetical group of coexisting multiple universes, has long been a staple of science fiction books and movies but the theory is actually grounded in bona fide science. It has been gathering momentum amongst cosmo
Our bodies have in-built clocks that allow us to sync our daily activities to a roughly 24-hour cycle. This determines everything from our sleep patterns to our appetites and even dictates the time of day we are most likely to perform at our be
Since the discovery of the double helix by Francis Crick, James Watson and Rosalind Franklin in the 1950s, human knowledge of DNA and genetics has grown almost immeasurably.We now know that genes affect every aspect of our lives, from our app
Do you find it hard to get out of bed first thing in the morning? Maybe you feel your energy levels starting to wane in the afternoon? Or perhaps you struggle to fall asleep in the first place?Why not tune into the Instant Genius How to Hack
We all love our dogs and want to do what’s best for them but, unfortunately, they aren’t able to talk to us to let us know when something isn’t going well for them. So how can we make sure we’re doing our best to keep them safe and happy?In t
If you’re anything like Kelly and Zach Weinersmith, the idea of a mass human migration to space is exciting but, well, a little flawed. As they say in their new book, A City on Mars: “An Earth with climate change and nuclear war and, like, zomb
For a relatively small country, England is home to an astonishing variety of habitats. From the low-lying grasses, gorse and heather that make up the heathland to the many rivers that make their way across our countryside and cities, each lands
Did you know that according to some psychologists we have two minds, not one? The first of these is our regular, analytical mind – the part of us that processes language and is home to our ego – and the second is a more primitive, animal mind t
A state of absolute focus, able to complete a single task or activity effortlessly, flow states are desirable. But how can you achieve one and can they be turned on and off? We spoke to Julia Christensen, author of the new book The Pathway to F
Thanks to the advent of the smartphone, we now have in our pockets more computing power than NASA needed to put human beings on the Moon. With it comes access to vast amounts of information, both good and bad, and the ability to communicate lik
The Y chromosome is responsible for making people male, but according to recent research, we could see it disappear in the future. So what will happen when the Y chromosome is gone? We spoke to Jenny Graves, a geneticist at La Trobe University
Often, we’ll hear it said that we live in an uncertain world. Upon hearing this, most of us respond, well of course we do. But what does the term uncertainty actually mean when analysed under a scientific lens and how can we think about it more
Free will, as defined by the Encyclopedia Britannica, is the “supposed power or capacity of humans to make decisions or perform actions independently of any prior event or state of the universe”.In a previous episode, neuroscientist Kevin Mit
Being a positive person can be good for your health and social relationships. But can you take it too far? In this episode, we talk to psychologist Dr Linda Blair about what ‘toxic positivity’ is and why it’s bad, how to spot it, and how to sto
Thanks to the years and years spent poring over textbooks to study the inner workings of the brain, the high level of manual dexterity required to perform operations and the mental pressures that come with taking patients’ lives in your hands,
Do you ever feel a bit stressed and think that taking a walk in the woods is just the thing to calm your mind? Maybe you take a moment to listen to the birdsong around you to lift your mood during your lunch hour. Or maybe you feel a deep sensa
In his book, Into The Clear Blue Sky, Rob Jackson asks an important question, can we really restore the Earth’s atmosphere within our lifetime? He talks us through how this could be possible through technology and genuine effort from civilisati
New, so-called ‘superfoods’ frequently find their own moment in the spotlight. But what if there was one type of food that really did help with everything?Well, microbiome scientist, dietician and ex-chef Dr Emily Leeming thinks that the magic
Animals can do some pretty cool things, but the world is full of bizarre adaptations you’ve probably never heard of or not given much thought to. In this episode, we speak to vet and TV presenter Dr Jess French, whose new book The Animal Body e
These days we’re constantly bombarded with information, be it from television, social media, friends and family or simply from the world around us. But how do we interpret this information, what role do our beliefs play and how can we harness t
Right now, in labs and lecture halls all around the world, there’s a war raging. Not a physical war of fists and gunfire, but a war of ideas, and of research and of fact.The battle ground is this: Could it be that we animals are not alone in
The future can be scary, but what if there was a way for us to understand it a little better? Tom Chivers believes there is. His new book Everything Is Predictable explains how Bayes Theorem, a statistical model, can explain the world around us
It is easy to feel like we know celebrities, and even love them. But these people don’t know who we are, so is it healthy? We spoke to Karen Shackleford, a media psychologist to better understand the one-sided world of parasocial relationships.
Ray Kurzweil has made many accurate predictions about AI in the past. Having worked in the area of AI research for 61 years, he is one of the longest standing experts in the field. Now, he’s back with a new book titled The Singularity Is Nearer
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