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Science

Naturebang

by BBC Radio 4

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Latest episodes

  • Plants and the Mystery of Consciousness

    May 8, 2026 · 14 min

    The mystery of consciousness has been one of the most unsolvable problems across neuroscience, philosophy, and psychology. How can a lump of matter come to be aware of itself? Is consciousness real, or an illusion? And even if I'm pretty…

  • African Wild Dogs and Democracy

    May 7, 2026 · 14 min

    For African Wild Dogs in the Okovango Delta, living with the pack has its ups and downs. You get help with the hunting, and there's safety in numbers, but there's also a lot of compromise. When the pack leaves, you leave, even if you were…

  • Rats, Risk and Reward

    May 6, 2026 · 14 min

    Jackpot! Lights are flashing, bells are ringing, and you collect your big reward. No, this isn't Vegas, but it might as well be. We're in a specially designed casino for rats, where they gamble in pursuit of the Big Win: delicious sugar…

  • Riverbeds and the Sedimentation of Ideas

    May 5, 2026 · 14 min

    What if all the ideas and values surrounding our lives are like pieces of sediment in a river? Some never quite settle and get swept away, lost to the currents of time. But some take hold, solidify, become part of the cultural bedrock that…

  • Giant Anteaters and Power Posing

    May 4, 2026 · 14 min

    Becky Ripley and Emily Knight look to the animal world to question why we "power pose". Anteaters are masters of it. When feeling threatened, they rear up on their hind legs and extend their arms out wide to show off their huge claws. It…

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  • Grooming Apes and the Origins of Kissing

    August 29, 2025 · 15 min

    Becky Ripley and Emily Knight discover the hairy history of the human kiss. Where did it come from? Why do we like doing it? And how is it good for us? Featuring Dr Adriano Lameira, primatologist turned evolutionary psychologist from the…

  • Photosynthetic Clams and the Problem of Power

    August 28, 2025 · 14 min

    How do we extract the maximum amount of power from the sun? Becky Ripley and Emily Knight enlist the help of a giant, thousand-year old clam. And end up in the depths of space... Featuring Professor Alison Sweeney at Yale University, and…

  • Running Wild and the Science of Endurance

    August 27, 2025 · 15 min

    Why do animals move the way they do? And why do we humans love to run? Becky Ripley and Emily Knight enlist dogs, horses, armadillos, and some uncooperative rabbits to find out. Featuring Professor Lewis Halsey from the University of…

  • Red Deer and Authority of Voice

    August 26, 2025 · 14 min

    Do lower voices demand more power? Do we take them more seriously? And is this a bias that needs to be challenged more in today’s world? Becky Ripley and Emily Knight compare the bellowing roars of red deer stags to dig deeper into the…

  • Magpies and Altruism

    August 25, 2025 · 15 min

    Why do we help each other out? Even when it gets us nothing in return? Becky Ripley and Emily Knight explore the existence of altruism, with the help of some mischievous magpies. Featuring Professor Dominique Potvin from the University of…

  • Underground Fungi and the Market Economy

    August 2, 2024 · 15 min

    Becky Ripley and Emily Knight dig deep into the underground web of plant roots and mycorrhizal fungi networks. Here lies a 400 million year old market economy, founded on the trading of resources. Nutrients are traded for carbon. Carbon is…

  • Crafty Cuttlefish and Theory of Mind

    August 1, 2024 · 15 min

    Becky Ripley and Emily Knight explore whether we can ever know what others know, and how we figure out if they're telling fibs. Beneath the surface of the ocean, darting around in the dappled sunlight of the reef, you can find some of…

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About the show

Becky Ripley and Emily Knight make sense of what it means to be human by looking to the natural world... Science meets storytelling with a philosophical twist.