The Life Scientific Podcast
Professor Jim Al-Khalili talks to leading scientists about their life and work, finding out what inspires and motivates them and asking what their discoveries might do for us in the future
Episodes to download
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Pierre Friedlingstein on carbon鈥檚 pivotal role in climate change
Tue 11 Nov 2025
Pierre Friedlingstein on the pivotal role of carbon in predicting climate change.
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Julia Simner on tasty words and hearing colours
Tue 4 Nov 2025
Professor Julia Simner tests Jim for synaesthesia with surprising results.
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Caroline Smith on meteorites and potential ancient life on Mars
Tue 28 Oct 2025
Caroline Smith on meteorites, rocks on Mars and the potential for ancient life there.
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AP De Silva on building molecular fluorescence sensors for healthcare
Tue 21 Oct 2025
Photochemist AP De Silva on engineering molecular sensors to help revolutionise healthcare
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Peter Knight on quantum technologies
Tue 14 Oct 2025
Peter Knight on quantum computing and the strange physics of light.
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Eleanor Schofield on conserving Tudor warship the Mary Rose
Tue 7 Oct 2025
Materials scientist Eleanor Schofield on conserving a 500-year-old wooden warship.
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George Church on reimagining woolly mammoths and virus-proofing humans
Tue 30 Sep 2025
Geneticist George Church on mapping the world's DNA and a mammoth 'de-extinction' project.
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Gareth Collett on a career in bomb disposal
Tue 23 Sep 2025
Gareth Collett on explosives engineering, bomb disposal and his move from army to academia
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Sonia Gandhi on building model brains to tackle Parkinson鈥檚 disease
Tue 16 Sep 2025
Sonia Gandhi on trying to tackle the fastest-growing neurological condition in the world.
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Mark O'Shea on close encounters with venomous snakes
Tue 9 Sep 2025
Mark O'Shea on how a boyhood interest in snakes paved the way for a globe-trotting career
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Kevin Fong on medical planning for Mars and Earth-based emergencies
Tue 17 Jun 2025
Kevin Fong on pestering Nasa, medical planning for Mars and handling major A&E incidents.
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Dame Pratibha Gai on training atoms to do what we want
Tue 10 Jun 2025
Pratibha Gai on her microscope that brought chemical reactions into sharp focus.
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Catherine Heymans on the lighter side of the dark universe
Tue 3 Jun 2025
Astronomer Royal for Scotland Catherine Heymans talks telescopes, dark matter and comedy.
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Tim Coulson on how predators shape ecosystems and evolution
Tue 27 May 2025
Professor Tim Coulson on how the wolves of Yellowstone National Park shape the ecosystem.
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Claudia de Rham on playing with gravity
Tue 20 May 2025
Claudia de Rham on defying gravity and understanding its fundamental nature.
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Neil Lawrence on taking down the 'digital oligarchy' and why we shouldn't fear AI
Tue 13 May 2025
Neil Lawrence on why we needn't fear the power of AI
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Liz Morris on Antarctic adventures and the melting polar ice sheets
Tue 6 May 2025
Liz Morris discusses being in the first wave of UK women scientists to work in Antarctica.
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Anthony Fauci on a medical career navigating pandemics and presidents
Tue 29 Apr 2025
Dr Anthony Fauci discusses his career spanning the worlds of medicine and politics.
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Brian Schmidt on Nobel Prize-winning supernovae and the joys of making wine
Tue 25 Mar 2025
Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist Brian Schmidt talks supernovae studies and wine-making.
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Jacqueline McKinley on unearthing bones and stories at Britain's ancient burial sites
Tue 18 Mar 2025
Jim Al-Khalili digs into the subterranean world of ancient bones with Jacqueline McKinley.
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Jonathan Shepherd on a career as a crime-fighting surgeon
Tue 11 Mar 2025
Surgeon Jonathan Shepherd on developing the Cardiff Model of Violence Prevention.
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Doyne Farmer on making sense of chaos for a better world
Tue 4 Mar 2025
Doyne Farmer on how predict the future to help prevent climate change and win at roulette.
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Tori Herridge on ancient dwarf elephants and frozen mammoths
Tue 25 Feb 2025
Dr Tori Herridge on her fascination with Ice Age elephants and their evolutionary story.
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Sir Magdi Yacoub on pioneering heart transplant surgery
Tue 18 Feb 2025
Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub discusses his career at the cutting edge of transplant surgery.
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Tim Peake on his journey to becoming an astronaut and science in space
Tue 31 Dec 2024
Jim Al-Khalili talks to Tim Peake in a special event recorded at London's Royal Society.
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Anna Korre on capturing carbon dioxide and defying expectations
Tue 24 Sep 2024
Environmental engineer Anna Korre on the race to decarbonise British industry.
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Rosalie David on the science of Egyptian mummies
Tue 17 Sep 2024
Rosalie David on what mummies reveal about life, death and medicine in ancient Egypt
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Peter Stott on climate change deniers and Italian inspiration
Tue 10 Sep 2024
Climate scientist Peter Stott on taking on sceptics and modelling our climate impact.
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Ijeoma Uchegbu on using nanoparticles to transform medicines
Tue 3 Sep 2024
Ijeoma Uchegbu on using nanoparticles to transform medicines.
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Darren Croft on killer whale matriarchs and the menopause
Tue 27 Aug 2024
Killer whale matriarchs, their dependent sons and the evolution of the menopause
Sleep 鈥� the mystery state
What is the secret to a good nights sleep? Professor Jim Al-Khalili explores.
Is your mind a machine?
Daniel Dennett thinks so. Here is what we learned from his Life Scientific.
