CrowdScience Episodes Episode guide
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06/03/2026 GMT
Answering your questions about life, Earth and the universe
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How can we save the Great Barrier Reef?
Growing baby corals and restoring reefs.
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Why don't more animals have opposable thumbs?
Thumbs are incredibly useful to humans, so why didn’t more species evolve to have them?
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Can we cancel light waves?
Answering your questions about life, Earth and the universe
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Do multiple choice questions make us biased?
CrowdScience listener Griffith asks why a multiple choice quiz answer is rarely ‘a’.
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Why do I tan more in the US?
Namrata tans more in Boston than in India, and she wants to know why
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Do fish know what they look like?
Are there self-aware shoals of fish drifting through our oceans?
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Why do I find silence unbearable?
Silence is either blood-curdling or blissful – but is it a sign of danger?
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How do cicadas know what season it is?
How do these enigmatic insects know that the time is right to emerge into the light?
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Did I inherit my laugh?
Can a laugh be passed down between generations? Caroline Steel has a giggle finding out.
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The CrowdScience quiz of the year
The best of CrowdScience from 2025
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How do we adapt to the cold?
Why do people react so differently to cold weather?
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Can you play the guitar underwater?
We explore underwater acoustics in search of a new music sensation
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Can we turn deserts green?
How desalination, fog capture and towing icebergs could bring water to the driest places
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How big is a rainbow?
Are all rainbows the same size or are some larger than others?
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Why do we cry?
Only humans cry emotional tears, whether it’s tears of sadness or tears of joy. But why?
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Do tsunamis affect marine life?
Tsunamis cause huge destruction on land, but what’s it like for life under the waves?
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Are near-death experiences real?
Are near-death experiences visions of an afterlife?
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Why do people love horror films?
The scary science and terrifying truths behind people's love of horror films
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Should we help maggots and caterpillars?
How do we learn to love the unsung insects that do so much good in gardens and farms
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Can we record our senses?
Can we record what it's like to taste, smell, or touch something?
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Are atoms immortal?
Do atoms exist forever, or can they be destroyed?
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Why are some animals black and white?
Why are zebras so stripy? Why do penguins wear tuxedos?
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Answers to even more questions
Questions inspired by previous episodes of CrowdScience
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Do birds understand us?
Listener David can mimic bird calls, but he wants to know if his chirps have any meaning
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Why am I so sentimental?
Why do we get so attached to our possessions?
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Will drinking milk help me live longer?
Is drinking milk good for us, or an unnecessary habit?
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How long will traces of our civilisation last?
If intelligent life visits Earth millions of years from now, will they find traces of us?
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How does camouflage work?
Where does military camouflage come from? And can you hide your body’s heat signature?
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How long does light last?
Trying to catch a glimpse of the oldest stuff in the universe