This is a wonderfully diverse podcast from the BBC that features some very intriguing questions about the world.   You can download them and listen to them in your commutes, and travel while you get inspired learning new interesting facts about our bodies and our minds. http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/discovery/all

Here are a few that I recommend you listen to:

 

Build Me a Brain 01 Jul 13

 

Roland Pease meets scientists in the UK and the US who are hoping to connect cultures of living human neurons to robots to understand how the mind works.

Quorum Sensing 08 Jul 13

Bacteria need to talk to each other to cause disease. The bugs coordinate their assaults on use with a communication system known as quorum sensing. Geoff Watts explores whether we can stop their virulent chatter to prevent the looming antibiotic resistance crisis – the global phenomenon which threatens to leave us defenceless against bacteria infections.

Gut Microbiota 25 Nov 13

Adam Hart discovers the role gut microbes play in our health and development, and asks if we should consider ourselves an ecosystem rather than an individual?

Self-Healing Materials 09 Dec 13

Quentin Cooper takes a look at the new materials that can mend themselves, from bacteria in concrete which excrete lime to fill cracks, to car paint that heals its own scratches.

Hack My Hearing 10 Mar 14

Aged 32, science writer Frank Swain is losing his hearing. But could he hack his hearing aid to give him supersenses?

Fructose: the Bittersweet Sugar 17 Mar 14

Dr Mark Porter asks is fructose a “toxic additive” or a healthy fruit sugar?