Curious Cases
Hannah Fry and Dara Ó Briain tackle listeners' conundrums with the power of science!
Episodes (50)
Clever Crows
The term 'bird brain' might suggest our feathered friends are stupid, but Hannah and Dara learn it's completely untrue. They play hide and seek with a raven called Bran, and hear how his behaviour...
Memory Swap
Could you ever trade memories with someone else? Fancy downloading the experience of landing on the moon, winning an Oscar or performing at Glastonbury? Listener Adam wants to know, and Hannah Fry and...
Clowns in Spacetime
Can you slow down time by hurtling through space at breakneck speed? Could listener Saskia’s friend - currently one year older - end up the same age as her if he went fast enough? It sounds bananas,...
Colossal Creatures
How big can animals really get before they collapse under their own weight or run out of snacks? Could a 12-foot comedian survive their first punchline without snapping in half? Listener Andrew sends...
Nano Sharks
Think of a shark and you'll probably conjure up images of Jaws, but it turns out their skin is also covered in tiny teeth. Hannah and Dara investigate the incredible properties of these so-called...
Chuckle, Snigger and LOL
Why do we giggle, snort, and bust a gut laughing? Is it just humans being weird, does it serve some higher function or do other animals crack up too? And, okay, Dara is a comedian, but has he ever...
Don't Bite Me!
Ever wondered why some people are mosquito magnets and other people barely get bitten? Hannah and Dara grapple with the question of whether these insects are evil or genius, discovering how they’re...
Aches and Rains
The team test the theory that you can use the weather to predict pain, separating science fact from fiction. It's an area with a huge amount of conflicting research, but one man who has investigated...
Furnishing with Fungi
From mouldy bread to athlete’s foot, fungi don’t exactly scream “home improvement.” But what if this misunderstood kingdom is the secret to the sustainable materials of the future?Listener Alexis -...
Love Neurons
What happens in your brain when Cupid’s arrow strikes? As a teenager, Alison developed an intense crush on George Harrison from the Beatles. But, she wants to know, why do we develop these feelings...
Invisibility Quest
Hannah and Dara tackle a disarmingly simple question: is anything in the universe truly invisible? After ruling out mysterious Nordic spirits and ‘Dara’s ire’, our curious duo start to track down the...
Liar, Liar
For any of you who have ever told a porkie pie, don't worry, this week we hear why we all do it... and discover that deception is actually good for social bonding. From the red squirrels who cry wolf...
The Diamond Throwdown
“Diamonds are nonsense!” Hannah boldly proclaimed in a previous episode. But listener Guy is a diamond enthusiast, and he and his diamond-loving pals were NOT OKAY WITH THIS. He demanded we re-open...
Curious Cases is back!
Hannah Fry and Dara Ó Briain return to tackle listener's questions with the power of science!
13. The Fastest Fly
The buzz of a fly hovering just above your head has got to be one of the most irritating sounds around, but this week we try to work out just how fast they could be flying. Could a claim horseflies...
12. Bored to Death
Anyone who has ever done a long car journey with kids will be familiar with the idea of being bored to death – but can this feeling really be fatal? Hannah and Dara hear about a club where members...
11. Freeze Me When I Die
When you die, would you want to be frozen so that one day you might be brought back to life? Listener Elspeth wants to know if that’s even possible. So Hannah and Dara embark on a quest to explore the...
10. Night Walkers
Wake up! It’s time for a dreamy new episode of Curious Cases all about the science of sleepwalking. Listener Abigail has done some strange things in her sleep, from taking all the pictures off the...
9. A lemon-powered spaceship
Fruit-powered batteries are the ultimate school science experiment, but they’re normally used to power a pocket calculator. This week’s listener wants to know if they could do more, and sends the team...
8. Be More Athlete
Are you more of a rhino or a kitten? More like a tortoise or a hare? Listener Ivy wants to know what makes a good athlete and so Hannah and Dara tackle the science of sport. Our curious duo get to...
7. Invincible Moss Piglets
Listener Vivienne has heard that tardigrades - aka moss piglets - have special powers of survival. Radiation? Drought? Extreme cold? NO PROBLEM. Does that mean they could survive an apocalypse? And...
6. The Shock Factor
If there’s one type of discharge you really want to avoid, it’s lightning, but what happens when it hits you?We hear from lightning survivor Kerry Evans, and discover that the best place to shelter –...
5. The Taste of Words
11 year old Esther visualises days of the week in a kind of 3D structure. It’s something called ‘synaesthesia’ and she wants to know why it happens - and why other people don’t experience things the...
4. In the Groove
It’s sometimes said that timing is everything and this week the pair investigate the mystery of rhythm, discovering why some of us might be better at staying in tempo.From the daily cycle of dawn and...
3. Mirror, Mirror
9 year old listener Koby sends Hannah and Dara on a mission to find the shiniest thing in the world. And so they enter a world of mirrors… The journey takes them into the subatomic goings on of shiny...
2. The 5 Second Rule
Would you eat food that fell on the floor? That’s the question Hannah and Dara are getting their teeth into this week as they put the so-called ‘5 second rule’ through its paces. For some people it’s...
1. Space Bubbles
While chatting at the back of class, best mates Abi and Sofia got curious about bubbles. How do you make really giant ones? Could you even get one around the entire planet?Hannah and Dara set out to...
Introducing a brand new series of Curious Cases!
Curious Cases is returning! Superstar mathematician and broadcaster Hannah Fry teams up with legendary comedian and fellow science nerd Dara Ó Briain for an all-new series of the show which takes your...
The Impossible Number
There is a bizarre number in maths referred to simply as ‘i’. It appears to break the rules of arithmetic - but turns out to be utterly essential for applications across engineering and physics. We’re...
The Mind Numbing Medicine
This episode will render you oblivious, conked out and blissfully unaware. It’s about anaesthetics: those potent potions that send you into a deep, deathly sleep. Listener Alicia wants to know how...
The Resurrection Quest
‘Can we bring back extinct species?’ wonders listener Mikko Campbell. Well, Professor Fry is pretty excited by the prospect of woolly mammoths roaming the Siberian tundra once more. And everyone is...
The Puzzle of the Pyramids
The Great Pyramids of Giza are awesome feats of engineering and precision. So who built them - and how? Was it a mysteriously super-advanced civilization now oddly extinct? Was it even aliens? Nah,...
The Magnetic Mystery
Magnets are inside loads of everyday electronic kit - speakers, motors, phones and more - but listener Lucas is mystified: what, he wonders, is a magnetic field? Our sleuths set out to investigate the...
The Case of the Blind Mind's Eye
Close your eyes and think of a giraffe. Can you see it? I mean, *really* see it - in rich, vivid detail? If not - you aren’t alone!
We’ve had scores of messages from listeners who report having a...
We’ve had scores of messages from listeners who report having a...
Silly Studies: The Pre-Series Teaser
The new series kicks off very soon! As a little aperitif, Hannah and Adam review some surprising studies published in scientific journals. Warning: contains fruity language and grisly medical...
The Puzzle of the Plasma Doughnut
What do you get if you smash two hydrogen nuclei together? Helium and lots of energy. That’s no joke – it's nuclear fusion! Nuclear fusion is the power source of the sun and the stars. Physicists and...
The Riddle of Red-Eyes and Runny-Noses
Sneezes, wheezes, runny noses and red eyes - this episode is all about allergies.
An allergic reaction is when your immune system reacts to something harmless – like peanuts or pollen – as if it...
An allergic reaction is when your immune system reacts to something harmless – like peanuts or pollen – as if it...
The Problem of Infinite Pi(e)
Hungry for pi? Chow down on this! Pi is the ratio between a circle’s diameter and its circumference. Sounds dull – but pi turns out to have astonishing properties and crop up in places you would never...
The Suspicious Smell
Why are some smells so nasty and others so pleasant? Rutherford and Fry inhale the science of scent in this stinker of an episode. Our sleuths kick off with a guided tour of the airborne molecules and...
The Wild and Windy Tale
How do winds start and why do they stop? asks Georgina from the Isle of Wight. What's more, listener Chris Elshaw is suprised we get strong winds at all: why doesn't air just move smoothly between...
The Case of The Missing Gorilla
DO WE HAVE YOUR ATTENTION?Good! But how does that work!? Our intrepid science sleuths explore why some things immediately catch your eye - or ear - while others slip by totally unnoticed. Even, on...
Silly Studies: The Pre-Series Tease
We asked you to send us the boldest, barmiest bits of published research you could find and, dear Curios, you didn't disappoint! It’s time for some silly science.
The Colour Conundrum
The world is full of colour! But, wonders listener Maya Crocombe, ‘how do we see colour and why are some people colour blind?’Dr Rutherford and Professor Fry set out to understand how special...
The Turn of the Tide
Mathematician Hannah Fry and geneticist Adam Rutherford investigate your everyday science queries. They get stuck into two questions about tides. Lynn Godson wants to know why isn’t high tide at the...
The Shocking White Hair
Why does human hair go grey and is it ever possible for it to go white overnight from shock? Hannah and Adam explore why hair goes grey, how much stressful life events and a lack of sleep can speed up...
Surprising Symmetries
Two eyes, two arms, two legs - we’re roughly symmetrical on the outside, but inside we’re all over the place! We just have one heart, which is usually on the left, one liver on the right, one spleen...
The Weird Waves of Wi-Fi
We use Wi-Fi every day, but do you know how it works? “Is it waves and science or just some mystical magical force?” wonders listener Abby. Well, our science sleuths are on the case. To help them...
The Mystery of the Teenage Brain
‘Why are teens prone to risky behaviour?’ asks Dr Mark Gallaway, ‘especially when with their friends?’ 13 year old Emma wonders why she’s chatty at school but antisocial when she gets home. And...
Rutherford and Fry on Living with AI: A Future for Humans
As huge tech companies race to develop ever more powerful AI systems, the creation of super-intelligent machines seems almost inevitable. But what happens when, one day, we set these advanced AIs...
Rutherford and Fry on Living with AI: AI in the Economy
The refrain ‘robots will take your job’ is one heard with increased frequency, but how quickly is automation of the labour force really happening and would it really be such a bad thing if many jobs...
About this Podcast
Copyright
(C) BBC 2025
Language
en
Categories
Science