There is a tremendous amount of hype about the potential of 3D printing. The technology is already able to produce customized, one-of-a-kind prosthetic limbs, or artificial hips for patients. These devices are designed specifically to fit each individual’s unique anatomy. On today’s podcast, we’re going to take a leap into the not-so-distant future…

At this time of year we flock to horror films and prepare ghoulish costumes - but why do we do this? For children the answer is easy: sweet treats. For adults, the attraction to frightening things is a bit more complicated. One in six people in Great Britain experience anxiety or depression each week. Though many struggle with inner demons, they ar…

Professor Louise Kenny knew she would find herself embedded in a heated debate when she joined the campaign to repeal Ireland's eighth amendment. After all, the change to the Irish constitution would end the country's near-total ban on abortion. What was surprising however was the degree to which fake facts, false stories and foreign opinions infil…

For many, ancient Egypt conjures up images of the Great Pyramids of Giza or the splendours of Tutankhamun’s tomb. A series of eras between those two well-known chapters in Egypt’s history are known as the intermediate periods. Historians have long referred to this time as a dark age, but recent scholarship is challenging that idea. Dr Glenn Godenho…

Many modern couples begin their lives together expecting to share work and non-work roles equitably. But soon after children enter the picture, a mix of unequal workplace policies and differing cultural expectations for each partner challenges that egalitarian impulse. Eventually, many couples find the division between work and non-work roles becom…

On 3 July 2018, Thai rescuers safely extracted the last of 12 boys and their football coach from deep inside a flooded cave. The rescue mission was complex, dangerous and had to be devised and executed quickly. For Professor Laurence Alison, this makes the rescue a fascinating case study in overcoming decision inertia. Decision inertia is the psych…

Nearly 5 million people in the UK are now self-employed. Technology has made it easier than ever to open a business or offer your services to others willing to pay but this shift towards gig employment concerns many analysts including Dr Ming Lim. Dr Lim is an Associate Professor in Marketing and Management, University of Liverpool. She argues that…

The hit program Love Island came under a lot of pressure after it aired an ad for Skinny Sprinkles. The diet product is aimed at helping people become slim and as such, it is one small part of a giant weight loss market estimated to be worth 66 billion dollars in the US alone. Europe isn’t too far behind that at 44 billion. It is big business and y…

In the battle against the growing problem of antibiotic resistance one industry, in particular, is coming under a lot of pressure. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 80% of medically important antibiotics are used in the animal sector. Most of these medicines are used on healthy animals. Unfortunately, cutting down on veterin…

Scientists are getting quite good at predicting where and when lava will erupt around the Kilauea volcano, and that is a good thing for the residents of the island of Hawaii. Kilauea has been very active for the past several months. Indeed, in just the past 7 days, residents in the area around Kilauea have experienced more than 900 earthquakes. For…

Revisiting the discussion with Dr Peter Kinderman, professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Liverpool and Vice President of the BPS, on the use of the term ‘illness’ in relation to mental health. Dr Kinderman says things are changing and, he believes, improving. We respond to life’s stressors in different ways and the treatment he pres…

The Paleo Diet is one of the most popular diets in the UK, the US and across the developed world. The basic idea behind the so-called ‘caveman’ diet is to eat what Paleolithic humans ate. According to Paleo diet advocates, this is supposed to mean staying away from things like grains, legumes and certain vegetables. Yet, according to Dr Ceren Kabuk…

It’s easy to see why theoretical particle physicist, athlete, and a certified space junkie, Dr Jackie Bell, was selected for the BBC2 programme "Astronaut: Do You Have What It Takes." Astronaut and former Commander of the International Space Station Chris Hadfield and his colleagues put exceptional applicants through a series of challenges to see i…

Researchers are designing robots with artificial intelligence that evolve on their own. The programmer sets a goal to be accomplished and then, generation after generation, successful traits are passed on to the next generation. The result is AI that evolves at an astonishing rate to complete the complex task or goal, without the guidance of a prog…

Major events, such as a terrorist attack or a disaster, are a crucible for emergency services. Immediately, police, paramedics, and firefighters are forced to make split decisions under extreme stress and often with very little information. To make matters worse, these scenarios are frequently unique, so decision makers have little past experience …

As the world around us grows increasingly digital, education, shopping, and social service programmes go online, who is being left out? Who is being excluded? Simeon Yates is the Director of the Centre for Digital Humanities and Social Science at the University of Liverpool. He recently led a major initiative to develop a new digital culture policy…

Donald Trump's detractors criticize the president's speaking style for its seeming lack of coherence, simplicity and its appeal to raw emotions. Yet to his supporters, Trump's extemporaneous style communicates an honest and genuine connection with his audience. It is a style that stands in stark contrast to the rehearsed, formally structured speech…

Can Twitter predict the future? Costas Milas says the social media platform is very good at predicting financial future financial events, such as the cost of borrowing. In some cases, it performs better than the most sophisticated financial tools. Costas Milas is a professor of Finance at the University of Liverpool. His latest research extends bey…

Paediatric medicine faces a troubling challenge. For good ethical reasons, scientists have long been reluctant to experiment on children. As a result, many of the oldest and most common medications used in pediatric medicine have not been tested on the youngest patients. This means there is very little good quality research on efficacy or proper do…

The study of extreme weather usually involves lots of numbers, graphs, and statistical comparisons. What's missing is the human element; the way people responded to unusual weather events. During the ice cold winter of 1838, did people stay huddled indoors or learn to skate? How about the flooding of the river Trent in the early 19th century? Were …

All of a sudden mathematics wizards and statisticians are moving into the front offices of major sports teams. Ian McHale, Professor of Sports Analytics at the University of Liverpool, discusses the remarkable rise of analytics in professional sport. We see it in cycling, baseball, basketball… but what about football? McHale says the Premier League…

In forty years, the number of obese children has increased tenfold, and this increase is not just in the UK or the US, but around the world. It’s a global public health crisis. In the UK, one in ten children is now obese. Experts are calling on the government to reduce children’s exposure to junk food advertisements. University of Liverpool senior …

The massive system that drives modern agriculture is changing, especially for the vast majority of us who live in cities. Farm Urban is part of this shift, prompting us to think about how and, more importantly, where our food is produced. The Liverpool business is the brainchild of two University of Liverpool postdoctoral researchers Paul Myers and…

Dry January is the annual effort to give up alcohol for the first 31 days of the year. There are Dry January campaigns around the world but it is particularly popular in the UK. According to the group Alcohol Concern, 5 million Britons took part in Dry January last year. The goal is to reset your relationship with alcohol. Matt Field will be taking…

University of Liverpool professor of English, Sarah Peverley is back on the podcast; this time to compare what we know about Christmas Traditions in the Middle Ages with our modern festivities. It’s a fun and fascinating way to explore the history of the holiday season. There are some surprises, like the early origins of Father Christmas or Santa C…

It’s easy to see signs that it might be. Research into pop music and contemporary literature offers indirect evidence that narcissism is on the rise in Western culture. More direct evidence comes from the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI): a database of thousands of US college students’ personality test results, collected over several decade…

The weight loss market in the US is estimated to be worth 66 billion dollars. Europe isn’t too far behind that at 44 billion. It is big business and while its expansion has kept pace with our growing waist lines, its origins can be traced oddly enough to a time when food was scarce. Myriam Wilks-Heeg is a Lecturer in Twentieth Century History at th…

Earlier this year Colm Tóibín spoke before an audience at the Victoria Gallery Museum in Liverpool. The author and University of Liverpool Chancellor read excerpts from his latest novel House of Names. The work is a retelling of one part of the classic Greek trilogy The Oresteia and depicts Clytemnestra’s revenge for the murder of her daughter. Thi…

At this time of year we flock to horror films and prepare ghoulish costumes - but why do we do this? For children the answer is easy: sweet treats. For adults, the attraction to frightening things is a bit more complicated. One in six people in Great Britain experience anxiety or depression each week. Though many struggle with inner demons, they ar…

Simon Capewell says sugary drinks are killing us. The University of Liverpool Public Health researcher and advocate says sugar, especially the sugar in sugary drinks, is the single biggest cause of obesity. He is fighting for sugary drinks to be treated the same as tobacco which means, higher taxes and stricter limits on advertising but the industr…

University of Liverpool Chancellor, Colm Tóibín explores the role of education and universities in the current political climate. The Irish short story writer, essayist, playwright, journalist, critic and poet is author of nine novels - three of which have been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. In 2009 Brooklyn won the Costa Novel of the Year a…

Two years ago, physicist Jon Major published research on a new method for producing solar panels in the prestigious journal Nature. His technique has a tenuous connection to tofu but that was enough to push it onto the front pages of news sites around the world. The experience taught him a lot about the value of good communication of scientific ide…

It might seem a bit farfetched but someday soon we might all carry in our wallets a little card, something like a credit card except this card will carry our entire genetic code. It’s something you would hand over to your doctor or that doctors would look for if you ended up in hospital. Another possibility is that your doctor might have your genet…

Dr Calum Semple shares his experience working in Sierra Leone during the Ebola crisis. It’s a harrowing story that offers some surprising lessons. The large scale Western medical intervention, the type Dr Semple was involved in, might not have been the crucial factor in conquering the outbreak – and certainly not as key as we may have thought. Rath…

Mermaids have fascinated and attracted us for generations. What is it about these mythical creatures that has so captivated humans for thousands of years and across cultures? Sarah Peverley is a Professor of English Literature at the University of Liverpool and a Leverhulme Research Fellow working on a project entitled: 'Mermaids of the British Isl…

Prof Alex German calls obesity the single greatest threat to your dog's health, and yet most pet owners don't even realise their pet is overweight. It's not just the average pet owner who faces this challenge. Prof German’s analysis of dogs at Crufts, the biggest dog show in the UK, found that about a quarter of all show dogs were overweight. The r…

The string of terror attacks in the UK has increased pressure on police to identify and disrupt terrorist plots early. This requires fast and effective interrogations of family, friends and supporters of attackers. You might imagine this means tough questioning that is extremely stressful to the detainee. But according to Laurence Alison, a softer …

Kieran Maguire talks to us about the serious business of the beautiful game's Premier League. He is a Senior Teacher in Accountancy at the University of Liverpool, and a football finance expert. He is also a lifelong fan of newly promoted Brighton FC. Kieran discusses the city of Liverpool's plan to underwrite Everton Football Club’s new stadium, t…

When Prime Minister Theresa May announced her intention to negotiate a partnership with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), critics and observers pointed to deeply conservative statements of some DUP members and warned that the Conservatives risked being dragged to the far right of the political spectrum. However, two University of Liverpool exper…

For parents, the discovery that their child’s difficult behaviour is actually a form of psychopathy is devastating. Psychopathy is widely seen as difficult, if not impossible to treat - and the prognosis for people with psychopathic traits is deeply troubling. Psychopaths make up just 1% of the general population but they are vastly overrepresented…

Dr Praveetha Patalay walks us through research that shows how children's mental health can be affected by their date of birth. Praveetha Patalay is a Lecturer in Population Mental Health and Child Development at the University of Liverpool. She has numerous awards and distinctions for her research including recently being selected as a Top 30 under…

Dr Peter Kinderman argues that mental emotional distress is not a sign of illness but a symptom of social causes and pressure. Depression, anxiety and even schizophrenia can be serious and debilitating experiences for people; but Dr Kinderman says the causes of these symptoms will not be found inside the brain but rather outside the person. Unemplo…

In part two of our look at big data and the ethics of autonomous machines, Dr Louise Dennis examines the choices self-driving cars will face as they take over our roads. Sometimes, the question is not what a good driver would do but rather, what a good (i.e. moral) person should do. As autonomous machines spread into more and more facets of modern …

This is the first episode in a two part series on the ethics of big data and autonomous machines. In this episode we speak with Prof Simon Maskell, Professor of Autonomous Systems at the University of Liverpool. He was involved in the hunt for MH370 which is the Malaysian Airlines plane that went missing less than one hour after take-off from Kuala…

Suzi Gage is taking the the Just Say No motto and turning it on its head. Suzi is the co-host of the podcast 'Say Why to Drugs'. The podcast is an evidence driven, deep dive into everything we know, and still don’t know, about specific recreational drugs. Every two weeks she and her co-host, the UK rapper Scroobius Pip focus on a different drug. At…

Steve Rannard and Andrew Owen are using nano-technology to make HIV medicine more effective and less expensive. Nanomedicine builds tiny particles of medication designed to drive the drug into the bloodstream more effectively. These particles have a diameter 100-times smaller than that of human hair, and less drug is needed to produce the same effe…

Dr Mike Jones traces the City of Liverpool’s complex relationship with The Beatles. It may seem difficult believe today, but the city was not always so warm in its embrace of four of its most famous sons. A fascinating story that has its origins in the dramatic social, political and economic changes of the past century. Dr. Mike Jones is a Lecturer…

Chris Probert leads a team at the University of Liverpool that's invented a machine that can reliably detect the early stages of cancer in a patient with nothing more than a sniff of small sample. For some cancers, like those of the urinary tract, this has the potential to dramatically simplify the detection of tumours. It offers an alternative tes…