Curious Cases

Apr 11 2025 152 ep. 27 mins 16.8k

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Hannah Fry and Dara Ó Briain tackle listeners' conundrums with the power of science!

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The Diamond Throwdown

Apr 11 2025 32 mins

“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 the case, and here we are...SO in this glittering showdown, Dara is on a quest to flip Hannah’s perspective from “meh” to “marvelous.” And for Hannah, some uncomfortable fa

Curious Cases is back!

Apr 03 2025 1 mins

Hannah Fry and Dara Ó Briain return to tackle listener's questions with the power of science!

13. The Fastest Fly

Jan 04 2025 29 mins

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 reach speeds of up to 90 mph possibly be true, and Dara wants to know if this is what makes them so difficult to swat?Entomologist Erica McAlister is better known as the ‘fly lady’ a

12. Bored to Death

Dec 28 2024 30 mins

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 count roundabouts and collect milk bottle tops, but boredom expert Wijnand van Tilburg explains these dull-sounding hobbies might actually have mental health benefits. He explains that

11. Freeze Me When I Die

Dec 21 2024 28 mins

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 chiling science of ‘cryobiology’: preserving living things at really low temperatures.It turns out there are already thousands of people alive who were once suspended in antifre

10. Night Walkers

Dec 14 2024 28 mins

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 wall, to searching for Turkish language courses. And she wants to know: WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?It turns out Abigail is not alone. Hannah and Dara hear weird and wonderful stories of extr

9. A lemon-powered spaceship

Dec 07 2024 29 mins

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 on a quest to discover whether they could used to send a rocket into space?Professor Saiful Islam is the Guinness World Record holder for the highest voltage from a fruit-based ba

8. Be More Athlete

Nov 30 2024 29 mins

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 grips with the rigours of training tailored for endurance events vs those based on more explosive bursts of activity. They consider the contribution of genetics, fast vs slow twitch muscl

7. Invincible Moss Piglets

Nov 23 2024 28 mins

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 could they even help us master space travel!?Hannah and Dara learn how to find these little moss piggies in roof gutters and garden corners. And they're amazed by their capacity to dry o

6. The Shock Factor

Nov 16 2024 28 mins

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 – if you ever find yourself in a similarly charged storm – is in a car, or low to the ground. And why this is never a good time to take a selfie.Dr Dan Mitchard from Cardiff Univ