Chris Smith

4 days ago | thenakedscientists.com | Chris Smith

The mission to track emissions... PlayFull TranscriptDownloadThere are few places on Earth as remote, extreme, or as scientifically vital as the polar regions. The frozen frontiers of Antarctica and the Arctic don’t just hold secrets about our planet’s past - but they are key to understanding its future. And at the heart of this exploration, from the laboratories of Cambridge to the decks of polar research ships, are the scientists working to unlock those secrets.

1 week ago | thenakedscientists.com | Chris Smith

What is behind the troubling trend? PlayFull TranscriptDownloadDoctors around the world are raising concerns about falling vaccination rates for the Human Papillomavirus, or HPV - the viral infection that causes cervical cancer. The HPV vaccine is typically offered to adolescents in school and has been a massive public health success story, cutting cervical cancer rates by up to 99% in countries with high uptake.

1 week ago | thenakedscientists.com | Chris Smith

Investigative gene-ius... PlayFull TranscriptDownloadA university compost heap has turned up Finland’s first documented “giant virus”. Gabriel Almeida, now at the Arctic University of Norway, had been collecting samples from all kinds of environments to try to find examples of one of these agents. These entities were first recognised for what they are - massive viruses bigger than bacteria in many cases - only about 20 years ago.

1 week ago | thenakedscientists.com | Chris Smith

Jumping on the genetic sequencing bandwagon... PlayFull TranscriptDownloadSharon Peacock was born in Ramsgate in Kent on the 24th of March 1959. She attended Harlands Primary School in Haywards Heath and then Warden Park School in Cuckfield. She left school at 16 to train initially as a dental nurse and then as a general adult nurse. She specialised in end-of-life care but then pivoted to study medicine in her mid-20s at the University of Southampton.

1 week ago | thenakedscientists.com | Chris Smith

The first time I set foot in Cambridge, I was 8 years old. I'd come with my family to buy a new computer - a BBC Micro - that everyone was raving about. I have a vivid memory of us all sitting in the car beside Parkers Piece as someone from the University strode past in a gown and mortar board. As we watched them pass, my Dad remarked, "get here, and you're made for life."He came from a working class family and had left school with one "O" Level.