Packed Lunch podcast
Packed Lunch is a series of lunchtime talks at
Wellcome Collection. You can feed your curiosity by dropping in to
eat your lunch and hear local scientists in conversation about
their latest experiments, life in the lab and why science matters
to everyone. It all happens in the space of a lunch hour.
The Packed Lunch podcast allows you to listen again to
recordings of the events, and subscribe to the series via
iTunes or another podcast reader. To listen to individual episodes
online, choose from the list below.
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Bats – according to international bat expert Kate Jones – are cool. From the wonders of echolocation to a surprisingly long lifespan, they possess a fascinating set of special skills and characteristics that make them endlessly interesting to study.
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Heart attacks have been known to be triggered by intense emotion and mental stress. Malcolm Finlay, Senior Clinical Research Fellow at UCL, is investigating the electrical and physiological mechanisms behind this phenomenon.
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Hosepipe bans, Torrential rain, flooding - water was constantly in the news in 2012. Sarah Bell, a civil engineer at UCL, is an expert on water systems (and sewers in particular). She talks to Benjamin Thompson about how they affect society and sustainability, both in the UK and abroad.
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What colour is the number 3? What do words taste like? This might sound like nonsense, but for people with synaesthesia this crossing of the senses creates a unique - and very real - way of perceiving the world. Michael Banissy, a cognitive neuroscientist at Goldsmiths, University of London talks to Siân Aggett about synaesthesia and what it can tell us about how the brain works.
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How does what we eat affect how we age? Is it a question of quantity, or is quality the key? With the global population getting older and many of the world's most devastating diseases linked to the process of ageing, answering these questions could be essential to a healthy future. Matt Piper, from the Institute of Healthy Ageing at UCL, talks to Benjamin Thompson about the science behind a healthy diet.
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Pain is an important warning signal that can help us to avoid harm, but for people living with prolonged, chronic pain it can have devastating consequences. Stephen McMahon, Director of the London Pain Consortium, talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about his research into the causes of chronic pain and new ways to treat it.
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Up to 4 per cent of adults, and as many as one-third of older people, suffer from sleep apnoea, or interrupted breathing during sleep. Mary Morrell’s research sleep lab at the Royal Brompton Hospital investigates why, and she talks to the Wellcome Trust's Siân Aggett about her work.
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A year after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, how has human health been affected - and what lessons were learned from previous nuclear accidents? Drawing on her work at the Chernobyl Tissue Bank, Gerry Thomas talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about some of the effects of radiation at high and low doses.
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How does the work our bones do influence their size, shape and resilience? Bioengineer Sandra Shefelbine combines number crunching with imaging and practical experiments. She talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about understanding better how our bones support our bodies.
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The tendency toward antisocial behaviour may be inherited. But for psychologist Essi Viding heritability isn't inevitability. Environmental factors are important too.
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Flu is the scourge of the winter months - but how does it work? Wendy Barclay of Imperial College London talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about investigating influenza pandemics in the lab to better understand how this dreaded virus wreaks such havoc.
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How did life originate on Earth, and are we alone in the universe? These are the questions that Zita Martins, an astrobiologist at Imperial College London, is determined to answer. She talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about meteorites, the possibility of life on Mars, and more.
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Ron Douglas is Professor of Visual Science at City University, and an expert on the biology of deep-sea creatures. He talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about how vision works 4000 metres down.
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Psychics, paranormal activity, precognition - psychologist and sceptic Chris French, of Goldsmiths, University of London, has spent his career subjecting paranormal claims to scientific scrutiny. He talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about the powerful psychological factors at work that may explain why people continue to passionately believe in supernatural forces, which can be traced back to the beginnings of human evolutionary history.
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The Department of Health recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life. But is this supported by the best available scientific evidence? Mary Fewtrell is a paediatrician at the UCL Institute of Child Health, who has spent her career investigating the links between infant nutrition and health, both short-term and in later life. She talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about the intersection of scientific evidence, opinion and policy.
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Mirror neurons are thought to be the key to human mimicry, allowing us to ape the actions of others and maybe even forming the basis for empathy. Zarinah Agnew is a neuroscientist at the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, whose research uses functional MRI to investigate how these systems work. She talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about these mysterious components of the brain.
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Norovirus - better known as winter vomiting disease - is something that most of us have heard of and some of us, unfortunately, have experienced directly. But how does the infamous virus wreak its spectacular havoc on the body? Ian Goodfellow, a virologist at Imperial College London talks to the Wellcome Trust's Dan Glaser about trying to unravel the mysterious workings of this cunning virus.
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Antimalarial drugs are powerful things, but in some parts of the world these drugs are becoming less effective. Shunmay Yeung, Clinical Senior Lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine is tackling the growing problem of drug resistance. She talks to the Wellcome Trust's Amy Sanders about the challenges and complexities of fighting tropical disease.
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Most of us know that vitamin D comes from the sun and that a little bit is essential to keep us healthy. But for Adrian Martineau, Senior Lecturer in Respiratory Infection and Immunity at Barts and The London Medical School, the ‘sunshine vitamin’ is much more interesting than that. He talks to the Wellcome Trust's Dan Glaser about how his research is uncovering connections with illnesses as diverse as asthma, TB and cancer.
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We hear by amplifying the sounds that go into our ear. But our ears can be tricked using auditory illusions. Ifat Yasin, Lecturer in Auditory Anatomy and Physiology at UCL Ear Institute, thinks these aural deceptions may hold the key to improving the treatment of hearing impairment. She talks to the Wellcome Trust's Dan Glaser about the science of perceiving sound.
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Space flight wreaks havoc on the body, but its effects will have to be overcome if we are ever to investigate the far reaches of our solar system. Kevin Fong is co-director of the Centre for Aviation Space and Extreme Environment Medicine at UCL. He talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about the extreme physiology of space travel.
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What’s it like being a scientist with a licence to possess illegal drugs? Celia Morgan, a psychologist at UCL, works on cannabis and ketamine, conducting experiments on people who are high on their own supply to determine the effect of drugs on their cognitive function. She talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about the science of getting stoned.
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Cells come in many shapes and sizes. Chris Bakal, a systems biologist at the Institute of Cancer Research, is fascinated by their ability to change shape and migrate around the body - a process that goes out of control in cancer. He talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about how understanding the shapeshifting properties of cells is the key to fighting this disease.
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Would you let your brain be temporarily switched off? Joe Devlin, a neuroscientist at UCL, regularly does this to willing volunteers as part of his research into the neurological basis of language, using a technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation. He talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about what zapping the brain can tell us about the workings of our grey matter.
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Every Agatha Christie fan knows the murderous potential of an air bubble injected directly into the bloodstream. But, for Eleanor Stride, a biomedical engineer at UCL, bubbles may hold the key to saving lives, not ending them. She talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about how her pioneering work on microbubbles has the potential to transform ultrasound imaging and drug delivery.
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We make thousands of decisions every day, many of them unconscious and many of them less logical than we would like to believe. Peter Ayton, a psychologist at City University in London, studies human judgement and decision-making, and argues that we are often less rational than other animals. He talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about how the human brain copes with making choices in a modern world flooded with options.
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The origins of complex life have long fascinated scientists. Nick Lane, a biochemist at UCL, is investigating what drove the shift from simple bacteria to the vast diversity of plants and animals, and believes the answer lies in the mitochondria. He talks to the Wellcome Trust's Amy Sanders about these mysterious powerhouses of the cell.
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Few people have as intimate a knowledge of the delicate layers of the skin than those who try to repair it after trauma. Isabel Jones is a surgeon at the Burns Unit at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, which provides for the population of Greater London and treated the victims of the 7/7 bombings. In this special skin-themed Packed Lunch, she talks about skin grafts, skin substitutes and the Holy Grail of scarless healing.
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The possibility of life on Mars has long fascinated scientists, science fiction writers and David Bowie. Lewis Dartnell, an astrobiologist at UCL, is going one step further and developing ways to look for signs of life on the Red Planet. Join him as we explore one of the most enduring questions of humanity: are we alone in the universe?
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Why do some people always reach for that extra chocolate biscuit, while others seem to have no problem holding back? Professor Jane Wardle, a health psychologist at UCL, is investigating factors that determine our food choices and what they mean for our future health. She talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about why overeating is not the simple matter of willpower you might think it is.
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The Large Hadron Collider may be at CERN in Geneva, but it's a truly international project. Jonathan Butterworth, Professor of Physics at UCL, is a leading member of the British team working at CERN on the hunt for the Higgs boson. He talks to the Wellcome Trust's Dan Glaser about the unique pleasures and frustrations of working on the most powerful physics experiment ever conceived.
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Self-cleaning glass - such as the roof of St Pancras station - has revolutionised architecture. But UCL materials scientist Charlie Dunnill is taking this technology one step further, and hopes that one day it may be used to kill bugs. He talks to the Wellcome Trust's Hugh Blackbourn about how materials science is paving the way for more hygienic conditions in our hospitals.
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It is estimated that 80 per cent of the population are optimists. But how do we maintain a positive outlook in the face of reality? At the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Tali Sharot is teasing apart the neurological basis of optimism. She talks to the Wellcome Trust's High Blackbourn about how a sunny disposition may be the key to our evolutionary success.
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Was Tyrannosaurus rex a fast runner? Were dinosaurs warm-blooded? How can answering questions such as these help captive elephants to live a healthier and longer life? John Hutchinson, an expert in the evolution of large animal locomotion at the Royal Veterinary College talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about this and more.
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Rachel Armstrong is a synthetic biologist working at the Bartlett School of Architecture. She talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about connecting the natural world with the built environment to create 'living materials' that can grow themselves and may even offer a solution to climate change.
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Age-related macular degeneration is the most common cause of blindness in the developed world. Pete Coffey talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about how he and his team at University College London's Institute of Ophthalmology are using pioneering embryonic stem cell technology to restore lost sight.
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Dan Martin is an extreme environment physiologist and anaesthetist at University College London Hospitals, and a member of the Caudwell Xtreme Everest research group.
He talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about dropping his trousers at the top of a mountain in the name of medical science, and how this unorthodox experiment could lead to more effective treatment for intensive care patients.
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Mark Zuckerman is a clinical virologist based at the Health Protection Agency London Regional Laboratory at King's College Hospital. He talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about which is the 'cleverest' virus of them all, and what it's like working at the front line of the swine flu pandemic.
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Val Curtis is a behavioural scientist based at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She talks the Wellcome Collection's Lisa Jamieson about the protective power of disgust, and find out who has the dirtiest hands in Britain.
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Dr Viren Swami is a social psychologist based at the University of Westminster. He talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about the secrets of physical attraction, how body image differs across cultures, and why who you fancy can change depending on how hungry you are.
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Catherine Mercer is a statistician based at University College London who is undertaking a particularly interesting questionnaire: the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles 2010. She talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about surveying the sexual habits of the nation, and finding out who is doing what with whom, where and when.
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Professor Angela Clow is one of the country's leading experts in stress research, working at the University of Westminster. She talks to the Wellcome Trust's Daniel Glaser about the science of health, happiness and wellbeing, at home and in the workplace.