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Can a machine pick a perfect Christmas gift?
It is that time a year again where our relationships are tested to find that perfect Christmas gift! Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an algorithm that could do it for you? In this episode of the Big Questions podcast we ask the question: Can a machine pick a perfect Christmas gift?
Can you hack an aeroplane?
35 million flights will take off and land this year. Each flight is tracked on the ground by air traffic control and there’s technology on the plane. But what is stopping a hacker from sitting in front of their computer and disrupting the computer system? That is what a team of the University of...
Why does my phone battery suck?
Most people use their phones every single day for communicating with others, using the Internet, playing games via apps. But there’s nothing worse than looking down at your phone and realising the battery is running out of juice—or worse yet, that it’s already completely dead.
How do you bake a cake in a microwave?
Bakers spend years perfecting their skill to make amazing cakes! But can you do it in minutes within a microwave? To find out we look into the science of baking and met up with Luke Jew, astronomer from the department of Oxford Physics, University of Oxford to find out.
Where are all the Mangarahara cichlid hiding?
In the early 2000s, Brian Zimmerman and his team at London Zoo received a donation from a private fish-breeder of some Mangarahara cichlids. At the time, scientists hadn’t yet officially described the species. Not much was known about it, other than its provenance, the Mangarahara river in...
How do you grow rice faster?
Currently over three billion people depend on rice for survival, and, owing to predicted population increases and a general trend towards urbanisation, land that provided enough rice to feed 27 people in 2010 will need to support 43 by 2050.
Is there a faster way to diagnose Tuberculosis?
Tuberculosis (TB) has influenced history. The disease was for centuries associated with poetic and artistic qualities in its sufferers, and was known as "the romantic disease". But in reality there is nothing romantic about the disease. Before drug therapy was available in 1946, nearly half of...
How do you teach a robot social cues?
Robots already perform many traditionally human tasks, from vacuuming to surgery—and they could soon help care for the sick and elderly. But until they can convincingly mimic emotions, their caretaker value will be severely limited.
Can you stop Alzheimer’s before it even starts?
A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s is life changing for the person with the disease, as well as their family and friends. The changes don’t happen overnight. It starts with the small things and then it progresses. But what if there was a way of figuring out the early warning signs of slowing it down or...
What is antimatter?
Antimatter has fuelled many a supernatural tale, but it's also fascinating all by itself. Many people think of it as an "out there" theoretical idea, unaware that it is actually being produced every day. What's more, research on antimatter is actually helping us to understand how the universe...