Incredible insects and their special skills

Today, we are exploring the lives of insects, and some of the incredible abilities they've evolved to enable them to thrive. Coming up, the fly larvae that can withstand huge pressures in some of the world's deepest lakes; the butterfly caterpillar that pretends it's an ant to blag free board, lodgings and even ant grubs to eat inside ant nests, and the remarkable visual systems of wasps that enables them to home-in unerringly on picnics. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Coming up, health agencies grapple with a Salmonella outbreak across Europe. What's behind it? Also, astronomers spot the fastest-moving star in the Milky Way, hurtling around the supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy; regulators in the United States have followed Europe's lead by approving an influenza vaccine that relies on mRNA technology; and we explore the remnants of Neapolitan wine on a 2,000-year-old shipwreck off the coast of Italy. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We have partnered with UK Research and Innovation to study wounds and their impact on healthcare. What challenges do wounds create, and how can we treat them? This episode features Mat Hardman at the Wound Innovation Institute; Ketan Dhatariya at the Association of British Clinical Diabetologists; and Holly Wilkinson at the University of Hull. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Coming up, Australian researchers have found a new way to help prevent malaria. How have they done it? Also, the UK is "leading the world" in efforts to eliminate hepatitis C, a designer vest that could protect our astronauts from space radiation, and how a new aerogel-based toothpaste can tackle tooth sensitivity. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

On August 12th, 2026, nearly one billion people could see a partial solar eclipse, and 15 million will see totality, when the Moon completely obscures the disc of the Sun. In this episode, Becky Smethurst explains solar eclipses; Stephen Price, from Bristol Astronomical Society, explains how best to observe one; astrophysicist Megan Argo documents what mankind made of eclipses in years gone by, and NASA's Nicki Rayl explains what eclipses can reveal about the workings of our closest star. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Coming up, a team of doctors successfully conducts surgery on a baby still inside the womb. How did they do it? Also, what does SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket collision with the Moon mean for future space missions; how the bright lights and loud sounds of gambling machines promote higher risk-taking; and the deadly cyclosporiasis parasite that's causing bouts of explosive diarrhoea across the globe. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, we explore how the food industry uses science to develop new foods that are better for the environment, healthier, and still taste good. The show is produced by Petra Merzan, a student of the Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership, which is funded by UKRI-BBSRC. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

In this week's show, wildfires have now spread to Italy, Canada, and the wine-producing region of France, Bordeaux. These fires produce a peculiar cloud phenomenon called pyrocumulonimbus and scientists plan to fly a jet over these clouds to determine how they operate. Also, we hear how drug-packed nanoparticles can aid brain cancer treatment, the genetic evidence of smallpox in Incan mummies, and how the smell of dad affects infant brain activity... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, our Titan of Science is cell biologist Sara Wickstrom. Her work focuses on how cells communicate with one another to coordinate growth, development, and movement. These insights have just won Sara the Koerber European Science Prize, and, in this episode, she tells us how she will spend her million Euro winnings, and how her discoveries will inform future treatments for diseases like cancer. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

In this week's show, wildfires continue to race across the world in Canada, Ireland, Scotland and Italy. Why are they happening, and what can we do to prevent them? Plus, scientists track neighbourhood food consumption from DNA in sewage, the first evidence of an "exomoon" orbiting a planet outside our solar system, and how tiny "algebots" can deliver cancer chemotherapy in the bladder. What makes these critters remote-controlled? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists