2012 Magazine Podcasts

The podcast is presented by Gareth Mitchell, a lecturer on Imperial's Science Communication MSc course and the presenter of Click Radio on the BBC World Service, with help from the Communications and Development Division pod squad.

If you have feedback that you’d like to share or ideas for future editions, we’d love to hear from you – please contact Laura Gallagher on  l.gallagher@imperial.ac.uk or +44 (0)20 7594 8432, or tweet us  @ImperialSpark.

You can also download our magazine podcasts from iTunes by following this link ( Imperial College London Magazine iTunes), if you do not have iTunes installed you will be prompted to do so.

8 February edition

Researchers enlist schoolchildren to measure pollution, a prize-winning essay writer shares his tips, and two experts offer contrasting views on whether Mars’s surface could have harboured life.

Listen to the complete streamed podcast - 8 February 2012

Or listen to individual chapters

• Schoolchildren get involved in pollution research - Dr Mark Richards explains how pupils in Brighton are helping Imperial scientists monitor air pollution around their schools.
• News: Black holes and revelations - Brain scans illuminate the effects of magic mushrooms, black holes reveal surprising life-giving qualities and how the body clock could be linked to diabetes.
• Why care about discovering the Higgs boson? - 2011 Science Challenge winner Andrew Purcell reads from his essay and offers advice to this year’s entrants.
• Is there life on Mars? - Dr Tom Pike explains why his data cast doubt on the possibility of life having existed on the Martian surface, but Professor Mark Sephton hasn’t given up the search.
• Exhibition Road completes its transformation - Perspectives on the new-look street design from mayor Boris Johnson, Professor Mike Bell and other road users.

18 January edition

What secrets will the Large Hadron Collider reveal in 2012? Our latest podcast looks at the year ahead for Cern, plus turning wrapping paper into biofuel, using art to treat mental health problems, and diagnosing traumatic brain injury.

Listen to the complete streamed podcast - 18 January 2012

Or listen to individual chapters

• 2012: the year of the Higgs boson? Last year ended with promising results from the Large Hadron Collider, but Professor Jordan Nash is keeping the champagne on ice.
• News roundup - How pike relocation is threatening native species in Italy and a new look at how effective weight loss surgery is as a treatment for type 2 diabetes.
• Turning waste paper into biofuel - Unwanted Christmas cards and wrapping paper could provide enough energy to send a bus to the moon more than 20 times, according to Imperial researchers.
• My Life On Mars - Michael Crawford, Professor of Mental Health Research, considers what he would take with him on a lone voyage to the Red Planet.
• Brain probes to assess traumatic injury - Professor Martyn Boutelle from the Department of Bioengineering on new technology for assessing the severity of traumatic brain injury.

Podcast archive

• 2011 podcasts
• 2010 podcasts
• 2009 podcasts
• 2008 podcasts
• 2007 podcasts