S4 Ep 1. Derry Girls (Throwback Science)

 
 

Listen Now



Season 4 is all about our LIVE shows. We've recorded our 2022 live podcasts as episodes, and we're starting this series with the incredible show Derry Girls. We were lucky enough to be invited by the Northern Ireland Science Festival to do this show none other than in Derry/ Londonderry itself in February (and we loved it)! 

In this episode, we join the girls from Our Lady Immaculate as they turn their eyes on Father Peter to find out why we fancy hot priests. Plus, we use science to find out why we find Orla’s oddball character so funny, how hash scones would affect our bodies, and what happens when we watch high-octane thrillers in the cinema. 

Oh and this funny noise we’re making? We’re English, it’s just the way we talk…

Listen to the podcast now on:

 
 

Blogs

Blog
The strange case of the self-tidying shed
The strange case of the self-tidying shed

Imagine the scene; you visit your shed and notice the plastic clips you placed on the side bench have been collected up and put into an tub of peanuts for the birds. You empty the ice cream tub. Next morning everything has been placed back in the tub, alongside screws, nuts and bolts. Must be a ghost, right?

Read More →
A beginner's guide to surviving a zombie apocalypse.
A beginner's guide to surviving a zombie apocalypse.

Is a pandemic the best time to develop your zombie apocalypse plan? We can learn a surprising amount from the current situation. After all, no-one mentioned that the apocalypse would involve epic missions to find toilet paper or washing your hands to the tune of Happy Birthday. So let’s get started.

Read More →
How to cope with rejection...the love life of a fruit fly.
How to cope with rejection...the love life of a fruit fly.

Ever noticed those fruit flies buzzing around your overly ripe bananas? Only a couple of millimetres long, these tiny flies are attracted to rotting, fermenting fruit. Research has found that male fruit fly who were rejected by females, drank four times as much alcohol as those who had sex.

Read More →
Can you hear the difference between hot and cold water?
Can you hear the difference between hot and cold water?

Next time you make tea listen carefully as you add hot water to the cup. Try pouring the same volume of cold water into the same type of cup. Can you hear a difference? Listen to the experiment and take a look at the science behind this phenomenon.

Read More →
Come join us in the Top 100!
Come join us in the Top 100!

The Small Screen Science Blog has been selected by Feedspot as one of the Top 100 Science blogs on the web! Covering topics as diverse as forensic entomology in 13th century China and using science to make a chocolate ganache, we hope to provide you with interesting reads which complement our podcast episodes.

Read More →
Interview with a vampire...bat expert.
Interview with a vampire...bat expert.

As part of our podcast episode ‘Blood-Sucking Science’ we interviewed Dr Daniel Streicker, from the University of Glasgow, about vampire bats, how they hunt in the dark and feed on their prey.

Read More →
#blacklivesmatter podcast recommendations
#blacklivesmatter podcast recommendations

We have decided not to release an episode today. Like many, we’ve been trying to learn more about black history and our own white privilege. We would like to use this space to recommend and share some of the podcasts that we have spent time listening to this week.

Read More →
Every contact leaves a trace. The importance of Locard's Exchange Principle.
Every contact leaves a trace. The importance of Locard's Exchange Principle.

We have all watched TV forensic pathologists pause whilst photographing the body, grab a pair of tweezers and bag a piece of trace evidence from under the victim’s fingernails or inside a wound. In the storyline, this fibre or sliver of glass proves to be crucial damning evidence against the killer. So how important is trace evidence and is it true every contact leaves a trace?

Read More →
Why are Parkinsons' patients asked to tango? The link between dance and neurodegenerative diseases
Why are Parkinsons' patients asked to tango? The link between dance and neurodegenerative diseases

It might not sound like a natural stepping stone for signing up to dance classes, but exercise has been shown to help slow the progression of the condition’s symptoms.

Read More →
The casebook of Song Ci. The first forensic entomologist.
The casebook of Song Ci. The first forensic entomologist.

Avid readers of crime fiction will be familiar with the ‘little grey cells’ of Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes’ examination of trace evidence. Less well known is Song Ci, whose casebook ‘Washing Away of Wrongs’ provided coroners with a step-by-step guide to autopsy and forensic investigation. Why is his work so significant?

Read More →

Episode References (if you fancy some extra reading)

  • Baranska, A., Shawket, A., Jouve, M., Baratin, M., Malosse, C., Voluzan, O., Vu Manh, T.P., Fiore, F., Bajénoff, M., Benaroch, P. and Dalod, M. (2018) Unveiling skin macrophage dynamics explains both tattoo persistence and strenuous removal. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 215(4), pp.1115-1133.

  • Elisabeth, K. (2019) ’Female heroes’: celebrity executives as postfeminist role models. British Journal of Management, 30 (4) . pp. 981-996

  • French, C. (2009) Scientists put psychic’s paranormal claims to the test. The Guardian. [12 May] Available from: Scientists put psychic's paranormal claims to the test | Chris French | The Guardian

  • Goldsmiths, University of London. Telephone Telepathy. Available from: Telephone Telepathy | Goldsmiths, University of London

  • Goldstein, R.E., Warren, P.B. and Ball, R.C. (2012) Shape of a ponytail and the statistical physics of hair fibre bundles. Physical review letters, 108(7), p.078101.

  • Hye-Knudsen, M. (2018) Painfully funny: Cringe comedy, benign masochism and not-so-benign violations. Interdisciplinary Journal in English 2. pp. 13-31

  • LeBlanc, T. (2020) Motivating Girls, Regardless of Life Circumstance, to Envision Possibilities Rather Than Limitations for Their Lives: Chelsea Clinton’s Answer—Persist! Am J Public Health. 110 (1) pp. 8–10

  • Levesque, R. (2017) Forbidden Fruit . Encyclopaedia of Adolescence [14 February] Available from: Forbidden Fruit | SpringerLink

  • Loveland, K.E., Smeesters, D. and Mandel, N. (2010) Still preoccupied with 1995: The need to belong and preference for nostalgic products. Journal of Consumer Research. 37(3). pp.393-408.

  • Pearce Stevens, A. (2017) Tattoos: The good, the bad and the bumpy. [11 May] Available from: Tattoos: The good, the bad and the bumpy | Science News Explores (snexplores.org)

  • Rapana, J. (2020) The ‘forbidden fruit effect’ explains why you fall for the ones you can’t have. Body + Soul. [11 February] Avaialbel from: The 'forbidden fruit effect' explains why you fall for the ones you can't have (bodyandsoul.com.au)

  • Stönner, C., Edtbauer, A., Derstroff, B., Bourtsoukidis, E., Klüpfel, T., Wicker, J. and Williams, J. (2018) Proof of concept study: Testing human volatile organic compounds as tools for age classification of films. PloS one, 13(10), p.e0203044.

  • Thomas, D. (2019) Tattoos at work: Are they still an issue? BBC [16 June] Available from: Tattoos at work: Are they still an issue? - BBC News

  • YouGov (2019) If you were famous and you met a fan who had a tattoo of your face… [5 Aug] Available from: Daily Question | 05/08/2019 | YouGov

  • WikiHow (2020) How to drink a flaming shot. [30 May] Available from: How to Drink a Flaming Shot: 9 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow

  • Williams, J., Stönner, C., Wicker, J., Krauter, N., Derstroff, B., Bourtsoukidis, E., Klüpfel, T. and Kramer, S. (2016) Cinema audiences reproducibly vary the chemical composition of air during films, by broadcasting scene specific emissions on breath. Scientific reports, 6(1), pp.1-10.