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This week’s viewer question comes from Ngwa Somutah Valentine in Cameroon.
Your inner clock dictates when your body performs best. Many athletes train at very specific times of day. But are there optimal times to work out for everyone? Research shows that the muscles might disagree with the brain about the best time for exercise.
On March 31st, Europe moves its clocks an hour forward to summer time. Daylight saving time was invented to make better use of sunlit hours. How does the time change affect us? How does our health depend on rhythms of light and darkness? And are biorhythms written in our genes?
Satellites orbiting our planet capture a host of data on everything from wild animals to military sites. A Berlin startup is hoping to launch small satellites. Plus, bright nights: the effects of light pollution.
This week's viewer question comes from Ayyoub Rgayai in Morocco. He is puzzled by the fact that you don't weigh the same wherever you happen to be on earth.
The Large Size Telescope, or LST1, recently opened on La Palma, is designed to indirectly detect gamma rays produced billions of years ago by cosmic sources. The measurements will enable scientists to study the distant universe.
Electric lights create 'artificial sky glow' as a result of which countless people never see the Milky Way. Light pollution affects human and animal health and the environment in many ways.
Satellite observation of our planet can be used for good and for ill. We explore a range of applications.
Berlin Space Technologies develops small satellite systems for high-resolution earth observation. The startup has already launched one into orbit. It is now planning to open a manufacturing facility in India.
Modern communications mean we are bombarded with e-mails, text messages and news round the clock wherever we are. How do our brains react to this deluge of information?
Ever more household appliances can connect to the Internet and can be remotely controlled using smartphones.
Just ask! – This viewer question comes from Prandeep Kumar from Auckland in New Zealand.
Smart homes are supposed to make life easier. But there are security flaws which leave them vulnerable to hackers. How easy is it to hack a smart home? Also in the program: How do our brains handle the flood of information in the digital age?
Taste doesn’t depend just on your tongue. Experimental psychologist Charles Spence has discovered that colors, the shape of eating utensils and the soundscape during dinner can completely alter the taste experience.
Psychologist Charles Spence studies how we experience food, and has come to the conclusion that taste is largely a mental construct linked to all our senses. Plus: a robot learning to knit, research into solar storms and why some chameleons glow.
Bioluminescence is common among marine organisms like jellyfish, but it’s much rarer in animals on land. Recently the phenomenon has been discovered in chameleons. Researchers believe it could aid communication.
Just ask! This week’s viewer question comes from Reinhardt Simon.
A research team in Berlin is teaching a robot to knit. The goal of the research is to acquire new insights into interactions between humans and the mechanical helpers of the future.
This week: what does a working day look like for the people manning Germany’s Neumayer III research station? We also take a trip to Mercury, visit a researcher who uses physics to solve crimes, and climb aboard a fairground swing for an entertaining experiment.
Stefan Axmann writes crime scene assessments with the help of physics. The forensic physicist talks about what makes his work so intriguing.
Just ask! - This week’s question is from Yogesh Morey from Navi Mumbai in India.
Extreme fluctuations in temperature are a reason why Mercury is considered the most difficult planet to research in our solar system. The Bepi Colombo mission will study its formation and evolution, and is scheduled to reach its destination in 2025.
A recent study suggests many species of insect could be extinct within a century. Wouldn’t it be great if there were no more annoying wasps ruining your picnic, no insect-borne diseases and no painful mosquito bites? But there’s a massive downside.
The Neumayer III research station was opened in Antarctica 10 years ago. It stands on hydraulic stilts, so it won’t eventually be swallowed by the snow like its predecessors. The station staff conducts research on the weather and the climate.
