Curious Cases

Ever wondered how close nature can get to making a human clone? And what happens if identical twin brothers marry identical twin sisters and have babies - how similar are they? Our listener Chris has been pondering this very issue, and his question takes Hannah and Dara down another scientific rabbit hole.
Our intrepid duo consider how one fertilised egg can somehow become two babies, why those babies aren’t quite genetic photocopies, and why even identical twins gradually become more different as they grow up. They also find out how studying twins is helping scientists learn lessons about how all of us age - and explore the classic, movie-perpetuated mystery of “twin telepathy”… could there maybe, possibly, be something to it?!
There’s also just time to address the tricky issue of cloning. From Dolly the sheep to regenerative medicine, cloning science has paved the way for some serious breakthroughs; but could we ever clone a human? And more to the point, should we?
Expect sheep, sci-fi, identical cousins, and a dash of disproven twin mythology, as Curious Cases makes its return!
If you have an everyday mystery for the team to investigate, contact them on curiouscases@bbc.co.uk.
Contributors:
Xand van Tulleken - Doctor, broadcaster and Honorary Associate Professor of Infection and Population Health at University College London
Kevin Sinclair - Professor of Developmental Biology and Head of Animal Sciences at the University of Nottingham
Claire Steves - Principal Investigator at TwinsUK and Professor of Ageing and Health at King’s College London
Chris van Tulleken - Doctor, broadcaster and Professor of Infection and Global Health at University College London
Producer: Lucy Taylor
Executive Producer: Sasha Feachem
A BBC Studios Production

Hannah Fry and Dara Ó Briain return for a new series, and a whole lot of new problems to solve!

One winter morning, listener Jane opened her curtains to find her car roof covered in breathtaking, fern-like frost so intricate it looked like a William Morris print. But how does something as ordinary as ice create patterns so beautifully complex?
Hannah and Dara explore this crunchy, slippery, delicately patterned branch of chemistry to uncover the rules and mysteries that govern the extra-ordinary world of ice. Why does ice come in so many shapes and sizes? And does all ice form at 0 degrees Celsius? Is every snowflake truly unique? We have questions a plenty for our eager chemists, who, as all good chemists do, have a few demonstrations up their sleeves to help explain.
And we explore nature’s hidden geometry to find why these frost ferns follow the same rules as lightning bolts, river deltas and even human lungs.
You can send your everyday mysteries for the team to investigate to: curiouscases@bbc.co.uk
Contributors
Sarah Hart – Professor Emerita of Mathematics, Birkbeck University of London
Christoph Salzmann – Professor of Physical and Materials Chemistry, UCL
Dr Thomas Whale – Lecturer, Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science, University of Leeds
Producer: Emily Bird
Executive Producer: Sasha Feachem
A BBC Studios Production

From pharaohs' tombs in Ancient Egypt and medieval currency, to priceless royal jewellery and Spandau Ballet songs - gold has been prized for millennia.
But it's only really in the last century or so that we've started uncovering its usefulness in less decorative applications.
Today, gold is used in masses of electricals; it's also revolutionised part of the manufacturing sector by stopping a dangerous reliance on mercury as a catalyst; and it's vital to space missions. Although there are also some more frivolous modern uses for gold, as Hannah and Dara discover. (Gold-leaf in your cocktail, anyone?)
Challenged to find out whether all the world's mined gold would really fit in an Olympic swimming pool, our science-savvy duo discover that this antisocial element might just be the best darn thing on the periodic table...
Contributors:
- Graham Hutchings, Regius Professor of Chemistry at the University of Cardiff
- Frances Wall, Professor of Applied Mineralogy in the Camborne School of Mines at the University of Exeter
- Tim Peake, Astronaut
Producer: Lucy Taylor
Executive Producer: Sasha Feachem
A BBC Studios Production

What exactly is 'phantom pain' and how does it work?
Hannah and Dara investigate a medical phenomenon that's been known about for centuries but is often misunderstood; and involves masses of unanswered questions.
The condition 'phantom pain' is when someone gets a sensation of pain that feels like it's coming from a part of their body that's no longer there - so that could be an amputated limb, or perhaps something that has been removed, such as a tooth or an organ. It's thought to be caused by how the brain and body process pain and physical awareness, but there's still debate around what exactly is going on neurologically.
Researchers around the world are looking into the condition; in the meantime, people who experience phantom pain - like today's studio guest Lynn - often have to try out a range of treatments, to find out what combination works best for them. But as the team discover, pain is deeply subjective - and in this case, there is really no 'right answer'...
Contributors:
- Tamar Makin, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge, where she leads the Plasticity Lab;
- Lynn Williams, a qualified therapist and upper limb amputee who volunteered as a subject for one of Tamar’s research programmes;
- Carlos Roldan, Associate Professor in the Department of Pain Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center;
- Keren Fisher, a Consultant Clinical Psychologist who’s worked in the NHS for more than four decades; largely in pain management at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital.
Producers: Emily Bird & Lucy Taylor
Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem
A BBC Studios Audio Production