Biology Podcasts

Podcasts from the Oxford Bioethics Network; comprising of seven research centres in the University of Oxford. Members of ethics centres discuss ethical, legal and social aspects of conducting medical research.

John Murray VII tells the fascinating story of how his ancestor, John Murray III, was offered the manuscript of Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species. Drawing upon original letters, photographs, family stories and the help of a set of live pigeons, he gives a unique insight in to the early history of this epoch-making book, […]

Whether you find spiders fearful or fascinating, they are to be admired for their web-spinning and prey-catching techniques, and the remarkable methods they use to move from one place to another. In this album, researchers in Denmark and the United States use an 8-legged robot and a virtual spider, high-speed photography, a hot air balloon […]

How do we enter the strange and fascinating world of small organisms? How do scientists explore their habits, growth, and rather intriguing behaviours? In this album, scientists from Italy, the US and the UK reveal some of the technologies and techniques they use to investigate the behaviour of small aquatic organisms such as flagellates, plankton […]

The Galapagos Islands are famous for inspiring Charles Darwin to form his Theory of Evolution based on the biodiversity he’d observed there. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of his “On the origin of species”, and the unspoilt islands still fascinate researchers. Some of the plants and animals that live here are […]

What is biodiversity and why does it matter? How can everyday observations and online databases help to increase our knowledge about the diversity of species? On this album, Jonathan Silvertown, Professor of Ecology at The Open University, presents a guided tour of iSpot, a nature website that gives anybody and everybody a chance to share […]

What are ecosystems, and what do different ecosystems have in common? How are they affected by human activity? From the diverse rainforests of the tropics to the smallest microbial communities, ecosystems support life on Earth. This album reveals the ecological relationships that create these living systems of energy transfer and explores some of the key […]

Why are we still interested in Charles Darwin, 200 years after his birth? Are his theories still as relevant? And what celebrations are planned for his anniversary? This album provides a solid introduction to Charles Darwin’s groundbreaking theory of evolution. The geneticist Steve Jones and the historian Fern Elsdon-Baker explain and comment on Darwin’s theoretical […]

What has evolution got to do with us? Bringing some of the world’s top minds to Cambridge, the Darwin Festival celebrates the enduring influence of Darwin’s ideas 150 years after the publication of The Origin of Species, the book that rewrote the way we see the world.

How is genetic information stored in cells, and how is the information accessed and used? On this album, Dr Norman Cohen of The Open University uses models and graphics to provide easily understood explanations of how genetic information is stored in DNA, how DNA is replicated, and how genetic information from DNA is used to […]

Join the TWIST team – Sam Sherratt, Kilian, Taylor, Aysa, Angela, and Aiden – as they discuss their unique lines of inquiry and discover their common destination. Being international can be challenging.

Podcasts celebrating 200 years since Charles Darwin was born.

On The Wing is the podcast magazine of birds and birding. We cover the birds, people and places that make birding one of the fastest-growing outdoor activities. We use ID3 tags to label each edition with an Album Name, and each segment gets its own Track Number – so access is easy!

Joel Mark Witt hosts this regular look at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.

Natural Focus, presented by David Boag (international author, lecturer and wildlife photographer) celebrates the beauty of the natural world. David’s enthusiasm for creation comes out in every show he does and you are guarenteed to learn something new each time. [itunes pic] Whilst some people encourage and feed creatures in their garden, others hate the […]

Part 2 of 3 of a book on evolutionary theory by English naturalist Charles Darwin, first published in 1871. It was Darwin’s second great book on evolutionary theory, following his 1859 work, On The Origin of Species. In The Descent of Man, Darwin applies evolutionary theory to human evolution, and details his theory of sexual […]

III. SEXUAL SELECTION IN RELATION TO MAN, AND CONCLUSION. Part 3 of 3 of a book on evolutionary theory by English naturalist Charles Darwin, first published in 1871. It was Darwin’s second great book on evolutionary theory, following his 1859 work, On The Origin of Species. In The Descent of Man, Darwin applies evolutionary theory […]

A book on evolutionary theory by English naturalist Charles Darwin, first published in 1871. It was Darwin’s second great book on evolutionary theory, following his 1859 work, On The Origin of Species. In The Descent of Man, Darwin applies evolutionary theory to human evolution, and details his theory of sexual selection. The book discusses many […]

Naturalis Historia (Latin for “Natural History”) is an encyclopedia published circa AD 77-79 by Pliny the Elder. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman empire to the modern day and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge, based on the best authorities available to Pliny. The […]

Charles Darwin LL.B F.R.S was the discoverer of evolution and argued the role of “natural selection” in directing the evolution of species. Darwin also had an interest in the formation of soils (moulds) that began relatively early in his life, with a paper “On the Formation of Vegetable Moulds” delivered to the Geological Society of […]

Naturalis Historia (Latin for “Natural History”) is an encyclopedia published circa AD 77-79 by Pliny the Elder. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman empire to the modern day and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge, based on the best authorities available to Pliny. The […]

The famed French naturalist Fabre covers a large variety of subjects in these 70 short but fascinating essays about insects, animals and nature in general. The translator explains in her foreword, “The young in heart and the pure in heart of whatever age will find themselves drawn to this incomparable story-teller, this reverent reveler of […]