Podcast: In orbit, health detectives and saving joints

Meet a chemist who went into space, a geologist solving medical mysteries and a team using 3D printing to improve joint surgery in the latest podcast.

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 Public Affairs Division pod squad.

Download the complete podcast (mp3)

OR LISTEN TO INDIVIDUAL CHAPTERS

News: Naming a supercomputer and battling superbugs – The competition to give an Imperial-worthy name to an upgraded supercomputer, and the launch of an ambitious initiative to tackle drug-resistant infections.

Chemistry in space – Imperial’s new Operations Manager for the Department of Chemistry also happens to be the first Briton in space, Helen Sharman, who visited the Mir space station in 1991.

Medical geology – Dr Jennifer le Blond has just returned from a trip to Nicaragua, where she’s been trying to work out why sugar cane workers are getting chronic kidney disease – is it working conditions or something in the environment?

New tools for surgery – Dr Martin Jaere and his collaborators in the musculoskeletal lab are using advanced medical scans and 3D printing to improve the accuracy of joint surgery, potentially saving joints from amputation.