Boldly going where no science show has gone before.

The Naked Scientists.

Hello this week's edition of The Naked Scientists comes to you from California.

And that's because we recently won Best Radio Show at the 29th Global Media Awards Awards which were presented in Los Angeles.

So having finally made it to Hollywood, perfect face for radio and all that, we thought we'd

spend some time checking out the science that LA and San Diego have to offer, including how inspiration from Star Wars is helping

scientists to explore where no one has gone underwater before.

In our last grant proposal to the National Science Foundation, we wanted to present a color graphic

of these devices.

And my colleague actually took the death star and shrunk it down and he created a picture where you had about 20 of these death stars communicating with each other.

So in fact, we're not that far away.

George Jaffey, who's designing a fleet of underwater robot death styles to unlock the secrets of the deep

potion.

And also on the way, how Facebook could affect your weight.

And what we found was that if your friend becomes obese, it the likelihood that you will become obese.

It's not just your friend that matters.

It's your friend's friend's friend and even your friend's friend's friend.

In other words, people we don't know and have never met can change their behavior and it's going to ripple through the network and have an impact on us.

Matthew Fowler will be explaining how to make friends and influence their eating habits.

And on the subject of eating in a rather unusual kitchen science we'll also be finding out how you can x-ray yourself with some of this.

That's right, sticky tape, you can find out how to make it irradiate you in just a moment.

I'm Chris Smith and you're listening to the Naked Scientists.

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