All engine running.

Absolutely genius.

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This is the show where we bring you science.

What that essentially means is.

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Without further ado, this is the Naked Scientists.

Hello, welcome to this week's Naked Scientist podcast, the program that brings you the biggest

breakthroughs in science, technology and medicine. With me, Chris Smith. Coming up, we ask leading

experts in the fields of health, AI, space, marine science and archaeology for their standout

moments that defined 2024. From Cambridge University's Institute of Continuing Education, this is the Naked Scientists.

And we start this week with health and epidemiology. With 2024 drawing to a close, parliamentarians in the UK voted on a landmark bill that would allow some terminally ill adults to end their own lives. It was said by some to be one of the most significant and sensitive topics to have been voted on by British MPs in recent decades.

But what will it mean and what still needs to happen if this bill is going to pass into law?

Well, I've been speaking to Linda Bald, who's Professor of Public Health at the University of Edinburgh.

This is an important bill. It's the terminally ill adults' end of life bill,

and what it would do is make it legal

for over 18s who are terminally ill to be given assistance to end their own life. The reason it's

important is because many countries around the world have looked at their aging populations of course

...