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Recent items from This Way Up
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Scrabble words
1:45 PM.Two official bibles of the world of Scrabble- updated and definitive lists of each and every word you can play- have just come out. There's nearly 3000 new words - from Facebook to wagyu - but still… Read more Audio
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Secret History of Social Networking (Part 2)
1:10 PM.BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones presents episode two of The Secret History of Social Networking. This week, the rise of Facebook; what made it so darn popular, and why did competitors… Read more Audio
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TR-10 emerging technologies
12:50 PM.Jason Pontin, the editor-in-chief of the Technology Review, starts picking out 10 emerging technologies he thinks are most likely to shape the future and change our world. Audio
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Angry Birds
12:35 PM.Angry Birds is the game that's had over 250 million downloads with 40 million active users every month. Mark Cubey's a fan and I'll ask him why such a seemingly obscure and trivial game has become… Read more Audio
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Tracking drug users with GPS
12:25 PM.Helping recovering drug addicts in Baltimore with GPS units and electronic diaries. It's all part of an emerging discipline called behavioural geography, which looks at how physical places shape our… Read more Audio
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Tickling
12:15 PM.The world's first 'tickling spa' has opened in Madrid. Instead of getting a facial or a manicure, a massage therapist comes in and starts tickling you! Dr Chris Smith is a keen tickler and one of the… Read more Audio
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Food additives: sweeteners
1:45 PM.We're back in the supermarket looking at more food additives with Matt Golding. This week, artificial sweeteners- things like saccharin and sucralose that are 200 or 300 times sweeter than sugar but… Read more Audio
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The Secret History of Social Networking (Part 1)
1:15 PM.BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones traces the story of social networking from the early days of computing and the 60s counterculture, through to today's mega-corporations worth billions of… Read more Audio
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Wheat
12:45 PM.'Fifty Plants that Changed the Course of History' is a new book by author Bill Laws. This week, he singles out wheat from his list. Audio
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Soy
12:40 PM.Many food labels show the presence of soy in our food, often in unexpected places. So is there actually more soy in our food system or is something else going on? With food technologist Torben… Read more Audio
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Disfluent fonts
12:30 PM.Connor Diemand-Yauman is the lead author of a study showing that making something harder to read helps you remember more information. Audio
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Pigeon wars
12:15 PM.For the past 8 years, London's been waging war on the masses of pigeons that congregate around Trafalgar Square. The solution's not been a high tech one either as the city's gone all medieval on these… Read more Audio
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Digital Yellow River
1:50 PM.Jonathan Watts lives in China where the north is struggling with one of its worst droughts in decades. It's got so bad the authorities are trying to solve the problem using a hi-tech water rationing… Read more Audio
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Feedback Loops
1:35 PM.Feedback loops are powerful tools to change people's behaviour. The classic example is the sign that flashes up your speed or tells you to slow down when you're driving. Thomas Goetz, the executive… Read more Audio
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Wicked Bugs
1:15 PM.We're on the hunt for the world's most wicked bugs with Amy Stewart. Amy's the writer of 'Wicked Bugs: The Louse That Conquered Napoleon's Army and other Diabolical Insects'. Audio
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Tour de France
12:50 PM.Ned Boulting been covering the world's biggest cycle race for years. It starts this weekend and he's become so infatuated with the Tour he's just written 'How I Won the Yellow Jumper'. Audio
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Online trolls
12:35 PM.Claire Hardaker of Lancaster University studies online trolls and has been trawling through millions of words of their trolling. Audio
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Ears: earwax
12:15 PM.We find out what earwax is, why we secrete it, and some of the ways to get rid of it. With Libby Cossar of the Hearing Association. Audio
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Beer scene
1:45 PM.We're looking at the local beer scene with beer buff Martin Craig of nzbeerblog.com. The big mass-produced brands still dominate the landscape but the number of small, craft breweries and independent… Read more Audio
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Chicken plucking
1:40 PM.Food technologist Torben Sorensen of Sorensen Laboratories on how chickens get plucked on a large scale, commercial production line. Audio
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Periodic Tales
1:10 PM.Hugh Aldersey-Williams is the author of 'Periodic Tales: The Curious Lives of the Elements'. It's a compendium of stories about the elements that surround us. Audio
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Pharmageddon
12:45 PM.In the US tens of thousands of people are dying from prescription drug overdoses every year. Ed Pilkington of the Guardian's been to Florida where some doctors have turned pill-pushers, work for drug… Read more Audio
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Deal-a-day websites
12:45 PM.Rakesh 'Rocky' Agrawal is a product and marketing strategist who sees problems ahead for the deal-a-day website. We look at the economics of how these websites work, and find out who wins and who… Read more Audio
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Cockroach healing
12:15 PM.The healing powers of cockroaches; yes, cockroaches! Scientists are making some amazing discoveries about powerful anti-bacterial molecules inside the cockroach's tiny brain. With Dr Naveed Khan of… Read more Audio
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World's hottest chilli
1:55 PM.Australian sauce-maker Alex de Wit claims to be growing the hottest chilli in the world, the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T. Audio