Claims that a tinfoil hat will protect the wearer from electromagnetic fields and mind control have been around for many years but do they actually work? Justin Hodgkiss joins Bryan Crump to answer that question.
Kryptonite is a green crystal-like material found on Superman's home planet - Krypton. The radiation from the rock weakens Superman. Professor Bill Williams tells us if there are any real life equivalents to Kryptonite.
Scarlett Johansson's character in Black Widow has to fight pheromones in order to beat the evil villain. Anindita Sen explains how pheromones work and whether they could control humans.
MacGyver was an 80s icon, with his mullet and ability to turn anything into a tool to save the day. Karen Thorn looks at one episode where the action hero turns some historical artifacts into a laser.
The Philosopher's Stone in the Harry Potter books can change metal into gold and create an elixir of life. Erin Leitao tells Bryan Crump whether either ability is within our reach.
In Total Recall Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a construction worker who recovers memories as life as secret agent trying to stop the mining of Turbinium on the planet Mars.
The Ghostbusters would never have caught their prey without proton packs. Emily Kendall talks to Bryan Crump about how they worked in the movies and whether they could work in real life.
Kate Andrew tackles Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of books in this episode, with a particular focus on the Octiron, the element of magic which makes up the disc's hub.
Spiderman swings from the top of New York's high-rises, fighting crime and beating super-villains. But could spider silk really hold up a full-grown man? Dr Paul Hume and Bryan Crump discuss the super qualities of spiderwebs.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator is a cyborg sent back in time to change the future. Duncan McGillvray discusses the metal that makes up the murderous robotic endoskeleton.
Wonder Woman can stop bullets with her Feminum bracelets but, apart from needing the reflexes to achieve this, could any material that's light enough to wear on your wrists do that?
Elizabeth Holmes is serving prison time for fraud after convincing the world she had developed a simple blood test that could diagnose a range of diseases. Professor Duncan McGillivray looks at whether the fiction could one day be a reality.
Colm Healy chats about the magic of material science and possible real life equivalents to Harry Potter's invisibility cloak.
Spoiler Alert: In the Christopher Nolan movie Interstellar, an astronaut gets sucked into a black hole but manages to communicate with his daughter and find his way out. Richard Easther tells us the realities of being sucked into a black hole.
Greedy corporations seeking Unobtainium are the bad guys in James Cameron's Avatar movie franchise. Associate Professor Nicola Gaston discusses the parallels between the fictional mineral and solid hydrogen.
Rodrigo Martinez Gazoni chats with Bryan Crump about the scientific plausibility of Batman's cape and some of his other gadgets.
The Starship Enterprise crew's tricorders have a multitude of uses, from scanning a new planet's surface to staff health checks. Dr Michel Nieuwoudt chats about whether we could even construct such a device.
In Larry Niven's 1970 science fiction novel, Louis Wu and his companions crash land on a rotating ring world constructed by aliens. Dr Chris Bumby and Bryan Crump discuss whether we might one day build our own space Ringworld.
Symbiotes are extraterrestrial parasites that appear in the Marvel Comics Spiderverse. In particular, Venom is a symbiote who attaches to journalist Eddie Brock. Dr Paul Hume chats with Bryan Crump about the feasibility of coming across a symbiote in real life.
Dr Krista Steenbergen takes a look at 'A New Element' as invented by Tony Stark and used in Ironman 2.
