The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry

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The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry

Podcasts

Factual: Science & Nature

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

Science sleuths Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Hannah Fry investigate everyday mysteries.

Science sleuths Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Hannah Fry investigate everyday mysteries sent by listeners.

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The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry: Series 20: The Case of The Missing Gorilla

The Case of The Missing Gorilla

Series 20

BBC Radio 4 - The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry, Series 20, The Case of The Missing Gorilla

'How can I be immersed in a book, and still notice my name?' asks Charlotte.

Why do you immediately focus on some things and totally fail to notice others? Rutherford and Fry explore the psychology of attention. If they manage to stay focused.

DO WE HAVE YOUR ATTENTION?

Good! But how does that work!?  

Our intrepid science sleuths explore why some things immediately catch your eye - or ear - while others slip by totally unnoticed. Even, on occasion, basketball bouncing gorillas. 

Professor Polly Dalton, a psychologist who leads The Attention Lab at Royal Holloway University, shares her surprising research into ‘inattentional blindness’ - when you get so absorbed in a task you can miss striking and unusual things going on right in front of you.  

Dr Gemma Briggs from the Open University reveals how this can have dangerous everyday consequences: you are four times more likely to have a crash if you talk on the phone while driving - even handsfree. 

Drs Rutherford and Fry also hear from stroke survivor Thomas Canning, who developed the tendency to ignore everything on the left side of space, despite his vision being totally intact. And Dr Tom Manly, from the University of Cambridge’s Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, helps our sleuths unpack the neuroscience of this fascinating condition. 

Producer: Ilan Goodman 
Contributors: Professor Polly Dalton, Dr Gemma Briggs, Dr Tom Manly

The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry: Series 20

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The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry

Series 20

The Case of The Missing Gorilla

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