CrowdScience listener George is showing Alex Lathbridge around a small, dark, and extremely hot shed, just outside the city of Accra in Ghana. Inside are row after row of shelves, stacked high with bulging grow-bags. And out of some of them, gorgeous cascades of oyster mushrooms are bursting into bloom.

We’re on George’s mushroom farm, and he’s noticed something interesting. Even though the conditions in his grow-shed are tightly controlled – they have exactly the same food, water, and light as each other – nevertheless, they respond differently. Some are more vigorous than others, some bloom quicker, others last longer, and some are more tolerant when the conditions change. And this got George wondering. Could ‘brainless’ lifeforms like mushrooms, and plants, have different ‘personalities’? Do they experience the world differently, and live their lives differently from each other? Alex Lathbridge is on the case.

He visits the PGRRI, the Plant Genetic Resources Research Centre, for a quick lesson on genetic variation in the plant world. Plants are all different at the genetic level, and it’s those differences which can result in a tastier fruit, or a hardier crop. But would we call traits like these personality?

In the Minimal Intelligence Lab in the University of Murcia in Spain, Paco Calvo thinks that we absolutely should. He studies plant intelligence, and points Alex to a whole host of examples of plants being smart in ways which might surprise you. Each one is an individual, and if we can only slow down enough to appreciate them properly, we’d be able to understand them better too.

Back in Ghana, Alex meets plant physiologist Dr Acheampong Atta-Boateng, in the beautiful grounds of Aburi Botanical Gardens, to meet some of these plants for himself. And he discovers that there’s a whole world of smart, resilient, and resourceful little organisms in the plant world, full of personality, if you know where to look. Who needs a brain!?

Presenter: Alex Lathbridge

Producer: Emily Knight

Editor: Ben Motley

(Photo: Drawing of a face and smiling eyes on a sunflower flower - stock photo- Credit: Jose A. Bernat Bacete via Getty Images)

Why is there such a variety of tongues in the animal kingdom? CrowdScience listener Dale has observed that his dog’s tongue is different from his and so is his cat’s.  He’d like to know the reason.

Caroline Steel visits London Zoo in the UK to find out more about the different types of tongues - from giraffes and birds to lizards.

She talks to evolutionary biologist Kurt Schwenk, who explains that the development of tongues made it possible for animals to make the leap from the sea to life on land. Fish could rely on water to help them swallow food, but air and gravity required a whole different mechanism for having dinner.

But why is there such a variety of tongues between species - from the forked tongue of a snake to the rough tongue of a cat? And does it all come down to our diets?

Researcher Callum Ross reveals how he’s pioneered a new technique for investigating how animals use their tongues when they eat and drink, and why tongues are so important for swallowing.

Presenter: Caroline Steel

Producer: Jo Glanville

Editor: Ben Motley

(Photo: Giraffe licking its lips - stock photo - Credit: laurenepbath via Getty Images)

Why do we feel itchy? So many listeners have emailed in with questions about itchiness, and presenter Anand Jagatia on the case.

We explore why we itch, the different types of itch, the different causes, and why scratching can help with the itchy sensation. 

Anand puts your questions to an expert panel: Dr Sonja Ständer, professor of Dermatology and Neurodermatology at the University of Münster and and Gil Yosipovitch, Professor of Dermatology at the Miller School of Medicine at University of Miami. 

Also joining them from the University of Hull in the UK is Dr Henning Holle who studies the psychology of itch. He’s got an itchy game for Anand, Sonja and Gil to play in the studio, but is it really as simple as he’s letting on?

Presenter: Anand Jagatia 

Producer: Tom Bonnett 

Editor: Ben Motley 

(Photo: Young women have skin problems, irritation on her skin, skin infection itching red rash, arm scratching with hands, isolated over yellow background - stock photo - Credit: Arnav Pratap Singh via Getty Images)