In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast we meet physicist Jennifer Rieser who has just moved from the Georgia Institute of Technology to Emory University, where she studies how snakes use tiny structures on their undersides to help propel themselves. Rieser talks about her recent research that suggests that microscopic pits on the bellies of sidewinder snakes help the reptiles achieve their sidewinding motion.

Also on hand is Arpad Horvath of the University of California, Berkeley who is founding editor-in-chief of the new journal Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability. He chats about the challenges of designing infrastructure that is environmentally sustainable. He also talks about the scope of the new journal and his plans for its future.

• This podcast is sponsored by Teledyne Princeton Instruments. To learn more about how the company is changing scientific astronomy sign up to their astronomy webinar at princetoninstruments.com/webinars