Batteries

In the run up to Christmas, many parents will be checking on their battery supplies ahead of Santa bringing gifts that require them. But do branded batteries, that promise more power and longer life at a higher price point, really deliver it?Listener Peter got in touch asking just that, as well as whether batteries have an expiry date? Greg Foot recruits some year 7 pupils and their teacher to help him perform a test to find out, and speaks to one of the country’s leading scientists about what gives a battery more power, or helps it store more energy. You can also hear more about the difference between single use, and rechargeable batteries in our longer podcast episode on BBC Sounds. This series, we’re testing and investigating your suggested wonder-products. If you’ve seen an ad, trend or fad and wonder if there’s any evidence to back up a claim, drop us an email to sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk or you can send us a voice note to our new WhatsApp number: 07543 306807.PRESENTER: Greg Foot PRODUCER: Kate Holdsworth

Om Podcasten

While Sliced Bread takes a break we serve up… Dough. Dough is the series from BBC Radio 4 which looks at the business behind profitable, everyday products and considers how they might evolve in the years to come.In each episode, entrepreneur Sam White speaks to industry experts to find out how these products manage to make a profit and what game-changing - and pointless - innovations they have seen in their time.Tom Cheesewright, a technology expert and applied futurist, then offers his predictions on what might be coming beyond the current production pipeline.Episodes of Dough are released weekly on Thursdays wherever you get your podcasts. But if you’re in the UK, you can listen to the latest episode on BBC Sounds first, a week earlier than anywhere else. Produced by Jon Douglas. Dough is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.Sliced Bread returns for a new batch of investigations in April when Greg Foot will investigate more of the latest so-called wonder products to find out whether they really are the best thing since sliced bread.In the meantime, Dough is available in the Sliced Bread feed on BBC Sounds.