Podcasts by Category
The Nature Podcast brings you the best stories from the world of science each week. We cover everything from astronomy to zoology, highlighting the most exciting research from each issue of the Nature journal. We meet the scientists behind the results and provide in-depth analysis from Nature's journalists and editors.
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- 836 - Bone marrow in the skull plays a surprisingly important role in ageing
00:46 The role of skull bone marrow in ageing
During ageing, bone marrow in the skull becomes an increasingly important site of blood-cell production. This is in stark contrast to most bones where the ability of marrow to make blood and immune cells declines. Studies in mice and humans showed that ageing results in skull bone-marrow expanding, and in mice this marrow was more resistant to inflammation and other hallmarks of ageing. The team behind the work hope by understanding this process better it may be possible to help organs become more resistant to ageing.
Research Article:Koh et al.
08:56 Research Highlights
Elderly big brown bats show remarkable resistance to age-related hearing loss, and why search-engine algorithms may not be the main driver steering people towards misinformation.
Research Highlight:No hearing aids needed: bats’ ears stay keen well into old age
Research Highlight:Don’t blame search engines for sending users to unreliable sites
11:38 How to make lead a useful material to date the Solar System
Researchers have overcome a major hurdle preventing the radioactive isotope lead-205 from being used as a ‘clock’ to date the age of the Solar System. 205Pb is made in some stars and thanks to its half life of around 17 million years has been proposed as a potential way to date ancient astronomical processes. However, exactly how much 205Pb can escape a star were unclear, limiting its dating potential. Now, researchers have mimicked the conditions seen in stars to pin down how much 205Pb can escape into space, paving the way for its use as a clock.
Research Article:Leckenby et al.
19:51 Briefing Chat
How millions of Android smartphones were used to map the Earth’s ionosphere, and the ethical implications of a virologist who treated her own cancer.
Nature:Google uses millions of smartphones to map the ionosphere
Nature:This scientist treated her own cancer with viruses she grew in the lab
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Wed, 13 Nov 2024 - 35min - 835 - ’Rapture and beauty’: a writer's portrait of the International Space Station
Samantha Harvey's Booker Prize shortlisted novel Orbital is set inside an International Space Station-like vessel circling 250 miles above Earth. It looks at a day-in-the-life of the crew, investigating the contrasts they experience during the 16 orbits they make around the planet, crossing continents, oceans and the line separating night and day.
On the latest episode of Nature hits the books, Samantha joins us to discuss why the ISS is a rich setting for fiction, the challenges of putting yourself in the shoes of an astronaut, and how distance can give new perspectives on global issues like climate change.
Orbital Samantha Harvey Vintage (2024)
Music supplied by Airae/Epidemic Sound
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Fri, 08 Nov 2024 - 26min - 834 - Surprise finding reveals mitochondrial 'energy factories' come in two different types
00:46 Mitochondria divide their labour to help cells thrive
Researchers have uncovered that mitochondria divide into two distinct forms when cells are starved, a finding that could help explain how some cancers thrive in hostile conditions. Mitochondria are cellular powerhouses, creating energy and vital metabolic molecules, but how they are able to do this when resources are limited has been a mystery. It turns out that in nutrient-poor situations, mitochondria split into two separate types, one which concentrates on energy production, the other on producing essential cellular building blocks. Together these allow cells to make everything they need. The team showed that this also happens in certain cancer cells, which may help them survive and grow under hostile conditions in the body.
Research Article:Ryu et al.
News and Views:Division of labour: mitochondria split to meet energy demands
Video:A new kind of mitochondrion
07:53 Research Highlights
A tidy genome may explain naked mole rats’ long lifespans, and why the midlife crisis may not be as ubiquitous as previously thought.
Research Highlight:Naked mole rats vanquish genetic ghosts — and achieve long life
Research Highlight:The midlife crisis is not universal
10:41 A smashing way to snapshot an atomic nuclei’s shape
Physicists have revealed a new technique to image the shape of atomic nuclei — by smashing them together. The nucleus of an atom doesn’t really resemble what is shown in textbooks — they actually come in a variety of shapes, which drive an element’s behaviour. Current methods essentially take a long-exposure photo of an atom’s nucleus, which doesn’t capture the subtle variations in how the protons and neutrons arrange themselves. The new method overcomes this by colliding nuclei together and then using information on the resulting debris to reconstruct the shape of the nucleus. The researchers hope that this technique can help physicists resolve many more mysteries about atomic nuclei.
Research Article:STAR Collaboration
News:Scientists worked out the shapes of atomic nuclei — by exploding them
19:51 Briefing Chat
Analysing the genome of an ancient clone forest has revealed it could be up to 80,000 years old, and how putting limits on the famous infinite monkey theorem means they probably wouldn’t churn out Shakespeare before the end of the Universe.
Nature:The world’s oldest tree? Genetic analysis traces evolution of iconic Pando forest
The Guardian:Universe would die before monkey with keyboard writes Shakespeare, study finds
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Wed, 06 Nov 2024 - 27min - 833 - REBROADCAST: Talking politics, talking science
This series was originally broadcast in 2020.
Science and politics are not easy bedfellows - "Stick to the science" is a three part series which aims to find out why.
In the third and final episode we try to get to the bottom of how journalists, communicators and policymakers influence how science is perceived. We discuss the danger of politicization and ask the question - can science be part of the political narrative without compromising its values?
This episode was produced by Nick Petrić Howe, with editing from Noah Baker and Benjamin Thompson. It featured: Deborah Blum, Bruce Lewenstein, Dan Sarewitz, Hannah Schmid-Petri, Shobita Parthasarathy, and Beth Simone Noveck.
Further Reading
Politicization of mask wearing
Comparing Norway and Sweden in their coronavirus combating actions
Beth Simone Noveck argues for more open and transparent governance
Solving Public Problems, by Beth Simone Noveck
The Received Wisdom Podcast, with Shobita Parthasarathy
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Sun, 03 Nov 2024 - 23min - 832 - REBROADCAST: Politics of the life scientific
This series was originally broadcast in 2020.
Science and politics are not easy bedfellows - "Stick to the science" is a three part series which aims to find out why.
In this episode we're asking how politics shapes the life of a working scientist. Be it through funding agendas, cultural lobbies or personal bias, there's a myriad of ways in which politics can shape the game; influencing the direction and quality of research, But what does this mean for the objective ideals of science?
This episode was produced by Nick Petrić Howe, with editing from Noah Baker and Benjamin Thompson. it featured contributions from many people, including: Mayana Zatz, Shobita Parthasarathy, Michael Erard, Peg AtKisson, Susannah Gal, Allen Rostron, Mark Rosenberg, and Alice Bell.
Further Reading
Brazil’s budget cuts threaten more than 80,000 science scholarships
Move to reallocate funds from scientific institutions in São Paulo
Backlash to “Shrimps on a treadmill”
Explanation of the Dickey Amendment
After over 20 years the CDC can now fund gun violence research
Spirometer use “race-correction” software
Black researchers less likely to get funding from the National Institutes of Health in the US
Black researchers may get less funding from the National Institutes of Health due to topic choice
Black researchers fill fewer academic roles in the UK
Clinical trials use mostly white participants
The Received Wisdom Podcast, with Shobita Parthasarathy
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Sat, 02 Nov 2024 - 24min - 831 - REBROADCAST: A brief history of politics and science
This series was originally broadcast in 2020.
Science and politics are not easy bedfellows - "Stick to the science" is a three part series which aims to find out why.
In this episode we delve into the past, and uncover the complicated relationship between science, politics and power. Along the way, we come up against some pretty big questions: what is science? Should science be apolitical? And where does Naturefit in?
This episode was produced by Nick Petrić Howe, with editing from Noah Baker and Benjamin Thompson. it featured contributions from many researchers, including: Shobita Parthasarathy, Alice Bell, Dan Sarewitz, Anna Jay, Melinda Baldwin, Magdelena Skipper, Steven Shapin, David Edgerton, Deborah Blum, Bruce Lewenstein and Chiara Ambrosio. Quotes from social media were read by: Shamini Bundell, Flora Graham, Dan Fox, Edie Edmundson and Bredan Maher. And excerpts from Nature were read by Jen Musgreave.
Further Reading
History of Education in the UK
Natureeditorial on covering politics
Making “Nature”, by Melinda Baldwin
David Edgerton’s writing on the history of science and politics in the Guardian
The received wisdom podcast with Shobita Parthasarathy
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Fri, 01 Nov 2024 - 28min - 830 - How to recover from the trauma of a climate disaster
00:48 Rebuilding mental health after the floods
Researchers have been investigating the best ways to help people deal with trauma in the wake of a climate disaster. In April and May devastating floods surged across Rio Grande do Sul in the South of Brazil, affecting two million people and killing hundreds. As people try to put their lives back together scientists have been conducting surveys and investigating how to make sure that any mental health issues don’t become persistent. We hear from some of the affected people and researchers in the region.
This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center.
News Feature:How to recover when a climate disaster destroys your city
13:48 Research Highlights
A new way to make ultra-heavy elements, and how some plankton swim by blowing up like a balloon.
Research Highlight:Atomic smash-ups hold promise of record-breaking elements
Research Highlight:This plankton balloons in size to soar upwards through the water
16:54 What are your thoughts on the US election?
Nature has conducted a poll of its readers to get a sense of what is on researchers’ minds in the run up to the US election. Overwhelmingly, the survey respondents identified as researchers and reported that they supported Vice President Harris (86%). Many also voiced concerns about a possible victory for former President Trump, saying that they would consider changing where they would live if he wins. Reporter Jeff Tollefson tells us more about the results and what the election means for US science.
News:The US election is monumental for science, say Nature readers — here’s why
27:07 Briefing Chat
The possible benefits of ‘poo milkshakes’ for newborns, and how Tardigrades can withstand incredibly high levels of radiation.
Nature:‘Poo milkshake’ boosts the microbiome of c-section babies
Nature:New species of tardigrade reveals secrets of radiation-resisting powers
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Wed, 30 Oct 2024 - 35min - 829 - Audio long read: Which is the fairest electoral system? Mega-election year sparks debate
By the end of 2024 up to two billion people will have gone to the polls, in a pivotal year of elections around the globe. This is giving political scientists the chance to dive into each election in detail but also to compare the differing voting systems involved.
They hope understanding the advantages and drawbacks of the systems will help highlight whether some are more likely to promote democratic resilience or to stave off corrosive partisanship.
This is an audio version of our Feature: Which is the fairest electoral system? Mega-election year sparks debate
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Fri, 25 Oct 2024 - 18min - 828 - Massive lost mountain cities revealed by lasers
00:48 The hidden cities of Uzbekistan
Researchers have uncovered the scale of two ancient cities buried high in the mountains of Uzbekistan. The cities were thought to be there, but their extent was unknown, so the team used drone-mounted LiDAR equipment to reveal what was hidden beneath the ground. The survey surprised researchers by showing one of the cities was six times bigger than expected. The two cities, called Tashbulak and Tugunbulak, were nestled in the heart of Central Asia’s medieval Silk Road, suggesting that highland areas played an important role in trade of the era.
Research Article:Frachetti et al.
Video:Uncovering a lost mountain metropolis
09:32 Research Highlights
How children's’ movements resemble water vapour, and why coastal waters may be a lot dirtier than we thought.
Research Highlight:Kids in the classroom flow like water vapour
Research Highlight:Sewage lurks in coastal waters — often unnoticed by widely used test
12:06 Watermarking AI-generated text
A team at Google Deepmind has demonstrated a way to add a digital watermark to AI-generated text that can be detected by computers. As AI-generated content becomes more pervasive, there are fears that it will be impossible to tell it apart from content made by humans. To tackle this, the new method subtly biases the word choices made by a Large Language Model in a statistically detectable pattern. Despite the changes to word choice, a test of 20 million live chat interactions revealed that users did not notice a drop in quality compared to unwatermarked text.
Research Article:Dathathri et al.
News:DeepMind deploys invisible ‘watermark’ on AI-written text
22:38 Briefing Chat
What one researcher found after repeatedly scanning her own brain to see how it responded to birth-control pills, and how high-altitude tree planting could offer refuge to an imperilled butterfly species.
Nature:How does the brain react to birth control? A researcher scanned herself 75 times to find out
Nature:Mexican forest ‘relocated’ in attempt to save iconic monarch butterflies
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Wed, 23 Oct 2024 - 29min - 827 - Star-eating black hole could power cosmic particle accelerator
In this episode:
00:46 An unusual γ-ray producing microquasar
A type of binary-system known as a microquasar has been found to be firing out γ-rays at high energy-levels, which may make it a candidate to be a long-theorized natural particle-accelerator known as a PeVatron. These objects are thought to be a source of galactic cosmic rays, the origins of which are currently a mystery.
Understanding how this microquasar works could also help researchers learn more about full-sized quasars — monstrous objects centred around supermassive black holes, which are too distant to study easily.
Research Article:Alfaro et al.
News and Views:High-altitude particle detector spots a second Galactic microquasar
09:27 Research Highlights
The comb jellies caught fusing their bodies, and an ancient burial site reveals that Classical accounts of Scythian culture appear to be true.
Research Highlight:Two comb jellies fuse their bodies and then act as one
Research Highlight:Evidence of dead people posed on dead horses found in ancient tomb
12:08 A ‘smart’ insulin-molecule that could lower hypoglycaemia risk
Researchers have developed a modified insulin-molecule that varies its level of activity depending on blood-glucose levels. It’s hoped that this ‘smart’ insulin could one day help those with diabetes regulate their blood sugar more easily.
Many people with diabetes rely on regular insulin injections, but because blood-sugar levels can be difficult to predict it can be hard to select the correct dose. This can lead to hypoglycaemia — a life-threateningly low level of glucose. To overcome this, a team created a modified form of insulin with a switch that activates the molecule when glucose levels are high, and deactivates it when levels are low. This insulin-molecule was effective at maintaining correct blood glucose in animal models, and may eventually help lessen diabetes-related complications in humans.
Research Article:Hoeg-Jensen et al.
News and Views:Smart insulin switches itself off in response to low blood sugar
20:33 Briefing Chat
Ancient DNA confirms that infamous lions hunted humans and a variety of game, and a new technique can sequence a cell’s DNA and pinpoint its proteins, without cracking it open.
Nature:Famed lions’ full diet revealed by DNA — and humans were among their prey
Nature:‘Phenomenal’ tool sequences DNA and tracks proteins — without cracking cells open
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Wed, 16 Oct 2024 - 29min - 826 - This AI powered 'tongue' can tell Coke and Pepsi apart
00:55 Graphene Tongue
Researchers have developed a graphene ‘tongue’ that uses AI to tell the subtle differences between drinks. Graphene has long been sought after as a chemical sensor, but tiny variations between devices have meant that it couldn’t be used very reliably. The team behind the ‘tongue’ got around this problem by training an AI to tell the difference between similar liquids regardless of variations between graphene devices. They hope that their work shows that it’s possible to use ‘imperfect’ chemical sensors to get accurate readings and that the ‘tongue’ will be able to help detect problems with food.
Research Article:Pannone et al.
09:22 Research Highlights
A 3D-printed optical microscope that can image biological samples with ultrahigh resolution, and how newly-hatched sea turtles dig their way up to the beach.
Research Highlight:A ‘Swiss army knife’ microscope that doesn’t break the bank
Research Highlight:Baby sea turtles ‘swim’ up from buried nests to the open air
11:32 How migrating salmon move nutrients and contaminants at a continental scale
Studies of migrating Pacific salmon have revealed that these animals transport thousands of tonnes of nutrients and kilograms of contaminants from the ocean to freshwater ecosystems. It’s been known that as the fish return to their freshwater spawning grounds from the sea they bring with them both nutrients and contaminants, but the impact of each has largely been studied separately. A new study combines datasets to estimate that over 40 years, the levels of nutrients these fish carry have increased at a proportionally higher rate than the contaminants, but the toxins could nevertheless be present at concerning levels to the animals that eat them.
Research Article:Brandt et al.
News and Views:Salmon’s moveable feast of nutrients with a side order of contaminants
23:19 Nobel News
Flora Graham from the Nature Briefing joins us to talk about the winners of this year’s science Nobel Prizes.
News:Medicine Nobel awarded for gene-regulating ‘microRNAs’
News:Physics Nobel scooped by machine-learning pioneers
News: Chemistry Nobel goes to developers of AlphaFold AI that predicts protein structures
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Wed, 09 Oct 2024 - 38min - 825 - Strange gamma-ray flickers seen in thunderstorms for the first time
00:46 Physicists spot new types of high-energy radiation in thunderstorms
Physicists have identified new forms of γ-ray radiation created inside thunderclouds, and shown that levels of γ-ray production are much higher on Earth than previously thought.
Scientists already knew about two types of γ-ray phenomena in thunderclouds — glows that last as long as a minute and high-intensity flashes that come and go in only a few millionths of a second. Now, researchers have identified that these both occur more frequently than expected, and that previously undetected γ-ray types exist, including flickering flashes that share characteristics of the other two types of radiation.
The researchers hope that understanding more about these mysterious phenomena could help explain what initiates lightning, which often follows these γ-ray events.
Research Article:Østgaard et al.
Research Article:Marisaldi et al.
Nature:Mysterious form of high-energy radiation spotted in thunderstorms
10:00 Research Highlights
Ancient arrowheads reveal that Europe's oldest battle likely featured warriors from far afield, and why the dwarf planet Ceres’s frozen ocean has deep impurities.
Research Highlight:Bronze Age clash was Europe’s oldest known interregional battle
Research Highlight:A dwarf planet has dirty depths, model suggests
12:09 A complete wiring diagram of the fruit fly brain
Researchers have published the most complete wiring diagram, or ‘connectome’ of the fruit fly’s brain, which includes nearly 140,000 neurons and 54.5 million connections between nerve cells.
The map, made from the brain of a single female fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), reveals over 8,400 neuron types in the brain, and has enabled scientists to learn more about the brain and how it controls aspects of fruit fly behaviour.
The FlyWire connectome: neuronal wiring diagram of a complete fly brain
Nature:Largest brain map ever reveals fruit fly's neurons in exquisite detail
22:16 Briefing Chat
How researchers created an elusive single-electron bond between carbon atoms, and why bigger chatbots get over-confident when answering questions.
Nature:Carbon bond that uses only one electron seen for first time: ‘It will be in the textbooks’
Nature:Bigger AI chatbots more inclined to spew nonsense — and people don't always realize
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Wed, 02 Oct 2024 - 30min - 824 - Audio long read: A day in the life of the world’s fastest supercomputer
The world's fastest supercomputer, known as Frontier, is located at the Leadership Computing Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. This machine churns through data at record speed, outpacing 100,000 laptops working simultaneously.
With nearly 50,000 processors, Frontier was designed to push the bounds of human knowledge. It's being used to create open-source large language models to compete with commercial AI systems, simulate proteins for drug development, help improve aeroplane engine design, and more.
This is an audio version of our Feature: A day in the life of the world’s fastest supercomputer
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Fri, 27 Sep 2024 - 20min - 823 - Children with Down's syndrome are more likely to get leukaemia: stem-cells hint at why
In this episode:
00:46 Unravelling why children with Down’s syndrome are at a higher risk of leukaemia
Children with Down’s syndrome have a 150-fold increased risk of developing leukaemia than those without the condition. Now, an in-depth investigation has revealed that changes to genome structures in fetal liver stem-cells appear to be playing a key role in this increase.
Down’s syndrome is characterised by cells having an extra copy of chromosome 21. The team behind this work saw that in liver stem-cells — one of the main places blood is produced in a growing fetus — this extra copy results in changes in how DNA is packaged in a nucleus, opening up areas that are prone to mutation, including those known to be important in leukaemia development.
The researchers hope their work will be an important step in understanding and reducing this risk in children with Down’s syndrome.
Research Article:Marderstein et al.
News and Views:Childhood leukaemia in Down’s syndrome primed by blood-cell bias
11:47 Research Highlights
How taking pints of beer off the table lowers alcohol consumption, and a small lizard’s ‘scuba gear’ helps it stay submerged.
Research Highlight:A small fix to cut beer intake: downsize the pint
Research Highlight:This ‘scuba diving’ lizard has a self-made air supply
14:12 Briefing Chat
How tiny crustaceans use ‘smell’ to find their home cave, and how atomic bomb X-rays could deflect an asteroid away from a deadly Earth impact.
Science:In the dark ocean, these tiny creatures can smell their way home
Nature:Scientists successfully ‘nuke asteroid’ — in a lab mock-up
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Wed, 25 Sep 2024 - 21min - 822 - Colossal 'jets' shooting from a black hole defy physicists' theories
In this episode:
00:45 The biggest black hole jets ever seen
Astronomers have spotted a pair of enormous jets emanating from a supermassive black hole with a combined length of 23 million light years — the biggest ever discovered. Jets are formed when matter is ionized and flung out of a black hole, creating enormous and powerful structures in space. Thought to be unstable, physicists had theorized there was a limit to how large these jets could be, but the new discovery far exceeds this, suggesting there may be more of these monstrous jets yet to be discovered.
Research Article:Oei et al.
09:44 Research Highlights
The knitted fabrics designed to protect wearers from mosquito bites, and the role that islands play in fostering language diversity.
Research Highlight:Plagued by mosquitoes? Try some bite-blocking fabrics
Research Highlight:Islands are rich with languages spoken nowhere else
12:26 A sustainable, one-step method for alloy production
Making metal alloys is typically a multi-step process that creates huge amounts of emissions. Now, a team demonstrates a way to create these materials in a single step, which they hope could significantly reduce the environmental burdens associated with their production. In a lab demonstration, they use their technique to create an alloy of nickel and iron called invar — a widely-used material that has a high carbon-footprint. The team show evidence that their method can produce invar to a quality that rivals that of conventional manufacturing, and suggest their technique is scalable to create alloys at an industrial scale.
Research article:Wei et al.
25:29 Briefing Chat
How AI-predicted protein structures have helped chart the evolution of a group of viruses, and the neurons that cause monkeys to ‘choke’ under pressure.
Nature News:Where did viruses come from? AlphaFold and other AIs are finding answers
Nature News:Why do we crumble under pressure? Science has the answer
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Wed, 18 Sep 2024 - 34min - 821 - Ancient DNA debunks Rapa Nui ‘ecological suicide’ theory
In this episode:
00:45 What ancient DNA has revealed about Rapa Nui’s past
Ancient DNA analysis has further demonstrated that the people of Rapa Nui did not cause their own population collapse, further refuting a controversial but popular claim. Rapa Nui, also known as Easter island, is famous for its giant Moai statues and the contested idea that the people mismanaged their natural resources leading to ‘ecological suicide’. Genomes sequenced from the remains of 15 ancient islanders showed no evidence of a sudden population crash, substantiating other research challenging the collapse idea.
Research Article:Moreno-Mayar et al.
News and Views:Rapa Nui’s population history rewritten using ancient DNA
News article:Famed Pacific island’s population 'crash' debunked by ancient DNA
17:03 Research Highlights
The extinct bat-eating fish that bit off more than they could chew, and how manatee dung shapes an Amazonian ecosystem.
Research Highlight:Ancient fish dined on bats — or died trying
Research Highlight:The Amazon’s gargantuan gardeners: manatees
19:29 A macabre parasite of adult fruit flies
Despite being a hugely-studied model organism, it seems that there’s still more to find out about the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, as researchers have discovered a new species of parasitoid wasp that infects the species. Unlike other parasitic wasps, this one lays its eggs in adult flies, with the developing larva devouring its host from the inside. The miniscule wasp was discovered by chance in an infected fruit fly collected in a Mississippi backyard and analysis suggests that despite having never been previously identified, it is widespread across parts of North America.
Research article:Moore et al.
32:04 Briefing Chat
How a dye that helps to give Doritos their orange hue can turn mouse tissues transparent, and an effective way to engage with climate-science sceptics.
Nature News:Transparent mice made with light-absorbing dye reveal organs at work
Nature News:How to change people’s minds about climate change: what the science says
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Wed, 11 Sep 2024 - 41min - 820 - The baseless stat that could be harming Indigenous conservation efforts
The often repeated claim that "80% of the world's biodiversity is found in the territories of Indigenous Peoples" appears widely in policy documents and reports, yet appears to have sprung out of nowhere. According to a group of researchers, including those from Indigenous groups, this baseless statistic could be undermining the conservation efforts of the Indigenous People it's meant to support and prevent further work to really understand how best to conserve biodiversity.
Two of the authors joined us to discuss how this statistic gained traction, the harm it could cause, and how better to support the work of Indigenous Peoples.
Read more in a Comment article from the authors:No basis for claim that 80% of biodiversity is found in Indigenous territories
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Fri, 06 Sep 2024 - 14min - 819 - Long-sought 'nuclear clocks' are one tick closer
In this episode:
00:45 Why a 'nuclear clock' is now within researchers’ reach
Researchers have made a big step towards the creation of the long theorized nuclear clock, by getting the most accurate measurement of the frequency of light required to push thorium nuclei into a higher energy state. Such a timekeeper would differ from the best current clocks as their ‘tick’ corresponds to the energy transitions of protons and neutrons, rather than electrons. Nuclear clocks have the potential to be more robust and accurate than current systems, and could offer researchers new insights into fundamental forces present within atomic nuclei.
Research Article:Zhang et al.
News and Views:Countdown to a nuclear clock
Nature News:‘Nuclear clock’ breakthrough paves the way for super-precise timekeeping
Editorial:Progress on nuclear clocks shows the benefits of escaping from scientific silos
10:10 Research Highlights
The star that got partially shredded by a supermassive black hole, not just once, but twice, and how heatwaves could mangle bumblebees’ sense of smell.
Research Highlight:This unlucky star got mangled by a black hole — twice
Research Highlight:Bumblebees’ sense of smell can’t take the heat
12:11 How engineered immune cells could help limit damage after spinal injury
By harnessing T cells to fine-tune the inflammation response, researchers have limited the damage caused by spinal injury in mice, an approach they hope might one day translate into a human therapy. Following injury to the central nervous system, immune cells rush to the scene, resulting in a complex array of effects, both good and bad. In this work researchers have identified the specific kind of T cells that amass at the site, and used them to create an immunotherapy that helps the mice recover more quickly from injuries by slowing damage to neurons.
Research article:Gao et al.
20:36 Briefing Chat
How unprecedented floods in Brazil have helped and hindered paleontologists, and the ‘AI scientist’ that does everything from literature review through to manuscript writing, to an extent.
Nature News:The race to save fossils exposed by Brazil’s record-setting floods
Nature News:Researchers built an ‘AI Scientist’ — what can it do?
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Wed, 04 Sep 2024 - 31min - 818 - Audio long read: So you got a null result. Will anyone publish it?
The 'file-drawer problem', where findings with null or negative results gather dust and are left unpublished, is well known in science. There has been an overriding perception that studies with positive or significant findings are more important, but this bias can have real-world implications, skewing perceptions of drug efficacies, for example.
Multiple efforts to get negative results published have been put forward or attempted, with some researchers saying that the incentive structures in academia, and the ‘publish or perish’ culture, need to be overturned in order to end this bias.
This is an audio version of our Feature: So you got a null result. Will anyone publish it?
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Fri, 30 Aug 2024 - 17min - 817 - Covert racism in AI chatbots, precise Stone Age engineering, and the science of paper cuts
In this episode:
00:31 Chatbots makes racist judgements on the basis of dialect
Research has shown that large language models, including those that power chatbots such as ChatGPT, make racist judgements on the basis of users’ dialect. If asked to describe a person, many AI systems responded with racist stereotypes when presented with text written in African American English — a dialect spoken by millions of people in the United States that is associated with the descendants of enslaved African Americans — compared with text written in Standardized American English. The findings show that such models harbour covert racism, even when they do not display overt racism, and that conventional fixes to try and address biases in these models had no effect on this issue.
Research Article:Hoffman et al.
News and Views:LLMs produce racist output when prompted in African American English
Nature News:Chatbot AI makes racist judgements on the basis of dialect
07:01 How ancient engineers built a megalithic structure
The 6,000-year-old Dolmen of Menga is a marvel of ancient engineering. New research reveals new insights into the structure and the technical abilities of the Neolithic builders who constructed it. The work shows that a setup of counterweights and ramps may have been used to correctly position the massive sandstone blocks that make up walls of the structure, which were each tilted at precise, millimetre-scale angles. The researchers suggest that this construction shows that the Neolithic people who built the dolmen had a working understanding of physics, geometry, geology and architectural principles.
Nature News:Stone Age builders had engineering savvy, finds study of 6000-year-old monument
12:28 Spider makes fireflies flash as bait
Orb-weaving spiders (Araneus ventricosus) use ensnared male Absocondita terminalis fireflies to trick more insects into their web. A bite from the spider causes the flashing pattern of the trapped firefly to shift to one resembling a female looking to mate, leading others into an ambush. Exactly how this system works is unclear, but researchers say it is a rare example of a predator altering the behaviour of its prey to catch others.
Science:Spiders force male fireflies to flash like females—luring more males to their death
16:35 The physics of paper cuts
By combining experiments and theoretical work, a team has unraveled the mystery of why only certain types of paper can cut into human skin. Their work shows that paper that is too thin will buckle without cutting, while paper that’s too thick will distribute force over a relatively large area without inflicting damage. The research suggests that the sweet spot for slicing is paper with around 65 micrometres in thickness, which includes the kind used to print certain high-profile journals…
Research Highlight:WhatScience andNature are good for: causing paper cuts
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Wed, 28 Aug 2024 - 20min - 816 - Can ageing be stopped? A biologist explains
For millennia, humanity has obsessed about halting ageing and, ultimately, preventing death. Yet while advances in medicine and public-health have seen human life-expectancy more than double, our maximum lifespan stubbornly remains around 120 years.
On the latest episode of Nature hits the books, Nobel laureate Venki Ramakrishnan joins us to discuss what scientists have learnt about the molecular processes underlying ageing, whether they can be prevented, and why the quest for longevity also needs to consider the health-related issues associated with old age.
Why We Die: The New Science of Ageing and the Quest for Immortality Venki Ramakrishnan Hodder (2024)
Music supplied by Airae/Epidemic Sound/Getty images.
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Thu, 22 Aug 2024 - 30min - 815 - AI can't learn new things forever — an algorithm can fix that
00:46 Old AIs can’t learn new tricks
An algorithm that reactivates dormant ‘neurons’ in deep learning based AIs could help them overcome their inability to learn new things and make future systems more flexible, research has shown. AIs based on deep learning struggle to learn how to tackle new tasks indefinitely, making them less adaptable to new situations. The reasons for this are unclear, but now a team has identified that ‘resetting’ parts of the neural networks underlying these systems can allow deep learning methods to keep learning continually.
Research Article:Dohare et al.
News and Views:Switching between tasks can cause AI to lose the ability to learn
08:55 Research Highlights
To stop crocodiles eating poisonous toads researchers have been making them sick, and a sacrificed child in ancient Mexico was the progeny of closely related parents.
Research Highlight:How to train your crocodile
Research Highlight: DNA of child sacrificed in ancient city reveals surprising parentage
11:20 Briefing Chat
How video games gave people a mental health boost during the pandemic, and where the dinosaur-destroying Chicxulub asteroid formed.
Nature News:PlayStation is good for you: video games improved mental health during COVID
Nature News:Dinosaur-killing Chicxulub asteroid formed in Solar System’s outer reaches
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Wed, 21 Aug 2024 - 19min - 814 - The mystery of Stonehenge's central stone unearthed
00:48 The mystery of Stonehenge’s Altar Stone
Stonehenge’s central stone came from Northern Scotland, more than 600 miles away from the monument, according to a new analysis of its geochemistry. It is commonly accepted that many of the rocks that make up the iconic neolithic monument came from Wales, 150 miles from the site. Previously, it had been thought that a central stone, called the Altar Stone, had also come from this area, known as the Preseli Hills. The new work suggests that the ancient Britons went much further, perhaps ferrying the Altar Stone hundreds of miles, to place the rock at the centre of Stonehenge.
Research Article:Clarke et al.
News:Stonehenge’s massive slabs came from as far as Scotland — 800 kilometres away
12:12 Research Highlights
How a parasite could help scientists break through the blood-brain barrier, and the physics of skateboard moves.
Research Highlight:Engineered brain parasite ferries useful proteins into neurons
Research Highlight:How expert skateboarders use physics on the half-pipe
14:13 A new way to break bonds
Chemists have demonstrated a way to break Selenium-Selenium bonds unevenly, something they have been trying for decades. Chemical bonds have to be broken and reformed to create new compounds, but they often don’t break in a way that allows chemists to form new bonds in the ways they would like. Breaks are often ‘even’, with electrons shared equally between atoms. To prevent such an even split, a team used a specific solvent and a combination of light and heat to force the selenium bonds to break unevenly. This could potentially open up ways to create compounds that have never been made before.
Research Article:Tiefel et al.
News and Views:Innovative way to break chemical bonds broadens horizons for making molecules
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Wed, 14 Aug 2024 - 22min - 813 - ChatGPT has a language problem — but science can fix it
AIs built on Large Language Models have wowed by producing particularly fluent text. However, their ability to do this is limited in many languages. As the data and resources used to train a model in a specific language drops, so does the performance of the model, meaning that for some languages the AIs are effectively useless.
Researchers are aware of this problem and are trying to find solutions, but the challenge extends far beyond just the technical, with moral and social questions to be answered. This podcast explores how Large Language Models could be improved in more languages and the issues that could be caused if they are not.
Watch our related video of people trying out ChatGPT in different languages.
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Fri, 09 Aug 2024 - 36min - 812 - Where weird plants thrive: aridity spurs diversity of traits
00:48 Plant trait diversity in drylands
A study reveals that, unexpectedly, plants display a greater diversity of traits in drier environments. Trait diversity is a measure of an organism's performance in an environment and can include things like the size of a plant or its photosynthetic rate. Whilst there are good data on this kind of diversity in temperate regions, an assessment of drylands has been lacking. The new study fills this knowledge gap and finds that, counter to a prevailing expectation that fewer traits would be displayed, at a certain level of aridity trait diversity doubles. The team behind the new work hope that it can help us better protect biodiversity as the planet warms and areas become drier.
Research Article:Gross et al.
08:25 Research Highlights
Butterflies and moths use static charge to pick up pollen, and quantum physics rules out black holes made of light.
Research Highlight:Charged-up butterflies draw pollen through the air
Research Highlight:Black holes made from light? Impossible, say physicists
10:59 The Great Barrier Reef is the hottest it’s been for centuries
An assessment of coral skeletons has shown that the past decade has been the warmest for the Great Barrier Reef for 400 years. By looking at the chemical composition of particularly old specimens of coral in the reef, researchers were able to create a record of temperatures going back to 1618. In addition to showing recent record breaking temperatures they also developed a model that suggests that such temperatures are very unlikely to occur without human-induced climate change. Altogether, the study suggests that the reef is in dire straits and much of the worlds’ coral could be lost.
Research Article:Henley et al.
News and Views:Coral giants sound the alarm for the Great Barrier Reef
Nature News:Great Barrier Reef's temperature soars to 400-year high
18:56 ‘Publish or Perish’ becomes a card game
Most researchers are familiar with the refrain ‘Publish or Perish’ — the idea that publications are the core currency of a scientist’s career — but now that can be played out for laughs in a new board game. Created as a way to help researchers “bond over shared trauma”, the game features many mishaps familiar to academics, scrambles for funding and scathing comments, all while players must compete to get the most citations on their publications. Reporter Max Kozlov set out to avoid perishing and published his way to a story about the game for the Nature Podcast.
Nature News:‘Publish or Perish’ is now a card game — not just an academic’s life
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Wed, 07 Aug 2024 - 26min - 811 - How light-based computers could cut AI’s energy needs
00:45 Increasing the energy efficiency of light-based computers
Computer components based on specialised LEDs could reduce the energy consumption of power hungry AI systems, according to new research. AI chips with components that compute using light can run more efficiently than those using digital electronics, but these light-based systems typically use lasers that can be bulky and difficult to control. To overcome these obstacles, a team has developed a way to replace these lasers with LEDs, which are cheaper and more efficient to run. Although only a proof of concept, they demonstrate that their system can perform some tasks as well as laser-based computers.
Research Article:Dong et al.
News and Views:Cheap light sources could make AI more energy efficient
10:36 Research Highlights
The genes that make roses smell so sweet, and how blocking inflammation could reduce heart injury after a stroke.
Research Highlight:How the rose got its iconic fragrance
Research Highlight:Strokes can damage the heart — but reining in the immune system might help
13:02 What researchers know about H5N1 influenza in cows
The highly-pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 was first identified in US cattle in March 2024 and has been detected in multiple herds across the country. We round up what researchers currently know about this spread, what can be done to prevent it, and the risks this outbreak may pose to humans.
Nature News:Can H5N1 spread through cow sneezes? Experiment offers clues
Nature News:Huge amounts of bird-flu virus found in raw milk of infected cows
Nature News:Could bird flu in cows lead to a human outbreak? Slow response worries scientists
Research article:Eisfeld et al.
22:38 Briefing Chat
NASA’s Perseverance rover finds a Martian rock containing features associated with fossilized microbial life, and how metallic nodules on the ocean floor could be the source of mysterious ‘dark oxygen’
Space.com:NASA's Perseverance Mars rover finds possible signs of ancient Red Planet life
Nature News:Mystery oxygen source discovered on the sea floor — bewildering scientists
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Wed, 31 Jul 2024 - 32min - 810 - Audio long read: Hope, despair and CRISPR — the race to save one woman’s life
In India, a group of researchers raced to develop a CRISPR-based genome editing therapy to save the life of a young woman with a rare neurodegenerative disease. Despite a valiant effort, the pace of research was ultimately too slow to save her life. While many are convinced that these therapies could offer hope to those with overlooked genetic conditions, it will likely take years to develop the techniques needed to quickly create bespoke treatments, something people in need don't have.
This is an audio version of our Feature: Hope, despair and CRISPR — the race to save one woman’s life
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Fri, 26 Jul 2024 - 23min - 809 - Rapid sepsis test identifies bacteria that spark life-threatening infection
00:48 A rapid way to identify serious bacterial infections
A newly-developed method that can rapidly identify the type of bacteria causing a blood-infection, and the correct antibiotics to treat it, could save clinicians time, and patient lives. Blood infections are serious, and can lead to the life-threatening condition sepsis, but conventional diagnostic methods can take days to identify the causes. This new method does away with some of the time-consuming steps, and the researchers behind it say that if it can be fully automated, it could provide results in less than a day.
Research Article:Kim et al.
11:49 Research Highlights
The discovery of a connection between three star-forming interstellar clouds could help explain how these giant structures form, and evidence of the largest accidental methane leak ever recorded.
Research Highlight:Found: the hidden link between star-forming molecular clouds
Research Highlight:Blowout! Satellites reveal one of the largest methane leaks on record
14:22 AIs fed AI-generated text start to spew nonsense
When artificial intelligences are fed data that has itself been AI-generated, these systems quickly begin to spout nonsense responses, according to new research. Typically, large language model (LLM) AI’s are trained on human-produced text found online. However, as an increasing amount of online content is AI-generated, a team wanted to know how these systems would cope. They trained an AI to produce Wikipedia-like entries, then trained new iterations on the model on the text produced by its predecessor. Quickly the outputs descended into gibberish, which highlights the dangers of the Internet becoming increasingly full of AI-generated text.
Research Article:Shumailov et al.
25:49 Briefing Chat
How psilocybin — the hallucinogenic compound found in magic mushrooms — resets communication between brain regions, and the surprise cancellation of a NASA Moon mission.
Nature News:Your brain on shrooms — how psilocybin resets neural networks
Nature News:NASA cancels $450-million mission to drill for ice on the Moon — surprising researchers
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Wed, 24 Jul 2024 - 34min - 808 - The plastic that biodegrades in your home compost
01:04 A gel to safely transport proteins
A gel that encases proteins could be a new way to safely transport medicines without requiring them to be kept cold, according to new research. To test it, the team behind the work posted themselves a protein suspended in this gel, showing that it was perfectly preserved and retained its activity, despite being dropped in transit and exposed to varying temperatures. The researchers hope this gel will help overcome the need to freeze protein-based medicines, which can be expensive to do and difficult to maintain during transportation.
Research Article:Bianco et al.
News and Views:Gel protects therapeutic proteins from deactivation — even in the post
08:51 Research Highlights
How an abundance of cicadas led to a host of raccoon activity, and how wine-grape harvest records can be used to estimate historical summertime temperatures
Research Highlight:Massive cicada emergence prompted raccoons to run wild
Research Highlight:Wine grapes’ sweetness reveals Europe’s climate history
11:24 Making a plastic biodegradable
By embedding a plastic with an engineered enzyme, researchers have developed a fully biodegradable material that can be broken down in a home compost heap. Plastic production often requires high temperatures, so the team adapted an enzyme to make it more able to withstand heat, while still able to break down a common plastic called PLA. They hope this enzyme-embedded plastic could replace current single-use items, helping to reduce the huge amount of waste produced each year.
Research Article:Guicherd et al.
19:53 Briefing Chat
This time, how to make lab-grown meat taste more meaty, and a subterranean Moon cave that could be a place for humans to shelter.
Nature News:This lab-grown meat probably tastes like real beef
The Guardian:Underground cave found on moon could be ideal base for explorers
Nature hits the books:Living on Mars would probably suck — here's why
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Wed, 17 Jul 2024 - 28min - 807 - Breastfeeding should break down mothers' bones — here's why it doesn't
00:45 In situ editing of the gut microbiome
Researchers have developed a method to directly edit the genes of specific bacteria in the guts of live mice, something that has previously been difficult to accomplish due to the complexity of this environment. The tool was able to edit over 90% of an E. coli strain colonising mice guts, with other work showing the tool could be used to edit genes in pathogenic bacterial species and strains. It is hoped that with further research this technique could be adapted to work in humans, potentially altering bacteria associated with disease.
Nature News:This gene-editing tool alters bacteria in the gut of living mice
Research Article:Brödel et al.
06:56 Research Highlights
The ants that perform life-saving surgery on their nest-mates, and why amber’s scarcity led ancient artisans to make imitation jewellery.
Research Highlight:Ants amputate their nest-mates’ legs to save lives
Research Highlight:Fake jewellery from the Stone Age looks like the real deal
08:46 How is bone health maintained during breastfeeding?
During breastfeeding bones are stripped of calcium, while levels of oestrogen — which normally helps keep them healthy — drop off precipitously. This puts bones under tremendous stress, but why they don’t break down at this time has proved a mystery. Now, a team has identified a hormone produced in lactating mice that promotes the build up of bones, keeping them strong during milk production. Injecting this hormone into injured mice helped their bones heal faster, and the team hopes that their finding could ultimately help treat bone-weakening conditions like osteoporosis in humans.
Research Article:Babey et al.
17:55 Briefing Chat
This time, new clues about the neurological events that spark migraines, and a quick chemical method to recycle old clothes.
Nature News:What causes migraines? Study of ‘brain blackout’ offers clues
Nature News:Chemical recycling’: 15-minute reaction turns old clothes into useful molecules
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Wed, 10 Jul 2024 - 27min - 806 - These frog 'saunas’ could help endangered species fight off a deadly fungus
00:47 Searching for dark matter in black holes
Researchers have been scanning the skies looking for black holes that formed at the very beginning of the Universe — one place where elusive and mysterious dark matter is thought to be located. If these black holes did contain dark matter, they would be especially massive and so researchers would be able to see the bending of light as they pass in front of stars. Such events would be rare, so to find them researchers trawled through a decades-long dataset. However, despite the large number of observations, the researchers didn't find many examples of these events and none that were long enough to show signs of much dark matter. So, the hunt for enigmatic material goes on.
Research Article:Mróz et al.
09:42 Research Highlights
How some comb jellies survive the crushing ocean depths, and how giving cash to mothers in low-income households can boost time and money spent on children.
Research Highlight:Deep-sea creatures survive crushing pressures with just the right fats
Research Highlight:Families given cash with no strings spend more money on kids
12:39 A simple, solution to tackle a deadly frog disease
A simple ‘sauna’ built of bricks and a supermarket-bought greenhouse, can help frogs rid themselves of a devastating fungal disease, new research has shown. While options to prevent or treat infection are limited, the fungus that causes the disease chytridiomycosis has an achilles heel: it can’t survive at warm temperatures. A team in Australia used this knowledge to their advantage to develop saunas where frogs can warm themselves to clear an infection. Frogs who spent time in these hot environments were able to shake the fungus, and gained some immunity to subsequent infections. While this research only involved one type of frog, it offers some hope in tackling a deadly disease that has driven multiple species to extinction.
Research Article:Waddle et al.
News and Views:Mini saunas save endangered frogs from fungal disease
20:06 Briefing Chat
This time, we discuss what the upcoming UK election could mean for science, and the return of rock samples from the Moon’s far side.
Nature News:UK general election: five reasons it matters for science
Nature News:First ever rocks from the Moon’s far side have landed on Earth
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Wed, 03 Jul 2024 - 36min - 805 - Audio long read: How NASA astronauts are training to walk on the Moon in 2026
In 2026, NASA aims to send humans back to the Moon's surface, as part of the Artemis III mission. In preparation, astronauts have been performing moonwalking simulations to ensure that they are able to make the most of their precious time on the lunar surface. In one dress rehearsal, a pair of astronauts took part in a training exercise in an Arizona volcanic field, working with a science team to practice doing geology work in difficult conditions designed to mimic some that will be experienced at the lunar south pole.
This is an audio version of our Feature: How NASA astronauts are training to walk on the Moon in 2026
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Fri, 28 Jun 2024 - 15min - 804 - Why ‘open source’ AIs could be anything but, the derailment risks of long freight trains, and breeding better wheat
00:31 How open are ‘open source’ AI systems?
Many of the large language models powering AI systems are described as ‘open source’ but critics say this is a misnomer, with restricted access to code and training data preventing researchers from probing how these systems work. While the definition of open source in AI models is yet to be agreed, advocates say that ‘full’ openness is crucial in efforts to make AI accountable. New research has ranked the openness of different systems, showing that despite claims of ‘openness’ many companies still don’t disclose a lot of key information.
Nature News:Not all ‘open source’ AI models are actually open: here’s a ranking
06:12 Why longer freight trains are more prone to derailment
In the US, there are no federal limits on the length of a freight train, but as companies look to run longer locomotives, questions arise about whether they are at greater risk of derailment. To find out, a team analysed data on accidents to predict the chances of longer trains coming off the tracks. They showed that replacing two 50-car freight trains with one 100-car train raises the odds of derailment by 11%, with the chances increasing the longer a train gets. While derailments are uncommon, this could change as economic pressures lead the freight industry to experiment with ever-longer trains.
Scientific American:Longer and Longer Freight Trains Drive Up the Odds of Derailment
11:44 How historic wheat could give new traits to current crops
Genes from century-old wheat varieties could be used to breed useful traits into modern crops, helping them become more disease tolerant and reducing their need for fertiliser. Researchers sequenced the genomes of hundreds of historic varieties of wheat held in a seed collection from the 1920s and 30s, revealing a huge amount of genetic diversity unseen in modern crops. Plant breeding enabled the team to identify some of the areas of the plants’ genomes responsible for traits such as nutritional content and stress tolerance. It’s hoped that in the long term this knowledge could be used to improve modern varieties of wheat.
Science:‘Gold mine’ of century-old wheat varieties could help breeders restore long lost traits
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Wed, 26 Jun 2024 - 17min - 803 - How do fish know where a sound comes from? Scientists have an answer
00:46 How light touches are sensed during sex
150 years after they were discovered, researchers have identified how specific nerve-cell structures on the penis and clitoris are activated. While these structures, called Krause corpuscles, are similar to touch-activated corpuscles found on people’s fingers and hands, there was little known about how they work, or their role in sex. Working in mice, a team found that Krause corpuscles in both male and females were activated when exposed to low-frequency vibrations and caused sexual behaviours like erections. The researchers hope that this work could help uncover the neurological basis underlying certain sexual dysfunctions.
News:Sensory secrets of penis and clitoris unlocked after more than 150 years
Research article:Qi et al.
News and Views:Sex organs sense vibrations through specialized touch neurons
07:03 Research Highlights
Astronomers struggle to figure out the identity of a mysterious object called a MUBLO, and how CRISPR gene editing could make rice plants more water-efficient.
Research Highlight:An object in space is emitting microwaves — and baffling scientists
Research Highlight:CRISPR improves a crop that feeds billions
09:21 How fish detect the source of sound
It’s long been understood that fish can identify the direction a sound came from, but working out how they do it is a question that’s had scientists stumped for years. Now using a specialist setup, a team of researchers have demonstrated that some fish can independently detect two components of a soundwave — pressure and particle motion — and combine this information to identify where a sound comes from.
Research article:Veith et al.
News and Views:Pressure and particle motion enable fish to sense the direction of sound
D. cerebrum sounds:Schulze et al.
20:30: Briefing Chat
Ancient DNA sequencing reveals secrets of ritual sacrifice at Chichén Itzá, and how AI helped identify the names that elephants use for each other.
Nature News:Ancient DNA from Maya ruins tells story of ritual human sacrifices
Nature News:Do elephants have names for each other?
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Wed, 19 Jun 2024 - 31min - 802 - Hybrid working works: huge study reveals no drop in productivity
00:48 Short-haul spaceflight's effect on the human body.
A comprehensive suite of biomedical data, collected during the first all-civilian spaceflight, is helping researchers unpick the effects that being in orbit has on the human body. Analysis of data collected from the crew of SpaceX’s Inspiration4 mission reveals that short duration spaceflight can result in physiological changes similar to those seen on longer spaceflights. These changes included things like alterations in immune-cell function and a lengthening of DNA telomeres, although the majority of these changes reverted soon after the crew landed.
Collection:Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA) across orbits
12:13 Research Highlights
Researchers have discovered why 2019 was so awash with Painted Lady butterflies, and the meaning behind gigantic rock engravings along the Orinoco river.
Research Highlight:A huge outbreak of butterflies hit three continents — here’s why
Research Highlight:Mystery of huge ancient engravings of snakes solved at last
14:55 The benefits of working from home, some of the time
A huge trial of hybrid working has shown that this approach can help companies retain employees without hurting productivity. While a mix of home and in-person working became the norm for many post-pandemic, the impacts of this approach on workers’ outputs remains hotly debated and difficult to test scientifically. To investigate the effects of hybrid working, researchers randomly selected 1,612 people at a company in China to work in the office either five days a week or three. In addition to the unchanged productivity, employees said that they value the days at home as much as a 10% pay rise. This led to an increase in staff retention and potential savings of millions of dollars for the company involved in the trial.
Research article:Bloom et al.
Editorial:The case for hybrid working is growing — employers should take note
25:50: Briefing Chat
Germany balks at the $17 billion bill for CERN’s new supercollider, and working out when large language models might run out of data to train on.
Nature News:CERN’s $17-billion supercollider in question as top funder criticizes cost
Associated Press:AI ‘gold rush’ for chatbot training data could run out of human-written text
Subscribe to Nature Briefing: AI and Robotics
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Wed, 12 Jun 2024 - 38min - 801 - Twitter suspended 70,000 accounts after the Capitol riots and it curbed misinformation
In this episode:
00:46 Making a molecular Bose-Einstein condensate
For the first time, researchers have coaxed molecules into a bizarre form of matter called a Bose-Einstein condensate, in which they all act in a single gigantic quantum state. While condensates have been made using atoms for decades, the complex interactions of molecules have prevented them from being cooled into this state. Now, a team has successfully made a Bose-Einstein condensate using molecules made of caesium and sodium atoms, which they hope will allow them to answer more questions about the quantum world, and could potentially form the basis of a new kind of quantum computer.
Research article:Bigagli et al.
News:Physicists coax molecules into exotic quantum state — ending decades-long quest
9:57 How deplatforming affects the spread of social media misinformation
The storming of the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 resulted in the social media platform Twitter (now X) rapidly deplatforming 70,000 users deemed to be sharers of misinformation. To evaluate the effect of this intervention, researchers analysed the activity of over 500,000 Twitter users, showing that it reduced the sharing of misinformation, both from the deplatformed users and from those who followed them. Results also suggest that other misinformation traffickers who were not deplatformed left Twitter following the intervention. Together these results show that social media platforms can curb misinformation sharing, although a greater understanding of the efficacy of these actions in different contexts is required.
Research article:McCabe et al.
Editorial:What we do — and don’t — know about how misinformation spreads online
Comment:Misinformation poses a bigger threat to democracy than you might think
20:14: Briefing Chat
A new antibiotic that can kill harmful bacteria without damaging the gut microbiome, and the tiny plant with the world’s biggest genome.
News:‘Smart’ antibiotic can kill deadly bacteria while sparing the microbiome
News:Biggest genome ever found belongs to this odd little plant
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Wed, 05 Jun 2024 - 27min - 800 - How AI could improve robotics, the cockroach’s origins, and promethium spills its secrets
In this episode:
00:25 What the rise of AI language models means for robots
Companies are melding artificial intelligence with robotics, in an effort to catapult both to new heights. They hope that by incorporating the algorithms that power chatbots it will give robots more common-sense knowledge and let them tackle a wide range of tasks. However, while impressive demonstrations of AI-powered robots exist, many researchers say there is a long road to actual deployment, and that safety and reliability need to be considered.
News Feature:The AI revolution is coming to robots: how will it change them?
16:09 How the cockroach became a ubiquitous pest
Genetic research suggests that although the German cockroach (Blattella germanica) spread around the world from a population in Europe, its origins were actually in South Asia. By comparing genomes from cockroaches collected around the globe, a team could identify when and where different populations might have been established. They show that the insect pest likely began to spread east from South Asia around 390 years ago with the rise of European colonialism and the emergence of international trading companies, before hitching a ride into Europe and then spreading across the globe.
Nature News:The origin of the cockroach: how a notorious pest conquered the world
20:26: Rare element inserted into chemical 'complex' for the first time
Promethium is one of the rarest and most mysterious elements in the periodic table. Now, some eight decades after its discovery, researchers have managed to bind this radioactive element to other molecules to make a chemical ‘complex’. This feat will allow chemists to learn more about the properties of promethium filling a long-standing gap in the textbooks.
Nature News:Element from the periodic table’s far reaches coaxed into elusive compound
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Wed, 29 May 2024 - 23min - 799 - How mathematician Freeman Hrabowski opened doors for Black scientists
Growing up in Alabama in the 1960s, mathematician Freeman Hrabowski was moved to join the civil rights moment after hearing Martin Luther King Jr speak. Even as a child, he saw the desperate need to make change. He would go on to do just that — at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, where he co-founded the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, one of the leading pathways to success for Black students in STEM subjects in the United States.
Freeman is the subject of the first in a new series of Q&As in Nature celebrating ‘Changemakers’ in science — individuals who fight racism and champion inclusion. He spoke to us about his about his life, work and legacy.
Career Q&A: I had my white colleagues walk in a Black student’s shoes for a day
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Tue, 28 May 2024 - 36min - 798 - Audio long read: How does ChatGPT ‘think’? Psychology and neuroscience crack open AI large language models
AIs are often described as 'black boxes' with researchers unable to to figure out how they 'think'. To better understand these often inscrutable systems, some scientists are borrowing from psychology and neuroscience to design tools to reverse-engineer them, which they hope will lead to the design of safer, more efficient AIs.
This is an audio version of our Feature: How does ChatGPT ‘think’? Psychology and neuroscience crack open AI large language models
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Fri, 24 May 2024 - 17min - 797 - Fentanyl addiction: the brain pathways behind the opioid crisis
00:45 The neuroscience of fentanyl addiction
Research in mice has shown that fentanyl addiction is the result of two brain circuits working in tandem, rather than a single neural pathway as had been previously thought. One circuit underlies the positive feelings this powerful drug elicits, which the other was responsible for the intense withdrawal when it is taken away. Opioid addiction leads to tens of thousands of deaths each year, and the team hopes that this work will help in the development of drugs that are less addictive.
Research Article:Chaudun et al.
09:16 Research Highlights
How an ‘assembloid’ could transform how scientists study drug delivery to the brain, and an edible gel that prevents and treats alcohol intoxication in mice.
Research Highlight:Organoids merge to model the blood–brain barrier
Research Highlight:How cheesemaking could cook up an antidote for alcohol excess
11:36: Briefing Chat
Why babies are taking the South Korean government to court, and Europe’s efforts to send a nuclear-powered heater to Mars.
Nature News:Why babies in South Korea are suing the government
Nature News:Mars rover mission will use pioneering nuclear power source
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Wed, 22 May 2024 - 20min - 796 - Lizard-inspired building design could save lives
In this episode:
00:45 A recyclable 3D printing resin from an unusual source
Many 3D printers create objects using liquid resins that turn into robust solids when exposed to light. But many of these are derived from petrochemicals that are difficult to recycle. To overcome this a team has developed a new type of resin, which they’ve made using a bodybuilding supplement called lipoic acid. Their resin can be printed, recycled and reused multiple times, which they hope could in future contribute to reducing waste associated with 3D printing.
Research Article:Machado et al
10:05 Research Highlights
How housing shortages can drive a tiny parrot resort to kill, and the genes that gave cauliflower its curls.
Research Highlight:These parrots go on killing sprees over real-estate shortages
Research Highlight:How the cauliflower got its curlicues
12:27 To learn how to make safe structures researchers... destroyed a building
Many buildings are designed to prevent collapse by redistributing weight following an initial failure. However this relies on extensive structural connectedness that can result in an entire building being pulled down. To prevent this, researchers took a new approach inspired by the ability of some lizards to shed their tails. They used this to develop a modular system, which they tested by building — and destroying — a two storey structure. Their method stopped an initial failure from spreading, preventing a total collapse. The team hope this finding will help prevent catastrophic collapses, reducing loss of life in aid rescue efforts.
Research Article:Makoond et al.
Nature video:Controlled failure: The building designed to limit catastrophe
23:20: Briefing Chat
An AI algorithm discovers 27,500 new asteroids, and an exquisitely-accurate map of a human brain section reveals cells with previously undiscovered features.
New York Times:Killer Asteroid Hunters Spot 27,500 Overlooked Space Rocks
Nature News:Cubic millimetre of brain mapped in spectacular detail
Subscribe to Nature Briefing: AI and robotics
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Wed, 15 May 2024 - 31min - 795 - Alphafold 3.0: the AI protein predictor gets an upgrade
In this episode:
00:45 A nuclear timekeeper that could transform fundamental-physics research.
Nuclear clocks — based on tiny shifts in energy in an atomic nucleus — could be even more accurate and stable than other advanced timekeeping systems, but have been difficult to make. Now, a team of researchers have made a breakthrough in the development of these clocks, identifying the correct frequency of laser light required to make this energy transition happen. Ultimately it’s hoped that physicists could use nuclear clocks to probe the fundamental forces that hold atoms together.
News:Laser breakthrough paves the way for ultra precise ‘nuclear clock’
10:34 Research Highlights
Why life on other planets may come in purple, brown or orange, and a magnetic fluid that could change shape inside the body.
Research Highlight:Never mind little green men: life on other planets might be purple
Research Highlight:A magnetic liquid makes for an injectable sensor in living tissue
13:48 AlphaFold gets an upgrade
Deepmind’s AlphaFold has revolutionised research by making it simple to predict the 3D structures of proteins, but it has lacked the ability to predict situations where a protein is bound to another molecule. Now, the AI has been upgraded to AlphaFold 3 and can accurately predict protein-molecule complexes containing DNA, RNA and more. Whilst the new version is restricted to non-commercial use, researchers are excited by its greater range of predictive abilities and the prospect of speedier drug discovery.
News:Major AlphaFold upgrade offers huge boost for drug discovery
Research Article:Abramson et al.
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Wed, 08 May 2024 - 21min - 794 - Talking about sex and gender doesn't need to be toxic
Ever since scientific enquiry began, people have focused mainly on men, or if studies involve animals, on male mice, male rats or whatever it may be. And this has led to gaps in scientists’ understanding of how diseases, and responses to treatment, and many other things might vary between people of different sexes and genders.
These days, mainly thanks to big funders like the NIH introducing new guidelines and mandates, a lot more scientists are thinking about sex and, where appropriate, gender. And this has led to a whole host of discoveries.
But all this research is going on within a sociopolitical climate that’s becoming increasingly hostile and polarized, particularly in relation to gender identity. And in some cases, science is being weaponized to push agendas, creating confusion and fear.
It is clear that sex and gender exist beyond a simple binary. This is widely accepted by scientists and it is not something we will be debating in this podcast. But this whole area is full of complexity, and there are many discussions which need to be had around funding, inclusivity or research practices.
To try to lessen fear, and encourage clearer, less divisive thinking, we have asked three contributors to a special series of opinion pieces on sex and gender to come together and thrash out how exactly scientists can fill in years of neglected research – and move forward with exploring the differences between individuals in a way that is responsible, inclusive and beneficial to as many people as possible.
Read the full collection: Sex and gender in science
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Thu, 02 May 2024 - 58min - 793 - Dad's microbiome can affect offsprings' health — in mice
In this episode:
00:46 Using genomics to explain geographic differences in cancer risk
The risk of developing cancer can vary hugely depending on geographic region, but it’s not exactly clear why. To get a better idea, a team has compared the genomes of kidney cancers taken from people around the globe. They reveal a link between geographical locations and specific genetic mutations, suggesting that there are as-yet unknown environmental or chemical exposures in different locations. They hope this work will inform public health efforts to identify and reduce potential causes of cancer.
Research Article:Senkin et al.
News and Views:Genomics reveal unknown mutation-promoting agents at global sites
07:46 Research Highlights
Research reveals that the extinct ‘sabre-toothed salmon’ actually had tusks, and a common fungus that can clean up both heavy-metal and organic pollutants.
Research Highlight:This giant extinct salmon had tusks like a warthog
Research Highlight:Garden-variety fungus is an expert at environmental clean-ups
09:55 How disrupting a male mouse’s microbiome affects its offspring
Disruption of the gut microbiota has been linked to issues with multiple organs. Now a team show disruption can even affect offspring. Male mice given antibiotics targeting gut microbes showed changes to their testes and sperm, which lead to their offspring having a higher probability of severe growth issues and premature death. Although it’s unknown whether a similar effect would be seen in humans, it suggests that factors other than genetics play a role in intergenerational disease susceptibility.
Research article:Argaw-Denboba et al.
News and Views:Dad’s gut microbes matter for pregnancy health and baby’s growth
17:23 Briefing Chat
An updated atlas of the Moon that was a decade in the making, and using AI to design new gene-editing systems.
Nature News:China's Moon atlas is the most detailed ever made
Nature News:‘ChatGPT for CRISPR’ creates new gene-editing tools
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Wed, 01 May 2024 - 25min - 792 - Audio long read: Why loneliness is bad for your health
Many people around the world feel lonely. Chronic loneliness is known to have far-reaching health effects and has been linked to multiple conditions and even early death. But the mechanisms through which feeling alone can lead to poor health is a puzzle. Now, researchers are looking at neurons in the hopes that they may help explain why health issues arise when social needs go unmet.
This is an audio version of our Feature Why loneliness is bad for your health
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Fri, 26 Apr 2024 - 14min - 791 - How gliding marsupials got their 'wings'
In this episode:
00:46 Optical clocks at sea
Optical atomic clocks are the most precise timekeeping devices on the planet, but these devices are huge and difficult to work with, limiting their use outside of the lab. Now, researchers have developed a portable optical clock and demonstrated its robustness by sending it on a perilous sea journey. The team hope that this work will pave the way to more practical uses of optical clocks, such as on satellites where they could help improve the accuracy of GPS technologies.
Research Article:Roslund et al.
News and Views: Robust optical clocks promise stable timing in a portable package
09:34 Research Highlights
Evidence of ritual burning of the remains of a Maya royal family, and the first solid detection of an astrophysical tau-neutrino.
Research Highlight:Burnt remains of Maya royalty mark a dramatic power shift
Research Highlight:Detectors deep in South Pole ice pin down elusive tau neutrino
11:52 How marsupial gliding membranes evolved
Several marsupial species have evolved a membrane called a patagium that allows them to glide gracefully from tree to tree. Experiments show that mutations in areas of DNA around the gene Emx2 were key to the evolution of this ability, which has appeared independently in multiple marsupial species.
Research article:Moreno et al.
News and Views:Marsupial genomes reveal how a skin membrane for gliding evolved
19:22 Briefing Chat
How overtraining AIs can help them discover novel solutions, and researchers manage to make one-atom thick sheets of ‘goldene’.
Quanta Magazine:How Do Machines ‘Grok’ Data?
Nature news:Meet ‘goldene’: this gilded cousin of graphene is also one atom thick
Subscribe to Nature Briefing: AI and robotics
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Wed, 24 Apr 2024 - 28min - 790 - Living on Mars would probably suck — here's why
Humans setting up home in outer space has long been the preserve of science fiction. Now, thanks to advances in technology and the backing of billionaires, this dream could actually be realised. But is it more likely to be a nightmare?
Kelly and Zach Weinersmith join us to discuss their new book A City on Mars and some of the medical, environmental and legal roadblocks that may prevent humanity from ultimately settling in space.
A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through? Kelly and Zach Weinersmith Particular Books (2023)
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Fri, 19 Apr 2024 - 38min - 789 - Keys, wallet, phone: the neuroscience behind working memory
In this episode:
00:46 Mysterious methane emission from a cool brown dwarf
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is revealing the makeup of brown dwarfs — strange space objects that blur the line between a planet and a star. And it appears that methane in the atmosphere of one of these objects, named W1935, is emitting infrared radiation. Where the energy comes from is a mystery however, researchers hypothesise that the glow could be caused by an aurora in the object’s atmosphere, perhaps driven by an as-yet unseen moon.
Research Article:Faherty et al.
10:44 Research Highlights
The discovery that bitter taste receptors may date back 450 million years, and the first planet outside the Solar System to boast a rainbow-like phenomenon called a ‘glory’.
Research Highlight:Bitter taste receptors are even older than scientists thought
Research Highlight:An exoplanet is wrapped in glory
13:07 How working memory works
Working memory is a fundamental process that allows us to temporarily store important information, such as the name of a person we’ve just met. However distractions can easily interrupt this process, leading to these memories vanishing. By looking at the brain activity of people doing working-memory tasks, a team have now confirmed that working memory requires two brain regions: one to hold a memory as long as you focus on it; and another to control its maintenance by helping you to not get distracted.
Research article:Daume et al.
News and Views:Coupled neural activity controls working memory in humans
22:31 Briefing Chat
The bleaching event hitting coral around the world, and the first evidence of a nitrogen-fixing eukaryote.
New York Times:The Widest-Ever Global Coral Crisis Will Hit Within Weeks, Scientists Say
Nature News:Scientists discover first algae that can fix nitrogen — thanks to a tiny cell structure
Nature video:AI and robotics demystify the workings of a fly's wing
Vote for us in the Webbys:https://go.nature.com/3TVYHmP
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Wed, 17 Apr 2024 - 34min - 788 - The 'ghost roads' driving tropical deforestation
In this episode:
00:46 Mapping ‘ghost roads’ in tropical forests
Across the world, huge numbers of illegal roads have been cut into forests. However, due to their illicit nature, the exact numbers of these roads and their impacts on ecosystems is poorly understood. To address this, researchers have undertaken a huge mapping exercise across the tropical Asia-Pacific region. Their findings reveal over a million kilometers of roads that don’t appear on official maps, and that their construction is a key driver for deforestation.
Research Article:Engert et al.
10:44 Research Highlights
How climate change fuelled a record-breaking hailstorm in Spain, and an unusual technique helps researchers detect a tiny starquake.
Research Highlight:Baseball-sized hail in Spain began with a heatwave at sea
Research Highlight:Smallest known starquakes are detected with a subtle shift of colour
13:02 Briefing Chat
A clinical trial to test whether ‘mini livers’ can grow in a person’s lymph node, and the proteins that may determine left-handedness.
Nature News:‘Mini liver’ will grow in person’s own lymph node in bold new trial
Nature News:Right- or left-handed? Protein in embryo cells might help decide
Nature video:How would a starfish wear trousers? Science has an answer
Vote for us in the Webbys:https://go.nature.com/3TVYHmP
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Wed, 10 Apr 2024 - 23min - 787 - Audio long read: Why are so many young people getting cancer? What the data say
Around the world, rates of cancers that typically affect older adults are increasing in those under 50 years old. Models based on global data predict that the number of early-onset cancer cases like these will increase by around 30% between 2019 and 2030.
The most likely contributors — such as rising rates of obesity and early-cancer screening — do not fully account for the increase. To try and understand the reasons behind this trend, many researchers are searching for answers buried in studies that tracked the lives and health of children born half a century ago.
This is an audio version of our Feature Why are so many young people getting cancer? What the data say
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Fri, 05 Apr 2024 - 16min - 786 - Pregnancy's effect on 'biological' age, polite birds, and the carbon cost of home-grown veg
In this episode:
00:35 Pregnancy advances your ‘biological’ age — but giving birth turns it back
Growing a baby leads to changes in the distribution of certain chemical markers on a pregnant person’s DNA, but new research suggests that after giving birth, these changes can revert to an earlier state.
Nature News:Pregnancy advances your ‘biological’ age — but giving birth turns it back
08:07 Bird gestures to say 'after you'
A Japanese tit (Parus minor) will flutter its wings to invite their mate to enter the nest first. Use of these sorts of gestures, more complex than simply pointing at an object of interest, were thought to be limited to great apes, suggesting that there are more non-vocal forms of communication to be found in the animal kingdom.
Scientific American:Wild Birds Gesture ‘After You’ to Insist Their Mate Go First
13:34 The carbon cost of home-grown veg
Research have estimated that the carbon footprint of home-grown food and community gardens is six-times greater than conventional, commercial farms. This finding surprised the authors — keen home-growers themselves — who emphasize that their findings can be used to help make urban efforts (which have worthwhile social benefits) more carbon-efficient.
BBC Future:The complex climate truth about home-grown tomatoes
20:29 A look at next week's total eclipse
On 8th April, a total eclipse of the Sun is due to trace a path across North America. We look at the experiments taking place and what scientists are hoping to learn.
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Wed, 03 Apr 2024 - 24min - 785 - How climate change is affecting global timekeeping
In this episode:
01:28 Inflammation’s role in memory
How memories are stored is an ongoing question in neuroscience. Now researchers have found an inflammatory pathway that responds to DNA damage in neurons has a key role in the persistence of memories. How this pathway helps memories persist is unclear, but the researchers suggest that how the DNA damage is repaired may play a role. As inflammation in the brain is often associated with disease, the team were surprised by this finding, which they hope will help uncover ways to better preserve our memories, especially in the face of neurodegenerative disorders.
Research Article:Jovasevic et al.
News and Views:Innate immunity in neurons makes memories persist
08:40 Research Highlights
The effect of wind turbines on property values, and how waste wood can be used to 3D print new wooden objects.
Research Highlight:A view of wind turbines drives down home values — but only briefly
Research Highlight:Squeeze, freeze, bake: how to make 3D-printed wood that mimics the real thing
11:14 How melting ice is affecting global timekeeping
Due to variations in the speed of Earth’s rotation, the length of a day is rarely exactly 24 hours. By calculating the strength of the different factors affecting this, a researcher has shown that while Earth’s rotation is overall speeding up, this effect is being tempered by the melting of the polar ice caps. As global time kept by atomic clocks occasionally has to be altered to match Earth’s rotation, human-induced climate change may delay plans to add a negative leap-second to ensure the two align.
Research article:Agnew
News and Views:Melting ice solves leap-second problem — for now
20:04 Briefing Chat
An AI for antibody development, and the plans for the upcoming Simons observatory.
Nature News:‘A landmark moment’: scientists use AI to design antibodies from scratch
Nature News:‘Best view ever’: observatory will map Big Bang’s afterglow in new detail
Subscribe to Nature Briefing: AI and robotics
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Wed, 27 Mar 2024 - 26min - 784 - AI hears hidden X factor in zebra finch love songs
This podcast has been corrected: in a previous version at 5:55 we stated that that the team's 200mm devices currently contain only a couple of magnetic tunnelling junctions, in fact they studied 500-1000 devices in this work.
00:48 How mysterious skyrmions could power next-generation computers
Skyrmions are tiny whirlpools of magnetic spin that some researchers believe have useful properties that could unlock new kinds of computing. However getting skyrmions to perform useful computational tasks has been tricky. Now researchers have developed a method to create and manipulate skyrmions in a way that is compatible with existing computing technology, allowing them to read and write data at a fraction of the energy cost of conventional systems. The team think this shows that skyrmions could be a viable part of the next generation of computers.
Research Article:Chen et al.
News and Views:Magnetic whirlpools offer improved data storage
07:51 Research Highlights
How robotically-enhanced, live jellyfish could make ocean monitoring cheap and easy, and how collective saliva tests could be a cost-effective way of testing for a serious infant infection.
Research Highlight:These cyborg jellyfish could monitor the changing seas
Research Highlight:Pooling babies’ saliva helps catch grave infection in newborns
10:01 AI identifies X factor hidden within zebra finch songs
Male songbirds often develop elaborate songs to demonstrate their fitness, but many birds only learn a single song and stick with it their entire lives. How female birds judge the fitness between these males has been a long-standing puzzle. Now, using an AI-based system a team has analysed the songs of male zebra finches and shown that some songs have a hidden factor that is imperceptible to humans. Although it’s not clear exactly what this factor is, songs containing it were shown to be harder to learn and more attractive to females. The researchers hope that this AI-based method will allow them to better understand what makes some birdsong more attractive than others.
Research article:Alam et al.
News and Views:Birds convey complex signals in simple songs
20:04 Briefing Chat
How H5N1 avian influenza is threatening penguins on Antarctica, and why farmed snake-meat could be a more environmentally-friendly way to produce protein for food.
Nature News:Bird-flu threat disrupts Antarctic penguin studies
Scientific American:Snake Steak Could Be a Climate-Friendly Source of Protein
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Wed, 20 Mar 2024 - 29min - 783 - Killer whales have menopause. Now scientists think they know why
In this episode:
00:45 Making a map of the human heart
The human heart consists of multiple, specialised structures that all work together to enable the organ to beat for a lifetime. But exactly which cells are present in each part of the heart has been difficult to ascertain. Now, a team has combined molecular techniques to create an atlas of the developing human heart at an individual cell level. Their atlas provides insights into how cell communities communicate and form different structures. They hope that this knowledge will ultimately help in the treatment of congenital heart conditions, often caused by irregular development of the heart.
Research article:Farah et al.
Nature video:Building a heart atlas
08:37 Research Highlights
Residue in ceramic vases suggests that ancient Mesoamerican peoples consumed tobacco as a liquid, and a wireless way to charge quantum batteries.
Research Highlight:Buried vases hint that ancient Americans might have drunk tobacco
Research Highlight:A better way to charge a quantum battery
11:11 The evolution of menopause in toothed whales
Menopause is a rare phenomenon, only known to occur in a few mammalian species. Several of these species are toothed whales, such as killer whales, beluga whales and narwhals. But why menopause evolved multiple times in toothed whales has been a long-standing research question. To answer it, a team examined the life history of whales with and without menopause and how this affected the number of offspring and ‘grandoffpsring’. Their results suggest that menopause allows older females to help younger generations in their families and improve their chances of survival.
Research Article:Ellis et al.
News and Views:Whales make waves in the quest to discover why menopause evolved
18:03 Briefing Chat
How the new generation of anti-obesity drugs could help people with HIV, and the study linking microplastics lodged in a key blood vessel with serious health issues.
Nature News:Blockbuster obesity drug leads to better health in people with HIV
Nature News:Landmark study links microplastics to serious health problems
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Wed, 13 Mar 2024 - 27min - 782 - These tiny fish combine electric pulses to probe the environment
In this episode:
00:48 Bumblebees can learn new tricks from each other
One behaviour thought unique to humans is the ability to learn something from your predecessors that you couldn’t figure out on your own. However, researchers believe they have shown bumblebees are also capable of this ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’ approach to learning. Bees that were taught how to complete a puzzle too difficult to solve on their own, were able to share this knowledge with other bees, raising the possibility that this thought-to-be human trait could be widespread amongst animals.
Research article:Bridges et al.
News and Views:Bees and chimpanzees learn from others what they cannot learn alone
16:55 Research Highlights
Why the Krakatau eruption made the skies green, and the dining habits of white dwarf stars.
Research Highlight:Why sunsets were a weird colour after Krakatau blew its top
Research Highlight: This dying star bears a jagged metal scar
19:28 The fish that collectively, electrically sense
Many ocean-dwelling animals sense their environment using electric pulses, which can help them hunt and avoid predators. Now research shows that the tiny elephantnose fish can increase the range of this sense by combining its pulses with those of other elephantnose fish. This allows them to discriminate and determine the location of different objects at a much greater distance than a single fish is able to. This is the first time a collective electric sense has been seen in animals, which could provide an ‘early-warning system', allowing a group to avoid predators from a greater distance.
Research Article:Pedraja and Sawtell
27:54 Briefing Chat
The organoids made from cells derived from amniotic fluid, and the debate over the heaviest animal.
Nature News:Organoids grown from amniotic fluid could shed light on rare diseases
The New York Times:Researchers Dispute Claim That Ancient Whale Was Heaviest Animal Ever
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Wed, 06 Mar 2024 - 36min - 781 - Could this one-time ‘epigenetic’ treatment control cholesterol?
In this episode:
00:49 What caused the Universe to become fully transparent?
Around 13 billion years ago, the Universe was filled with a dense ‘fog’ of neutral hydrogen that blocked certain wavelengths of light. This fog was lifted when the hydrogen was hit by radiation in a process known as reionisation, but the source of this radiation has been debated. Now, researchers have used the JWST to peer deep into the Universe’s past and found that charged particles pouring out from dwarf galaxies appear to be the the main driver for reionization. This finding could help researchers understand how some of the structures we now see in the Universe were formed.
Research article:Atek et al.
08:46 Research Highlights
Ancient inscriptions could be the earliest example of the language that became Basque, and how researchers etched a groove… onto soap film.
Research Highlight:Ancient bronze hand’s inscription points to origins of Basque language
Research Highlight:Laser pulses engrave an unlikely surface: soap films
11:05 Controlling cholesterol with epigenetics
To combat high cholesterol, many people take statins, but because these drugs have to be taken every day researchers have been searching for alternatives. Controlling cholesterol by editing the epigenome has shown promise in lab-grown cells, but its efficacy in animals was unclear. Now, researchers have shown the approach can work in mice, and have used it to silence a gene linked to high cholesterol for a year. The mice show markedly lowered cholesterol, a result the team hope could pave the way for epigenetic therapeutics for humans.
Research Article:Cappelluti et al.
18:52 The gene mutation explaining why humans don’t have tails
Why don’t humans and other apes have a tail? It was assumed that a change must have happened in our genomes around 25 million years ago that resulted in the loss of this flexible appendage. Now researchers believe they have pinned down a good candidate for what caused this: an insertion into a particular gene known as TBXT. The team showed the key role this gene plays by engineering mice genomes to contain a similar change, leading to animals that were tail-less. This finding could help paint a picture of the important genetic mutations that led to the evolution of humans and other apes.
Nature News:How humans lost their tails — and why the discovery took 2.5 years to publish
Research Article:Xia et al.
News and Views:A mobile DNA sequence could explain tail loss in humans and apes
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Wed, 28 Feb 2024 - 26min - 780 - Audio long read: Chimpanzees are dying from our colds — these scientists are trying to save them
The phenomenon of animals catching diseases from humans, called reverse zoonoses, has had a severe impact on great ape populations, often representing a bigger threat than habitat loss or poaching.
However, while many scientists and conservationists agree that human diseases pose one of the greatest risks to great apes today there are a few efforts under way to use a research-based approach to mitigate this problem.
This is an audio version of our Feature Chimpanzees are dying from our colds — these scientists are trying to save them
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Mon, 26 Feb 2024 - 24min - 779 - How whales sing without drowning, an anatomical mystery solved
The deep haunting tones of the world's largest animals, baleen whales, are iconic - but how the songs are produced has long been a mystery. Whales evolved from land dwelling mammals which vocalize by passing air through a structure called the larynx - a structure which also helps keep food from entering the respiratory system. However toothed whales like dolphins do not use their larynx to make sound, instead they have evolved a specialized organ in their nose. Now a team of researchers have discovered the structure used by baleen whales - a modified version of the larynx. Whales like Humpbacks and Blue whales are able to create powerful vocalizations but their anatomy also limits the frequency of the sounds they can make and depth at which they can sing. This leaves them unable to escape anthropogenic noise pollution which occur in the same range.
Article: Evolutionary novelties underlie sound production in baleen whales
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Fri, 23 Feb 2024 - 14min - 778 - Why are we nice? Altruism's origins are put to the test
In this episode:
00:45 Why are humans so helpful?
Humans are notable for their cooperation and display far more altruistic behaviour than other animals, but exactly why this behaviour evolved has been a puzzle. But in a new paper, the two leading theories have been put the test with a model and a real-life experiment. They find that actually neither theory on its own leads to cooperation but a combination is required for humans to help one another.
Research article:Efferson et al.
News and Views:Why reciprocity is common in humans but rare in other animals
10:55 Research Highlights
The discovery of an ancient stone wall hidden underwater, and the fun that apes have teasing one another.
Research Highlight:Great ‘Stone Age’ wall discovered in Baltic Sea
Research Highlight:What a tease! Great apes pull hair and poke each other for fun
13:14 The DVD makes a comeback
Optical discs, like CDs and DVDs, are an attractive option for long-term data storage, but these discs are limited by their small capacity. Now though, a team has overcome a limitation of conventional disc writing to produce optical discs capable of storing petabits of data, significantly more than the largest available hard disk. The researchers behind the work think their new discs could one day replace the energy-hungry hard disks used in giant data centres, making long-term storage more sustainable.
Research Article:Zhao et al.
20:10 Briefing Chat
The famous fossil that turned out to be a fraud, and why researchers are making hybrid ‘meat-rice’.
Ars Technica:It’s a fake: Mysterious 280 million-year-old fossil is mostly just black paint
Nature News:Introducing meat–rice: grain with added muscles beefs up protein
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Wed, 21 Feb 2024 - 30min - 777 - Smoking changes your immune system, even years after quitting
00:45 Smoking's long-term effects on immunity
It's well-known that smoking is bad for health and it has been linked to several autoimmune disorders, but the mechanisms are not fully understood. Now, researchers have investigated the immune responses of 1,000 people. Whilst some effects disappear after quitting, impacts on the T cell response lingers long after. The team hopes that this evidence could help better understand smoking's association with autoimmune diseases.
Research article:Saint-André et al.
News and Views:Smoking’s lasting effect on the immune system
07:03 Research Highlights
Why explosive fulminating gold produces purple smoke, and a curious act of altruism in a male northern elephant seal.
Research Highlight:Why an ancient gold-based explosive makes purple smoke
Research Highlight:‘Altruistic’ bull elephant seal lends a helping flipper
09:28 Briefing Chat
An author-based method to track down fake papers, and the new ocean lurking under the surface of one of Saturn's moons.
Nature News:Fake research papers flagged by analysing authorship trends
Nature News:The Solar System has a new ocean — it’s buried in a small Saturn moon
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Wed, 14 Feb 2024 - 21min - 776 - Why we need to rethink how we talk about cancer
For over a century, cancer has been classified by areas of the body - lung cancer, breast cancer, skin cancer etc. And yet modern medical research is telling us that the molecular and genetic mechanisms behind cancers are not necessarily tied to parts of the body. Many drugs developed to treat metastatic cancers have the capacity to work across many different cancers, and that presents an opportunity for more tailored and efficient treatments. Oncologists are calling for a change in the way patients, clinicians and regulators think about naming cancers.
In this podcast, senior comment editor Lucy Odling-Smee speaks with Fabrice André from Institute Gustave Roussy, to ask what he thinks needs to change.
Comment: Forget lung, breast or prostate cancer: why tumour naming needs to change
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Fri, 09 Feb 2024 - 14min - 775 - Cancer's power harnessed — lymphoma mutations supercharge T cells
In this episode:
0:46 Borrowing tricks from cancer could help improve immunotherapy
T cell based immunotherapies have revolutionised the treatment of certain types of cancer. However these therapies — which involved taking someone’s own T cells and reprogramming them to kill cancer cells — have struggled to treat solid tumours, which put up multiple defences. To overcome these, a team has taken mutations found in cancer cells that help them thrive and put them into therapeutic T cells. Their results show these powered-up cells are more efficient at targeting solid tumours, but don’t turn cancerous themselves.
Research article:Garcia et al.
11:39 Research Highlights
How researchers solved a submerged-sprinkler problem named after Richard Feynman, and what climate change is doing to high-altitude environmental records in Switzerland.
Research Highlight:The mystery of Feynman’s sprinkler is solved at last
Research Highlight:A glacier’s ‘memory’ is fading because of climate change
14:28 What might the car batteries of the future look like?
As electric cars become ever more popular around the world, manufacturers are looking to improve the batteries that power them. While conventional lithium-ion batteries have dominated the electric vehicle market for decades, researchers are developing alternatives that have better performance and safety — we run though some of these options and discuss their pros and cons.
News Feature:The new car batteries that could power the electric vehicle revolution
25:32 Briefing Chat
How a baby’s-eye view of the world helps an AI learn language, and how the recovery of sea otter populations in California slowed rates of coastal erosion.
Nature News:This AI learnt language by seeing the world through a baby’s eyes
News:How do otters protect salt marshes from erosion? Shellfishly
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Wed, 07 Feb 2024 - 35min - 774 - Cervical cancer could be eliminated: here's how
Cervical cancer is both treatable and preventable, and the WHO has called for countries to come together to to eliminate the disease in the next century.
However the disease still kills over 300,000 people each year, and levels of screening, treatment and vaccination need to be stepped up in order to achieve this goal.
These challenges are particularly stark in low- and middle-income countries, where a lack of funding, staffing and infrastructure are obstacles. Vaccine hesitancy, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, is also a key problem.
In this Podcast Extra, two experts share their thoughts on how best to overcome these obstacles, and make elimination of cervical cancer a reality.
Comment:Cervical cancer kills 300,000 people a year — here’s how to speed up its elimination
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Sun, 04 Feb 2024 - 17min - 773 - Ancient DNA solves the mystery of who made a set of stone tools
In this episode:
0:48 How hominins spread through Europe
Ancient stone tools are often uncovered in Europe, but it can be difficult to identify who crafted them, as Neanderthals and Homo sapiens coexisted in the region for several thousand years. The makers of one type of tool found in northern Europe has long puzzled researchers, but now through genetic analysis of nearby skeletal fragments, it has been revealed that they were made by Homo sapiens. The age of these tools suggests that modern humans were more widespread and adaptable to living in colder climates than previously thought.
Research article:Mylopotamitaki et al.
News and Views:Stone tools in northern Europe made by Homo sapiens 45,000 years ago
09:36 Research Highlights
How a Colombian mountain range lost its root, and what Roman wine may have looked, smelled and tasted like.
Research Highlight:A mysterious mountain range lacks roots but still stands tall
Research Highlight:The clever system that gave Roman wines an amber colour and nutty aroma
15:21 Briefing Chat
Analysis of lab-grown neurons reveals why brain cells grow so slowly in humans, and a genetic therapy for a certain type of deafness shows promise.
Video:Why human brain cells grow so slowly
Science:Gene therapies that let deaf children hear bring hope—and many questions
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Wed, 31 Jan 2024 - 28min - 772 - Audio long read: Long COVID is a double curse in low-income nations — here’s why
Evidence so far suggests that the prevalence of long COVID in low- and middle-income countries could be similar to that of wealthier countries. For example, by some estimates, more than four million people in Brazil have long COVID.
However, an absence of research on the condition in less-wealthy countries has left advocates hamstrung: few physicians acknowledge that long COVID exists. A lack of data is also hampering efforts to search for the mechanisms of the condition and tailor treatments.
This is an audio version of our Feature Long COVID is a double curse in low-income nations — here’s why
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Fri, 26 Jan 2024 - 12min - 771 - Toxic red mud could be turned into 'green' steel
In this episode:
0:46 Turning a toxic by-product into iron
Red mud is a toxic by-product of aluminium manufacture, and millions of tonnes of it is produced each year. The majority ends up in landfills, pumped into vast lakes or stored in dried mounds, posing a serious environmental risk. This week, researchers demonstrate how red mud can be reused to make iron, a vital component in the production of steel. As their method uses hydrogen plasma rather than fossil fuels, they suggest it could be a way to reduce the carbon emissions associated with the steelmaking industry.
Research article:Jovičević-Klug et al.
News and Views:Iron extracted from hazardous waste of aluminium production
09:36 Research Highlights
The economics of next-generation geothermal power plants, and the folded-fabric robot that crawls like a snake.
Research Highlight:Flexible geothermal power makes it easier to harness Earth’s inner heat
Research Highlight:Origami fabric robot slithers like a snake
20:53 Briefing Chat
A computational model that predicts a person's likelihood of developing long COVID, NASA finally crack open the lid of OSIRIS-REx’s sample container, and how the ‘Moon Sniper’ craft pulled off the most precise lunar landing ever.
Nature News:Long-COVID signatures identified in huge analysis of blood protein
Johnson Space Centre:NASA’S OSIRIS-REx Curation Team Reveals Remaining Asteroid Sample
Nature News:Japan’s successful Moon landing was the most precise ever
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Wed, 24 Jan 2024 - 24min - 770 - This AI just figured out geometry — is this a step towards artificial reasoning?
In this episode:
0:55 The AI that deduces solutions to complex maths problems
Researchers at Google Deepmind have developed an AI that can solve International Mathematical Olympiad-level geometry problems, something previous AIs have struggled with. They provided the system with a huge number of random mathematical theorems and proofs, which it used to approximate general rules of geometry. The AI then applied these rules to solve the Olympiad problems and show its workings for humans to check. The researchers hope their system shows that it is possible for AIs to ‘learn’ basic principles from large amounts of data and use them to tackle complex logical challenges, which could prove useful in fields outside mathematics.
Research article:Trinh et al.
09:46 Research Highlights
A stiff and squishy ‘hydrospongel’ — part sponge, part hydrogel — that could find use in soft robotics, and how the spread of rice paddies in sub-Saharan Africa helps to drive up atmospheric methane levels.
Research Highlight:Stiff gel as squishable as a sponge takes its cue from cartilage
Research Highlight:A bounty of rice comes at a price: soaring methane emissions
12:26 The food-web effects of mass predator die-offs
Mass Mortality Events, sometimes called mass die-offs, can result in huge numbers of a single species perishing in a short period of time. But there’s not a huge amount known about the effects that events like these might be having on wider ecosystems. Now, a team of researchers have built a model ecosystem to observe the impact of mass die-offs on the delicate balance of populations within it.
Research article:Tye et al.
20:53 Briefing Chat
An update on efforts to remove the stuck screws on OSIRIS-REx’s sample container, the ancient, fossilized skin that was preserved in petroleum, and a radical suggestion to save the Caribbean’s coral reefs.
OSIRIS-REx Mission Blog:NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Team Clears Hurdle to Access Remaining Bennu Sample
Nature News:This is the oldest fossilized reptile skin ever found — it pre-dates the dinosaurs
Nature News:Can foreign coral save a dying reef? Radical idea sparks debate
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Wed, 17 Jan 2024 - 32min - 769 - The science stories you missed over the holiday period
In this episode of theNature Podcast, we catch up on some science stories from the holiday period by diving into the Nature Briefing.
We chat about: an extra-warm sweater inspired by polar bear fur; the fossil find revealing what a juvenile tyrannosaur liked to snack on; why scientists are struggling to open OSIRIS-REx’s sample container; how 2023 was a record for retractions; and how cats like to play fetch, sometimes.
Nature News:Polar bear fur-inspired sweater is thinner than a down jacket — and just as warm
Scientific American:Tyrannosaur’s Stomach Contents Have Been Found for the First Time
Nature News:‘Head-scratcher’: first look at asteroid dust brought to Earth offers surprises
Nature News:More than 10,000 research papers were retracted in 2023 — a new record
Scientific American:Cats Play Fetch, Too—But Only on Their Own Terms
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Wed, 10 Jan 2024 - 29min - 768 - Science in 2024: what to expect this year
In this episode, reporter Miryam Naddaf joins us to talk about the big science events to look out for in 2024. We'll hear about the mass of the neutrino, the neural basis of consciousness and the climate lawsuits at the Hague, to name but a few.
News: the science events to look our for in 2024
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Wed, 03 Jan 2024 - 13min - 767 - Audio long read: A new kind of solar cell is coming — is it the future of green energy?
Perovskites are cheap, abundant photovoltaic materials that some have hailed as the future of green energy.
Around the world, companies are layering perovskites on top of traditional silicon to develop so-called tandem solar cells that some think could deliver at least 20% more power than a silicon cell alone.
However, there remain multiple issues to overcome before these products are ready for widespread uptake in the notoriously competitive solar-power market.
This is an audio version of our Feature A new kind of solar cell is coming: is it the future of green energy?
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Fri, 29 Dec 2023 - 23min - 766 - The Nature Podcast highlights of 2023
In this episode:
00:54 Franklin’s real role
When it comes to the structure of DNA, everyone thinks they know Rosalind Franklin’s role in its discovery. The story goes that her crucial data was taken by James Watson without her knowledge, helping him and Francis Crick solve the structure. However, new evidence has revealed that this wasn’t really the case. Rosalind Franklin was not a ‘wronged heroine’, she was an equal contributor to the discovery.
Nature Podcast: 25 April 2023
Comment: What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
14:37 An automated way to monitor wildlife recovery
To prevent the loss of wildlife, forest restoration is key, but monitoring how well biodiversity actually recovers is incredibly difficult. Now though, a team has collected recordings of animal sounds to determine the extent of the recovery. However, while using these sounds to identify species is an effective way to monitor, it’s also labour intensive. To overcome this, they trained an AI to listen to the sounds, and found that although it was less able to identify species, its findings still correlated well with wildlife recovery, suggesting that it could be a cost-effective and automated way to monitor biodiversity.
Nature Podcast:25 October 2023
Research article:Müller et al.
27:11 Research Highlights
The first brain recording from a freely swimming octopus, and how a Seinfeld episode helped scientists to distinguish the brain regions involved in understanding and appreciating humour.
Research Highlight:How to measure the brain of an octopus
Research Highlight:One brain area helps you to enjoy a joke — but another helps you to get it
30:24 Why multisensory experiences can make stronger memories
It’s recognized that multisensory experiences can create strong memories and that later-on, a single sensory experience can trigger memories of the whole event, like a specific smell conjuring a visual memory. But the neural mechanisms behind this are not well understood. Now, a team has shown that rich sensory experiences can create direct neural circuit between the memory regions involved with different senses. This circuit increases memory strength in the flies, and helps explain how sense and memories are interlinked.
Nature Podcast:25 April 2023
Research article:Okray et al.
38:58 Briefing Chat
How elephant seals catch some shut-eye while diving.
New York Times:Elephant Seals Take Power Naps During Deep Ocean Dives
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Wed, 27 Dec 2023 - 45min - 765 - How AI works is often a mystery — that's a problem
Many AIs are 'black box' in nature, meaning that part of all of the underlying structure is obfuscated, either intentionally to protect proprietary information, due to the sheer complexity of the model, or both. This can be problematic in situations where people are harmed by decisions made by AI but left without recourse to challenge them.
Many researchers in search of solutions have coalesced around a concept called Explainable AI, but this too has its issues. Notably, that there is no real consensus on what it is or how it should be achieved. So how do we deal with these black boxes? In this podcast, we try to find out.
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Fri, 22 Dec 2023 - 37min - 764 - The Nature Podcast Festive Spectacular 2023
In this episode:
01:55 “Oh GPT”
In the first of our festive songs, we pay homage to LLMs, the generative AI chat bots which have taken 2023 by storm.
05:32 Twenty questions
In this year’s festive game, our competitors try to guess some of the biggest science stories of the year, solely by asking yes/no questions.
24:40 “Warming night”
In our final song this year, we take stock as 2023 is named the hottest year since records began. As worsening climate change continues to threaten lives, can science provide hope for the future?
28:24 Nature’s 10
Every year, Nature’s 10 highlights some of the people who have shaped science. We hear about a few of the people who made the 2023 list.
News feature:Nature’s 10
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Wed, 20 Dec 2023 - 45min - 763 - Navigating planets, plays and prejudice — a conversation with Aomawa Shields
In the latest episode of Nature hits the books, astronomer Aomawa Shields discusses her memoir Life on Other Planets: A Memoir of Finding My Place in the Universe.
The book tracks her career path as a scientist and a classically-trained actor, explores her experiences as an African American woman in STEM, and interrogates science’s place in culture — some of the things we discussed in this podcast.
Life on Other Planets: A Memoir of Finding My Place in the Universe Aomawa ShieldsConstable (2023)
Music supplied by Airae/Epidemic Sound/Getty images.
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Fri, 15 Dec 2023 - 35min - 762 - Inhaled vaccine prevents COVID in monkeys
Current COVID-19 vaccines offer great protection from serious illness, but they don't prevent people from becoming infected in the first place. Because of this, researchers have been searching for ways to boost mucosal immunity — the immune response on mucosal surfaces — as this is where the virus is first encountered by the body. Now a team have shown that mucosal immunity can be improved enough to block infection in rhesus macaques by administering booster vaccines directly into their lungs, through inhalation. They hope this could offer a way to stop humans getting COVID-19 in the future.
Research Article:McMahan et al.
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Thu, 14 Dec 2023 - 7min - 761 - Cat parasite Toxoplasma tricked to grow in a dish
In this episode:
00:48 A new way to grow a tricky parasite in the lab
Toxoplasma gondii, the parasite that causes the zoonotic disease toxoplasmosis, has a complex, multi-stage life cycle. Some of these stages will only grow in the intestines of cats, making it difficult to study. Now, a team has found a way to grow one of these stages in vitro for the first time, which they hope will help researchers learn more about this parasite, estimated to have infected around 30% of the world’s population.
Research Article:Antunes et al.
08:50 Research Highlights
The tiny VR goggles designed for mice, and how a squirt of water could give coffee a bigger kick.
Research Highlight:Wee VR googles give mice a true immersive experience
Research Highlight:Why coffee particles clump and make a mess during grinding
11:25 Briefing Chat
Genetic searches reveal a potential super-sized protein, and the rise of ‘non-stop’ authors who publish a science paper every five days
Nature News:The world’s largest proteins? These mega-molecules turn bacteria into predators
Nature News:Surge in number of ‘extremely productive’ authors concerns scientists
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Wed, 13 Dec 2023 - 25min - 760 - The world’s smallest light-trapping silicon cavity
In this episode:
00:48 A gap for trapping light
Confining photons within materials opens up potential applications in quantum computing and telecommunications. But capturing light requires nanoscale cavities, which are difficult to make. This week, a team has created the smallest silicon gap yet for this purpose, just two nano-metres wide, by exploiting the intermolecular forces that are usually an obstacle when creating such small structures. They show this gap can trap light effectively, but they also believe that their method could be used to create tiny cavities for use in a range of different fields.
Research Article:Babar et al.
News and Views:Self-assembling structures close the gap to trap light
07:28 Research Highlights
Researchers head into the wilderness to search for dark matter, and the discovery that bottlenose dolphins can sense weak magnetic fields.
Research Highlight:The hunt for dark-matter particles ventures into the wild
Research Highlight:Dolphins have a feel for electric fields
09:54 The environmental cost of tackling poverty
Extreme poverty, defined as living on less than US$2.15 a day, affects around 10% of the world’s population. In the past, economic growth has generally been seen as key to reducing poverty; however, such growth has also led to an increase in climate-warming emissions. To find out whether poverty can be tackled without costing the planet, a team of researchers modelled how different levels of economic growth would affect global emissions. They found that ending poverty has only a negligible impact on emissions, which could be lowered even further by decarbonising energy production.
Research Article:Wollburg et al.
News and Views:Tackling extreme poverty around the world need not impede climate action
News:Catastrophic change looms as Earth nears climate ‘tipping points’, report says
News:Scientists skip COP28 to demand climate action at home
18:36 Briefing Chat
Scientists create a robotic octopus arm that you can control with a finger, and how disruptive science seems to elude farflung teams.
Nature News:How does it feel to have an octopus arm? This robo-tentacle lets people find out
Nature News:‘Disruptive’ science: in-person teams make more breakthroughs than remote groups
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Wed, 06 Dec 2023 - 31min - 759 - Sanitary products made from plants could help tackle period poverty
Around 500 million people are estimated to be in period poverty, lacking adequate access to sanitary products. Many of these people rely on donations, but this is far from a long-term solution. To tackle this researchers have developed a method to extract absorbent materials for menstrual pads from a common plant, Agave sisalana. The researchers say that their method can be performed using local techniques and has a lower environmental impact than the manufacture of other period products. They're aiming to scale-up this approach to help those in period poverty.
Research Article:Molina et al.
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Thu, 30 Nov 2023 - 9min - 758 - Why COP28 probably won't keep the 1.5 degree dream alive
In this episode:
00:49 What to expect at COP28.
The UN’s annual climate change conference is starting soon in Dubai. This time will be the first time that humanity formally assesses its progress under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, so we ask if this challenge of keeping warming below 1.5 ˚C can be met and what needs to happen at COP28 to make it a reality.
News Feature:Is it too late to keep global warming below 1.5 °C? The challenge in 7 charts
10:49 Research Highlights
Falcons show off their smarts, and how smoke from California wildfires made Europe cloudy.
Research Highlight:These falcons excel at problem-solving — and outdo some of the world’s smartest birds
Research Highlight:Huge California wildfires seeded cirrus clouds half a world away
12:59 Briefing Chat
The mystery surrounding a powerful cosmic ray, and how to make super hot plasma easily.
Nature News:The most powerful cosmic ray since the Oh-My-God particle puzzles scientists
Research Article:Xie et al.
Video:Super hot plasma made easy with stabilising fibres
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Wed, 29 Nov 2023 - 25min - 757 - Audio long read: Apple revival — how science is bringing historic varieties back to life
Researchers have been resurrecting apple trees to revive forgotten varieties of the fruit. They hope that sequencing these apples' genomes could uncover mutations that influence flavour, colour, crispness and other characteristics. This knowledge could help unlock the next blockbuster fruit, and develop trees that are more resistant to disease, climate change and other environmental pressures.
This is an audio version of our Feature Apple revival: how science is bringing historic varieties back to life
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Fri, 24 Nov 2023 - 17min - 756 - Polio could be eradicated within 3 years — what happens then?
In this episode:
00:46 What happens after polio is eradicated
Since 1988, cases of polio have fallen by more than 99%, and many observers predict that the disease could be eradicated within the next three years. However, eradication isn’t the same as extinction, so the next challenge is for researchers to make sure the disease won’t return. We discuss what a post-polio future may look like, and how to ensure that the disease is gone for good.
News Feature:Polio is on the brink of eradication. Here's how to keep it from coming back
09:48 Research Highlights
Botulinum toxin shows promise in treating a common disorder in older people, and how safeguarding seabirds may require significantly larger conservation-areas than previously thought.
Research Highlight:Botox’s paralysing effects can relieve an uncontrolled head tremor
Research Highlight:Seabirds’ lonely travels pose a conservation challenge
12:21 Briefing Chat
How demand for research monkeys is fuelling an illegal trade in smuggled animals, and the surprising observation that may help explain mysterious space explosions.
Nature:How wild monkeys ‘laundered’ for science could undermine research
Nature News:Mysterious ‘Tasmanian devil’ space explosion baffles astronomers
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Wed, 22 Nov 2023 - 22min - 755 - Dust: the tiny substance with enormous power
In the latest episode of Nature hits the books, writer and researcher Jay Owens joins us to discuss her book Dust: The Modern World in a Trillion Particles.
Much like dust itself, Jay’s book travels the globe, looking at the impacts that these microscopic particles are having on the world, our health and environment, as well as exploring the role that humanity has played in creating them.
Dust: The Modern World in a Trillion Particles Jay OwensHodder & Stoughton (2023)
Music supplied by Airae/Epidemic Sound/Getty images.
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Fri, 17 Nov 2023 - 26min - 754 - How to 3D print fully-formed robots
In this episode:
00:46 Machine vision enables multi-material 3D printing
3D printers are capable of producing complex shapes, but making functioning objects from multiple materials in a single print-run has proved challenging. To overcome this, a team has combined inkjet printing with an error-correction system guided by machine vision, to allow them to print sophisticated multi-material objects. They used this method to make a bio-inspired robotic hand that combines soft and rigid plastics to make mechanical bones, ligaments, and tendons, as well as a pump based on a mammalian heart.
Research article:Buchner et al.
News & Views:Multi-material 3D printing guided by machine vision
Video:The 3D printer that crafts complex robotic organs in a single run
07:49 Research Highlights
Citizen-scientists help identify an astronomical object that blurs the line between asteroid and comet, and how a Seinfeld episode helped scientists to distinguish the brain regions involved in understanding and appreciating humour.
Research Highlight:Citizen scientists find a rarity: an asteroid trying to be a comet
Research Highlight:One brain area helps you to enjoy a joke — but another helps you to get it
10:31 Assessing the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions for diabetes
Type 2 diabetes affects hundreds of millions of people around the world and represents a significant burden on healthcare systems. But behaviour change programmes — also known as lifestyle interventions — could potentially play a large role in preventing people from developing type 2 diabetes. This week in Nature a new paper assesses how effective this kind of intervention might be. Looking at a huge amount of data from the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme, the paper concludes that these interventions represent a viable diabetes prevention strategy.
Research article:Lemp et al.
News & Views:Diabetes prevention programme put to the test
17:35 Briefing Chat
How marine heatwaves revved up crabs’ metabolisms until they starved, and the AI-powered, robot chemist that could extract oxygen from water on Mars.
Wired:The Surprising Reason Sea Creatures Are Getting Hungrier
Nature News:This AI robot chemist could make oxygen on Mars
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Wed, 15 Nov 2023 - 26min - 753 - How to tame a toxic yet life-saving antifungal
In this episode:
00:46 Modifying a fungal drug to make it less toxic
Amphotericin B is a drug used to treat life-threatening fungal infections. But while it is effective against many fungal species, it is also extremely toxic to kidneys, meaning it is mostly used as a drug of last-resort. This week, a team has unpicked the mechanism behind the drug’s toxicity, allowing them to modify it and reduce side effects in human kidney cells. The researchers hope this new version of the drug could become a useful tool in fighting fungal diseases.
Research article:Maji et al.
09:00 Research Highlights
Reconstructing woolly rhino DNA using samples from fossilized hyena dung, and a soft robot that can perform surgery inside a beating heart.
Research Highlight:Woolly-rhino genome emerges from cave hyena’s fossilized poo
Research Highlight:A robot performs heart surgery with a strong but delicate touch
11:26 Phosphorus found at the edge of our Galaxy
Phosphorus is a vital element for life and for planet formation, but although abundant in the inner part of the Milky Way, it has been undetected in the outer regions of our Galaxy. Now, researchers have identified phosphorus-containing molecules huge distances from Earth, although exactly how this phosphorus was created is unclear. The team suspect that lower-mass stars are behind the phosphorus generation, and believe that the detection of the element could broaden the range of planets that may be habitable in our Galaxy.
Research article:Koelemay et al.
18:14 Briefing Chat
What Osiris-REx’s hypersonic capsule return could teach researchers about asteroids hitting Earth’s atmosphere, and the genetic studies that could help restore the genomes of Scotland’s endangered ‘Highland tigers’.
Nature News:Asteroid sampler’s hypersonic return thrilled scientists: here’s what they learnt
Nature News:How to keep wildcats wild: ancient DNA offers fresh insights
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Wed, 08 Nov 2023 - 27min - 752 - Nature's Take: How will ChatGPT and generative AI transform research?
In the past year, generative AIs have been taking the world by storm. ChatGPT, Bard, DALL-E and more, are changing the nature of how content is produced. In science, they could help transform and streamline publishing. However, they also come with plenty of risks.
In this episode of Nature's Take we discuss how these AIs are impacting science and what the future might hold.
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Fri, 03 Nov 2023 - 30min - 751 - A new hydrogel can be directly injected into muscle to help it regenerate
In this episode:
00:46 An injectable gel for healing muscles
Severe muscle injury can be debilitating, with long recuperation periods. Now, researchers have developed a material that can be directly injected into injured muscle, helping to stimulate and heal damaged tissue. The team showed this approach could rapidly restore walking ability in severely injured rats and regenerate muscles within four weeks. They hope that this solution could one day help humans with similar injuries, and overcome some of the limitations of current recuperation strategies.
Research article:Jin et al.
News and Views:Hydrogel implant rehabilitates muscles through electrical stimulation
10:02 Research Highlights
Ancient human genomes fill in a missing link between Europe’s first humans and later arrivals, and how ferns are inspiring pest-resistant crops.
Research Highlight:Ancient DNA reveals traces of elusive first humans in Europe
Research Highlight:Fierce ferns make insect-fighting proteins
12:43 Briefing Chat
Largest release of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes shows promise at controlling dengue, and the genes that explain why starfish aren’t so symmetrical.
Nature News:Dengue rates drop after release of modified mosquitoes in Colombia
Video:How would a starfish wear trousers? Science has an answer
Research Article:Formery et al.
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Wed, 01 Nov 2023 - 23min - 750 - Audio long read: Why BMI is flawed — and how to redefine obesity
For decades, BMI — calculated by dividing weight by height squared — has been as an international standard to determine healthy weights.
However, BMI does not measure body fat, and ignores many other factors that can affect how healthy someone it.
Now, a small but growing movement of reseachers and clinicians are calling for other metrics to be used in conjunction with BMI when diagnosing and treating obesity.
This is an audio version of our Feature: Why BMI is flawed — and how to redefine obesity
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Mon, 30 Oct 2023 - 11min - 749 - Martian sounds reveal the secrets of the red planet's core
For years, researchers have been listening to Mars and the quakes that ripple through it, to understand the planet's internal structure and uncover its history. But often these results have left more questions than answers. Now, though, new research published in Nature reveals the composition and size of Mars's core, finding that it is much smaller than previously thought.
Research Article:Khan et al.
Research Article:Samuel et al.
News and Views:Deep Mars is surprisingly soft
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Fri, 27 Oct 2023 - 13min - 748 - Sounds of recovery: AI helps monitor wildlife during forest restoration
In this episode:
00:47 An automated way to monitor wildlife recovery
To prevent the loss of wildlife, forest restoration is key, but monitoring how well biodiversity actually recovers is incredibly difficult. Now though, a team have collected recordings of animal sounds to determine the extent of the recovery. However, while using these sounds to identify species is an effective way to monitor, it’s also labour intensive. To overcome this, they trained an AI to listen to the sounds, and found that although it was less able to identify species, its findings still correlated well with wildlife recovery, suggesting that it could be a cost-effective and automated way to monitor biodiversity.
Research article:Müller et al.
12:30 Research Highlights
Researchers develop algae-based living materials that glow when squeezed, and a 50-million-year-old bat skull that suggests echolocation was an ancient skill.
Research Highlight:Give these ‘living composite’ objects a squeeze and watch them glow
Research Highlight:Fossilized skull shows that early bats had modern sonar
15:11 Briefing Chat
A brain imaging study reveals how high-fat foods exert their powerful pull, and how being asleep doesn’t necessarily cut you off from the outside world.
Nature News:Deep asleep? You can still follow simple commands, study finds
Nature News:Milkshake neuroscience: how the brain nudges us toward fatty foods
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Wed, 25 Oct 2023 - 25min - 747 - An anti-CRISPR system that helps save viruses from destruction
In this episode:
00:47 An RNA-based viral system that mimics bacterial immune defences
To protect themselves against viral infection, bacteria often use CRISPR-Cas systems to identify and destroy an invading virus’s genetic material. But viruses aren’t helpless and can deploy countermeasures, known as anti-CRISPRs, to neutralise host defences. This week, a team describe a new kind of anti-CRISPR system, based on RNA, which protects viruses by mimicking part of the CRISPR-Cas system. The researchers hope that this discovery could have future biotechnology applications, including making CRISPR-Cas genome editing more precise.
Research article:Camara-Wilpert et al.
09:05 Research Highlights
Carved inscriptions suggest a queen named Thyra was the most powerful person in Viking-age Denmark, and the discovery of a puffed-up exoplanet that has just 1.5% the density of Earth.
Research Highlight:Runes on Viking stones speak to an ancient queen’s power
Research Highlight:‘Super-puff’ planet is one of the fluffiest worlds ever found
11:38 Modelling the future of Greenland’s ice sheet melt
Climate-change induced melting of Greenland’s vast ice sheet would contribute to 7m of sea level rise. But it has been difficult to calculate how the ice sheet will respond to future warming. This week, a team suggest that abrupt ice loss is likely if the global mean temperature is between 1.7 °C and 2.3 °C above pre-industrial levels. Keeping temperature rise below 1.5 °C could mitigate ice loss, if done within a few centuries, but even a short overshoot of the estimated threshold could lead to several metres of sea-level rise.
Research article:Bochow et al.
17:50 Briefing Chat
A massive reproducibility exercise reveals over 200 ecologists get wildly-diverging results from the same data, and how melting simulated lunar-dust with lasers could help pave the Moon.
Nature News:Reproducibility trial: 246 biologists get different results from same data sets
Nature News:How to build Moon roads using focused beams of sunlight
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Wed, 18 Oct 2023 - 30min - 746 - Gene edits move pig organs closer to human transplantation
In this episode:
00:46 Engineered pig kidneys show transplantation promise
Kidneys from genetically-engineered miniature pigs have been transplanted into non-human primates, in some cases keeping the animals alive for more than a year. Using CRISPR, a team made dozens of edits to the pig genome to prevent the monkeys’ immune system from attacking the organs. They also removed pig retrovirus genes that could represent an infection risk. These steps are necessary if pig organs are to be used in human transplants, something many clinicians and researchers think will be needed to overcome a critical shortage of organs for transplantation.
Research article:Anand et al.
News and Views: Pig-to-primate organ transplants require genetic modifications of donor
Nature News:The most-complex gene edits yet move pig organs closer to human transplant
09:02 Research Highlights
How babies’ nasal immune systems could explain why they tend to have mild cases of COVID-19, and the molecular ‘glue’ that allows 3D printing with challenging materials.
Research Highlight:How the littlest children stop SARS-CoV-2 in its tracks
Research Highlight:3D printing tackles tricky materials with help from tiny crystals
11:35 Briefing Chat
This time, the discovery that the human brain uses one system for estimating whether a group contains four or fewer items, and a different one for when there are five or more. Plus, we discuss how researchers fixed the Euclid telescope’s wobbles.
Nature News:Your brain finds it easy to size up four objects but not five — here’s why
Nature News:‘Immense relief’: Universe-mapping Euclid telescope fixes problem that threatened mission
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Wed, 11 Oct 2023 - 21min - 745 - 'This doesn't just fall on women': computer scientists reflect on gender biases in STEM
In this Podcast Extra, two computer scientists, Shobhana Narasimhan and Sana Odeh, join Nature's Anne Pichon to discuss the barriers that women and gender-diverse people still face when working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
They share their experiences and perspectives on the challenges facing women in research, and reflect on potential ways to move forward.
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Tue, 10 Oct 2023 - 14min - 744 - Astronomers are worried by a satellite brighter than most stars
In this episode:
00:45 A bright satellite is concerning researchers
Satellites reflect sunlight down to Earth, and some do so with such intensity it risks obscuring astronomers' observations from ground-based telescopes. A paper in Nature suggests that the telecommunications satellite called BlueWalker 3 at times outshines most stars visible from Earth. Astronomers worry about the increasing number of such bright satellites making astronomy more difficult, and so the team suggest that future launches should undergo impact assessments.
Research article:Nandakumar et al.
Nature News:Huge new satellite outshines nearly every star in the sky
09:27 Research Highlights
Analysis of carrot genomes reveals how the vegetable got its orange hue, and the self-healing diamond that can fix microscopic fractures.
Research article:Coe et al.
Research Highlight:Crack this kind of diamond, and it heals itself
11:47 The last meal of a 400-million-year-old trilobite
Trilobites are a group of extinct marine arthropods distantly related to animals like crabs and spiders. Although found throughout the fossil record, little is known about the lives of this diverse group of animals. Now, a team has used powerful x-rays to peer inside a trilobite fossil and uncovered the contents of its last meal, over 400-million-years ago. This animal appears to have been an unfussy scavenger, gorging itself on a variety of small, shelled animals.
Research article:Kraft et al.
22:20 Nobel News
Flora Graham from the Nature Briefing joins us to talk about the winners of this year’s science Nobel Prizes.
Nature News:Pioneers of mRNA COVID vaccines win medicine Nobel
Nature News:Physicists who built ultrafast ‘attosecond’ lasers win Nobel Prize
Nature News:Tiny ‘quantum dot’ particles win chemistry Nobel
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Wed, 04 Oct 2023 - 33min - 743 - Audio long read: These animals are racing towards extinction. A new home might be their last chance
Australia's swamp tortoise is one of the most endangered species in the world. This species lives in wetlands that are under threat due to rising temperatures and a reduction in rainfall.
In an effort to save the tortoise, researchers are trialling a controversial strategy called assisted migration. This approach has seen captive-bred tortoises released in other wetlands some 330 kilometres south of where they are naturally found. The aim is to see whether the animals can tolerate cooler climates, and whether this new habitat might ensure the species’ future as the planet warms.
While many conservation biologists and land managers have long resisted the idea of assisted migration, attitudes are changing and other projects are beginning to test whether it can protect protect animals at risk from climate change.
This is an audio version of our Feature: These animals are racing towards extinction. A new home might be their last chance
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Fri, 29 Sep 2023 - 20min - 742 - This isn't the Nature Podcast — how deepfakes are distorting reality
In this episode:
00:45 How to tackle AI deepfakes
It has long been possible to create deceptive images, videos or audio to entertain or mislead audiences. Now, with the rise of AI technologies, such manipulations have become easier than ever. These deepfakes can spread misinformation, defraud people, and damage economies. To tackle this, researchers and companies are developing tools to find and label deepfakes, in an attempt to rob them of their potential to wreak havoc.
News Feature:How to stop AI deepfakes from sinking society — and science
11:17 Research Highlights
Ultra-accurate measurement of Earth’s day-length using lasers, and the insect that amputates its own legs to survive the cold.
Research Highlight:How lasers detect day-length changes of a few milliseconds
Research Highlight:Snow-loving flies amputate their own legs for survival
14:04 Stacked timbers might be evidence of ancient woodworking
Ancient stone tools are well preserved in the archeological record, and are used by researchers to understand the lives of ancient hominins. But other materials like wood are less common, since they will only preserve under specific conditions. Now researchers have found a trove of wooden artefacts in Zambia dated to be around 476,000 old. In particular, stacked timbers from the site could be the earliest known wooden structure, perhaps implying that ancient hominins had a greater capacity for woodworking than previously thought.
Research article:Barham et al.
News & Views:Hominins built with wood 476,000 years ago
Nature News:These ancient whittled logs could be the earliest known wooden structure
22:00 OSIRIS-REx brings haul of asteroid dust and rock back to Earth
This week, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx successfully landed a capsule containing rocks and dust from the asteroid Bennu. We talk with reporter Alex Witze, who was on the ground in Utah when the samples landed, to find out what these ancient rocks could reveal about the origins of the Solar System.
Nature News:Special delivery! Biggest-ever haul of asteroid dust and rock returns to Earth
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Wed, 27 Sep 2023 - 30min - 741 - Why does cancer spread to the spine? Newly discovered stem cells might be the key
In this episode:
00:45 A new insight into cancers' selective spread
Cancer cells can spread to bones in the late stages of disease and in many cancers, cells actually preferentially metastasise to the spine. The reason for this has been a puzzle to researchers for years, but now a team has found a new kind of stem cell that may be involved in this process. The stem cell is found in mice and humans and could represent a clinical target in the treatment of cancer.
Research article:Sun et al.
News and Views:Stem cells provide clues to why vertebrae attract tumour cells
09:55 Research Highlights
A preference for certain percussion instruments among palm cockatoos, and modelling where people wait on train platforms.
Research Highlight:This parrot taps out beats — and it custom-builds its instruments
Research Highlight:The maths of how we wait in crowded places
12:29 Briefing Chat
This time, a second trial shows the effectiveness of using MDMA to help treat post-traumatic stress disorder, and how an upgrade to an X-ray laser will let researchers make ultra-crisp ‘molecular movies’.
Nature News:Psychedelic drug MDMA moves closer to US approval following success in PTSD trial
Nature News:World’s most powerful X-ray laser will ‘film’ chemical reactions in unprecedented detail
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Wed, 20 Sep 2023 - 23min - 740 - A mussel-inspired glue for more sustainable sticking
In this episode:
00:46 A sustainably-sourced, super-strong adhesive
The modern world is held together by adhesives, but these fossil-fuel derived materials come at an environmental cost. To overcome this, a team have developed a soya-oil based adhesive, which also takes inspiration from the proteins that marine animals like mussels use to stick firmly to rocks. The researchers say their glue is strong, reversible, and less carbon intensive to produce than existing adhesives.
Research article:Westerman et al.
07:43 Research Highlights
Why chemicals derived from wood could be sustainable alternatives to a common plastic building block, and how historical accounts helped researchers estimate the brightness of a 1859 solar flare.
Research Highlight:Wood component yields useful plastics — without the health risks
Research Highlight:A historic solar flare’s huge intensity is revealed by new tools
10:08 New insights into childhood stunting and wasting
Around the world, millions of children are affected by malnutrition, which can result in stunting or wasting, both associated with serious health issues. Despite a widespread recognition of the seriousness of stunting and wasting, there are still questions about their extent, causes and consequences. To answer these, a team have pooled data from previous studies, and show that nutritional interventions targeting the earliest years of life could have the greatest impact.
Research article:Benjamin-Chung et al.
Research article:Mertens et al.
Research article:Mertens et al.
Nature Collection:Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals
20:29 Briefing Chat
This time, what rejoining the Horizon Europe research-funding programme means for UK research, and the 1.4-million-year-old stone balls that are mystifying scientists.
Nature News:Scientists celebrate as UK rejoins Horizon Europe research programme
Science:Were these stone balls made by ancient human relatives trying to perfect the sphere?
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Wed, 13 Sep 2023 - 33min - 739 - Our ancestors lost nearly 99% of their population, 900,000 years ago
In this episode:
00:30 Early humans pushed to brink of extinction
Around 900,000 years ago the ancestors of modern humans were pushed to the brink of extinction, according to new research. Genetic studies suggest that the breeding population of our ancestors in Africa dropped to just 1,280 and didn’t expand again for another 117,000 years. This population crash would likely have had an impact on human genetic diversity, and may have driven the evolution of important features of modern humans, such as brain size.
Nature News:Human ancestors nearly went extinct 900,000 years ago
3:49 The pollution legacy of Antarctica’s research stations
Poor historical waste practices have left high levels of pollution around Antartica’s research facilities. By surveying the seafloor near Australia’s Casey research station, researchers have revealed high concentrations of hydrocarbons and heavy metals.This pollution is likely to be widespread, but its impact on the continent is unknown.
Nature News:Antarctic research stations have polluted a pristine wilderness
07:43 Melting sea-ice causes catastrophic penguin breeding failure
Persistently low levels of sea-ice around Antarctica have caused emperor penguins to abandon their breeding colonies early, resulting in the death of large numbers of chicks. Although the affected populations only represent a small number of the total emperor penguins on the continent, it’s unclear how they’ll fare if trends in sea-ice melt continue.
Science:Emperor penguins abandon breeding grounds as ice melts around them
09:23 The AI trained to describe smells
Researchers have developed an artificial-intelligence that can describe how compounds smell by analysing their molecular structures. The system’s description of scents are often similar to those of trained human sniffers, and may have applications in the food and perfume industries. Currently the AI works on individual molecules, and is unable to identify the smells associated with complex combinations of molecules, something humans noses do with ease.
Nature:AI predicts chemicals’ smells from their structures
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Wed, 06 Sep 2023 - 13min - 738 - Physicists finally observe strange isotope Oxygen 28 – raising fundamental questions
In this episode:
00:47 First observation of oxygen 28
Oxygen 28 is an isotope of oxygen with 20 neutrons and eight protons. This strange isotope has long been sought after by physicists, as its proposed unusual properties would allow them to put their theories of how atomic nuclei work to the test. Now, after decades of experiments physicists believe they have observed oxygen 28. The observations are at odds with theory predictions, so they imply that there’s a lot more physicists don’t know about the forces that hold atomic nuclei together.
Research article:Kondo et al.
News and Views:Heaviest oxygen isotope is found to be unbound
10:06 Research Highlights
How venus fly traps can protect themselves from wildfires, and a ball-point pen that can ‘write’ LEDs.
Research Highlight:Venus flytraps shut their traps when flames approach
Research Highlight:A rainbow of LEDs adorns objects at the stroke of a pen
12:39 An AI for Drone Racing
AIs have been beating humans at games for years, but in these cases the AI has always trained in exactly the same conditions in which it competes. In chess for example, the board can be simulated exactly. Now though, researchers have demonstrated an AI that can beat humans in a place where simulation can only take you so far, the real world. The Swift AI system is able to race drones against champion-level humans, and beat them most of the time. The researchers hope this research can help improve the efficiency of drones in general.
Research article:Kaufmann et al.
News and Views:Drone-racing champions outpaced by AI
Video:AI finally beats humans at a real-life sport - drone racing
19:51 Briefing Chat
This time, the Indian Space Research Organization’s successful moon landing, and the low level of support offered to researchers whose first language isn’t English by journals.
Nature News:India lands on the Moon! Scientists celebrate as Chandrayaan-3 touches down
Nature News:Scientists who don’t speak fluent English get little help from journals, study finds
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Wed, 30 Aug 2023 - 29min - 737 - Audio long read: Medicine is plagued by untrustworthy clinical trials. How many studies are faked or flawed?
Investigations suggest that, in some fields, at least one-quarter of clinical trials might be problematic or even entirely made up. Faked or unreliable trials are dangerous, as they could end up being included in the reviews that help inform clinical treatments. However, the extent of the problem in unclear, and many researchers urge stronger scrutiny.
This is an audio version of our Feature: Medicine is plagued by untrustworthy clinical trials. How many studies are faked or flawed?
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Fri, 25 Aug 2023 - 26min
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