Nature Podcast

In episode 2 of 'What's in a name' we look how choosing names can help, or hinder, attempts to communicate important messages.Categorizing things is central to science. And there are dozens of systems scientists have created to name everything from the trenches on the sea bed to the stars in the sky.But names have consequences. In our series What’s in a name we explore naming in science and how names impact the world — whether the system of naming species remains in step with society, how the names of diseases can create stigma, or even how the names of scientific concepts can drive the direction of research itself.In episode two, we're looking at how the names chosen by scientists help, or hinder, communication with the public.Well chosen names can quickly convey scientific concepts or health messages — in emergency situations they can even save lives. We'll hear how the systems of naming tropical storms and Covid-19 variants came to be, and how they took different approaches to achieve the same outcome.We'll also consider the language used to talk about climate change, and how the ways of describing it have been used to deliberately introduce uncertainty and confusion.Listen to the first episode Should offensive species names be changed? The organisms that honour dictators, racists and criminalsFor a list of sources please visit the the episode's webpageMusic creditsPremiumaudio/Pond5Richard Smithson/Triple Scoop Music/Getty Images Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode:00:45 How arithmetic skills don’t transfer between applied and academic environmentsMathematics skills learnt in real-world situations may not translate to the classroom and vice versa, according to a new study. A team surveyed children in India who work in markets, to see whether the skills they learnt there transferred to the classroom. While proficient at solving market-based arithmetic problems, they struggled to solve problems typically used in schools. The reverse was seen for children enrolled in schools with no market-selling experience. The authors hope this finding could help adjust teaching curricula and bridge the gap between intuitive and formal maths.Research Article: Banerjee et al.12:38 Research HighlightsWolverine populations rebound in Sweden and Norway, and why wobbly arrows launch faster than rigid ones.Research Highlight: Who’s the new furry neighbour? It might be a wolverineResearch Highlight: How a wobbly arrow can achieve superpropulsion14:59 The unexpected movements seen in super-dense crowdsA study has revealed that when packed crowds reach a certain density, large groups of people suddenly start to move in circular patterns — a finding that could be used to identify dangerous overcrowding. By assessing footage of the densely-packed San Fermín festival, a team observed this spontaneous phenomenon, and modelled the physics underlying it. Studying the movements of giant crowds has been difficult, and the team hope this work could help event organisers to identify and respond to situations where people could get hurt.Research Article: Gu et al.News and Views: Crowds start to spin when their densities hit a thresholdSound effects:Crowd Cheering - Ambience by GregorQuendel via CC BY 4.0Cupinzano sounds by Europa Press - Footage News via Getty Images24:00 Briefing ChatAn update on the US National Science Foundation’s scrutinizing of grants to comply with President Trump’s directives, and why scratching an itch may have unexpected antibacterial properties.Nature: Exclusive: how NSF is scouring research grants for violations of Trump’s ordersNature: Why it feels good to scratch that itch: the immune benefits of scratchingSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The explosive improvement in artificial intelligence (AI) technology has largely been driven by making neural networks bigger and training them on more data. But experts suggest that the developers of these systems may soon run out of data to train their models. As a result, teams are taking new approaches, such as searching for other unconventional data sources, or generating new data to train their AIs.This is an audio version of our Feature: The AI revolution is running out of data. What can researchers do? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode:00:46 Evidence of ancient brine reveals Bennu’s watery pastAnalysis of samples taken from the asteroid Bennu reveal the presence of organic compounds important for life, and that its parent asteroid likely contained salty, subsurface water. Collected by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, these rocks and dust particles give insights into the chemistry of the early Solar System, and suggest that brines may have been an important place where pre-biotic molecules were formed. As brines are found throughout the Solar System, this finding raises questions about whether similar molecules will be found in places like Jupiter’s moon Europa.Research Article: McCoy et al.Research Article: Glavin et al.News: Asteroid fragments upend theory of how life on Earth bloomed14:22 Research HighlightsHow seaweed farms could capture carbon, and why chimps follow each other to the bathroom.Research Highlight: Seaweed farms dish up climate benefitsResearch Highlight: All together now: chimps engage in contagious peeing16:31 How maize may have supported a civilizationResearchers have found evidence of intensive maize agriculture that could help explain how a mysterious South American society produced enough food to fuel a labour-force big enough to build enormous earth structures. It appears that the Casarabe people, who lived in the Amazon Basin around 500-1400 AD, restructured the landscape to create water conserving infrastructure that allowed for year-round production of maize. While this work provides new insights into how the Casarabe may have established a complex monument-building culture, these people vanished around 600 years ago, and many questions remain about their lives.Research Article: Lombardo et al.Research Article: Hermenegildo et al.25:52 DeepSeek R1 wows scientistsA new AI model from a Chinese company, DeepSeek, rivals the abilities of OpenAI’s o1 — a state-of-the art ‘reasoning’ model — at a fraction of the cost. The release of DeepSeek has thrilled researchers, asked questions about American AI dominance in the area, and spooked stock markets. We discuss why this large language model has sent shockwaves around the world and what it means for the future of AI.News: China’s cheap, open AI model DeepSeek thrills scientists Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:56 How the paths to professorship varyA huge analysis of hiring practices has revealed that criteria to get a promotion to full professorship is hugely variable around the world. The authors suggest that this variability results in researchers from countries that value one type of metric being locked out of professor positions in others. They hope that the database of hiring practices created in this study could help institutions adjust their hiring policies to create a more diverse science workforce.Research Article: Lim et al.News: Want to become a professor? Here’s how hiring criteria differ by country09:36 Research HighlightsLasers reveal hidden tattoos on ancient mummified-skin, and a new pill that cuts flu symptoms and viral levels in the body.Research Highlight: Hidden tattoos on mummy skin emerge under a laser’s lightResearch Highlight: Got flu? Promising drug shortens symptoms12:13 Cancer cells’ broken mitochondria could poison immune cellsResearchers have shown that cancer cells can slip their dysfunctional mitochondria into T cells, limiting the immune system’s cancer-fighting capabilities. Cancer cells are known to steal healthy mitochondria from immune cells to help tumours survive and thrive. Now, researchers have shown mitochondria can move in the opposite direction too, with the donor T cells showing signs of various stress responses that make them less effective when inside a tumour. The team showed that blocking this transfer limited this effect, and hopes that this mechanism could offer a new avenue for boosting the immune system’s response to cancer.Research Article: Ikeda et al.News & Views: Mitochondrial swap from cancer to immune cells thwarts anti-tumour defences21:12 Science and the Gaza conflictNoah Baker and Ehsan Masood turn to the war in Gaza, and discuss what comes next for science as a ceasefire comes into force.Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:46 Designing new antivenoms to treat snakebitesResearchers have shown that machine learning can quickly design antivenoms that are effective against lethal snake-toxins, which they hope will help tackle a serious public health issue. Thousands of people die as a result of snakebites each year, but treatment options are limited, expensive and often difficult to access in the resource-poor settings where most bites occur. The computer-aided approach allowed researchers to design two proteins that provided near total protection against individual snake toxins in mouse experiments. While limited in scope, the team behind the work believe these results demonstrate the promise of the approach in designing effective and cheaper treatments for use in humans.Research Article: Vázquez Torres et al.11:28 Research HighlightsHow male wasp spiders use hairs on their legs to sniff out mates, and how noradrenaline drives waves of cleansing fluid through the brain.Research Highlight: ​​​​​​​Male spiders smell with their legsResearch Highlight: ​​​​​​​How the brain cleans itself during deep sleep13:53 Earth breaches 1.5 °C climate limit for the first timeNews broke last week that in 2024, Earth’s average temperature climbed to more than 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels for the first time. Although this is only a single year so far, we discuss what breaking this significant threshold means for the 2015 Paris climate agreement and what climate scientists understand about the speed that Earth is heating up.  Nature: ​​​​​​​Earth breaches 1.5 °C climate limit for the first time: what does it mean?23:39 Briefing ChatNASA delays deciding its strategy for collecting and returning Mars rocks to Earth, and why papers on a handful of bacterial species dominate the scientific literature.Nature: ​​​​​​​NASA still has no plan for how to bring precious Mars rocks to EarthNature: ​​​​​​​These are the 20 most-studied bacteria — the majority have been ignoredSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Nature Podcast, we catch up on some science stories from the holiday period by diving into the Nature Briefing.00:53 The retraction of a controversial COVID study that promoted unproven treatmentA much-critiqued study demonstrating the now-disproven idea that hydroxychloroquine can treat COVID-19 has been retracted — more than four-and-a-half years after it was published.Nature: Controversial COVID study that promoted unproven treatment retracted after four-year saga09:10 The skin’s unexpected immune systemResearchers have discovered that healthy skin — once thought to be a passive barrier — can actually produce antibodies that fight off infections. It’s hoped that the finding could one day lead to the development of needle-free vaccines that can be applied to the skin.Nature: The skin’s ‘surprise’ power: it has its very own immune system13:02 Researchers fear Europa’s icy crust may be much thicker than thoughtNew estimates, based on data collected by NASA’s Juno spacecraft, suggest that the ice on the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa may be significantly thicker than previously thought. If these estimates prove accurate it could reduce the chances of Europa being habitable for extraterrestrial life.Science: Surprisingly thick ice on Jupiter’s moon Europa complicates hunt for life20:11 Modelling the running prowess of our ancient relatives3D computer simulations of Australopithecus afarensis — an ancient hominin that lived more than three million years ago — reveals that while our relatives could run on two legs, they likely did so at a far slower pace than modern humans.Nature: Humans evolved for distance running — but ancestor ‘Lucy’ didn’t go far or fastSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, reporter Miryam Naddaf joins us to talk about the big science events to look out for in 2025. We’ll hear about: the latest Moon missions, 30 years of the United Nations' COP climate summits, the return of Donald Trump, and more.Nature: Science in 2025: the events to watch for in the coming year Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Marc Abrahams created the Ig Nobel prizes in 1991, after years of collecting examples of weird research that he included in the Journal of Irreproducible Results. The aim of these satirical awards is to honour achievements that “make people laugh, then think”.While the initial response from the scientific community was mixed, last year the prize received more than 9,000 nominations. Several researchers who have won an ‘Ig’ say that it has improved their careers by helping them to reach wider audiences, and spend more time engaging with the public about their work.This is an audio version of our Feature: How a silly science prize changed my career Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:36 How melting ice is affecting global timekeepingNature Podcast: 27 March 2024Research article: Agnew09:19 Sex and gender discussions don't need to be toxicPodcast extra: 01 May 2024Collection: Sex and gender in science18:10 Research HighlightsResearch Highlight: How to train your crocodileResearch Highlight: Ancient fish dined on bats — or died trying21:09 ChatGPT has a language problem — but science can fix itPodcast extra: 09 August 202426:59 A simple solution to tackle a deadly frog diseaseNature Podcast: 03 July 2024Research Article: Waddle et al.News and Views: Mini saunas save endangered frogs from fungal disease39:57 Briefing ChatNature News: Your brain on shrooms — how psilocybin resets neural networksNature News: NASA cancels $450-million mission to drill for ice on the Moon — surprising researchers Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

02:54 The death star moon and a win for the little guysThe shifting orbit of one of Saturn’s moons indicates that the satellite has a subsurface ocean, contradicting theories that its interior is entirely solid. The finding calls for a fresh take on what constitutes an ocean moon.Nature Podcast: 14 February 2024News and Views: Mimas’s surprise ocean prompts an update of the rule book for moons07:05 Could red mud make green steel?Millions of tonnes of ‘red mud’, a hazardous waste of aluminium production, are generated annually. A potentially sustainable process for treating this mud shows that it could become a source of iron for making steel.Nature Podcast: 24 Jan 2024News and Views: Iron extracted from hazardous waste of aluminium production12:09 A hierarchy of failureA design principle for buildings incorporates components that can control the propagation of failure by isolating parts of the structure as they fail — offering a way to prevent a partial collapse snowballing into complete destruction.Nature podcast: 15 May 2024Nature video: Controlled failure: The building designed to limit catastropheNews and Views: Strategic links save buildings from total collapse17:57 Programable enzyme for genpme editingRNA-guided recombinase enzymes have been discovered that herald a new chapter for genome editing — enabling the insertion, inversion or deletion of long DNA sequences at user-specified genome positions.News and Views: Programmable RNA-guided enzymes for next-generation genome editing Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

01:11 “Ozempic you’re able”In the first of our annual festive songs celebrating the science of the past year, we pay homage to Ozempic, or Semaglutide, that's able to tackle obesity, diabetes and potentially a whole lot more.05:20 A very scientific quizWe gather an all-star cast and see how well they can remember some of the big science stories from 2024 in our annual festive quiz.21:31 “CAR T Cells”In the second of our festive songs, we look at CAR-T cells. These engineered immune cells have shown great promise at tackling cancer, but these treatments are not without their drawbacks.25:43 Nature’s 10Every year, Nature’s 10 highlights some of the people who have helped shape science over the past 12 months. We hear about a few of the people who made the 2024 list, including an economist who now needs to run a country, a Russian science-sleuth, a researcher who’s been sounding the alarm on Mpox, and a PhD student who won a salary bump for researchers in Canada.News Feature: Nature’s 10Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Categorizing things is central to science. And there are dozens of systems scientists have created to name everything from the trenches on the sea bed to the stars in the sky.But names have consequences — unintended or otherwise. In our new series What’s in a name we’ll explore naming in science and how names impact the world — whether that’s how the names of storms impact public safety, how the names of diseases impact patient care, or even how the names of scientific concepts can drive the direction of research itself.In this first episode we’re looking at species names. The modern system of species naming began in the 1700s and has played a vital role in standardizing academic communication, ensuring that scientists are on the same page when they talk about an organism. However, this system is not without its issues. For example, there has been much debate around whether species with names considered offensive — such as those named after historical racists — should be changed, and what rule changes need to be made to allow this to happen.We speak to researchers about the history of this naming system, how it’s applied and how it might evolve in the face of growing pressures.SourcesFor a full list of sources, please visit https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-04200-9Music creditsPremiumaudio/Pond5Alon Marcus/Pond5Groove Committee/Pond5Opcono/Pond5Erik Mcnerny/Pond5Earless Pierre/Pond5Richard Smithson/Triple Scoop Music/Getty Images​​​​​​​Douglas Romayne/Triple Scoop Music/Getty ImagesSound effects via Pond5Thick-billed Longspur/​​​​​​​Andrew Spencer via ​​​​​​​CC BY-NC-ND 2.5 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:45 A potential treatment for pre-eclampsiaResearchers have shown in mice experiments that an mRNA-based therapy can reverse the underlying causes of pre-eclampsia, a deadly complication of pregnancy for which treatment options are limited. Inspired by the success of mRNA vaccines, the team behind the work designed a method to deliver the genomic instructions for a blood-vessel growth factor directly into mouse placentas. This stimulated the production of extra blood vessels reducing the very high-blood pressure associated with the condition. Pre-eclampsia causes 15% of maternal deaths and 25% of foetal and newborn deaths worldwide and although the work is early and human trials will be required, the team hope that this work demonstrates the potential of using this approach to treat pre-eclampsia.Research Article: Swingle et al.11:00 Research HighlightsStacks of, mass-produced bowls suggest that people founded, but then abandoned an ancient Mesopotamian civilization, and analysis of Venus’s gases suggests that the planet was always dry.Research Highlight: Ancient stacks of dishes tell tale of society’s dissolutionResearch Highlight: Has Venus ever had an ocean? Its volcanoes hint at an answer13:29 Programmable cellular switchesA team of scientists have created cellular switches on the surface of cells, allowing them to control their behaviour. Creating these switches has been a long-term goal for synthetic biologists — especially a group of proteins called G-protein-coupled receptors that already control many cellular processes. However, engineering these proteins has been challenging, as modifications can ruin their function. Instead, the team added another molecular component that blocked the receptors activity, but could be removed in response to specific signals. This allowed the researchers to activate these receptors on command, potentially opening up a myriad of new ways to control cell behaviour, such as controlling when neurons fire.Research Article: Kalogriopoulos et al.19:35 Google reaches a milestone in quantum computingA team at Google has shown it is possible to create a quantum computer that becomes more accurate as it scales up, a goal researchers have been trying to achieve for decades. Quantum computing could potentially open up applications beyond the capabilities of classical computers, but these systems are error-prone, making it difficult to scale them up without introducing errors into calculations. The team showed that by increasing the quality of all the components in a quantum computer they could create a system with fewer errors, and that this trend of improvement continued as the system became larger. This breakthrough could mean that quantum computers are getting very close to realising the useful applications that their proponents have long promised.Nature: ‘A truly remarkable breakthrough’: Google’s new quantum chip achieves accuracy milestoneSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zoologist Arik Kershenbaum has spent his career studying animals and how they communicate in the wild. In his book Why Animals Talk: The New Science of Animal Communication, Arik takes a deep dive into the various forms of communication, from wolf howls to gibbon songs, to look at how different species get their points across, why they do it the way they do, and what insights they provide into our own use of language.Why Animals Talk: The New Science of Animal Communication Arik Kershenbaum Penguin (2024)Music supplied by SPD/Triple Scoop Music/Getty ImagesWolf howl via NPS & MSU Acoustic Atlas/Jennifer JerrettSlowed down dolphin whistle via Arik KershenbaumHyrax song via Arik KershenbaumPileated gibbon song via Rushenb CC BY-SA 4.0 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:48 Chemotherapy efficacy varies with the menstrual cycleBreast cancer cells are more susceptible to chemotherapy at certain points in the menstrual cycle, new data in Nature suggests. Researchers studied the equivalent hormonal cycle in mice and found that during the oestrous phase, where progesterone levels are low, tumours are more susceptible to chemotherapy. The same effect was shown in humans in a small retrospective study. The team caution that a larger clinical trial would need to be conducted, but hope that this work could open up an, easy to implement, way to boost the effect of chemotherapy.Research Article: Bornes et al.News and Views: What is the best time of the month to treat breast cancer?09:22 Research HighlightsHow coffee changes your gut microbiota, and the first amber deposits found in Antarctica hint at an ancient rainforest.Research Highlight: Do you drink coffee? Ask your gutResearch Highlight: Antarctica’s first known amber whispers of a vanished rainforest11:47 Is human-level artificial intelligence close?The latest AI system released by OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT, is better able to break down problems into smaller chunks, making it closer to a human way of solving problems than other systems. This has reignited discussions about the likelihood of AIs achieving human-level intelligence. Although previously the realm of science fiction, researchers are now taking the idea of ‘artificial general intelligence’, or AGI, more seriously. Although this technology has the potential to help tackle humanity's biggest challenges, there are concerns about the safety of such technology if it were to become autonomous.News Feature: How close is AI to human-level intelligence?21:43 Briefing ChatHow making a bank of centenarians’ stem cells could help unlock the secrets of healthy ageing, and what some 1.5 million year old footprints reveal about how ancient hominin species may have interacted.Nature: What’s the secret to living to 100? Centenarian stem cells could offer cluesNature: These two ancient human relatives crossed paths 1.5 million years agoSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

AI tools that help researchers design new proteins have resulted in a boom in designer molecules. However, these proteins are being churned out faster than they can be made and tested in labs.To overcome this, multiple protein-design competitions have popped up, with the aim of sifting out the functional from the fantastical. But while contests have helped drive key scientific advances in the past, it's unclear how to identify which problems to tackle and how best to select winners objectively.This is an audio version of our Feature: AI has dreamt up a blizzard of new proteins. Do any of them actually work? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:50 Fossilised faeces give news insights into dinosaurs’ diets and riseA huge collection of fossilised digestive contents has provided clues as to how dinosaurs grew to become the dominant animals on the planet. Why these animals rose to dominance has been unclear, with one theory proposing that a chance event wiped out other species, whereas another suggests that dinosaurs had adaptations that better allowed them to thrive. By analysing over 500 vomit and faeces fossils, researchers have better identified what dinosaurs ate, and their interactions with other animals. The new work suggests both of these theories are correct, with dinosaurs benefiting from one or the other at different points in time. The researchers believe this work demonstrates how useful fossilised food contents are for understanding these ancient creatures.Research Article: Qvarnström et al.News and Views: Wastes of time — faeces and vomit track how dinosaurs rose to prominenceNews: Fossilized poo and vomit shows how dinosaurs rose to rule Earth10:05 Research HighlightsBacteria found on an asteroid actually came from Earth, and why play helps chimps to cooperate.Research Highlight: Bacteria found on a space rock turn out to be Earth-grownResearch Highlight: Chimps tickle and wrestle in play to pave the way for teamwork12:46 A commensal fungus found in mouse gutsBy testing mice across the United States, researchers have identified a fungus that is well adapted to living in the gastrointestinal tracts of mice, an important step in modelling the role these microorganisms play in the body. Fungi are known to be a constituent of the gut microbiome, but very little is known about what they do. Now, a team has identified that the fungus Kazachstania pintolopesii is likely a long-term resident of mice guts, which they hope will allow them to study how these microbes interact with the immune system, and the role they play in host defence and allergies.Research Article: Liao et al.21:57 The key takeaways from COP29The United Nations annual climate change conference, COP29, finished last week. Largely the discussions revolved around climate finance — the idea that wealthier countries who have benefitted most from past carbon emissions should pay to help poorer, vulnerable countries adapt to the effects of climate change. Although a last minute agreement was hammered out at the conference, not everyone was happy with the text and promised actions. We discuss this and the other key outcomes of COP29.Nature: Is the COP29 climate deal a historic breakthrough or letdown? Researchers reactSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:45 A squid-inspired device for needle-free drug deliveryInspired by squids’ ability to shoot ink, a team of researchers have developed swallowable devices that can deliver tiny jets of drugs directly into the gut lining, circumventing the need for needles. Previous studies have shown that most people prefer to take medication in pill form, rather than as an injection, but many drugs are degraded as they pass through the digestive system. The team’s new swallowable devices overcome this issue, and deliver drugs directly to where they need to be. So far, this approach has shown efficacy in animal models, but more work needs to be done to ensure their safety in humans.Research Article: Arrick et al.10:50 Research HighlightsThe largest ‘terror bird’ fossil ever found, and a simple solution to help prevent premature births.Research Highlight: Huge carnivorous ‘terror bird’ rivalled the giant panda in sizeResearch Highlight: Reducing pregnancy risk could be as easy as chewing gum12:52 A milder way to break down ‘forever chemicals’.Two papers describe how light-activated catalysts could be used to break down toxic ‘forever chemicals’, hinting at a new way to clean up pollution caused by these persistent compounds. Forever chemicals contain multiple carbon-fluorine bonds that give them useful physical properties, but these bonds are some of the strongest in organic chemistry, making these compounds energetically difficult to break down. The new, light-based methods demonstrate low-energy ways to sever these bonds, a milestone that could make forever chemicals less permanent.Research Article: Zhang et al.Research Article: Liu et al.News and Views: Catalysts degrade forever chemicals with visible light21:04 Briefing ChatAnalysis of far-side soil highlights the Moon’s turbulent past, and how CRISPR can help make sweeter tomatoes.Nature: First rocks returned from Moon’s far side reveal ancient volcanic activityCNN: Findings from the first lunar far side samples raise new questions about the moon’s historyNature: CRISPR builds a big tomato that’s actually sweetSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:46 The role of skull bone marrow in ageingDuring 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 HighlightsElderly 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 ageResearch Highlight: Don’t blame search engines for sending users to unreliable sites11:38 How to make lead a useful material to date the Solar SystemResearchers 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 ChatHow 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 ionosphereNature: This scientist treated her own cancer with viruses she grew in the labSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:46 Mitochondria divide their labour to help cells thriveResearchers 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 demandsVideo: A new kind of mitochondrion07:53 Research HighlightsA 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 lifeResearch Highlight: The midlife crisis is not universal10:41 A smashing way to snapshot an atomic nuclei’s shapePhysicists 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 CollaborationNews: Scientists worked out the shapes of atomic nuclei — by exploding them19:51 Briefing ChatAnalysing 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 forestThe Guardian: Universe would die before monkey with keyboard writes Shakespeare, study findsSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 ReadingThe great fish pain debatePoliticization of mask wearingMasks workDonald Trump used a quote from Anthony Fauci to falsely suggest Fauci approved of his actions in the pandemicComparing Norway and Sweden in their coronavirus combating actionsBeth Simone Noveck argues for more open and transparent governanceSolving Public Problems, by Beth Simone NoveckSmart Citizens, Smarter State: The Technologies of Expertise and the Future of Governing, by Beth Simone NoveckThe Received Wisdom Podcast, with Shobita Parthasarathy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 ReadingBrazil’s budget cuts threaten more than 80,000 science scholarshipsMove to reallocate funds from scientific institutions in São PauloBacklash to “Shrimps on a treadmill”Explanation of the Dickey AmendmentAfter over 20 years the CDC can now fund gun violence researchSpirometer use “race-correction” softwareBlack researchers less likely to get funding from the National Institutes of Health in the USBlack researchers may get less funding from the National Institutes of Health due to topic choiceBlack researchers fill fewer academic roles in the UKClinical trials use mostly white participantsThe Received Wisdom Podcast, with Shobita Parthasarathy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Nature fit 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 ReadingHistory of Education in the UKNature’s HistoryNature’s Mission statementNature editorial on covering politicsMaking “Nature”, by Melinda BaldwinNever Pure: Historical Studies of Science as if It Was Produced by People with Bodies, Situated in Time, Space, Culture, and Society, and Struggling for Credibility and Authority, by Steven ShapinDavid Edgerton’s writing on the history of science and politics in the GuardianThe received wisdom podcast with Shobita Parthasarathy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:48 Rebuilding mental health after the floodsResearchers 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 HighlightsA 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 elementsResearch Highlight: This plankton balloons in size to soar upwards through the water16:54 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 why27:07 Briefing ChatThe 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 babiesNature: New species of tardigrade reveals secrets of radiation-resisting powersSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:48 The hidden cities of UzbekistanResearchers 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 metropolis09:32 Research HighlightsHow 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 vapourResearch Highlight: Sewage lurks in coastal waters — often unnoticed by widely used test12:06 Watermarking AI-generated textA 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 text22:38 Briefing ChatWhat 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 outNature: Mexican forest ‘relocated’ in attempt to save iconic monarch butterfliesSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode:00:46 An unusual γ-ray producing microquasarA 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 microquasar09:27 Research HighlightsThe 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 oneResearch Highlight: Evidence of dead people posed on dead horses found in ancient tomb12:08 A ‘smart’ insulin-molecule that could lower hypoglycaemia riskResearchers 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 sugar20:33 Briefing ChatAncient 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 preyNature: ‘Phenomenal’ tool sequences DNA and tracks proteins — without cracking cells open Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:55 Graphene TongueResearchers 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 HighlightsA 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 bankResearch Highlight: Baby sea turtles ‘swim’ up from buried nests to the open air11:32 How migrating salmon move nutrients and contaminants at a continental scaleStudies 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 contaminants23:19 Nobel NewsFlora 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 structuresSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:46 Physicists spot new types of high-energy radiation in thunderstormsPhysicists 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 thunderstorms10:00 Research HighlightsAncient 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 suggests12:09 A complete wiring diagram of the fruit fly brainResearchers 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 brainNature: Largest brain map ever reveals fruit fly's neurons in exquisite detail22:16 Briefing ChatHow 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 realizeSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode:00:46 Unravelling why children with Down’s syndrome are at a higher risk of leukaemiaChildren 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 bias11:47 Research HighlightsHow 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 pintResearch Highlight: This ‘scuba diving’ lizard has a self-made air supply14:12 Briefing ChatHow 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 homeNature: Scientists successfully ‘nuke asteroid’ — in a lab mock-upSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode:00:45 The biggest black hole jets ever seenAstronomers 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 HighlightsThe 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 fabricsResearch Highlight: Islands are rich with languages spoken nowhere else12:26 A sustainable, one-step method for alloy productionMaking 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 ChatHow 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 answersNature News: Why do we crumble under pressure? Science has the answerSubscribe to the Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode:00:45 What ancient DNA has revealed about Rapa Nui’s pastAncient 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 DNANews article: Famed Pacific island’s population 'crash' debunked by ancient DNA17:03 Research HighlightsThe 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 tryingResearch Highlight: The Amazon’s gargantuan gardeners: manatees19:29 A macabre parasite of adult fruit fliesDespite 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 ChatHow 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 workNature News: How to change people’s minds about climate change: what the science says Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode:00:45 Why a 'nuclear clock' is now within researchers’ reachResearchers 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 clockNature News: ‘Nuclear clock’ breakthrough paves the way for super-precise timekeepingEditorial: Progress on nuclear clocks shows the benefits of escaping from scientific silos10:10 Research HighlightsThe 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 — twiceResearch Highlight: Bumblebees’ sense of smell can’t take the heat12:11 How engineered immune cells could help limit damage after spinal injuryBy 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 ChatHow 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 floodsNature News: Researchers built an ‘AI Scientist’ — what can it do?Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode:00:31 Chatbots makes racist judgements on the basis of dialectResearch 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 EnglishNature News: Chatbot AI makes racist judgements on the basis of dialect07:01 How ancient engineers built a megalithic structureThe 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 monument12:28 Spider makes fireflies flash as baitOrb-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 death16:35 The physics of paper cutsBy 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: What Science and Nature are good for: causing paper cuts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:46 Old AIs can’t learn new tricksAn 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 learn08:55 Research HighlightsTo 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 crocodileResearch Highlight: DNA of child sacrificed in ancient city reveals surprising parentage11:20 Briefing ChatHow 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 COVIDNature News: Dinosaur-killing Chicxulub asteroid formed in Solar System’s outer reachesSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:48 The mystery of Stonehenge’s Altar StoneStonehenge’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 away12:12 Research HighlightsHow 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 neuronsResearch Highlight: How expert skateboarders use physics on the half-pipe14:13 A new way to break bondsChemists 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 moleculesSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:48 Plant trait diversity in drylandsA 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 HighlightsButterflies 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 airResearch Highlight: Black holes made from light? Impossible, say physicists10:59 The Great Barrier Reef is the hottest it’s been for centuriesAn 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 ReefNature News: Great Barrier Reef's temperature soars to 400-year high18:56 ‘Publish or Perish’ becomes a card gameMost 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 lifeSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:45 Increasing the energy efficiency of light-based computersComputer 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 efficient10:36 Research HighlightsThe 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 fragranceResearch Highlight: Strokes can damage the heart — but reining in the immune system might help13:02 What researchers know about H5N1 influenza in cowsThe 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 cluesNature News: Huge amounts of bird-flu virus found in raw milk of infected cowsNature News: Could bird flu in cows lead to a human outbreak? Slow response worries scientistsResearch article: Eisfeld et al.22:38 Briefing ChatNASA’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 lifeNature News: Mystery oxygen source discovered on the sea floor — bewildering scientistsSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:48 A rapid way to identify serious bacterial infectionsA 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 HighlightsThe 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 cloudsResearch Highlight: Blowout! Satellites reveal one of the largest methane leaks on record14:22 AIs fed AI-generated text start to spew nonsenseWhen 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 ChatHow 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 networksNature News: NASA cancels $450-million mission to drill for ice on the Moon — surprising researchersSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

01:04 A gel to safely transport proteinsA 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 post08:51 Research HighlightsHow an abundance of cicadas led to a host of raccoon activity, and how wine-grape harvest records can be used to estimate historical summertime temperaturesResearch Highlight: Massive cicada emergence prompted raccoons to run wildResearch Highlight: Wine grapes’ sweetness reveals Europe’s climate history11:24 Making a plastic biodegradableBy 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 ChatThis 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 beefThe Guardian: Underground cave found on moon could be ideal base for explorersNature hits the books: Living on Mars would probably suck — here's whySubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:45 In situ editing of the gut microbiomeResearchers 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 miceResearch Article: Brödel et al.06:56 Research HighlightsThe 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 livesResearch Highlight: Fake jewellery from the Stone Age looks like the real deal08:46 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 ChatThis 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 cluesNature News: Chemical recycling’: 15-minute reaction turns old clothes into useful moleculesSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:47 Searching for dark matter in black holesResearchers 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 HighlightsHow 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 fatsResearch Highlight: Families given cash with no strings spend more money on kids12:39 A simple, solution to tackle a deadly frog diseaseA 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 disease20:06 Briefing ChatThis 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 scienceNature News: First ever rocks from the Moon’s far side have landed on EarthSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.