Nature Podcast artwork

Nature Podcast

820 episodes - English - Latest episode: 16 days ago - ★★★★★ - 672 ratings

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.

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

Science Technology
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed

Episodes

Audio long read: How NASA astronauts are training to walk on the Moon in 2026

June 28, 2024 14:00 - 15 minutes - 13.8 MB

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 experien...

Why ‘open source’ AIs could be anything but, the derailment risks of long freight trains, and breeding better wheat

June 26, 2024 15:00 - 17 minutes - 24.1 MB

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 th...

How do fish know where a sound comes from? Scientists have an answer

June 19, 2024 15:00 - 31 minutes - 43.6 MB

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...

Hybrid working works: huge study reveals no drop in productivity

June 12, 2024 15:00 - 38 minutes - 52.5 MB

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 ...

Twitter suspended 70,000 accounts after the Capitol riots and it curbed misinformation

June 05, 2024 15:08 - 27 minutes - 25.6 MB

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 so...

How AI could improve robotics, the cockroach’s origins, and promethium spills its secrets

May 29, 2024 15:00 - 23 minutes - 21.4 MB

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 ...

How mathematician Freeman Hrabowski opened doors for Black scientists

May 28, 2024 14:20 - 36 minutes - 33.9 MB

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 o...

Audio long read: How does ChatGPT ‘think’? Psychology and neuroscience crack open AI large language models

May 24, 2024 13:00 - 17 minutes - 16.2 MB

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pr...

Fentanyl addiction: the brain pathways behind the opioid crisis

May 22, 2024 15:00 - 20 minutes - 28 MB

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 develo...

Lizard-inspired building design could save lives

May 15, 2024 15:00 - 31 minutes - 28.8 MB

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 contri...

Alphafold 3.0: the AI protein predictor gets an upgrade

May 08, 2024 15:00 - 21 minutes - 19.8 MB

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 phy...

Talking about sex and gender doesn't need to be toxic

May 02, 2024 11:00 - 58 minutes - 80.6 MB

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, ge...

Dad's microbiome can affect offsprings' health — in mice

May 01, 2024 15:00 - 25 minutes - 23.1 MB

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 h...

Audio long read: Why loneliness is bad for your health

April 26, 2024 13:00 - 14 minutes - 13.8 MB

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.c...

How gliding marsupials got their 'wings'

April 24, 2024 15:00 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MB

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 ac...

Living on Mars would probably suck — here's why

April 19, 2024 12:00 - 38 minutes - 35 MB

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, ...

Keys, wallet, phone: the neuroscience behind working memory

April 17, 2024 15:00 - 34 minutes - 31.3 MB

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 ...

The 'ghost roads' driving tropical deforestation

April 10, 2024 15:00 - 23 minutes - 31.6 MB

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 constructi...

Audio long read: Why are so many young people getting cancer? What the data say

April 05, 2024 12:00 - 16 minutes - 15.1 MB

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 st...

Pregnancy's effect on 'biological' age, polite birds, and the carbon cost of home-grown veg

April 03, 2024 15:27 - 24 minutes - 22.5 MB

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 t...

How climate change is affecting global timekeeping

March 27, 2024 16:00 - 26 minutes - 36.8 MB

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, whi...

AI hears hidden X factor in zebra finch love songs

March 20, 2024 16:00 - 29 minutes - 40.8 MB

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...

Killer whales have menopause. Now scientists think they know why

March 13, 2024 16:00 - 27 minutes - 37.4 MB

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 struc...

These tiny fish combine electric pulses to probe the environment

March 06, 2024 16:00 - 36 minutes - 50.4 MB

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 t...

Could this one-time ‘epigenetic’ treatment control cholesterol?

February 28, 2024 16:00 - 26 minutes - 36.3 MB

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 galaxi...

Audio long read: Chimpanzees are dying from our colds — these scientists are trying to save them

February 26, 2024 14:05 - 24 minutes - 22.6 MB

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 col...

How whales sing without drowning, an anatomical mystery solved

February 23, 2024 08:00 - 14 minutes - 19.9 MB

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...

Why are we nice? Altruism's origins are put to the test

February 21, 2024 16:00 - 30 minutes - 28.1 MB

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 ...

Smoking changes your immune system, even years after quitting

February 14, 2024 16:00 - 21 minutes - 29.7 MB

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: S...

Why we need to rethink how we talk about cancer

February 09, 2024 20:00 - 14 minutes - 13.7 MB

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 ...

Cancer's power harnessed — lymphoma mutations supercharge T cells

February 07, 2024 16:00 - 35 minutes - 32.4 MB

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. The...

Cervical cancer could be eliminated: here's how

February 04, 2024 12:00 - 17 minutes - 23.9 MB

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, especiall...

Ancient DNA solves the mystery of who made a set of stone tools

January 31, 2024 16:00 - 28 minutes - 39.5 MB

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 mod...

Audio long read: Long COVID is a double curse in low-income nations — here’s why

January 26, 2024 12:00 - 12 minutes - 11.4 MB

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 treatmen...

Toxic red mud could be turned into 'green' steel

January 24, 2024 16:00 - 24 minutes - 22.5 MB

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...

This AI just figured out geometry — is this a step towards artificial reasoning?

January 17, 2024 16:00 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MB

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 c...

The science stories you missed over the holiday period

January 10, 2024 16:00 - 29 minutes - 27.2 MB

In this episode of the Nature 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 j...

Science in 2024: what to expect this year

January 03, 2024 16:00 - 13 minutes - 18.7 MB

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

Audio long read: A new kind of solar cell is coming — is it the future of green energy?

December 29, 2023 10:00 - 23 minutes - 238 MB

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 o...

The Nature Podcast highlights of 2023

December 27, 2023 16:00 - 45 minutes - 41.3 MB

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: W...

How AI works is often a mystery — that's a problem

December 22, 2023 16:00 - 37 minutes - 51.9 MB

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 re...

The Nature Podcast Festive Spectacular 2023

December 20, 2023 16:00 - 45 minutes - 62.5 MB

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 live...

Navigating planets, plays and prejudice — a conversation with Aomawa Shields

December 15, 2023 15:35 - 35 minutes - 32.2 MB

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 Shields Constable...

Inhaled vaccine prevents COVID in monkeys

December 14, 2023 16:00 - 7 minutes - 10.9 MB

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 lung...

Cat parasite Toxoplasma tricked to grow in a dish

December 13, 2023 16:00 - 25 minutes - 35.5 MB

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 popu...

The world’s smallest light-trapping silicon cavity

December 06, 2023 16:00 - 31 minutes - 42.6 MB

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,...

Sanitary products made from plants could help tackle period poverty

November 30, 2023 16:00 - 9 minutes - 12.4 MB

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. Th...

Why COP28 probably won't keep the 1.5 degree dream alive

November 29, 2023 16:00 - 25 minutes - 35 MB

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 sh...

Audio long read: Apple revival — how science is bringing historic varieties back to life

November 24, 2023 15:56 - 17 minutes - 16.5 MB

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 ...

Polio could be eradicated within 3 years — what happens then?

November 22, 2023 16:00 - 22 minutes - 20.6 MB

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 eradica...

Books

The Periodic Table
1 Episode

Twitter Mentions

@ronen_segev 1 Episode