In this episode: 00:46 What will be left of US science after Trump 2.0? 100 days into his term, President Donald Trump and his administration have already caused the biggest shakeup in modern scientific history, slashing funding, bringing large swathes of US research to a standstill and halting many clinical trials. But many fear these actions are just the beginning. We look at what the long-term impacts of these decisions might be for science in the United States and the world. Nature: Wi...
Apr 30, 2025•28 min
Research shows that, over the past two decades, rates of mental illness have been increasing in adolescents in many countries. While some scientists point to soaring use of smartphones and social media as a key driver for this trend, others say the evidence does not show a large effect of these technologies on teenagers’ psychological health. At the heart of the dispute is a large, complex and often conflicting body of research that different researchers interpret in different ways. Th...
Apr 25, 2025•18 min
00:27 Five people see ‘olo’, a brand-new colour Using a laser system to activate specific eye cells, a team has allowed five study participants to perceive a vibrant blue-greenish hue well outside the natural range of colours seen by humans. Although the setup required to accomplish this feat is currently complicated, this finding could provide more understanding about how the brain perceives colour and could one day help boost the vision of people with colour blindness. Nature News: Brand...
Apr 23, 2025•20 min
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. What’s in a name is a series exploring naming in science and how names impact the world. We look at whether the system of naming species remains in step with society, how the names of diseases can create stigma, and how the names chosen by scientists can help, or hinder, communicati...
Apr 22, 2025•33 min
In this episode: 00:46 A potato pangenome Researchers have created a ‘pangenome’ containing the genomes of multiple potato types, something they believe can help make it easier to breed and sequence new varieties. The potato's complicated genetics has made it difficult to sequence the plant's genome, but improvements in technology have allowed the team to combine sequences, allowing them to look for subtle differences in between varieties. Research Article: Sun et al. 09:57 Research Highlights H...
Apr 16, 2025•33 min
00:46 Complete sequencing of ape genomes Researchers have sequenced the complete genomes of six ape species, helping uncover the evolutionary history of our closest relatives and offering insights into what makes humans human. The genomes of chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, Bornean orangutan, Sumatran orangutan and siamang have been sequenced end-to-end, filling in gaps that have long eluded researchers. Research Article: Yoo et al. News and Views: Complete ape genomes offer a close-up v...
Apr 09, 2025•30 min
Science writer and New York Times columnist Carl Zimmer's latest book Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life we Breathe dives into the invisible maelstrom of microbial life swirling in the air around us — examining how it helped shape our world, and the implications that breathing it in can have on human health. Carl joined us to discuss historical efforts to show that diseases could spread large distances through the air, the staunch resistance to this idea, and what ...
Apr 07, 2025•32 min
In this Podcast Extra, we hear the latest on how decisions by the Trump administration are affecting science in the US. Most recently, a purge of National Institutes of Health (NIH) leadership has seen the chiefs of multiple institutes and centres removed from their posts. Plus, after cancelling nearly all NIH projects studying transgender health, the White House has directed the agency to focus on studying “regret” after a person transitions to align their body with their gender identity. News:...
Apr 04, 2025•12 min
00:46 Millimetre-sized pacemaker fits inside syringe Researchers have developed a tiny, temporary pacemaker that dissolves when no longer needed, helping to overcome some of the challenges associated with current devices. Temporary pacemakers are often required after heart surgery but implanting them can require invasive procedures. This new device is injectable, requires no external power and is controlled using light shone through the skin. The tiny pacemaker has shown promise in animal and he...
Apr 02, 2025•38 min
With money pouring in and an unprecedented level of public attention and excitement, scientists are publishing a steady stream of papers on ways to measure how rapidly a person’s body is declining. However, there are mixed feelings of enthusiasm and apprehension among researchers about efforts to develop tests that measure the impact of ageing on the body, as they are often interpreted and presented without a full reckoning of the uncertainties that plague them. This is an au...
Mar 28, 2025•18 min
In this episode: 00:46 Newly discovered molecule shows potent antibiotic activity Researchers have identified a new molecule with antibiotic activity against a range of disease-causing bacteria, including those resistant to existing drugs. The new molecule — isolated from soil samples taken from a laboratory technician’s garden — is called lariocidin due to its lasso-shaped structure. The team say that in addition to its potent antibiotic activity, the molecule also shows low toxicity towards hu...
Mar 26, 2025•33 min
00:46 Microsatellite makes messaging secure A tiny satellite has enabled quantum-encrypted information to be sent between China and South Africa, the farthest distance yet achieved for quantum communication. Using a laser-based system, a team in the city of Hefei was able to beam a ‘secret key’ encoded in quantum states of photons, to their colleagues over 12,000 km away. This key allowed scrambled messages to be decrypted — including one containing a picture of the Great Wall of China. The team...
Mar 19, 2025•31 min
00:46 2D metals made using sapphire press Taking inspiration from industrial forging, researchers have demonstrated a way to squeeze molten metals into atomically-thin layers, creating relatively large flakes of 2D metals. Using a hydraulic press containing two sapphire anvils, a team was able to create sub-nanometer thick sheets of different metals — these sheets had diameters exceeding 0.1 mm, orders of magnitude larger than other methods have achieved. 2D metals have been theorized to possess...
Mar 12, 2025•33 min
00:46 Ancient humans made bone tools 1.5 million years ago A 1.5-million-year-old cache of animal-bone tools reveals that ancient humans systematically crafted with this material much earlier than previously thought. Researchers uncovered 27 bone artefacts in Tanzania honed into sharp tools almost 40 cm long. This discovery pushes back the dedicated manufacture of bone tools by around a million years and could have helped these early humans develop new kinds of technology. “This raises a lot of ...
Mar 05, 2025•30 min
Over the past two decades, research has emerged showing that opportunities for risky play are crucial for children's healthy physical, mental and emotional development. However, because play is inherently free-form it has been difficult to study. Now, scientists are using innovative approaches, including virtual reality, to probe the benefits of risky play, and how best to promote it. This is an audio version of our Feature: Why kids need to take more risks — science reveals the benefits o...
Feb 28, 2025•16 min
00:47 A ‘smart’ way to quickly detect cardiac arrest Google researchers have developed an AI for a smartwatch that will call for help if its wearer is having a cardiac arrest. Trained, in part, on data gained when patients had their hearts deliberately stopped during a medical procedure, the team’s machine learning algorithm can automatically detect the telltale signs of cardiac arrest. The team think this system could save lives, although more testing is required. "Our hope is that as these cap...
Feb 26, 2025•20 min
01:14 A simple switch to reduce racist ratings A study of almost 70,000 ratings showed that racial discrimination could be eliminated from an online platform by switching from a five-star rating system to a thumbs up or down. The platform connected customers to workers who performed home repair jobs, and prior to the shift people categorised by the study authors as ‘non-white’ had lower ratings and got paid less than their white counterparts. Through follow up studies the authors also showed tha...
Feb 19, 2025•32 min
In this episode: 00:45 An elusive, cosmic neutrino with a record-breaking energy An enormous array of detectors, deep under the Mediterranean Sea, has captured evidence of the highest-energy neutrino particle ever recorded, although researchers aren’t sure exactly where in the cosmos it originated. Calculations revealed this particle had over 30 times the energy of previously detected neutrinos. The team hopes that further study and future detections will help reveal the secrets of high-energy p...
Feb 12, 2025•35 min
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 ...
Feb 07, 2025•35 min
In this episode: 00:45 How arithmetic skills don’t transfer between applied and academic environments Mathematics 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 see...
Feb 05, 2025•35 min
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. Wh...
Jan 31, 2025•17 min
In this episode: 00:46 Evidence of ancient brine reveals Bennu’s watery past Analysis 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...
Jan 29, 2025•35 min
00:56 How the paths to professorship vary A 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 ...
Jan 22, 2025•33 min
00:46 Designing new antivenoms to treat snakebites Researchers 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 t...
Jan 15, 2025•34 min
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 treatment A 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 aft...
Jan 08, 2025•26 min
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....
Jan 01, 2025•11 min
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 w...
Dec 27, 2024•12 min
00:36 How melting ice is affecting global timekeeping Nature Podcast: 27 March 2024 Research article: Agnew 09:19 Sex and gender discussions don't need to be toxic Podcast extra: 01 May 2024 Collection: Sex and gender in science 18:10 Research Highlights Research Highlight: How to train your crocodile Research Highlight: Ancient fish dined on bats — or died trying 21:09 ChatGPT has a language problem — but science can fix it Podcast extra: 09 August 2024 2...
Dec 25, 2024•50 min
02:54 The death star moon and a win for the little guys The 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 2024 News and Views: Mimas’s surprise ocean prompts an update of the rule book for moons 07:05 Could red mud make green steel? Millions of tonnes of ‘red mud’, a hazardous waste...
Dec 20, 2024•25 min
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 quiz We 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 ha...
Dec 18, 2024•37 min
