For years, researchers have been listening to Mars and the quakes that ripple through it, to understand the planet's internal structure and uncover its history. But often these results have left more questions than answers. Now, though, new research published in Nature reveals the composition and size of Mars's core, finding that it is much smaller than previously thought. Research Article: Khan et al. Research Article: Samuel et al. News and Views: Deep Mars is surprisingly soft Subscribe to Na...
Oct 27, 2023•13 min
In this episode: 00:47 An automated way to monitor wildlife recovery To prevent the loss of wildlife, forest restoration is key, but monitoring how well biodiversity actually recovers is incredibly difficult. Now though, a team have collected recordings of animal sounds to determine the extent of the recovery. However, while using these sounds to identify species is an effective way to monitor, it’s also labour intensive. To overcome this, they trained an AI to listen to the sounds, and found th...
Oct 25, 2023•25 min
In this episode: 00:47 An RNA-based viral system that mimics bacterial immune defences To protect themselves against viral infection, bacteria often use CRISPR-Cas systems to identify and destroy an invading virus’s genetic material. But viruses aren’t helpless and can deploy countermeasures, known as anti-CRISPRs, to neutralise host defences. This week, a team describe a new kind of anti-CRISPR system, based on RNA, which protects viruses by mimicking part of the CRISPR-Cas system. The research...
Oct 18, 2023•30 min
In this episode: 00:46 Engineered pig kidneys show transplantation promise Kidneys from genetically-engineered miniature pigs have been transplanted into non-human primates, in some cases keeping the animals alive for more than a year. Using CRISPR, a team made dozens of edits to the pig genome to prevent the monkeys’ immune system from attacking the organs. They also removed pig retrovirus genes that could represent an infection risk. These steps are necessary if pig organs are to be used in hu...
Oct 11, 2023•21 min
In this Podcast Extra , two computer scientists, Shobhana Narasimhan and Sana Odeh, join Nature 's Anne Pichon to discuss the barriers that women and gender-diverse people still face when working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. They share their experiences and perspectives on the challenges facing women in research, and reflect on potential ways to move forward. Comment: ‘I wrote my first piece of code at seven’: women share highs and lows in computer science for Ada Lovelac...
Oct 10, 2023•15 min
In this episode: 00:45 A bright satellite is concerning researchers Satellites reflect sunlight down to Earth, and some do so with such intensity it risks obscuring astronomers' observations from ground-based telescopes. A paper in Nature suggests that the telecommunications satellite called BlueWalker 3 at times outshines most stars visible from Earth. Astronomers worry about the increasing number of such bright satellites making astronomy more difficult, and so the team suggest that future lau...
Oct 04, 2023•34 min
Australia's swamp tortoise is one of the most endangered species in the world. This species lives in wetlands that are under threat due to rising temperatures and a reduction in rainfall. In an effort to save the tortoise, researchers are trialling a controversial strategy called assisted migration. This approach has seen captive-bred tortoises released in other wetlands some 330 kilometres south of where they are naturally found. The aim is to see whether the animals can tolerate cooler climate...
Sep 29, 2023•20 min
In this episode: 00:45 How to tackle AI deepfakes It has long been possible to create deceptive images, videos or audio to entertain or mislead audiences. Now, with the rise of AI technologies, such manipulations have become easier than ever. These deepfakes can spread misinformation, defraud people, and damage economies. To tackle this, researchers and companies are developing tools to find and label deepfakes, in an attempt to rob them of their potential to wreak havoc. News Feature: How to st...
Sep 27, 2023•31 min
In this episode: 00:45 A new insight into cancers' selective spread Cancer cells can spread to bones in the late stages of disease and in many cancers, cells actually preferentially metastasise to the spine. The reason for this has been a puzzle to researchers for years, but now a team has found a new kind of stem cell that may be involved in this process. The stem cell is found in mice and humans and could represent a clinical target in the treatment of cancer. Research article: Sun et al. News...
Sep 20, 2023•24 min
In this episode: 00:46 A sustainably-sourced, super-strong adhesive The modern world is held together by adhesives, but these fossil-fuel derived materials come at an environmental cost. To overcome this, a team have developed a soya-oil based adhesive, which also takes inspiration from the proteins that marine animals like mussels use to stick firmly to rocks. The researchers say their glue is strong, reversible, and less carbon intensive to produce than existing adhesives. Research article: We...
Sep 13, 2023•34 min
In this episode: 00:30 Early humans pushed to brink of extinction Around 900,000 years ago the ancestors of modern humans were pushed to the brink of extinction, according to new research. Genetic studies suggest that the breeding population of our ancestors in Africa dropped to just 1,280 and didn’t expand again for another 117,000 years. This population crash would likely have had an impact on human genetic diversity, and may have driven the evolution of important features of modern humans, su...
Sep 06, 2023•14 min
In this episode: 00:47 First observation of oxygen 28 Oxygen 28 is an isotope of oxygen with 20 neutrons and eight protons. This strange isotope has long been sought after by physicists, as its proposed unusual properties would allow them to put their theories of how atomic nuclei work to the test. Now, after decades of experiments physicists believe they have observed oxygen 28. The observations are at odds with theory predictions, so they imply that there’s a lot more physicists don’t know abo...
Aug 30, 2023•29 min
Investigations suggest that, in some fields, at least one-quarter of clinical trials might be problematic or even entirely made up. Faked or unreliable trials are dangerous, as they could end up being included in the reviews that help inform clinical treatments. However, the extent of the problem in unclear, and many researchers urge stronger scrutiny. This is an audio version of our Feature: Medicine is plagued by untrustworthy clinical trials. How many studies are faked or flawed? Hosted on Ac...
Aug 25, 2023•26 min
In this episode: 00:47 The brain-computer interfaces that help restore communication People with certain neurological conditions can lose the ability to speak as a result of facial paralysis. This week, two teams demonstrate the potential of devices called brain-computer interfaces to help people in these situations communicate. These interfaces work by identifying the brain activity associated with the intent to say words, and converting this activity into speech-related outputs, such as text o...
Aug 23, 2023•29 min
In this episode: 00:49 The search for animals’ magnetic sense sufferers a potential setback Exactly how animals sense Earth’s magnetic field has long eluded researchers. To understand it, many have turned to the fly model Drosophila melanogaster, long thought to be able to detect magnetic fields. However, a recent Nature paper has raised questions about this ability, a finding that could have repercussions for scientists’ efforts to understand the mechanism behind magnetic sensing, one of the bi...
Aug 16, 2023•32 min
A perfect storm of factors has led to huge racial disparities in maternal healthcare. In the USA, as abortion clinics continue to close, this inequity is projected to widen. In this podcast from Nature and ScientificAmerican, we hear from leading academics unpacking the racism at the heart of the system. From the historical links between slavery and gynaecology to the systematic erasure of America’s Black midwives. What is behind the Black maternal mortality crisis, and what needs to change? Rea...
Aug 10, 2023•45 min
In this episode: 00:46 A measure of refugees’ welcome in Europe With repeated humanitarian crises displacing millions of people, researchers have been considering how this might affect acceptance of refugees. Will some refugees be more welcome than others? Will continued movements erode support for refugees overall? To answer these questions, a huge study looks at the attitudes of 33,000 people from 15 European countries towards refugees. They find that overall support for refugees has slightly ...
Aug 09, 2023•26 min
In the latest episode of Nature hits the books , physicist Athene Donald joins us to discuss her book Not just for the boys, why we need more women in science. We discuss how science has historically excluded women, the barriers to entry and retention that remain prevalent, and what could be done to improve the situation for female scientists today. Not Just for the Boys: Why We Need More Women in Science , Athene Donald, Oxford University Press (2023) Music supplied by Airae/Epidemic Sound/Gett...
Aug 02, 2023•32 min
Neuroscientists are creating more naturalistic experiments that they hope will provide a more nuanced understanding of animal — and human — behaviour. These set-ups differ from the classic laboratory experiments that have been used for decades, and may help in the understanding of behaviours such as escaping a predator or finding scarce food. By studying these natural actions, scientists are hoping to glean lessons about the brain and behaviour that are more holistic and more relevant to everyda...
Jul 31, 2023•15 min
In this episode: How tweaking social media algorithms affects polarization Societies are becoming increasingly polarized, with people reportedly shunning those with differing political views. Social media is often thought to be exacerbating these divides, by creating echo chambers and filtering out dissimilar views. Many hoped that tweaking the algorithms that drive these platforms could reduce polarization. But, a group of studies show that such changes have little to no affect on polarization,...
Jul 27, 2023•10 min
In this episode: 00:46 How to see in the dark like it’s daytime There are many methods for better night-vision, but often these rely on enhancing light, which may not be present, or using devices which can interfere with one another. One alternative solution is to use heat, but such infrared sensors struggle to distinguish between different objects. To overcome this, researchers have now combined such sensors with machine learning algorithms to make a system that grants day-like night-vision. Th...
Jul 26, 2023•21 min
In this episode: 00:45 A sustainable solution for schistosomiasis control Schistosomiasis is a serious parasitic disease that affects millions of people, who become infected when they come into contact with contaminated water. To prevent the spread and reinfection of this disease, researchers trialled an environmental intervention that removed plants from lakes in Senegal. These plants act as food for freshwater snails – intermediate hosts for the disease. Results showed that this reduced diseas...
Jul 19, 2023•25 min
In this episode: 00:23 Using ChatGPT to generate a research paper from scratch A pair of scientists have produced a research paper in less than an hour with the help of the generative artificial intelligence (AI) ChatGPT. The aim of this exercise was to explore the technology’s ability to act as a research ‘co-pilot’ and spark debate about its use. While AI tools like ChatGPT have the potential to speed up research, it is still unclear what role they should play in research. Nature News: Scienti...
Jul 12, 2023•15 min
In this episode: 00:46 The effects of evolution on a minimal genome In 2016, researchers created a ‘minimal cell’ bacterium with a genome that only contains genes essential for the organism's survival. Any mutation in these genes could be fatal, so it was unclear whether there could be scope for evolution. But now, a team has grown this bacterium through 2,000 generations and shown that it does have the ability to evolve and can recover from some of the fitness costs associated with its streamli...
Jul 05, 2023•29 min
In the past two years, there has been an explosion in the number of papers published relating to 'skeletal editing', a technique that allows chemists to precisely edit a molecule by deleting, adding or swapping single atoms in its core. Although many of these methods are early in development, researchers hope skeletal editing could revolutionize how organic chemists design molecules, dramatically speeding up the drug-discovery process. This is an audio version of our Feature: ‘Almost magical’: c...
Jun 30, 2023•19 min
In this episode: 00:46 Inside the brains of sleeping octopuses Researchers have probed the brains of octopuses and confirmed previous reports suggesting that these invertebrates have a two-stage sleep cycle similar to that seen in many vertebrates. The team suggests this system may have evolved independently in the two groups, as there are millions of years of evolutionary history between them. However, despite its presumed importance, it is a mystery why this system exists at all. Research arti...
Jun 28, 2023•30 min
In this episode: 00:45 Why losing the Y chromosome makes bladder cancer more aggressive Loss of the Y chromosome in bladder cancer cells is associated with increased severity of disease, but the reasons behind this have been unclear. Now researchers show that the loss of this chromosome helps tumour cells evade the immune system. However, this mechanism also makes the cells more vulnerable to certain chemotherapy treatments, and the researchers hope their findings could help improve outcomes for...
Jun 21, 2023•29 min
In this episode: 00:47 How to make quantum computers ready for real world applications Quantum computers have long held the promise of being able to perform tasks that classical computers can’t. However, despite this promise, there have been few applications that can only be accomplished by a quantum computer. Now though, researchers show that a quantum computer can resolve a physics problem concerning the orientation of quantum particles in a 2D material, which is difficult to accomplish with a...
Jun 14, 2023•30 min
In this episode: 00:46 The mouse brain circuit controlling infanticidal behaviour In mammals, infanticide is a relatively common behaviour, but not a default one. For example, virgin female mice will often kill young produced by other females, but this behaviour disappears when they become mothers themselves. To understand this switch, researchers have identified a brain circuit associated with infanticidal behaviour that gets switched off after mice give birth. They hope that by better understa...
Jun 07, 2023•32 min
In this episode: 00:46 An AI that predicts gene interactions Mapping the network of genes that control cellular processes can be difficult to do when gene-expression data is sparse, such as in rare diseases or those affecting tissues that are hard to clinically sample. To overcome this, a team has developed an artificial intelligence system trained on a large, general dataset, and used it to make predictions about gene interactions in data-limited situations. As a test-case they look at the hear...
May 31, 2023•21 min
