Episode description

 The whole of science is stuffed full of delicious stories, and we really want to tell you every damn one of them. But we know our little human brains can’t absorb too much at one time. 

So today we’re introducing our new line of Wholesome SnacksTM, where we bring you a selection of new and tasty tales that have been consumed, concentrated and reconstituted just for you. 

Get your bib out because, in today’s snack pack, we’ve got some real doozies for you. 

Our first short story starts with the first map of an entire insect brain - specifically, the brain of a fruit fly larvae. Scientists recently created the most advanced brain map to date, slicing the baby fruit fly brain into thousands of individual tissue samples and mapping connections neuron by neuron. It took….quite a while. The findings were pretty interesting and unexpected - here’s to hoping we see scientists move on to even more exciting species in the near future. You’re next, mice!

So, have you ever thought about how you might keep warm in your grave during winter? Well High Gate Cemetery, Britain’s most famous resting place, is apparently considering heated graves to protect stonework in extreme weather. Sudden changes in temperature can result in unacceptable damage, such as the cracked tiles on Julius Beer’s tomb. God forbid the mausoleums look messy - we’ve got celebrities in here, people! 

Now on to medical data. Would a smart toilet leak your private info? According to Stanford University, there’s a version of a smart toilet in the lab that can look up your biomarkers and monitor signs of disease. But there are ethical and legal considerations to this, like the possibility of your data transmitted online being hacked. So someone might discover your urine flow is a bit light, or your potassium is low and you need to eat more bananas. Who cares? But information such as the toilet user being pregnant or having cancer getting leaked? Not ideal.

Today in space news - Rolls Royce has secured funds to research how micro nuclear reactor technology might power a moon base. It’s exciting to see this research-backed as we prepare to send humans to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. But mostly we’re interested to see these reactors decked out with all the Rolls Royce trimmings - leather lining, cup holders, perhaps a control panel in mahogany and if they’re really lucky they’ll get a coveted sneaky RR umbrella? 

Still in space - the puffy moon suits worn by the Apollo astronauts half a century ago are no longer space couture, so NASA has unveiled a new spacesuit design for the return to the moon. While they haven’t always had a great record for addressing their problems with sexism (remember the tampon fiasco in the 1980s?), NASA’s new Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit is more flexible and actually designed to fit both men and women. It also looks pretty cool and we have the picture to prove it. 

And finally in historic achievement news, researchers at the University of Rochester have created a superconducting material at both a temperature and pressure low enough for practical applications. In other words, you don't have to super chill it, squish it or keep it in the super fridge. Superconductivity can give us more efficient electronics and better medical imaging. Or even better - levitating high-speed trains. 

You’re gonna love these weird and wonderful news bites from around the globe - so wrap your ears around these morsels and dig in!

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