A horse science roundup and using dubious brain scans as evidence of crimes

First up on the podcast, freelance journalist Jonathan Moens talks with host Sarah Crespi about a forensic test called brain electrical oscillation signature (BEOS) profiling, which police in India are using along with other techniques to try to tell whether a suspect participated in a crime, despite these technologies’ extremely shaky scientific grounding.   Next on the show, scientists have recently made strides in our understanding of horses, from identifying the mutations that make horses amazing athletes to showing how climate shaped intercontinental horse migrations 50,000 years ago. Science life sciences editor Sacha Vignieri joins us to discuss new horse-related studies published in Science—and how equine research has broader implications. Other papers mentioned in this segment: W. Taylor et al., Science 2023 C. Gaunitz et al., Science 2018 A. Outram et al., Science 2009   This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy. About the Science Podcast   Authors: Sarah Crespi; Sacha Vignieri; Jonathan Moens Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices