Nature Podcast

Raising mosquitoes to tackle disease might sound like an odd concept, but that’s what a facility in Brazil is aiming to do. Millions of mosquitoes are produced there every week, but these insects carry harmless Wolbachia bacteria that curbs their ability to spread deadly human viruses. Nature reporter Mariana Lenharo visited the facility and told us all about her experience in this Podcast Extra.

News: T...

00:45 The ant queen that can produce two different species

Researchers have made an unusual observation that appears at odds with biology: an ant, known as the Iberian Harvester Ant can produce offspring of two completely different species. Many ants need to mate with other species to produce workers that are a genetic mix of the two, known as hybrids. But in Sicily, a team found hybrid worker ants but no trace of the fathe...

The search for signs of consciousness has expanded, thanks to advanced neuroimaging techniques. These tools allow researchers to detect consciousness in unresponsive humans, and now researchers are looking to develop tests that work in animals and perhaps even artificial intelligence systems of the future. 

This is an audio version of our Feature: How to detect consciousness in people, animals and maybe even ...

00:48 How the 18th-Century 'Great Fear’ spread across rural France

In the late 1700s, rural France was beset with rapidly spreading rumours of aristocratic plots to suppress revolutionary ideas. But how, and why, these rumours were able to spread so quickly has puzzled historians. Now, using modern epidemiological modelling, a team suggests that a combination of high wheat prices, income and literacy level drove this period...

00:46 Electrochemical fusion

Researchers have used electrochemistry to increase the rates of nuclear fusion reactions in a desktop reactor. Fusion energy promises abundant clean energy, but fusion events are rare, hindering progress. Now, inspired by the controversial claim of cold fusion, researchers used electrochemistry to get palladium to absorb more deuterium ions, that are used in fusion. When a beam of deuterium was ...

In this Podcast Extra, we discuss a report released by the US Department of Energy, which concluded that global warming is “less damaging economically than commonly believed”. However, many researchers say that the report misrepresents decades of climate science.

We discuss how scientists are trying to coordinate a unified response amidst concerns that this report will be used in attempts to repeal a 200...

00:46 Tiny solar flyer

Researchers have used a phenomenon known as thermal transpiration to create a solar-powered flying device that can stay aloft without any moving parts. The diminutive device, just one centimetre across, consists of two thin, perforated membranes that allow air to flow through the device, generating lift. Although only a proof-of-concept, the team hope that a scaled-up version of the device could be us...

00:45 Researchers develop a new glue and test it on a rubber duck

Aided by machine learning, researchers have developed a super-sticky compound that works as an underwater adhesive. Inspired by animals like barnacles, the team developed a new kind of a material called a hydrogel. The material is capable of securely fastening objects together even when immersed in salty water— a challenge for existing adhesives. To show off ...

00:45 The deepest ecosystem ever discovered

Researchers have dived down to more than 9,000 metres below the surface of the Pacific and discovered surprisingly complex communities of life living in deep ocean trenches. The new research shows an array of animal life that appears to be using methane as a source of energy. The researchers are planning more dives to learn more about this mysterious ecosystem and how these animal...

00:46 How hot can solid gold get?

A new study suggests that gold can be superheated far beyond its melting point without it becoming a liquid. Using an intense burst from a laser, a team heated a gold foil to 14 times its melting point, far beyond a theoretical limit put forward in previous studies. The team suggest that the speed at which they heated the gold allowed them to shoot past this limit, but there is scepticism a...

A simple methodological error meant that for years researchers considered drinking moderate amounts of alcohol to be healthy. Now plenty of evidence suggests that isn't the case, but errors like this still plague the scientific literature. So, how can the scientific literature become more error-free?

In the first episode of this two-part series, to determine what steps can be taken to help clean up science we explore peer review...

In this episode:

00:48 The ancient mega-predator with a ‘stealth mode’

The extinct marine mega-predator Temnodontosaurus had specialised adaptations to stealthily hunt its prey, suggests an analysis of a fossil flipper. Although Temnodontosaurus was a member of a well-studied group of marine reptiles called ichthyosaurs, its lifestyle has been a mystery due to a lack of preserved soft tissue. Now, a t...

Vianet Djenguet is an award-winning wildlife film-maker and camera operator whose work has featured in a number of major nature documentaries.

In this podcast, Vianet joins us to talk about his career, how wildlife film-making have changed, and his experiences working with local researchers to capture footage of endangered animals on the new television series The Wild Ones.

The Wild Ones Apple TV+ (2025)

Music supplie...

00:48 The past 35,000 years of disease

Ancient DNA evidence shows that the advent of agriculture led to more infectious disease among humans, with pathogens from animals only showing up 6,500 years ago. The DNA, extracted from human teeth, shows the history of diseases present in Eurasia over tens of thousands of years. The approach used could be a powerful way to understand how illness has shaped humanity, but it is unable...

Questions and doubts about vaccines are on the rise worldwide and public-health specialists worry that these trends could worsen. But while the shift in public attitudes towards immunizations can leave scientists, physicians and many others feeling disheartened, a surge of research on vaccine hesitancy is starting to offer ways to address the issue.

This is an audio version of our Feature How to speak to a vaccine sceptic: ...

In this episode:

00:45 Why animals evolve to be imperfect mimics

Many harmless animals mimic dangerous ones to avoid being eaten, but often this fakery is inaccurate. To help explain why evolution sometimes favours imperfect mimicry, a team 3D printed a range of imaginary insects. The novel creatures were designed to mimic wasps with varying degrees of accuracy and the team then presented these models to different pr...

We’d like to learn more about our listeners, please help us out by filling in this short survey.

In this episode:

00:45 Is AI-research being co-opted to keep track of people?

A significant amount of research in the AI field of computer vision is being used to analyse humans in ways that support the development of surveillance technologies, according to new research. By analysing the contents of thousands of r...

We’d like to learn more about our listeners, please help us out by filling in this short survey.

In this episode:

00:45 The tiny moths that use the stars to navigate

Bogong moths use the stars to help them navigate during their enormous migration across Australia, according to new research. Every year, billions of these nocturnal moths travel up to 1,000 km to cool caves in the Australian Alps, despite having nev...

According to legend, physicist Werner Heisenberg formulated the mathematics behind quantum mechanics in 1925 while on a restorative trip to the remote North Sea island of Heligoland.

To celebrate the centenary of this event, several hundred researchers have descended on the island to take part in a conference on all things quantum physics. Nature reporter Lizzie Gibney was also in attendance, and joined us to give an i...