The World, the Universe and Us

The World, the Universe and Us

From the evolution of intelligent life, to the mysteries of consciousness; from the threat of the climate crisis to the search for dark matter, The world, the universe and us is your essential weekly dose of science and wonder in an uncertain world. Hosted by journalists Dr Rowan Hooper and Dr Penny Sarchet and joined each week by expert scientists in the field, the show draws on New Scientist’s unparalleled depth of reporting to put the stories that matter into context. Feed your curiosity with the podcast that will restore your sense of optimism and nourish your brain. For more visit newscientist.com/podcasts

Episodes

The Most Promising Alien Planet We've Ever Found?

July 20, 2026 • 11 mins
Episode 387 Two big interstellar discoveries have hit the headlines. One is the discovery of the first atmosphere ever found on a small, rocky exoplanet that could host alien life. The planet LHS 1140b is about 50 light years from Earth and sits in the “Goldlocks” zone, meaning it’s close enough to its star to be habitable. So what do we know about its atmosphere – and could it be just like Earth? The sec...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Climate Crisis Is Triggering Global Food Shortages - New Predictions Are Devastating

July 16, 2026 • 20 mins
Episode 386 The climate crisis is having a significant impact on yields of crucial food crops. Losses of maize, wheat and soybeans alone are costing $20 billion a year due to heat and drought. New estimates expect this to rise to $160 billion per year by 2100 - although that could be an underestimate. While this means food prices will keep on rising in developed countries, the majority of the population in the world’s least...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

7 Essential Lessons We Can Learn From Homer’s Odyssey

July 12, 2026 • 31 mins
Episode 385 What can Homer’s Odyssey teach us about psychology and human nature? Locked up in this 2,500-year-old text are a host of profound lessons and ancient wisdom.  In her new book The Odyssey Mindset, Oxford classicist and clinical psychologist Sam Akbar draws on seven essential lessons from this classic piece of Greek literature. She showcases what it teaches us about issues like grief, ego and dealing with tra...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Chris Packham on the Untold Story of Evolution

July 9, 2026 • 28 mins
Episode 384 The story of evolution is being brought to life in a new way. BBC series Evolution tells the story of 5 iconic animals, from elephants to ostriches, using CGI to reimagine ancient fossils. And this isn’t just about the animals that came before them, but also explores the intricacies of how locomotion, intelligence, feeding, and reproduction emerged. The series is hosted by broadcaster, natural history legend, an...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Heatwaves Are Getting Deadlier - And It’s Going To Get Worse

July 7, 2026 • 20 mins
Episode 383 As another heatwave takes hold, figures are now showing just how deadly the last one was. With one early estimate suggesting as many as 25,000 people may have died in Europe as a result of June’s extreme heat. Heatwaves across Europe, Asia, Australia and the US hit record highs last month and wildfires are now spreading across southern Europe. And as the effects of climate change increase the intensity year on y...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Breakthrough Synthetic Cell Has Just Reproduced - But Is It Alive?

July 3, 2026 • 20 mins
Episode 382 Scientists have created a synthetic cell with just 36 genes that can copy DNA and replicate. In an attempt to create a “minimal cell”, a team led by professor Kate Adamala have built “SpudCell” from the ground up, using non-living components. But is it alive - and is it dangerous? Despite being able to carry out some of the tasks of a normal cell, it’s not clear that it’s capable of...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

The Science of Football: Inside the 2026 World Cup

July 2, 2026 • 47 mins
Episode 381 Advances in sports science, data analysis and AI are having a huge impact on the way football is played. With England rated highly in this year’s World Cup, and teams such as Paraguay causing upsets - how will science help give teams an edge? In the past there was very little data available to help assess player performance - and diet and training were much more rudimentary. But now we can analyse information in...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Ancient Human DNA Found in Stone Age Cave Art For First Time

June 30, 2026 • 16 mins
Episode 380 The DNA of ancient humans has been found preserved in cave art that’s more than 40,000 years old. This discovery could open an entirely new avenue for finding out about the lives of our ancient ancestors. Researchers from the First Art project found these unexpected samples while examining 11 different caves decorated with rock art. Although it’s unclear if the DNA belongs to the original artist, it may so...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

A “Super” El Niño May Be Coming - Here’s What It Means

June 22, 2026 • 25 mins
Episode 379 El Niño has officially arrived – a natural climate event that raises global temperatures. The difference this time is it looks very likely to become a “Super” El Niño. This is a more extreme warming phase which could lead to record high temperatures. Coupled with the ongoing impacts of climate change, weather agencies are predicting an increase in extreme weather events around the world. From drought...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

The Lost Solstice Monument That Predates Stonehenge By 500 Years

June 18, 2026 • 21 mins
Episode 378 A prototype Stonehenge has been discovered - an even older structure that may have been a first attempt at building the famous megalithic calendar.  A team led by archaeologist Phil Harding, best-known for the TV series ‘Time Team’, discovered a range of artefacts at a site near Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire.  Excavations at Bulford uncovered pottery, animal bones, flints - and ...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

If We Can Make Genetically Engineered Designer Babies - Should We?

June 14, 2026 • 19 mins
Episode 377 Considered too dangerous and unreliable a few years ago, the technology for gene editing babies is advancing fast. Improved methods of using CRISPR gene editing are making the technique safer and more targeted. But does that mean we should be creating designer babies? A new, more powerful version of CRISPR has already saved lives by correcting cells in children linked to leukaemia. But editing human embryos is a diffe...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Scientists Mapped Earth's Vast Fungal Network - And It's Critical For The Climate

June 12, 2026 • 26 mins
Episode 376 For the first time, scientists have mapped Earth’s vast underground fungal network - and it’s bigger than anyone imagined. Beneath our feet, plants and fungi have a hidden symbiotic relationship, sharing nutrients through fine fungal threads called hyphae. With these new global maps, we’re now starting to understand just how important the mycorrhizal network is in keeping the Earth’s climate st...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Millions of Fossil Whale Bones Found in Deep Ocean Graveyard

June 11, 2026 • 13 mins
Episode 375 The world’s deepest known whale graveyard has been discovered in the southern Indian Ocean. Located at a depth of seven kilometres, it contains millions of whale bones and has been described as a “deep-sea fossil megasite” and a whale necropolis. Chinese researchers, diving in the crewed Fendouzhe submersible, undertook 32 dives along 1200 kilometres of the seafloor in an area known as the Diamantina...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

DeepMind Is Simulating Entire Worlds - Ready for AI Robots

June 5, 2026 • 27 mins
Episode 374 Google DeepMind is simulating entire worlds using AI - that can be interacted with in real time. “World models” simulate the environment and physics of the real world. And DeepMind’s Genie 3 model allows people to create these worlds with basic image and text prompts. The idea is not just to allow people to explore these worlds, but to serve as a testbed for AI agents to learn how to interact with t...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Ötzi the Ice Man Contains Still-Living Microbes

June 3, 2026 • 15 mins
Episode 373 Despite being 5,300-years-old, the gut microbiome of the famous Ötzi the Ice Man appears to be still alive. A mix of ancient and modern bacteria have been found on Ötzi’s mummified remains - which are preserved in icy conditions. Found in 1991 by hikers on a glacier in the Alps, Ötzi has already taught us an incredible amount about the life of humans living in Europe during the Copper Age - and continues to reve...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

The Thwaites 'Doomsday' glacier's ice shelf is about to break away

May 24, 2026 • 16 mins
Episode 372 Part of the world’s widest glacier is about to collapse – one of the dramatic changes underway that could ultimately trigger a 3 metre rise in sea levels, threatening coastal cities around the world.  Thwaites is a massive glacier in Antarctica – the size of Florida. A key part of the glacier could break away any day now -– an ice shelf that helps protect the main glacier from warm ocean w...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Some Scientists Want To Resurrect Extinct Species – Is It Even Possible?

May 22, 2026 • 26 mins
Episode 371 The moa was a giant flightless bird from New Zealand that died out around 500 years ago. Are we about to see it brought back from extinction? Colossal Biosciences say they have made an artificial egg shell that is a step towards recreating the massive eggs of moas (and dodos). This is huge news… if it works. Is this really enough to bring them back to life - and should we even be trying? We discuss the news an...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

The Hidden Methane Time Bomb That Could Accelerate The Climate Crisis

May 20, 2026 • 18 mins
Episode 370 The melting ice caps are accelerating global warming and contributing to sea level rise, but could also contribute to a different kind of climate catastrophe. The melting may cause massive amounts of frozen methane to bubble up into the atmosphere. It happened thousands of years ago - and scientists are concerned it’s about to happen again. Methane is a greenhouse gas which is 86 times more potent than CO2. Some...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Science Reveals Neanderthals Had Dentists 60,000 Years Ago

May 15, 2026 • 20 mins
Episode 369 A strange tooth found in a Siberian cave has pushed back the earliest evidence of dentistry by 45,000 years. The weird thing is, the evidence comes from a Neanderthal tooth - upending what we thought these ancient humans were capable of. Markings on the 60,000-year-old molar show Neanderthals may have used stone tools to “drill” the tooth to treat dental decay. A team of scientists has recreated the experi...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Scientists Concerned By a Sudden Increase in the Rate of Sea Level Rise

May 13, 2026 • 16 mins
Episode 368 Scientists are concerned by a sudden increase in the rate of sea level rise. In 2012 it suddenly accelerated and has remained high ever since. From melting glaciers to oceans expanding as they warm, global sea levels have risen by more than 0.2 metres over the past 15 years. Places like Venice and New Orleans are already under threat - and this fast pace of change is only set to make things worse. So what’s cau...
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    Hey Jonas!

    Hey Jonas!

    Hey Jonas! The official Jonas Brothers podcast. Hosted by Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. It’s the Jonas Brothers you know... musicians, actors, and well, yes, brothers. Now, they’re sharing another side of themselves in the playful, intimate, and irreverent way only they can. Spend time with the Jonas Brothers here and stay a little bit longer for deep conversations like never before.

    Stuff You Should Know

    Stuff You Should Know

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    Dateline NBC

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

    Betrayal Weekly

    Betrayal Weekly

    Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.

    The Joe Rogan Experience

    The Joe Rogan Experience

    The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

Explore

iHeart

Live Radio

Podcasts

Artist Radio

Exclusives

News

Features

Events

Contests

Photos

Information

About

Advertise

Blog

Brand Guidelines

Contest Guidelines

Subscription Offers

Jobs

Get the App

Automotive

Home

Wearables

© 2026 iHeartMedia, Inc.

  • Help
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • AdChoicesAd Choices