Nature Podcast

In this episode:

00:45 A neutron detector could sniff out a secret space nuke

Research article: Danagoulian

11:52 Research Highlights

Nature: Volcanic magma sculpts eerie domes on the sea floor

Nature: Clues to the sloth’s sloth found in its genome

14:18 How indigenous knowledge in the Amazon could disappear

Research article: Cámara-Leret et al.

Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of ...

In this episode, we speak with science journalist Rowan Hooper, whose book Togetherness: Symbiosis and the Hidden Story of Life's Greatest Collaborations takes a deep-dive into the world of co-operation between organisms.

In the book, he argues that collaboration in nature has often been overlooked in favour of competition, and that organisms working together have played a vital role in making the world the way it is.

To...

Peptides — short chains of amino acids — have become huge online. The popularity of these molecules has skyrocketed and they are now the latest cure-all trend on social media.

But what does the science say about their effectiveness? Animal research suggests that that some of these experimental peptides hold promise, but evidence they work in people is lacking.

This is an audio version of our Feature: Is the peptid...

Nature staff discuss how apes share a rhythm of laughter, and how AI use may degrade skills in medicine and computer science.

00:32 Early evidence suggests that AI use causes skills to atrophy

Nature: Is AI ruining our skills? Early results are in — and they’re not good

06:42 Humans and chimps share a laugh

Nature: Oo oo, ha ha: why humans and great apes giggle alike when tickled

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In this episode:

00:46 How sensitive information can be gleaned from medical AIs

Research article: Knolle et al.

Correction: The story about medical AI-data privacy incorrectly stated that the number of individuals at high risk of a membership inference attack increases as training-dataset size grows. It should have stated that the increase in risk occurs when the AI model increases in capacity and size.

11...

Nature staff discuss preliminary data on the effects of GLP-1 drugs on male fertility plus a two-year trial of a brain-computer interface.

00:18 Brain-computer interface makes a life-changing impact

Nature: At-home brain implant gives man with motor neuron disease his daily life back

05:39 The possible benefits of obesity drugs on testosterone

Nature: The latest benefit of obesity drugs: boosting testosterone and sper...

In this episode:

00:45 Ancient evidence of deadly plague outbreaks

Research article: Macleod et al.

12:33 Research Highlights

Nature: Bones of Iron Age skeleton were whittled into tools

Nature: Giant crustacean of the deep sea steals a trick from bacteria

14:52 A prototype atom interferometer

Research article: Baynham et al.

Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science new...

In this episode:

00:37 Evidence that Stonehenge's Altar Stone travelled by glacier

BBC Science Focus: We may have just cracked one of Stonehenge's greatest mysteries

05:44 Fossilized faeces reveal DNA from ancient ecosystem

Nature: Ancient ground squirrels feasted on carcasses like ‘zombies of the Pleistocene’

Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion an...

In this episode:

00:46 A giant, ancient whale necropolis

Research article: Peng et al.

News & Views: A vast whale necropolis has been found

08:52 Research Highlights

Nature: Babies’ birth weight improves with help of payments to parents

Nature: Earliest signs of vision recorded in ancient sea-floor tracks

11:11 Turning plant material into chemical building-blocks

Research article: Mains et a...

In this episode:

00:23 Fossil evidence that spinosaurs had an aquatic lifestyle

Science: Some spinosaurs cried salty tears to thrive in brackish waters

04:57 The explosive immune cells that kill in minutes

Nature: Bang! Exploding immune cells splatter potent toxins everywhere

Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.

In this episode:

00:57 How your smartphone’s camera could measure your heart rate

Research article: Liao et al.

08:55 Research Highlights

Nature: A star gone rogue tears through the Galaxy

Nature: Gold keeps glittering courtesy of surface chemistry

11:04 Should you try something new in a restaurant? Maths has the answer

Nature: Feynman solved the ‘restaurant dilemma’ 50 years ago &m...

In this episode:

00:21 When witnesses identify suspects from police line-ups, confidence matters

Nature: Memory on trial: the new science of when to trust eyewitness testimony

07:15 Registered Reports: how this ‘double peer review’ process could benefit scientists and their results

Nature: Nature is expanding Registered Reports to all the fields in which we publish

On 17 May the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an ongoing Ebola outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. Centred on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, the outbreak has seen mounting numbers of suspected cases and deaths linked to the rare Bundibugyo species of Ebola virus.

In this podcast we hear what's currently known about the outbreak and the efforts of clinicians, researchers and pub...

In this episode:

00:46 Meet the AI scientists designed to accelerate research

Research article: Ghareeb et al.

Research article: Gottweis et al.

Nature: Teams of AI agents boost speed of research

Editorial: Why AI cannot do good science without humans

Nature: Do you hate or love AI? Take Nature’s poll

13:25 Research Highlights

Nature: Dried to survive: desiccated tardigrades tolerate high heat

Nature: Pristin...

In this episode:

00:34 What questions remain about the hantavirus outbreak?

Nature: Hantavirus outbreak exposes uncertainty about how disease spreads

Nature: There is no vaccine for deadly hantavirus: what that means for future outbreaks

Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.

Hosted o...

In this episode:

00:42 Is red-light therapy all hype?

Disclaimer: The opinions and assertions expressed herein by Juanita Anders are those of the speaker and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences or the Department of War.

Nature: The surprising science behind red-light therapy — and how it really works

10:52 Research Highlights

Nature: T...

Although scientists have long been able to gather DNA from water and soil, it's only recently that they've started to see the air as a source of genetic information.

Airborne DNA is already being used to monitor individual species, but researchers hope its abundance could have multiple uses, including judging the success of conservation efforts or attacks with biological weapons.

However, there remains much to understand, such as...

00:31 The science of attention spans

Nature Feature: Are attention spans really shrinking? What the science says

04:54 Data centres in space?

Nature News Explainer: AI data hubs in space: when will they take flight?

Nature Comment: Space diplomacy: bridging the operating gaps between myriad missions

Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis f...

In this episode:

00:42 Probing the unconscious brain’s processing ability

Research Article: Katlowitz et al.

Nature: Even the unconscious brain can learn — and predict what you’ll say next

12:32 Research Highlights

Nature: An electrifying test to find a good coffee

Nature: ​​​​​​​Forest pests hit trees hard as temperatures rise

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