Science Weekly
Twice a week, the Guardian brings you the latest science and environment news
Episodes
October 16, 2025 • 19 mins
Celebrities including Bella Hadid, Justin Bieber and Miranda Hart have talked about their years-long struggles with the effects of Lyme disease, but despite rising rates and better awareness, the illness remains poorly understood. To understand more about how the illness can impact people over the long term, Madeleine Finlay hears from the Guardian’s Patrick Barkham about his daughter Milly’s experience, and from Prof John Aucott, ...
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October 14, 2025 • 15 mins
The Traitors has returned to UK screens with its biggest viewing figures ever as 19 celebrities compete to be crowned the winner. The game depends on being able to accurately spot a liar, but are any deception detection methods actually backed up by science? Madeleine Finlay speaks to Timothy Luke, a senior lecturer in the department of applied psychology at the University of Gothenburg, to find out whether sweating, nervous ticks ...
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October 8, 2025 • 20 mins
This year’s Nobel prizes in chemistry, physics and physiology or medicine have celebrated work that paves the way for the next generation of quantum technology, the creation of porous materials that have been compared to Hermione Granger’s handbag and the discovery of the hidden army inside us that helps to keep our immune system in check. To find out more, Madeleine Finlay talks to our science editor, Ian Sample, and correspondent...
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October 7, 2025 • 21 mins
Kevin Hall spent 21 years at the US National Institutes of Health and became known globally for his pioneering work on ultra-processed foods. In April he unexpectedly took early retirement, citing censorship under the Trump administration. Now he has co-authored a book with the journalist Julia Belluz that aims to bust myths and challenge wellness orthodoxy on everything from weight loss and metabolism to supplements and wearables....
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October 2, 2025 • 17 mins
The renowned primatologist Jane Goodall has died aged 91. She will be remembered for her observations that revolutionised our understanding of chimpanzees, as well as her tireless environmental advocacy. Ian Sample talks to the Guardian’s global environment editor Jon Watts, who met Goodall several times, to find out what her scientific legacy will be. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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October 2, 2025 • 18 mins
Scientists are warning that academic publishing needs urgent reform in order to retain trust in the research system. Ian Sample tells Madeleine Finlay what has gone so wrong, and Dr Mark Hanson of the University of Exeter proposes some potential solutions. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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September 30, 2025 • 13 mins
The Ig Nobel prizes were awarded recently – for science that makes you laugh and then think – and the peace prize was given to a cheeky study testing the link between alcohol and language proficiency. Does a drink really help us to converse more convincingly in another tongue, or does it just give us inflated confidence? To find out, Madeleine Finlay speaks to a member of the winning team, Dr Fritz Renner, a researcher in clinical ...
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September 24, 2025 • 20 mins
In a televised press conference on Monday, Donald Trump and health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr made a series of unproven claims about autism and its links to paracetamol use in pregnant women, and about childhood vaccinations. The comments were immediately refuted by scientists and health agencies around the world, but many expressed concern about the impact of this misinformation being repeated at the highest levels of governmen...
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September 23, 2025 • 14 mins
A trial is under way to find out if a £100 blood test could transform the way that the NHS diagnoses Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s is the leading cause of dementia and diagnosis is currently costly and time-consuming. To find out how this blood test could benefit patients, Ian Sample talks to Prof Jonathan Schott, who is co-leading the trial. He explains what the test involves and why it could pave the way for exciting new treat...
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September 18, 2025 • 18 mins
The murder of political activist Charlie Kirk has prompted fears about rising levels of political violence in the US after a number of high-profile assassinations and attempted assassinations of political figures in recent years. But how connected are these events and do they signal a rise in public support for this kind of violence? To find out Ian Sample speaks to Sean Westwood, an associate professor in political science at Dart...
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September 16, 2025 • 18 mins
At a recent ceremony for world leaders in Beijing, a hot mic picked up a surprising exchange between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping about the possibility of living to 150. Putin suggested the secret might lie in repeated organ transplants. But is this the new frontier of anti-ageing research or a fringe and unproven theory? To find out, science editor Ian Sample speaks to Russian affairs reporter Pjotr Sauer and to John S Tregoning,...
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September 11, 2025 • 16 mins
The fertility rate in England and Wales has fallen for the third year in a row – a trend mirrored across the world, with two-thirds of the global population now living in countries with below-replacement-level fertility. In the second episode of a two-part series, Madeleine Finlay speaks to Dean Spears, assistant professor of economics at the University of Texas at Austin, and Dr Jennifer Sciubba, chief executive of the Population ...
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September 9, 2025 • 19 mins
The fertility rate in England and Wales has fallen for the third year in a row. It is a story that is being repeated all over the world, with two thirds of the global population now living in countries with below replacement level fertility. Low fertility rates have become a talking point on the political right, with Elon Musk claiming that population decline is an existential threat to the future of humanity. But for others, the t...
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September 4, 2025 • 16 mins
Psychologists have traditionally believed we become less curious as we age, but recent research has shown that curiosity actually becomes more targeted and specific in our later years. To find out why this happens, and how maintaining broad curiosity into older age can help keep our brains young, Madeleine Finlay hears from Dr Mary Whatley, an assistant professor of psychology at Western Carolina University, and Dr Matthias Gruber,...
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September 2, 2025 • 17 mins
It’s been a dramatic week at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In the space of seven days, the agency’s head was sacked and replaced by an interim head, four senior staff members resigned, and existing staff took to the streets to express support for their ousted leaders. To understand how everything unfolded and what it could mean for the health of Americans, science editor Ian Sample hears from health repor...
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August 28, 2025 • 16 mins
There are increasing reports of people experiencing delusions after intensive use of AI chatbots. The phenomenon, dubbed ‘AI psychosis’, has raised concerns that features built into large language models may contribute to some users losing touch with reality. Madeleine Finlay speaks to Dr Hamilton Morrin, a psychiatrist and researcher at King’s College London, about his recent preprint exploring who is at risk and how models could ...
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August 26, 2025 • 16 mins
For more than a decade, scientists have been puzzling over what was causing billions of starfish to dissolve into piles of white goo. Sea star wasting disease has ravaged starfish populations, wiping out 90% of the once common sunflower sea star. Now, researchers have finally identified the culprit. Madeleine Finlay speaks to Dr Melanie Prentice, one of the team to crack the case. She explains the impact the disease has had on the ...
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August 21, 2025 • 19 mins
Scientists have found the first robust evidence that people’s genes affect their chances of developing myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), a mysterious and debilitating illness that has been neglected and dismissed for decades by many in the medical community. To find out more, Madeleine Finlay speaks to science editor Ian Sample and to Nicky Proctor, who has ME and took part in the research. She also he...
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August 19, 2025 • 15 mins
After three years of negotiating, talks over a global plastics treaty came to an end in Geneva last week with no agreement in place. So why has it been so difficult to get countries to agree to cut plastic production? Madeleine Finlay hears from Karen McVeigh, a senior reporter for Guardian Seascapes, about a particularly damaging form of plastic pollution causing devastation off the coast of Kerala, and where we go now that countr...
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August 14, 2025 • 16 mins
Europe is suffering from another heatwave as deadly temperatures of up to 44C hit the continent and wildfires blazed across the Mediterranean. To find out why Europe is heating faster than anywhere else, Madeleine Finlay speaks to the Guardian’s Europe environment correspondent, Ajit Niranjan, and to Adam Taylor, professor of anatomy at Lancaster University, to find out how we can try to stay cool as the temperature rises. Help sup...
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