Strange gamma-ray flickers seen in thunderstorms for the first time Nature Podcast 2024-10-02 | 00:46 Physicists spot new types of high-energy radiation in thunderstormsPhysicists have identified new forms of γ-ray radiation created inside thunderclouds, and shown that levels of γ-ray production are much higher on Earth than previously thought.Scientists already knew about two types of γ-ray phenomena in thunderclouds — glows that last as long as a minute and high-intensity flashes that come and go in only a few millionths of a second. Now, researchers have identified that these both occur more frequently than expected, and that previously undetected γ-ray types exist, including flickering flashes that share characteristics of the other two types of radiation.The researchers hope that understanding more about these mysterious phenomena could help explain what initiates lightning, which often follows these γ-ray events.Research Article: Østgaard et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07893-0Research Article: Marisaldi et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07936-6Nature: Mysterious form of high-energy radiation spotted in thunderstormsnature.com/articles/41586-024-03206-710:00 Research HighlightsAncient arrowheads reveal that Europe's oldest battle likely featured warriors from far afield, and why the dwarf planet Ceres’s frozen ocean has deep impurities.Research Highlight: Bronze Age clash was Europe’s oldest known interregional battlenature.com/articles/d41586-024-03090-1Research Highlight: A dwarf planet has dirty depths, model suggestsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-03088-912:09 A complete wiring diagram of the fruit fly brainResearchers have published the most complete wiring diagram, or ‘connectome’ of the fruit fly’s brain, which includes nearly 140,000 neurons and 54.5 million connections between nerve cells.The map, made from the brain of a single female fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), reveals over 8,400 neuron types in the brain, and has enabled scientists to learn more about the brain and how it controls aspects of fruit fly behaviour.The FlyWire connectome: neuronal wiring diagram of a complete fly brainnature.com/immersive/d42859-024-00053-4/index.htmlNature: Largest brain map ever reveals fruit fly's neurons in exquisite detailnature.com/articles/d41586-024-03190-y22:16 Briefing ChatHow researchers created an elusive single-electron bond between carbon atoms, and why bigger chatbots get over-confident when answering questions.Nature: Carbon bond that uses only one electron seen for first time: ‘It will be in the textbooks’nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03138-2Nature: Bigger AI chatbots more inclined to spew nonsense — and people don't always realizenature.com/articles/d41586-024-03137-3Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: nature.com/briefing/signup
Star-eating black hole could power cosmic particle accelerator Nature Podcast 2024-10-16 | 00:46 An unusual γ-ray producing microquasarA type of binary-system known as a microquasar has been found to be firing out γ-rays at high energy-levels, which may make it a candidate to be a long-theorized natural particle-accelerator known as a PeVatron. These objects are thought to be a source of galactic cosmic rays, the origins of which are currently a mystery.Understanding how this microquasar works could also help researchers learn more about full-sized quasars — monstrous objects centred around supermassive black holes, which are too distant to study easily.Research Article: Alfaro et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07995-9News and Views: High-altitude particle detector spots a second Galactic microquasarnature.com/articles/d41586-024-03191-x09:27 Research HighlightsThe comb jellies caught fusing their bodies, and an ancient burial site reveals that Classical accounts of Scythian culture appear to be true.Research Highlight: Two comb jellies fuse their bodies and then act as onenature.com/articles/d41586-024-03202-xResearch Highlight: Evidence of dead people posed on dead horses found in ancient tombnature.com/articles/d41586-024-03204-912:08 A ‘smart’ insulin-molecule that could lower hypoglycaemia riskResearchers have developed a modified insulin-molecule that varies its level of activity depending on blood-glucose levels. It’s hoped that this ‘smart’ insulin could one day help those with diabetes regulate their blood sugar more easily.Many people with diabetes rely on regular insulin injections, but because blood-sugar levels can be difficult to predict it can be hard to select the correct dose. This can lead to hypoglycaemia — a life-threateningly low level of glucose. To overcome this, a team created a modified form of insulin with a switch that activates the molecule when glucose levels are high, and deactivates it when levels are low. This insulin-molecule was effective at maintaining correct blood glucose in animal models, and may eventually help lessen diabetes-related complications in humans.Research Article: Hoeg-Jensen et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08042-3News and Views: Smart insulin switches itself off in response to low blood sugarnature.com/articles/d41586-024-03286-520:33 Briefing ChatAncient DNA confirms that infamous lions hunted humans and a variety of game, and a new technique can sequence a cell’s DNA and pinpoint its proteins, without cracking it open.Nature: Famed lions’ full diet revealed by DNA — and humans were among their preynature.com/articles/d41586-024-03278-5Nature: ‘Phenomenal’ tool sequences DNA and tracks proteins — without cracking cells opennature.com/articles/d41586-024-03276-7Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: nature.com/briefing/signup
This AI powered tongue can tell Coke and Pepsi apart Nature Podcast 2024-10-09 | 00:55 Graphene TongueResearchers have developed a graphene ‘tongue’ that uses AI to tell the subtle differences between drinks. Graphene has long been sought after as a chemical sensor, but tiny variations between devices have meant that it couldn’t be used very reliably. The team behind the ‘tongue’ got around this problem by training an AI to tell the difference between similar liquids regardless of variations between graphene devices. They hope that their work shows that it’s possible to use ‘imperfect’ chemical sensors to get accurate readings and that the ‘tongue’ will be able to help detect problems with food.Research Article: Pannone et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08003-w09:22 Research HighlightsA 3D-printed optical microscope that can image biological samples with ultrahigh resolution, and how newly-hatched sea turtles dig their way up to the beach. Research Highlight: A ‘Swiss army knife’ microscope that doesn’t break the banknature.com/articles/d41586-024-03140-8Research Highlight: Baby sea turtles ‘swim’ up from buried nests to the open airnature.com/articles/d41586-024-03142-611:32 How migrating salmon move nutrients and contaminants at a continental scaleStudies of migrating Pacific salmon have revealed that these animals transport thousands of tonnes of nutrients and kilograms of contaminants from the ocean to freshwater ecosystems. It’s been known that as the fish return to their freshwater spawning grounds from the sea they bring with them both nutrients and contaminants, but the impact of each has largely been studied separately. A new study combines datasets to estimate that over 40 years, the levels of nutrients these fish carry have increased at a proportionally higher rate than the contaminants, but the toxins could nevertheless be present at concerning levels to the animals that eat them.Research Article: Brandt et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07980-2News and Views: Salmon’s moveable feast of nutrients with a side order of contaminantsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02808-523:19 Nobel NewsFlora Graham from the Nature Briefing joins us to talk about the winners of this year’s science Nobel Prizes.News: Medicine Nobel awarded for gene-regulating ‘microRNAs’nature.com/articles/d41586-024-03212-9News: Physics Nobel scooped by machine-learning pioneersnature.com/articles/d41586-024-03213-8News: Chemistry Nobel goes to developers of AlphaFold AI that predicts protein structuresnature.com/articles/d41586-024-03214-7Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: nature.com/briefing/signup
Mysterious GAMMA-RAY flickers spotted in tropical thunderclouds ⚡️☢️⛈️ Nature Podcast 2024-10-05 | Did you know that tropical thunderclouds can emit invisible gamma rays?Scientists already knew about two types of gamma-ray phenomena in clouds — long glows and momentary flashes. Now, by flying a plane over a storm, researchers have shown that these gamma-rays are much more common than we thought.Find out more in the Nature Podcast youtube.com/watch?v=y9vrBdHhmSQ
Audio long read: A day in the life of the world’s fastest supercomputer Nature Podcast 2024-09-27 | The world's fastest supercomputer, known as Frontier, is located at the Leadership Computing Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. This machine churns through data at record speed, outpacing 100,000 laptops working simultaneously.With nearly 50,000 processors, Frontier was designed to push the bounds of human knowledge. It's being used to create open-source large language models to compete with commercial AI systems, simulate proteins for drug development, help improve aeroplane engine design, and more.This is an audio version of our Feature: A day in the life of the world’s fastest supercomputernature.com/articles/d41586-024-02832-5
Children with Downs syndrome are more likely to get leukaemia: stem-cells hint at why Nature Podcast 2024-09-25 | In this episode:00:46 Unravelling why children with Down’s syndrome are at a higher risk of leukaemiaChildren with Down’s syndrome have a 150-fold increased risk of developing leukaemia than those without the condition. Now, an in-depth investigation has revealed that changes to genome structures in fetal liver stem-cells appear to be playing a key role in this increase.Down’s syndrome is characterised by cells having an extra copy of chromosome 21. The team behind this work saw that in liver stem-cells — one of the main places blood is produced in a growing fetus — this extra copy results in changes in how DNA is packaged in a nucleus, opening up areas that are prone to mutation, including those known to be important in leukaemia development.The researchers hope their work will be an important step in understanding and reducing this risk in children with Down’s syndrome.Research Article: Marderstein et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07946-4News and Views: Childhood leukaemia in Down’s syndrome primed by blood-cell biasnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02785-911:47 Research HighlightsHow taking pints of beer off the table lowers alcohol consumption, and a small lizard’s ‘scuba gear’ helps it stay submerged.Research Highlight: A small fix to cut beer intake: downsize the pintnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02974-6Research Highlight: This ‘scuba diving’ lizard has a self-made air supplynature.com/articles/d41586-024-02977-314:12 Briefing ChatHow tiny crustaceans use ‘smell’ to find their home cave, and how atomic bomb X-rays could deflect an asteroid away from a deadly Earth impact.Science: In the dark ocean, these tiny creatures can smell their way homescience.org/content/article/dark-ocean-these-tiny-creatures-can-smell-their-way-homeNature: Scientists successfully ‘nuke asteroid’ — in a lab mock-upnature.com/articles/d41586-024-03128-4
The macabre wasp that lays its eggs *inside* live fruit flies 🪰 Nature Podcast 2024-09-21 | Drosophila fruit flies are well studied insects. For over a century, these tiny animals have been at the centre of some of the biggest molecular and genetic breakthroughs in science. But despite being under the microscope all this time, it looks like researchers have missed something. And that something is a minuscule wasp that preys on them.This wasp species, named Syntretus perlmani, was discovered by chance in an infected fruit fly collected in a Mississippi backyard. Only a couple of millimetres long, it lays its eggs inside adult fruit flies. These eggs develop into larvae which grow and feast inside the host before bursting out to continue their lifecycle.Despite being new to science, genomic analysis suggests its widespread across much of the US.youtube.com/watch?v=cvQVh5vnDQw&t=1170s
Colossal jets shooting from a black hole defy physicists theories Nature Podcast 2024-09-20 | In this episode:00:45 The biggest black hole jets ever seenAstronomers have spotted a pair of enormous jets emanating from a supermassive black hole with a combined length of 23 million light years — the biggest ever discovered. Jets are formed when matter is ionized and flung out of a black hole, creating enormous and powerful structures in space. Thought to be unstable, physicists had theorized there was a limit to how large these jets could be, but the new discovery far exceeds this, suggesting there may be more of these monstrous jets yet to be discovered.Research Article: Oei et al.https://www.nature.com/articles/s4158...09:44 Research HighlightsThe knitted fabrics designed to protect wearers from mosquito bites, and the role that islands play in fostering language diversity.Research Highlight: Plagued by mosquitoes? Try some bite-blocking fabricshttps://www.nature.com/articles/d4158...Research Highlight: Islands are rich with languages spoken nowhere elsehttps://www.nature.com/articles/d4158...12:26 A sustainable, one-step method for alloy productionMaking metal alloys is typically a multi-step process that creates huge amounts of emissions. Now, a team demonstrates a way to create these materials in a single step, which they hope could significantly reduce the environmental burdens associated with their production. In a lab demonstration, they use their technique to create an alloy of nickel and iron called invar — a widely-used material that has a high carbon-footprint. The team show evidence that their method can produce invar to a quality that rivals that of conventional manufacturing, and suggest their technique is scalable to create alloys at an industrial scale.Research article: Wei et al.https://www.nature.com/articles/s4158...25:29 Briefing ChatHow AI-predicted protein structures have helped chart the evolution of a group of viruses, and the neurons that cause monkeys to ‘choke’ under pressure.Nature News: Where did viruses come from? AlphaFold and other AIs are finding answershttps://www.nature.com/articles/d4158...Nature News: Why do we crumble under pressure? Science has the answerhttps://www.nature.com/articles/d4158...
These black hole jets are HUNDREDS of Milky Way galaxies long 🕳️ Nature Podcast 2024-09-19 | Black holes are often thought of in terms of sucking things in, but in some cases they also fling stuff out as well. When this happens matter gets ionized and fired out from the top and bottom of the black holes. These violent and powerful phenomena are known as black hole jets. The biggest of these are made by supermassive black holes and can be up to several million light years in size. And now a team has seen the biggest yet. It’s around 7 megaparsecs, or 23 million light years, in size. To put that another way, if you take the Milky Way as being 100,000 light years across then that's like 233 milky way galaxies stacked on top of each other end to end. That is a full six and a half million light years bigger than the maximum size astronomers theorised these jets to be.youtube.com/watch?v=V2Bx91IG0xA
Ancient DNA debunks Rapa Nui ‘ecological suicide’ theory Nature Podcast 2024-09-11 | In this episode:00:45 What ancient DNA has revealed about Rapa Nui’s pastAncient DNA analysis has further demonstrated that the people of Rapa Nui did not cause their own population collapse, further refuting a controversial but popular claim. Rapa Nui, also known as Easter island, is famous for its giant Moai statues and the contested idea that the people mismanaged their natural resources leading to ‘ecological suicide’. Genomes sequenced from the remains of 15 ancient islanders showed no evidence of a sudden population crash, substantiating other research challenging the collapse idea.Research Article: Moreno-Mayar et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07881-4News and Views: Rapa Nui’s population history rewritten using ancient DNAnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02620-1News article: Famed Pacific island’s population 'crash' debunked by ancient DNAnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02962-w17:03 Research HighlightsThe extinct bat-eating fish that bit off more than they could chew, and how manatee dung shapes an Amazonian ecosystem.Research Highlight: Ancient fish dined on bats — or died tryingnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02847-yResearch Highlight: The Amazon’s gargantuan gardeners: manateesnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02874-919:29 A macabre parasite of adult fruit fliesDespite being a hugely-studied model organism, it seems that there’s still more to find out about the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, as researchers have discovered a new species of parasitoid wasp that infects the species. Unlike other parasitic wasps, this one lays its eggs in adult flies, with the developing larva devouring its host from the inside. The miniscule wasp was discovered by chance in an infected fruit fly collected in a Mississippi backyard and analysis suggests that despite having never been previously identified, it is widespread across parts of North America.Research article: Moore et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07919-732:04 Briefing ChatHow a dye that helps to give Doritos their orange hue can turn mouse tissues transparent, and an effective way to engage with climate-science sceptics.Nature News: Transparent mice made with light-absorbing dye reveal organs at worknature.com/articles/d41586-024-02887-4Nature News: How to change people’s minds about climate change: what the science saysnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02777-9Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.nature.com/briefing/signup
The baseless stat that could be harming Indigenous conservation efforts Nature Podcast 2024-09-06 | The often repeated claim that "80% of the world's biodiversity is found in the territories of Indigenous Peoples" appears widely in policy documents and reports, yet appears to have sprung out of nowhere. According to a group of researchers, including those from Indigenous groups, this baseless statistic could be undermining the conservation efforts of the Indigenous People it's meant to support and prevent further work to really understand how best to conserve biodiversity.Two of the authors joined us to discuss how this statistic may have come about, the harm it could cause, and how better to support the work of Indigenous Peoples.Read more in a Comment article from the authors: No basis for claim that 80% of biodiversity is found in Indigenous territoriesnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02811-wSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: nature.com/briefing/signup
Long-sought nuclear clocks are one tick closer Nature Podcast 2024-09-04 | 00:45 Why a 'nuclear clock' is now within researchers’ reachResearchers have made a big step towards the creation of the long theorized nuclear clock, by getting the most accurate measurement of the frequency of light required to push thorium nuclei into a higher energy state. Such a timekeeper would differ from the best current clocks as their ‘tick’ corresponds to the energy transitions of protons and neutrons, rather than electrons. Nuclear clocks have the potential to be more robust and accurate than current systems, and could offer researchers new insights into fundamental forces present within atomic nuclei.Research Article: Zhang et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07839-6News and Views: Countdown to a nuclear clockhttp://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02662-5Nature News: ‘Nuclear clock’ breakthrough paves the way for super-precise timekeepingnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02865-wEditorial: Progress on nuclear clocks shows the benefits of escaping from scientific silosnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02829-010:10 Research HighlightsThe star that got partially shredded by a supermassive black hole, not just once, but twice, and how heatwaves could mangle bumblebees’ sense of smell.Research Highlight: This unlucky star got mangled by a black hole — twicenature.com/articles/d41586-024-02654-5Research Highlight: Bumblebees’ sense of smell can’t take the heatnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02703-z12:11 How engineered immune cells could help limit damage after spinal injuryBy harnessing T cells to fine-tune the inflammation response, researchers have limited the damage caused by spinal injury in mice, an approach they hope might one day translate into a human therapy. Following injury to the central nervous system, immune cells rush to the scene, resulting in a complex array of effects, both good and bad. In this work researchers have identified the specific kind of T cells that amass at the site, and used them to create an immunotherapy that helps the mice recover more quickly from injuries by slowing damage to neurons.Research article: Gao et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07906-y20:36 Briefing ChatHow unprecedented floods in Brazil have helped and hindered paleontologists, and the ‘AI scientist’ that does everything from literature review through to manuscript writing, to an extent.Nature News: The race to save fossils exposed by Brazil’s record-setting floodsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02794-8Nature News: Researchers built an ‘AI Scientist’ — what can it do?nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02842-3Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: nature.com/briefing/signup
Audio long read: So you got a null result. Will anyone publish it? Nature Podcast 2024-08-30 | The 'file-drawer problem', where findings with null or negative results gather dust and are left unpublished, is well known in science. There has been an overriding perception that studies with positive or significant findings are more important, but this bias can have real-world implications, skewing perceptions of drug efficacies, for example.Multiple efforts to get negative results published have been put forward or attempted, with some researchers saying that the incentive structures in academia, and the ‘publish or perish’ culture, need to be overturned in order to end this bias.This is an audio version of our Feature: So you got a null result. Will anyone publish it?nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02383-9
Covert racism in AI chatbots, precise Stone Age engineering, and the science of paper cuts Nature Podcast 2024-08-28 | 00:31 Chatbots makes racist judgements on the basis of dialectResearch has shown that large language models, including those that power chatbots such as ChatGPT, make racist judgements on the basis of users’ dialect. If asked to describe a person, many AI systems responded with racist stereotypes when presented with text written in African American English — a dialect spoken by millions of people in the United States that is associated with the descendants of enslaved African Americans — compared with text written in Standardized American English. The findings show that such models harbour covert racism, even when they do not display overt racism, and that conventional fixes to try and address biases in these models had no effect on this issue.Research Article: Hoffman et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07856-5News and Views: LLMs produce racist output when prompted in African American Englishnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02527-xNature News: Chatbot AI makes racist judgements on the basis of dialectnature.com/articles/d41586-024-00779-107:01 How ancient engineers built a megalithic structureThe 6,000-year-old Dolmen of Menga is a marvel of ancient engineering. New research reveals new insights into the structure and the technical abilities of the Neolithic builders who constructed it. The work shows that a setup of counterweights and ramps may have been used to correctly position the massive sandstone blocks that make up walls of the structure, which were each tilted at precise, millimetre-scale angles. The researchers suggest that this construction shows that the Neolithic people who built the dolmen had a working understanding of physics, geometry, geology and architectural principles.Nature News: Stone Age builders had engineering savvy, finds study of 6000-year-old monumentnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02776-w12:28 Spider makes fireflies flash as baitOrb-weaving spiders (Araneus ventricosus) use ensnared male Absocondita terminalis fireflies to trick more insects into their web. A bite from the spider causes the flashing pattern of the trapped firefly to shift to one resembling a female looking to mate, leading others into an ambush. Exactly how this system works is unclear, but researchers say it is a rare example of a predator altering the behaviour of its prey to catch others.Science: Spiders force male fireflies to flash like females—luring more males to their deathscience.org/content/article/spiders-force-male-fireflies-flash-females-luring-more-males-their-death16:35 The physics of paper cutsBy combining experiments and theoretical work, a team has unraveled the mystery of why only certain types of paper can cut into human skin. Their work shows that paper that is too thin will buckle without cutting, while paper that’s too thick will distribute force over a relatively large area without inflicting damage. The research suggests that the sweet spot for slicing is paper with around 65 micrometres in thickness, which includes the kind used to print certain high-profile journals…Research Highlight: What Science and Nature are good for: causing paper cutsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02297-6
Can ageing be stopped? A biologist explains Nature Podcast 2024-08-22 | For millennia, humanity has obsessed about halting ageing and, ultimately, preventing death. Yet while advances in medicine and public-health have seen human life-expectancy more than double, our maximum lifespan stubbornly remains around 120 years.On the latest episode of 'Nature hits the books', Nobel laureate Venki Ramakrishnan joins us to discuss what scientists have learnt about the molecular processes underlying ageing, whether they can be prevented, and why the quest for longevity also need to consider the health-related issues associated with old age.Why We Die: The New Science of Ageing and the Quest for Immortality Venki Ramakrishnan Hodder (2024)Music supplied by Airae/Epidemic Sound/Getty images.
AI cant learn new things forever — an algorithm can fix that Nature Podcast 2024-08-21 | 00:46 Old AIs can’t learn new tricksAn algorithm that reactivates dormant ‘neurons’ in deep learning based AIs could help them overcome their inability to learn new things and make future systems more flexible, research has shown. AIs based on deep learning struggle to learn how to tackle new tasks indefinitely, making them less adaptable to new situations. The reasons for this are unclear, but now a team has identified that ‘resetting’ parts of the neural networks underlying these systems can allow deep learning methods to keep learning continually.Research Article: Dohare et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07711-7News and Views: Switching between tasks can cause AI to lose the ability to learnhttp://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02525-z 08:55 Research HighlightsTo stop crocodiles eating poisonous toads researchers have been making them sick, and a sacrificed child in ancient Mexico was the progeny of closely related parents.Research Highlight: How to train your crocodilenature.com/articles/d41586-024-02610-3 Research Highlight: DNA of child sacrificed in ancient city reveals surprising parentagenature.com/articles/d41586-024-02612-1 11:20 Briefing ChatHow video games gave people a mental health boost during the pandemic, and where the dinosaur-destroying Chicxulub asteroid formed.Nature News: PlayStation is good for you: video games improved mental health during COVIDnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02643-8 Nature News: Dinosaur-killing Chicxulub asteroid formed in Solar System’s outer reachesnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02647-4 Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: nature.com/briefing/signup
The mystery of Stonehenges central stone unearthed Nature Podcast 2024-08-14 | 00:48 The mystery of Stonehenge’s Altar StoneStonehenge’s central stone came from Northern Scotland, more than 600 miles away from the monument, according to a new analysis of its geochemistry. It is commonly accepted that many of the rocks that make up the iconic neolithic monument came from Wales, 150 miles from the site. Previously, it had been thought that a central stone, called the Altar Stone, had also come from this area, known as the Preseli Hills. The new work suggests that the ancient Britons went much further, perhaps ferrying the Altar Stone hundreds of miles, to place the rock at the centre of Stonehenge. Research Article: Clarke et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07652-1 News: Stonehenge’s enigmatic centre stone was hauled 800 kilometres from Scotlandhttp://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02584-2 12:12 Research HighlightsHow a parasite could help scientists break through the blood-brain barrier, and the physics of skateboard moves.Research Highlight: Engineered brain parasite ferries useful proteins into neuronsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02506-2 Research Highlight: How expert skateboarders use physics on the half-pipenature.com/articles/d41586-024-02507-1 14:13 A new way to break bondsChemists have demonstrated a way to break Selenium-Selenium bonds unevenly, something they have been trying for decades. Chemical bonds have to be broken and reformed to create new compounds, but they often don’t break in a way that allows chemists to form new bonds in the ways they would like. Breaks are often ‘even’, with electrons shared equally between atoms. To prevent such an even split, a team used a specific solvent and a combination of light and heat to force the selenium bonds to break unevenly. This could potentially open up ways to create compounds that have never been made before.Research Article: Tiefel et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07622-7News and Views: Innovative way to break chemical bonds broadens horizons for making moleculesnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02437-y Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: nature.com/briefing/signup
ChatGPT has a language problem — but science can fix it Nature Podcast 2024-08-09 | AIs built on Large Language Models have wowed by producing particularly fluent text. However, their ability to do this is limited in many languages. As the data and resources used to train a model in a specific language drops, so does the performance of the model, meaning that for some languages the AIs are effectively useless.Researchers are aware of this problem and are trying to find solutions, but the challenge extends far beyond just the technical, with moral and social questions to be answered. This podcast explores how Large Language Models could be improved in more languages and the issues that could be caused if they are not.Watch our related video of people trying out ChatGPT in different languages: youtube.com/watch?v=bgjVJHp0W28
Where weird plants thrive: aridity spurs diversity of traits Nature Podcast 2024-08-07 | 00:48 Plant trait diversity in drylandsA study reveals that, unexpectedly, plants display a greater diversity of traits in drier environments. Trait diversity is a measure of an organism's performance in an environment and can include things like the size of a plant or its photosynthetic rate. Whilst there are good data on this kind of diversity in temperate regions, an assessment of drylands has been lacking. The new study fills this knowledge gap and finds that, counter to a prevailing expectation that fewer traits would be displayed, at a certain level of aridity trait diversity doubles. The team behind the new work hope that it can help us better protect biodiversity as the planet warms and areas become drier.Research Article: Gross et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07731-308:25 Research HighlightsButterflies and moths use static charge to pick up pollen, and quantum physics rules out black holes made of light.Research Highlight: Charged-up butterflies draw pollen through the airnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02491-6 Research Highlight: Black holes made from light? Impossible, say physicistsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02505-3 10:59 The Great Barrier Reef is the hottest it’s been for centuriesAn assessment of coral skeletons has shown that the past decade has been the warmest for the Great Barrier Reef for 400 years. By looking at the chemical composition of particularly old specimens of coral in the reef, researchers were able to create a record of temperatures going back to 1618. In addition to showing recent record breaking temperatures they also developed a model that suggests that such temperatures are very unlikely to occur without human-induced climate change. Altogether, the study suggests that the reef is in dire straits and much of the worlds’ coral could be lost.Research Article: Henley et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07672-xNews and Views: Coral giants sound the alarm for the Great Barrier Reefnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02329-1 Nature News: Water temperatures at Great Barrier Reef hit 400-year high in 2024http://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02529-9 18:56 ‘Publish or Perish’ becomes a card gameMost researchers are familiar with the refrain ‘Publish or Perish’ — the idea that publications are the core currency of a scientist’s career — but now that can be played out for laughs in a new board game. Created as a way to help researchers “bond over shared trauma”, the game features many mishaps familiar to academics, scrambles for funding and scathing comments, all while players must compete to get the most citations on their publications. Reporter Max Kozlov set out to avoid perishing and published his way to a story about the game for the Nature Podcast.Nature News: ‘Publish or Perish’ is now a card game — not just an academic’s lifenature.com/articles/d41586-024-02511-5 Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: nature.com/briefing/signup
How light-based computers could cut AI’s energy needs Nature Podcast 2024-07-31 | 00:45 Increasing the energy efficiency of light-based computersComputer components based on specialised LEDs could reduce the energy consumption of power hungry AI systems, according to new research. AI chips with components that compute using light can run more efficiently than those using digital electronics, but these light-based systems typically use lasers that can be bulky and difficult to control. To overcome these obstacles, a team has developed a way to replace these lasers with LEDs, which are cheaper and more efficient to run. Although only a proof of concept, they demonstrate that their system can perform some tasks as well as laser-based computers.Research Article: Dong et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07590-yNews and Views: Cheap light sources could make AI more energy efficientnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02323-710:36 Research HighlightsThe genes that make roses smell so sweet, and how blocking inflammation could reduce heart injury after a stroke.Research Highlight: How the rose got its iconic fragrancenature.com/articles/d41586-024-02424-3Research Highlight: Strokes can damage the heart — but reining in the immune system might helpnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02426-113:02 What researchers know about H5N1 influenza in cowsThe highly-pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 was first identified in US cattle in March 2024 and has been detected in multiple herds across the country. We round up what researchers currently know about this spread, what can be done to prevent it, and the risks this outbreak may pose to humans.Nature News: Can H5N1 spread through cow sneezes? Experiment offers cluesnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02322-8Nature News: Huge amounts of bird-flu virus found in raw milk of infected cowsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01624-1Nature News: Could bird flu in cows lead to a human outbreak? Slow response worries scientistsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01416-7Research article: Eisfeld et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07766-622:38 Briefing ChatNASA’s Perseverance rover finds a Martian rock containing features associated with fossilized microbial life, and how metallic nodules on the ocean floor could be the source of mysterious ‘dark oxygen’Space.com: NASA's Perseverance Mars rover finds possible signs of ancient Red Planet lifespace.com/nasa-perseverance-mars-rover-rock-ancient-lifeNature News: Mystery oxygen source discovered on the sea floor — bewildering scientistsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02393-7Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: nature.com/briefing/signup
Audio long read: Hope, despair and CRISPR — the race to save one woman’s life Nature Podcast 2024-07-26 | In India, a group of researchers raced to develop a CRISPR-based genome editing therapy to save the life of a young woman with a rare neurodegenerative disease. Despite a valiant effort, the pace of research was ultimately too slow to save her life. While many are convinced that these therapies could offer hope to those with overlooked genetic conditions, it will likely take years to develop the techniques needed to quickly create bespoke treatments, something people in need don't have.This is an audio version of our Feature: Hope, despair and CRISPR — the race to save one woman’s lifenature.com/articles/d41586-024-01716-y
Rapid sepsis test identifies bacteria that spark life-threatening infection Nature Podcast 2024-07-24 | 00:48 A rapid way to identify serious bacterial infectionsA newly-developed method that can rapidly identify the type of bacteria causing a blood-infection, and the correct antibiotics to treat it, could save clinicians time, and patient lives. Blood infections are serious, and can lead to the life-threatening condition sepsis, but conventional diagnostic methods can take days to identify the causes. This new method does away with some of the time-consuming steps, and the researchers behind it say that if it can be fully automated, it could provide results in less than a day.Research Article: Kim et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07725-111:49 Research HighlightsThe discovery of a connection between three star-forming interstellar clouds could help explain how these giant structures form, and evidence of the largest accidental methane leak ever recorded.Research Highlight: Found: the hidden link between star-forming molecular cloudsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02266-zResearch Highlight: Blowout! Satellites reveal one of the largest methane leaks on recordnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02267-y14:22 AIs fed AI-generated text start to spew nonsenseWhen artificial intelligences are fed data that has itself been AI-generated, these systems quickly begin to spout nonsense responses, according to new research. Typically, large language model (LLM) AI’s are trained on human-produced text found online. However, as an increasing amount of online content is AI-generated, a team wanted to know how these systems would cope. They trained an AI to produce Wikipedia-like entries, then trained new iterations on the model on the text produced by its predecessor. Quickly the outputs descended into gibberish, which highlights the dangers of the Internet becoming increasingly full of AI-generated text.Research Article: Shumailov et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07566-y25:49 Briefing ChatHow psilocybin — the hallucinogenic compound found in magic mushrooms — resets communication between brain regions, and the surprise cancellation of a NASA Moon mission.Nature News: Your brain on shrooms — how psilocybin resets neural networksnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02275-yNature News: NASA cancels $450-million mission to drill for ice on the Moon — surprising researchersnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02361-1Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: nature.com/briefing/signup
The plastic that biodegrades in your home compost Nature Podcast 2024-07-17 | 01:04 A gel to safely transport proteinsA gel that encases proteins could be a new way to safely transport medicines without requiring them to be kept cold, according to new research. To test it, the team behind the work posted themselves a protein suspended in this gel, showing that it was perfectly preserved and retained its activity, despite being dropped in transit and exposed to varying temperatures. The researchers hope this gel will help overcome the need to freeze protein-based medicines, which can be expensive to do and difficult to maintain during transportation.Research Article: Bianco et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07580-0News and Views: Gel protects therapeutic proteins from deactivation — even in the postnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02233-808:51 Research HighlightsHow an abundance of cicadas led to a host of raccoon activity, and how wine-grape harvest records can be used to estimate historical summertime temperaturesResearch Highlight: Massive cicada emergence prompted raccoons to run wildnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02264-1Research Highlight: Wine grapes’ sweetness reveals Europe’s climate historynature.com/articles/d41586-024-02200-311:24 Making a plastic biodegradableBy embedding a plastic with an engineered enzyme, researchers have developed a fully biodegradable material that can be broken down in a home compost heap. Plastic production often requires high temperatures, so the team adapted an enzyme to make it more able to withstand heat, while still able to break down a common plastic called PLA. They hope this enzyme-embedded plastic could replace current single-use items, helping to reduce the huge amount of waste produced each year.Research Article: Guicherd et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07709-119:53 Briefing ChatThis time, how to make lab-grown meat taste more meaty, and a subterranean Moon cave that could be a place for humans to shelter.Nature News: This lab-grown meat probably tastes like real beefnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02273-0The Guardian: Underground cave found on moon could be ideal base for explorerstheguardian.com/science/article/2024/jul/15/underground-cave-found-on-moon-could-be-ideal-base-for-explorers Nature hits the books: Living on Mars would probably suck — here's whynature.com/articles/d41586-024-01158-6Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: nature.com/briefing/signup
Breastfeeding should break down mothers bones — heres why it doesnt Nature Podcast 2024-07-10 | 00:45 In situ editing of the gut microbiomeResearchers have developed a method to directly edit the genes of specific bacteria in the guts of live mice, something that has previously been difficult to accomplish due to the complexity of this environment. The tool was able to edit over 90% of an E. coli strain colonising mice guts, with other work showing the tool could be used to edit genes in pathogenic bacterial species and strains. It is hoped that with further research this technique could be adapted to work in humans, potentially altering bacteria associated with disease.Nature News: This gene-editing tool alters bacteria in the gut of living micenature.com/articles/d41586-024-02238-3Research Article: Brödel et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07681-w06:56 Research HighlightsThe ants that perform life-saving surgery on their nest-mates, and why amber’s scarcity led ancient artisans to make imitation jewellery.Research Highlight: Ants amputate their nest-mates’ legs to save livesnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02138-6Research Highlight: Fake jewellery from the Stone Age looks like the real dealnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02139-508:46 How is bone health maintained during breastfeeding?During breastfeeding bones are stripped of calcium, while levels of oestrogen — which normally helps keep them healthy — drop off precipitously. This puts bones under tremendous stress, but why they don’t break down at this time has proved a mystery. Now, a team has identified a hormone produced in lactating mice that promotes the build up of bones, keeping them strong during milk production. Injecting this hormone into injured mice helped their bones heal faster, and the team hopes that their finding could ultimately help treat bone-weakening conditions like osteoporosis in humans.Research Article: Babey et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07634-317:55 Briefing ChatThis time, new clues about the neurological events that spark migraines, and a quick chemical method to recycle old clothes.Nature News: What causes migraines? Study of ‘brain blackout’ offers cluesnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02222-xNature News: Chemical recycling’: 15-minute reaction turns old clothes into useful moleculesnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02210-1Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: nature.com/briefing/signup
These frog saunas’ could help endangered species fight off a deadly fungus Nature Podcast 2024-07-03 | 00:47 Searching for dark matter in black holesResearchers have been scanning the skies looking for black holes that formed at the very beginning of the Universe — one place where elusive and mysterious dark matter is thought to be located. If these black holes did contain dark matter, they would be especially massive and so researchers would be able to see the bending of light as they pass in front of stars. Such events would be rare, so to find them researchers trawled through a decades-long dataset. However, despite the large number of observations, the researchers didn't find many examples of these events and none that were long enough to show signs of much dark matter. So, the hunt for enigmatic material goes on.Research Article: Mróz et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07704-6 09:42 Research HighlightsHow some comb jellies survive the crushing ocean depths, and how giving cash to mothers in low-income households can boost time and money spent on children.Research Highlight: Deep-sea creatures survive crushing pressures with just the right fatsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02099-w Research Highlight: Families given cash with no strings spend more money on kidsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02097-y 12:39 A simple, solution to tackle a deadly frog diseaseA simple ‘sauna’ built of bricks and a supermarket-bought greenhouse, can help frogs rid themselves of a devastating fungal disease, new research has shown. While options to prevent or treat infection are limited, the fungus that causes the disease chytridiomycosis has an achilles heel: it can’t survive at warm temperatures. A team in Australia used this knowledge to their advantage to develop saunas where frogs can warm themselves to clear an infection. Frogs who spent time in these hot environments were able to shake the fungus, and gained some immunity to subsequent infections. While this research only involved one type of frog, it offers some hope in tackling a deadly disease that has driven multiple species to extinction.Research Article: Waddle et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07582-y News and Views: Mini saunas save endangered frogs from fungal diseasenature.com/articles/d41586-024-01650-z 20:06 Briefing ChatThis time, we discuss what the upcoming UK election could mean for science, and the return of rock samples from the Moon’s far side.Nature News: UK general election: five reasons it matters for sciencenature.com/articles/d41586-024-02110-4 Nature News: First ever rocks from the Moon’s far side have landed on Earthnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02101-5 Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: nature.com/briefing/signup
Audio long read: How NASA astronauts are training to walk on the Moon in 2026 Nature Podcast 2024-06-28 | In 2026, NASA aims to send humans back to the Moon's surface, as part of the Artemis III mission. In preparation, astronauts have been performing moonwalking simulations to ensure that they are able to make the most of their precious time on the lunar surface. In one dress rehearsal, a pair of astronauts took part in a training exercise in an Arizona volcanic field, working with a science team to practice doing geology work in difficult conditions designed to mimic some that will be experienced at the lunar south pole.This is an audio version of our Feature: How NASA astronauts are training to walk on the Moon in 2026nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01533-3Image credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel
Why ‘open source’ AIs could be anything but, the derailment risks of long freight trains, and bre... Nature Podcast 2024-06-26 | 00:31 How open are ‘open source’ AI systems?Many of the large language models powering AI systems are described as ‘open source’ but critics say this is a misnomer, with restricted access to code and training data preventing researchers from probing how these systems work. While the definition of open source in AI models is yet to be agreed, advocates say that ‘full’ openness is crucial in efforts to make AI accountable. New research has ranked the openness of different systems, showing that despite claims of ‘openness’ many companies still don’t disclose a lot of key information.Nature News: Not all ‘open source’ AI models are actually open: here’s a ranking06:12 Why longer freight trains are more prone to derailmentIn the US, there are no federal limits on the length of a freight train, but as companies look to run longer locomotives, questions arise about whether they are at greater risk of derailment. To find out, a team analysed data on accidents to predict the chances of longer trains coming off the tracks. They showed that replacing two 50-car freight trains with one 100-car train raises the odds of derailment by 11%, with the chances increasing the longer a train gets. While derailments are uncommon, this could change as economic pressures lead the freight industry to experiment with ever-longer trains.Scientific American: Longer and Longer Freight Trains Drive Up the Odds of Derailment11:44 How historic wheat could give new traits to current cropsGenes from century-old wheat varieties could be used to breed useful traits into modern crops, helping them become more disease tolerant and reducing their need for fertiliser. Researchers sequenced the genomes of hundreds of historic varieties of wheat held in a seed collection from the 1920s and 30s, revealing a huge amount of genetic diversity unseen in modern crops. Plant breeding enabled the team to identify some of the areas of the plants’ genomes responsible for traits such as nutritional content and stress tolerance. It’s hoped that in the long term this knowledge could be used to improve modern varieties of wheat.Science: ‘Gold mine’ of century-old wheat varieties could help breeders restore long lost traitsSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
How do fish know where a sound comes from? Scientists have an answer Nature Podcast 2024-06-21 | 00:46 How light touches are sensed during sex150 years after they were discovered, researchers have identified how specific nerve-cell structures on the penis and clitoris are activated. While these structures, called Krause corpuscles, are similar to touch-activated corpuscles found on people’s fingers and hands, there was little known about how they work, or their role in sex. Working in mice, a team found that Krause corpuscles in both male and females were activated when exposed to low-frequency vibrations and caused sexual behaviours like erections. The researchers hope that this work could help uncover the neurological basis underlying certain sexual dysfunctions.News: Sensory secrets of penis and clitoris unlocked after more than 150 yearsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-02058-5Research article: Qi et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07528-4News and Views: Sex organs sense vibrations through specialized touch neuronsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01645-w07:03 Research HighlightsAstronomers struggle to figure out the identity of a mysterious object called a MUBLO, and how CRISPR gene editing could make rice plants more water-efficient.Research Highlight: An object in space is emitting microwaves — and baffling scientistsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01702-4Research Highlight: CRISPR improves a crop that feeds billionsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01701-509:21 How fish detect the source of soundIt’s long been understood that fish can identify the direction a sound came from, but working out how they do it is a question that’s had scientists stumped for years. Now using a specialist setup, a team of researchers have demonstrated that some fish can independently detect two components of a soundwave — pressure and particle motion — and combine this information to identify where a sound comes from.Research article: Veith et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07507-9News and Views: Pressure and particle motion enable fish to sense the direction of soundnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01509-3D. cerebrum sounds: Schulze et al.nature.com/articles/s41592-018-0144-620:30: Briefing ChatAncient DNA sequencing reveals secrets of ritual sacrifice at Chichén Itzá, and how AI helped identify the names that elephants use for each other.Nature News: Ancient DNA from Maya ruins tells story of ritual human sacrificesnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01759-1Nature News: Do elephants have names for each other?nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00797-zSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: nature.com/briefing/signup
Hybrid working works: huge study reveals no drop in productivity Nature Podcast 2024-06-12 | 00:48 Short-haul spaceflight's effect on the human body.A comprehensive suite of biomedical data, collected during the first all-civilian spaceflight, is helping researchers unpick the effects that being in orbit has on the human body. Analysis of data collected from the crew of SpaceX’s Inspiration4 mission reveals that short duration spaceflight can result in physiological changes similar to those seen on longer spaceflights. These changes included things like alterations in immune-cell function and a lengthening of DNA telomeres, although the majority of these changes reverted soon after the crew landed.Collection: Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA) across orbitsnature.com/collections/ebdbcahdgc 12:13 Research HighlightsResearchers have discovered why 2019 was so awash with Painted Lady butterflies, and the meaning behind gigantic rock engravings along the Orinoco river.Research Highlight: A huge outbreak of butterflies hit three continents — here’s whynature.com/articles/d41586-024-01653-w Research Highlight: Mystery of huge ancient engravings of snakes solved at lastnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01656-7 14:55 The benefits of working from home, some of the timeA huge trial of hybrid working has shown that this approach can help companies retain employees without hurting productivity. While a mix of home and in-person working became the norm for many post-pandemic, the impacts of this approach on workers’ outputs remains hotly debated and difficult to test scientifically. To investigate the effects of hybrid working, researchers randomly selected 1,612 people at a company in China to work in the office either five days a week or three. In addition to the unchanged productivity, employees said that they value the days at home as much as a 10% pay rise. This led to an increase in staff retention and potential savings of millions of dollars for the company involved in the trial.Research article: Bloom et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07500-2Editorial: The case for hybrid working is growing — employers should take notehttp://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01713-1 25:50: Briefing ChatGermany balks at the $17 billion bill for CERN’s new supercollider, and working out when large language models might run out of data to train on.Nature News: CERN’s $17-billion supercollider in question as top funder criticizes costnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01671-8 Associated Press: AI ‘gold rush’ for chatbot training data could run out of human-written textapnews.com/article/ai-artificial-intelligence-training-data-running-out-9676145bac0d30ecce1513c20561b87d Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: nature.com/briefing/signupSubscribe to Nature Briefing: AI and Robotics: nature.com/briefing/ai-robotics
Twitter suspended 70,000 accounts after the Capitol riots and it curbed misinformation Nature Podcast 2024-06-05 | 00:46 Making a molecular Bose-Einstein condensateFor the first time, researchers have coaxed molecules into a bizarre form of matter called a Bose-Einstein condensate, in which they all act in a single gigantic quantum state. While condensates have been made using atoms for decades, the complex interactions of molecules have prevented them from being cooled into this state. Now, a team has successfully made a Bose-Einstein condensate using molecules made of caesium and sodium atoms, which they hope will allow them to answer more questions about the quantum world, and could potentially form the basis of a new kind of quantum computer.Research article: Bigagli et al. nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07492-zNews: Physicists coax molecules into exotic quantum state — ending decades-long questnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01662-99:57 How deplatforming affects the spread of social media misinformationThe storming of the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 resulted in the social media platform Twitter (now X) rapidly deplatforming 70,000 users deemed to be sharers of misinformation. To evaluate the effect of this intervention, researchers analysed the activity of over 500,000 Twitter users, showing that it reduced the sharing of misinformation, both from the deplatformed users and from those who followed them. Results also suggest that other misinformation traffickers who were not deplatformed left Twitter following the intervention. Together these results show that social media platforms can curb misinformation sharing, although a greater understanding of the efficacy of these actions in different contexts is required.Research article: McCabe et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07524-8Editorial: What we do — and don’t — know about how misinformation spreads onlinenature.com/articles/d41586-024-01618-zComment: Misinformation poses a bigger threat to democracy than you might thinknature.com/articles/d41586-024-01587-320:14: Briefing ChatA new antibiotic that can kill harmful bacteria without damaging the gut microbiome, and the tiny plant with the world’s biggest genome.News: ‘Smart’ antibiotic can kill deadly bacteria while sparing the microbiomenature.com/articles/d41586-024-01566-8News: Biggest genome ever found belongs to this odd little plantnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01567-7Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: nature.com/briefing/signup
How AI could improve robotics, the cockroach’s origins, and promethium spills its secrets Nature Podcast 2024-05-29 | In this episode:00:25 What the rise of AI language models means for robotsCompanies are melding artificial intelligence with robotics, in an effort to catapult both to new heights. They hope that by incorporating the algorithms that power chatbots it will give robots more common-sense knowledge and let them tackle a wide range of tasks. However, while impressive demonstrations of AI-powered robots exist, many researchers say there is a long road to actual deployment, and that safety and reliability need to be considered.News Feature: The AI revolution is coming to robots: how will it change them?nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01442-516:09 How the cockroach became a ubiquitous pestGenetic research suggests that although the German cockroach (Blattella germanica) spread around the world from a population in Europe, its origins were actually in South Asia. By comparing genomes from cockroaches collected around the globe, a team could identify when and where different populations might have been established. They show that the insect pest likely began to spread east from South Asia around 390 years ago with the rise of European colonialism and the emergence of international trading companies, before hitching a ride into Europe and then spreading across the globe.Nature News: The origin of the cockroach: how a notorious pest conquered the worldnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01454-120:26: Rare element inserted into chemical 'complex' for the first timePromethium is one of the rarest and most mysterious elements in the periodic table. Now, some eight decades after its discovery, researchers have managed to bind this radioactive element to other molecules to make a chemical ‘complex’. This feat will allow chemists to learn more about the properties of promethium filling a long-standing gap in the textbooks.Nature News: Element from the periodic table’s far reaches coaxed into elusive compoundnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01480-zSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.nature.com/briefing
How mathematician Freeman Hrabowski opened doors for Black scientists Nature Podcast 2024-05-28 | Growing up in Alabama in the 1960s, mathematician Freeman Hrabowski was moved to join the civil rights moment after hearing Martin Luther King Jr speak. Even as a child, he saw the desperate need to make change. He would go on to do just that — at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, where he co-founded the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, one of the leading pathways to success for Black students in STEM subjects in the United States.Freeman is the subject of the first in a new series of Q&As in Nature celebrating ‘Changemakers’ in science — individuals who fight racism and champion inclusion. He spoke to us about his about his life, work and legacy.Career Q&A: I had my white colleagues walk in a Black student’s shoes for a day
Audio long read: How does ChatGPT ‘think’? Psychology and neuroscience crack open AI LLMs Nature Podcast 2024-05-24 | AIs are often described as 'black boxes' with researchers unable to to figure out how they 'think'. To better understand these often inscrutable systems, some scientists are borrowing from psychology and neuroscience to design tools to reverse-engineer them, which they hope will lead to the design of safer, more efficient AIs.This is an audio version of our Feature: How does ChatGPT ‘think’? Psychology and neuroscience crack open AI large language modelsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01314-yImage credit: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg/Getty
Fentanyl addiction: the brain pathways behind the opioid crisis Nature Podcast 2024-05-22 | 00:45 The neuroscience of fentanyl addictionResearch in mice has shown that fentanyl addiction is the result of two brain circuits working in tandem, rather than a single neural pathway as had been previously thought. One circuit underlies the positive feelings this powerful drug elicits, which the other was responsible for the intense withdrawal when it is taken away. Opioid addiction leads to tens of thousands of deaths each year, and the team hopes that this work will help in the development of drugs that are less addictive.Research Article: Chaudun et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07440-x09:16 Research HighlightsHow an ‘assembloid’ could transform how scientists study drug delivery to the brain, and an edible gel that prevents and treats alcohol intoxication in mice.Research Highlight: Organoids merge to model the blood–brain barriernature.com/articles/d41586-024-01397-7Research Highlight: How cheesemaking could cook up an antidote for alcohol excessnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01398-611:36: Briefing ChatWhy babies are taking the South Korean government to court, and Europe’s efforts to send a nuclear-powered heater to Mars.Nature News: Why babies in South Korea are suing the governmentnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01457-yNature News: Mars rover mission will use pioneering nuclear power sourcenature.com/articles/d41586-024-01487-6Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: nature.com/briefing/signup
Lizard-inspired building design could save lives Nature Podcast 2024-05-15 | In this episode:00:45 A recyclable 3D printing resin from an unusual sourceMany 3D printers create objects using liquid resins that turn into robust solids when exposed to light. But many of these are derived from petrochemicals that are difficult to recycle. To overcome this a team has developed a new type of resin, which they’ve made using a bodybuilding supplement called lipoic acid. Their resin can be printed, recycled and reused multiple times, which they hope could in future contribute to reducing waste associated with 3D printing.Research Article: Machado et alnature.com/articles/s41586-024-07399-910:05 Research HighlightsHow housing shortages can drive a tiny parrot resort to kill, and the genes that gave cauliflower its curls.Research Highlight: These parrots go on killing sprees over real-estate shortagesnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01288-xResearch Highlight: How the cauliflower got its curlicuesnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01286-z12:27 To learn how to make safe structures researchers... destroyed a buildingMany buildings are designed to prevent collapse by redistributing weight following an initial failure. However this relies on extensive structural connectedness that can result in an entire building being pulled down. To prevent this, researchers took a new approach inspired by the ability of some lizards to shed their tails. They used this to develop a modular system, which they tested by building — and destroying — a two storey structure. Their method stopped an initial failure from spreading, preventing a total collapse. The team hope this finding will help prevent catastrophic collapses, reducing loss of life in aid rescue efforts.Research Article: Makoond et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07268-5Nature video: Controlled failure: The building designed to limit catastropheyoutube.com/watch?v=Jfy2Koq3uOE23:20: Briefing ChatAn AI algorithm discovers 27,500 new asteroids, and an exquisitely-accurate map of a human brain section reveals cells with previously undiscovered features.New York Times: Killer Asteroid Hunters Spot 27,500 Overlooked Space Rocksnytimes.com/2024/04/30/science/killer-asteroids-algorithm.html?unlocked_article_code=1.q00.1O4A.5Xi5j0U-B1eD&smid=url-shareNature News: Cubic millimetre of brain mapped in spectacular detailnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01387-9Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: nature.com/briefing/signupSubscribe to Nature Briefing: AI and robotics: nature.com/briefing/ai-robotics
Alphafold 3.0: the AI protein predictor gets an upgrade Nature Podcast 2024-05-08 | In this episode:00:45 A nuclear timekeeper that could transform fundamental-physics research.Nuclear clocks — based on tiny shifts in energy in an atomic nucleus — could be even more accurate and stable than other advanced timekeeping systems, but have been difficult to make. Now, a team of researchers have made a breakthrough in the development of these clocks, identifying the correct frequency of laser light required to make this energy transition happen. Ultimately it’s hoped that physicists could use nuclear clocks to probe the fundamental forces that hold atoms together.News: Laser breakthrough paves the way for ultra precise ‘nuclear clock’nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01353-510:34 Research HighlightsWhy life on other planets may come in purple, brown or orange, and a magnetic fluid that could change shape inside the body.Research Highlight: Never mind little green men: life on other planets might be purplenature.com/articles/d41586-024-01261-8 Research Highlight: A magnetic liquid makes for an injectable sensor in living tissuenature.com/articles/d41586-024-01262-7 13:48 AlphaFold gets an upgradeDeepmind’s AlphaFold has revolutionised research by making it simple to predict the 3D structures of proteins, but it has lacked the ability to predict situations where a protein is bound to another molecule. Now, the AI has been upgraded to AlphaFold 3 and can accurately predict protein-molecule complexes containing DNA, RNA and more. Whilst the new version is restricted to non-commercial use, researchers are excited by its greater range of predictive abilities and the prospect of speedier drug discovery.News: Major AlphaFold upgrade offers huge boost for drug discoverynature.com/articles/d41586-024-01383-zResearch Article: Abramson et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07487-w Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: nature.com/briefing/signup
Dads microbiome can affect offsprings health — in mice Nature Podcast 2024-05-01 | In this episode:00:46 Using genomics to explain geographic differences in cancer riskThe risk of developing cancer can vary hugely depending on geographic region, but it’s not exactly clear why. To get a better idea, a team has compared the genomes of kidney cancers taken from people around the globe. They reveal a link between geographical locations and specific genetic mutations, suggesting that there are as-yet unknown environmental or chemical exposures in different locations. They hope this work will inform public health efforts to identify and reduce potential causes of cancer.Research Article: Senkin et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07368-2News and Views: Genomics reveal unknown mutation-promoting agents at global sitesnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01190-607:46 Research HighlightsResearch reveals that the extinct ‘sabre-toothed salmon’ actually had tusks, and a common fungus that can clean up both heavy-metal and organic pollutants.Research Highlight: This giant extinct salmon had tusks like a warthognature.com/articles/d41586-024-01146-wResearch Highlight: Garden-variety fungus is an expert at environmental clean-upsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01145-x09:55 How disrupting a male mouse’s microbiome affects its offspringDisruption of the gut microbiota has been linked to issues with multiple organs. Now a team show disruption can even affect offspring. Male mice given antibiotics targeting gut microbes showed changes to their testes and sperm, which lead to their offspring having a higher probability of severe growth issues and premature death. Although it’s unknown whether a similar effect would be seen in humans, it suggests that factors other than genetics play a role in intergenerational disease susceptibility.Research article: Argaw-Denboba et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07336-wNews and Views: Dad’s gut microbes matter for pregnancy health and baby’s growthhttp://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01191-517:23 Briefing ChatAn updated atlas of the Moon that was a decade in the making, and using AI to design new gene-editing systems.Nature News: China's Moon atlas is the most detailed ever madenature.com/articles/d41586-024-01223-0Nature News: ‘ChatGPT for CRISPR’ creates new gene-editing toolsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01243-wSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: go.nature.com/get-the-nature-briefing
Sex and gender discussions dont need to be toxic Nature Podcast 2024-05-01 | Ever since scientific enquiry began, people have focused mainly on men, or if studies involve animals, on male mice, male rats or whatever it may be. And this has led to gaps in scientists’ understanding of how diseases, and responses to treatment, and many other things might vary between people of different sexes and genders.These days, mainly thanks to big funders like the NIH introducing new guidelines and mandates, a lot more scientists are thinking about sex and, where appropriate, gender. And this has led to a whole host of discoveries.But all this research is going on within a sociopolitical climate that’s becoming increasingly hostile and polarized, particularly in relation to gender identity. And in some cases, science is being weaponized to push agendas, creating confusion and fear.It is clear that sex and gender exist beyond a simple binary. This is widely accepted by scientists and it is not something we will be debating in this podcast. But this whole area is full of complexity, and there are many discussions which need to be had around funding, inclusivity or research practices.To try to lessen fear, and encourage clearer, less divisive thinking, today, we have asked three contributors to a special series of opinion pieces on sex and gender - Florence Ashley, Margaret McCarthy and Stacey Ritz - to come together and thrash out how exactly scientists can fill in years of neglected research – and move forward with exploring the differences between individuals in a way that is responsible, inclusive and beneficial to as many people as possible.Read more in the collection: nature.com/immersive/sex-and-gender-in-science/index.html
Audio long read: Why loneliness is bad for your health Nature Podcast 2024-04-26 | Many people around the world feel lonely. Chronic loneliness is known to have far-reaching health effects and has been linked to multiple conditions and even early death. But the mechanisms through which feeling alone can lead to poor health is a puzzle. Now, researchers are looking at neurons in the hopes that they may help explain why health issues arise when social needs go unmet.This is an audio version of our Feature Why loneliness is bad for your healthnature.com/articles/d41586-024-00900-4Image credit: Richard Baker/In Pictures/Getty
How gliding marsupials got their wings Nature Podcast 2024-04-24 | In this episode:00:46 Optical clocks at seaOptical atomic clocks are the most precise timekeeping devices on the planet, but these devices are huge and difficult to work with, limiting their use outside of the lab. Now, researchers have developed a portable optical clock and demonstrated its robustness by sending it on a perilous sea journey. The team hope that this work will pave the way to more practical uses of optical clocks, such as on satellites where they could help improve the accuracy of GPS technologies.Research Article: Roslund et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07225-2News and Views: Robust optical clocks promise stable timing in a portable packagenature.com/articles/d41586-024-01022-709:34 Research HighlightsEvidence of ritual burning of the remains of a Maya royal family, and the first solid detection of an astrophysical tau-neutrino.Research Highlight: Burnt remains of Maya royalty mark a dramatic power shiftnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01075-8Research Highlight: Detectors deep in South Pole ice pin down elusive tau neutrinonature.com/articles/d41586-024-01073-w11:52 How marsupial gliding membranes evolvedSeveral marsupial species have evolved a membrane called a patagium that allows them to glide gracefully from tree to tree. Experiments show that mutations in areas of DNA around the gene Emx2 were key to the evolution of this ability, which has appeared independently in multiple marsupial species.Research article: Moreno et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07305-3News and Views: Marsupial genomes reveal how a skin membrane for gliding evolvedhttp://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01021-819:22 Briefing ChatHow overtraining AIs can help them discover novel solutions, and researchers manage to make one-atom thick sheets of ‘goldene’.Quanta Magazine: How Do Machines ‘Grok’ Data?quantamagazine.org/how-do-machines-grok-data-20240412 Nature news: Meet ‘goldene’: this gilded cousin of graphene is also one atom thicknature.com/articles/d41586-024-01118-0 Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: nature.com/briefing/signupSubscribe to Nature Briefing: AI and robotics: nature.com/briefing/ai-roboticsImage credit: : Auscape International/Alamy
Living on Mars would probably suck — heres why Nature Podcast 2024-04-19 | Humans setting up home in outer space has long been the preserve of science fiction. Now, thanks to advances in technology and the backing of billionaires, this dream could actually be realised. But is it more likely to be a nightmare?Kelly and Zach Weinersmith join us to discuss their new book A City on Mars and some of the medical, environmental and legal roadblocks that may prevent humanity from ultimately settling in space.A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through? Kelly and Zach Weinersmith Particular Books (2023)Image credit: Zach Weinersmith
Keys, wallet, phone: the neuroscience behind working memory Nature Podcast 2024-04-17 | In this episode:00:46 Mysterious methane emission from a cool brown dwarfThe James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is revealing the makeup of brown dwarfs — strange space objects that blur the line between a planet and a star. And it appears that methane in the atmosphere of one of these objects, named W1935, is emitting infrared radiation. Where the energy comes from is a mystery however, researchers hypothesise that the glow could be caused by an aurora in the object’s atmosphere, perhaps driven by an as-yet unseen moon.Research Article: Faherty et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07190-w10:44 Research HighlightsThe discovery that bitter taste receptors may date back 450 million years, and the first planet outside the Solar System to boast a rainbow-like phenomenon called a ‘glory’.Research Highlight: Bitter taste receptors are even older than scientists thoughtnature.com/articles/d41586-024-01031-6Research Highlight: An exoplanet is wrapped in glorynature.com/articles/d41586-024-01032-513:07 How working memory worksWorking memory is a fundamental process that allows us to temporarily store important information, such as the name of a person we’ve just met. However distractions can easily interrupt this process, leading to these memories vanishing. By looking at the brain activity of people doing working-memory tasks, a team have now confirmed that working memory requires two brain regions: one to hold a memory as long as you focus on it; and another to control its maintenance by helping you to not get distracted.Research article: Daume et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07309-zNews and Views: Coupled neural activity controls working memory in humansnature.com/articles/d41586-024-00963-322:31 Briefing ChatThe bleaching event hitting coral around the world, and the first evidence of a nitrogen-fixing eukaryote.New York Times: The Widest-Ever Global Coral Crisis Will Hit Within Weeks, Scientists Saynytimes.com/2024/04/15/climate/coral-reefs-bleaching.htmlNature News: Scientists discover first algae that can fix nitrogen — thanks to a tiny cell structurenature.com/articles/d41586-024-01046-zNature video: AI and robotics demystify the workings of a fly's wingyoutube.com/watch?v=J-guci0Exz8Vote for us in the Webbys: go.nature.com/3TVYHmPImage credit: Getty
The ghost roads driving tropical deforestation Nature Podcast 2024-04-10 | In this episode:00:46 Mapping ‘ghost roads’ in tropical forestsAcross the world, huge numbers of illegal roads have been cut into forests. However, due to their illicit nature, the exact numbers of these roads and their impacts on ecosystems is poorly understood. To address this, researchers have undertaken a huge mapping exercise across the tropical Asia-Pacific region. Their findings reveal over a million kilometres of roads that don’t appear on official maps, and that their construction is a key driver for deforestation.Research Article: Engert et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07303-510:44 Research HighlightsHow climate change fuelled a record-breaking hailstorm in Spain, and an unusual technique helps researchers detect a tiny starquake.Research Highlight: Baseball-sized hail in Spain began with a heatwave at seanature.com/articles/d41586-024-00966-0Research Highlight: Smallest known starquakes are detected with a subtle shift of colour13:02 Briefing ChatA clinical trial to test whether ‘mini livers’ can grow in a person’s lymph node, and the proteins that may determine left-handedness.Nature News: ‘Mini liver’ will grow in person’s own lymph node in bold new trialnature.com/articles/d41586-024-00975-zNature News: Right- or left-handed? Protein in embryo cells might help decidenature.com/articles/d41586-024-00977-xNature video: How would a starfish wear trousers? Science has an answeryoutube.com/watch?v=ZxfTkjkgZt0Vote for us in the Webbys: go.nature.com/3TVYHmPSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: go.nature.com/get-the-nature-briefingImage credit: Paul Hilton/Greenpeace
Audio long read: Why are so many young people getting cancer? What the data say Nature Podcast 2024-04-05 | Around the world, rates of cancers that typically affect older adults are increasing in those under 50 years old. Models based on global data predict that the number of early-onset cancer cases like these will increase by around 30% between 2019 and 2030.The most likely contributors — such as rising rates of obesity and early-cancer screening — do not fully account for the increase. To try and understand the reasons behind this trend, many researchers are searching for answers buried in studies that tracked the lives and health of children born half a century ago.This is an audio version of our Feature Why are so many young people getting cancer? What the data saynature.com/articles/d41586-024-00720-6Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post/Getty
Pregnancys effect on biological age, polite-birds, and the carbon cost of home-grown veg Nature Podcast 2024-04-03 | In this episode:00:35 Pregnancy advances your ‘biological’ age — but giving birth turns it backGrowing a baby leads to changes in the distribution of certain chemical markers on a pregnant person’s DNA, but new research suggests that after giving birth, these changes can revert to an earlier state.Nature News: Pregnancy advances your ‘biological’ age — but giving birth turns it backnature.com/articles/d41586-024-00843-w08:07 Bird gestures to say 'after you'A Japanese tit (Parus minor) will flutter its wings to invite their mate to enter the nest first. Use of these sorts of gestures, more complex than simply pointing at an object of interest, were thought to be limited to great apes, suggesting that there are more non-vocal forms of communication to be found in the animal kingdom.Scientific American: Wild Birds Gesture ‘After You’ to Insist Their Mate Go Firstscientificamerican.com/article/wild-birds-gesture-after-you-to-insist-their-mate-go-first13:34 The carbon cost of home-grown vegResearch have estimated that the carbon footprint of home-grown food and community gardens is six-times greater than conventional, commercial farms. This finding surprised the authors — keen home-growers themselves — who emphasize that their findings can be used to help make urban efforts (which have worthwhile social benefits) more carbon-efficient.BBC Future: The complex climate truth about home-grown tomatoesbbc.com/future/article/20240322-the-most-climate-friendly-vegetables-to-grow-in-your-garden20:29 A look at next week's total eclipseOn 8th April, a total eclipse of the Sun is due to trace a path across North America. We look at the experiments taking place and what scientists are hoping to learn.
How climate change is affecting global timekeeping Nature Podcast 2024-03-27 | 01:28 Inflammation’s role in memoryHow memories are stored is an ongoing question in neuroscience. Now researchers have found an inflammatory pathway that responds to DNA damage in neurons has a key role in the persistence of memories. How this pathway helps memories persist is unclear, but the researchers suggest that how the DNA damage is repaired may play a role. As inflammation in the brain is often associated with disease, the team were surprised by this finding, which they hope will help uncover ways to better preserve our memories, especially in the face of neurodegenerative disorders.Research Article: Jovasevic et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07220-7News and Views: Innate immunity in neurons makes memories persistnature.com/articles/d41586-024-00679-4 08:40 Research HighlightsThe effect of wind turbines on property values, and how waste wood can be used to 3D print new wooden objects.Research Highlight: A view of wind turbines drives down home values — but only brieflynature.com/articles/d41586-024-00766-6 Research Highlight: Squeeze, freeze, bake: how to make 3D-printed wood that mimics the real thingnature.com/articles/d41586-024-00767-5 11:14 How melting ice is affecting global timekeepingDue to variations in the speed of Earth’s rotation, the length of a day is rarely exactly 24 hours. By calculating the strength of the different factors affecting this, a researcher has shown that while Earth’s rotation is overall speeding up, this effect is being tempered by the melting of the polar ice caps. As global time kept by atomic clocks occasionally has to be altered to match Earth’s rotation, human-induced climate change may delay plans to add a negative leap-second to ensure the two align.Research article: Agnewnature.com/articles/s41586-024-07170-0News and Views: Melting ice solves leap-second problem — for nownature.com/articles/d41586-024-00850-x 20:04 Briefing ChatAn AI for antibody development, and the plans for the upcoming Simons observatory.Nature News: ‘A landmark moment’: scientists use AI to design antibodies from scratchnature.com/articles/d41586-024-00846-7 Nature News: ‘Best view ever’: observatory will map Big Bang’s afterglow in new detailnature.com/articles/d41586-024-00333-z Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: go.nature.com/get-the-nature-briefingSubscribe to Nature Briefing: AI and robotics: nature.com/briefing/ai-roboticsImage credit: Getty
AI hears hidden X factor in zebra finch love songs Nature Podcast 2024-03-22 | This podcast has been corrected: in a previous version at 5:55 we stated that that the team's 200mm devices currently contain only a couple of magnetic tunnelling junctions, in fact they studied 500-1000 devices in this work.In this episode:00:48 How mysterious skyrmions could power next-generation computersSkyrmions are tiny whirlpools of magnetic spin that some researchers believe have useful properties that could unlock new kinds of computing. However getting skyrmions to perform useful computational tasks has been tricky. Now researchers have developed a method to create and manipulate skyrmions in a way that is compatible with existing computing technology, allowing them to read and write data at a fraction of the energy cost of conventional systems. The team think this shows that skyrmions could be a viable part of the next generation of computers.Research Article: Chen et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07131-7News and Views: Magnetic whirlpools offer improved data storagenature.com/articlesd41586-024-00576-w07:51 Research HighlightsHow robotically-enhanced, live jellyfish could make ocean monitoring cheap and easy, and how collective saliva tests could be a cost-effective way of testing for a serious infant infection.Research Highlight: These cyborg jellyfish could monitor the changing seasnature.com/articles/d41586-024-00731-3Research Highlight: Pooling babies’ saliva helps catch grave infection in newbornsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-00733-110:01 AI identifies X factor hidden within Zebra finch songsMale songbirds often develop elaborate songs to demonstrate their fitness, but many birds only learn a single song and stick with it their entire lives. How female birds judge the fitness between these males has been a long-standing puzzle. Now, using an AI-based system a team has analysed the songs of male zebra finches and shown that some songs have a hidden factor that is imperceptible to humans. Although it’s not clear exactly what this factor is, songs containing it were shown to be harder to learn and more attractive to females. The researchers hope that this AI-based method will allow them to better understand what makes some birdsong more attractive than others.Research article: Alam et al. nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07207-4News and Views: Birds convey complex signals in simple songsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-00677-620:04 Briefing ChatHow H5N1 avian influenza is threatening penguins on Antarctica, and why farmed snake-meat could be a more environmentally-friendly way to produce protein for food.Nature News: Bird-flu threat disrupts Antarctic penguin studiesnature.com/articles/d41586-024-00807-0Scientific American: Snake Steak Could Be a Climate-Friendly Source of Proteinscientificamerican.com/article/snake-steak-could-be-a-climate-friendly-source-of-proteinSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday:Image credit: Chris Ison/Alamy
Killer whales have menopause. Now scientists think they know why Nature Podcast 2024-03-14 | In this episode:00:45 Making a map of the human heartThe human heart consists of multiple, specialised structures that all work together to enable the organ to beat for a lifetime. But exactly which cells are present in each part of the heart has been difficult to ascertain. Now, a team has combined molecular techniques to create an atlas of the developing human heart at an individual cell level. Their atlas provides insights into how cell communities communicate and form different structures. They hope that this knowledge will ultimately help in the treatment of congenital heart conditions, often caused by irregular development of the heart.Research article: Farah et al. nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07171-zNature video: Building a heart atlasyoutube.com/watch?v=B0JF05dCe2w08:37 Research HighlightsResidue in ceramic vases suggests that ancient Mesoamerican peoples consumed tobacco as a liquid, and a wireless way to charge quantum batteries.Research Highlight: Buried vases hint that ancient Americans might have drunk tobacconature.com/articles/d41586-024-00602-xResearch Highlight: A better way to charge a quantum batterynature.com/articles/d41586-024-00652-111:11 The evolution of menopause in toothed whalesMenopause is a rare phenomenon, only known to occur in a few mammalian species. Several of these species are toothed whales, such as killer whales, beluga whales and narwhals. But why menopause evolved multiple times in toothed whales has been a long-standing research question. To answer it, a team examined the life history of whales with and without menopause and how this affected the number of offspring and ‘grandoffpsring’. Their results suggest that menopause allows older females to help younger generations in their families and improve their chances of survival.Research Article: Ellis et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07159-9News and Views: Whales make waves in the quest to discover why menopause evolvednature.com/articlesd41586-024-00658-918:03 Briefing ChatHow the new generation of anti-obesity drugs could help people with HIV, and the study linking microplastics lodged in a key blood vessel with serious health issues.Nature News: Blockbuster obesity drug leads to better health in people with HIVnature.com/articles/d41586-024-00691-8Nature News: Landmark study links microplastics to serious health problemsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-00650-3Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: go.nature.com/get-the-nature-briefingImage credit: Espen Bergersen/Nature Picture Library
These tiny fish combine electric pulses to probe the environment Nature Podcast 2024-03-06 | In this episode:00:48 Bumblebees can learn new tricks from each otherOne behaviour thought unique to humans is the ability to learn something from your predecessors that you couldn’t figure out on your own. However, researchers believe they have shown bumblebees are also capable of this ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’ approach to learning. Bees that were taught how to complete a puzzle too difficult to solve on their own, were able to share this knowledge with other bees, raising the possibility that this thought-to-be human trait could be widespread amongst animals.Research article: Bridges et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07126-4News and Views: Bees and chimpanzees learn from others what they cannot learn alonehttp://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00427-8 16:55 Research HighlightsWhy the Krakatau eruption made the skies green, and the dining habits of white dwarf stars.Research Highlight: Why sunsets were a weird colour after Krakatau blew its topnature.com/articles/d41586-024-00601-yResearch Highlight: This dying star bears a jagged metal scarnature.com/articles/d41586-024-00564-0 19:28 The fish that collectively, electrically senseMany ocean-dwelling animals sense their environment using electric pulses, which can help them hunt and avoid predators. Now research shows that the tiny elephantnose fish can increase the range of this sense by combining its pulses with those of other elephantnose fish. This allows them to discriminate and determine the location of different objects at a much greater distance than a single fish is able to. This is the first time a collective electric sense has been seen in animals, which could provide an ‘early-warning system', allowing a group to avoid predators from a greater distance.Research Article: Pedraja and Sawtellnature.com/articles/s41586-024-07157-x 27:54 Briefing ChatThe organoids made from cells derived from amniotic fluid, and the debate over the heaviest animal.Nature News: Organoids grown from amniotic fluid could shed light on rare diseasesnature.com/articles/d41586-024-00656-x The New York Times: Researchers Dispute Claim That Ancient Whale Was Heaviest Animal Evernytimes.com/2024/02/29/science/giant-whale-perucetus.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ZU0.ylgi.BjIh0UdTAXWk Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: go.nature.com/get-the-nature-briefingImage credit: Shutterstock
Could this one-time ‘epigenetic’ treatment control cholesterol? Nature Podcast 2024-02-28 | In this episode:00:49 What caused the Universe to become fully transparent?Around 13 billion years ago, the Universe was filled with a dense ‘fog’ of neutral hydrogen that blocked certain wavelengths of light. This fog was lifted when the hydrogen was hit by radiation in a process known as reionisation, but the source of this radiation has been debated. Now, researchers have used the JWST to peer deep into the Universe’s past and found that charged particles pouring out from dwarf galaxies appear to be the the main driver for reionization. This finding could help researchers understand how some of the structures we now see in the Universe were formed.Research article: Atek et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07043-608:46 Research HighlightsAncient inscriptions could be the earliest example of the language that became Basque, and how researchers etched a groove… onto soap film.Research Highlight: Ancient bronze hand’s inscription points to origins of Basque languagenature.com/articles/d41586-024-00507-9 Research Highlight: Laser pulses engrave an unlikely surface: soap filmsnature.com/articles/d41586-024-00513-x 11:05 Controlling cholesterol with epigeneticsTo combat high cholesterol, many people take statins, but because these drugs have to be taken every day researchers have been searching for alternatives. Controlling cholesterol by editing the epigenome has shown promise in lab-grown cells, but its efficacy in animals was unclear. Now, researchers have shown the approach can work in mice, and have used it to silence a gene linked to high cholesterol for a year. The mice show markedly lowered cholesterol, a result the team hope could pave the way for epigenetic therapeutics for humans.Research Article: Cappelluti et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07087-8 18:52 The gene mutation explaining why humans don’t have tailsWhy don’t humans and other apes have a tail? It was assumed that a change must have happened in our genomes around 25 million years ago that resulted in the loss of this flexible appendage. Now researchers believe they have pinned down a good candidate for what caused this: an insertion into a particular gene known as TBXT. The team showed the key role this gene plays by engineering mice genomes to contain a similar change, leading to animals that were tail-less. This finding could help paint a picture of the important genetic mutations that led to the evolution of humans and other apes.Nature News: How humans lost their tails — and why the discovery took 2.5 years to publishnature.com/articles/d41586-024-00610-xResearch Article: Xia et al.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07095-8News and Views: A mobile DNA sequence could explain tail loss in humans and apeshttp://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00309-z Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: nature.com/briefing/signup Image credit: Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty
