The world, the universe and us

$1 trillion of platinum on the moon; how your brain distinguishes between reality and imagination; rise of the hyperworm


Listen Later

Episode 306

It’s been discovered that the moon is probably home to $1 trillion worth of platinum. Researchers suggest nearly 6500 of the Moon’s craters were made by asteroids containing commercial quantities of platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium. Does that mean space companies are going to head out on mining missions imminently…and should they? Hear the reasons for and against mining on the Moon.

When you imagine something in your mind, how does your brain know that it’s not real? Certain brain regions have been identified in a new experiment which help keep reality and make-believe separate. This finding could tell us a lot about conditions like schizophrenia - or what’s going on when we dream. It may even answer that question; are we living in a simulation? Read our imagination special here: https://www.newscientist.com/issue/3545/ 

A newly discovered emergent behaviour has been found in nematode worms - the world’s commonest animal. These millimetre long worms are able to merge to form superorganisms, creating tentacles or towers that can straddle long distances. Learn about this collective behaviour and how it's coordinated. 

Chapters:

(00:16) Platinum on the moon

(08:44) How your brain distinguishes between reality and imagination 

(18:05) Rise of the hyperworm - nematodes merge to form superorganism

Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet, with guests Carissa Wong, Jayanth Chennamangalam, Steve Fleming and Serena Ding.

To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The world, the universe and usBy New Scientist

  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4

4.4

87 ratings


More shows like The world, the universe and us

View all
The Science Show by ABC listen

The Science Show

120 Listeners

The Naked Scientists Podcast by The Naked Scientists

The Naked Scientists Podcast

604 Listeners

Science Weekly by The Guardian

Science Weekly

398 Listeners

5 Live Science Podcast by BBC Radio 5 Live

5 Live Science Podcast

109 Listeners

Science In Action by BBC World Service

Science In Action

344 Listeners

More or Less: Behind the Stats by BBC Radio 4

More or Less: Behind the Stats

898 Listeners

Discovery by BBC World Service

Discovery

953 Listeners

Ask the Naked Scientists by Dr Chris Smith

Ask the Naked Scientists

78 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

1,921 Listeners

The Life Scientific by BBC Radio 4

The Life Scientific

248 Listeners

Unexpected Elements by BBC World Service

Unexpected Elements

355 Listeners

BBC Inside Science by BBC Radio 4

BBC Inside Science

401 Listeners

Curious Cases by BBC Radio 4

Curious Cases

823 Listeners

CrowdScience by BBC World Service

CrowdScience

480 Listeners

New Scientist Escape Pod by New Scientist

New Scientist Escape Pod

1 Listeners

New Scientist Weekly by New Scientist

New Scientist Weekly

4 Listeners

New Scientist CultureLab by New Scientist

New Scientist CultureLab

7 Listeners

Uncharted with Hannah Fry by BBC Radio 4

Uncharted with Hannah Fry

118 Listeners

New Scientist Colab Podcasts by DMG Media

New Scientist Colab Podcasts

0 Listeners