Daily Science Brief

A myth about brain rewiring gets busted, Denisovan DNA helped the first Americans survive, solar cells that get power from your kitchen lights, and why your car’s paint color is roasting the city.

SOURCES

• Our brain doesn't actually reorganise itself after an amputation | New Scientist
• The first Americans had Denisovan DNA. And it may have helped them survive. | Live Science
• Your household gadgets could soon be battery-free — scientists create tiny solar cells that can be powered by indoor light | Live Science
• The colour of your car has a big impact on urban heat | New Scientist

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Host, Research, and Writing: Bobby Frankenberger

Cover Art: Scott Johnson

Outro Music: Stravyn

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AI predicts solar flares, Uranus gets a new moon, bees get a superfood boost, and pollen turns into paper.

SOURCES

• NASA and IBM built an AI to predict solar flares before they hit Earth | New Scientist
• NASA and IBM create 'Surya': Advanced AI for predicting solar storms and strengthening space defence | Times of India
• Uranus has a new, hidden moon, James Webb Space Telescope reveals | Live Science
• Artificial superfood for bees boosts colony reproduction | New Scientist
• Using pollen to make paper, sponges, and more | Ars Technica

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Host, Research, and Writing: Bobby Frankenberger

Cover Art: Scott Johnson

Outro Music: Stravyn

Brought to you by the DTNS Family of podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A quantum upgrade for GPS-free navigation, AI bots messing with surveys, a brain implant that brings back joy, and sheep’s wool repairing teeth.

SOURCES

• Quantum alternative to GPS navigation will be tested on US military spaceplane | The Conversation
• AI-generated responses are undermining crowdsourced research studies | New Scientist
• AI-generated survey responses could make research less accurate – and a lot less interesting | Stanford Report
• Brain implant lets man 'experience joy' for the first time in decades | New Scientist
• Keratin extracted from sheep's wool repairs teeth in breakthrough | Live Science

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Host, Research, and Writing: Bobby Frankenberger

Cover Art: Scott Johnson

Outro Music: Stravyn

Brought to you by the DTNS Family of podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jupiter’s moon Ganymede could help detect dark matter, a new way to break down forever chemicals in water, an Arctic heatwave that melted massive amounts of ice, and why you might not actually be allergic to penicillin.

SOURCES

• Jupiter's moon Ganymede could be a giant dark matter detector | New Scientist
• Scientists transform 'forever chemicals' in water into fluoride with new process | Live Science
• Unprecedented Arctic heatwave melted 1 per cent of Svalbard's ice | New Scientist
• Are you really allergic to penicillin? A pharmacist explains why there’s a good chance you’re not − and how you can find out for sure | The Conversation

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Host, Research, and Writing: Bobby Frankenberger

Cover Art: Scott Johnson

Outro Music: Stravyn

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Viruses hitching a ride inside bacteria to fight cancer, a world-first video of a human embryo implanting, ancient toolmakers who planned way ahead, and why an FDA panel stirred confusion over antidepressant safety in pregnancy.

SOURCES

• Cancer-killing virus becomes more effective when shielded by bacteria | New Scientist
• Incredible, first-of-its-kind video shows human embryo implanting in real time | Live Science
• 2.6 million-year-old stone tools reveal ancient human relatives were 'forward planning' 600,000 years earlier than thought | Live Science
• FDA panel has cast doubt on whether antidepressants are safe in pregnancy. Here's what the science actually says. | Live Science
• NCRP Responds to FDA Panel on SSRI Use in Pregnancy

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Host, Research, and Writing: Bobby Frankenberger

Cover Art: Scott Johnson

Outro Music: Stravyn

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dinosaur tracks emerge after Texas floods, a shocking rise in dangerously hot and humid days, Inca recordkeeping may have been more common than we thought, and AI that can turn imagined speech into spoken words.

SOURCES

• 115-million-year-old dinosaur tracks unearthed in Texas after devastating floods | Live Science
• 2024 saw a record-breaking number of dangerously hot and humid days | New Scientist
• Incan numerical recordkeeping system may have been widely used | Ars Technica
• Mind-reading AI can turn even imagined speech into spoken words | New Scientist

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Host, Research, and Writing: Bobby Frankenberger

Cover Art: Scott Johnson

Outro Music: Stravyn

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

RFK Jr. takes aim at a massive vaccine safety study — and loses. Plus, fungi lurking in vape mouthpieces, Viking treasure that rewrites history, and levitating discs that could explore the atmosphere.

SOURCES

• Prominent medical journal refuses RFK's call to retract a vaccine study | Live Science
• Vape mouthpieces could be swarming with fungi that harm airways | New Scientist
• 1,100-year-old Viking hoard reveals raiding wealthy only 'part of the picture' — they traded with the Middle East too | Live Science
• Tiny discs can levitate in the upper atmosphere using sunlight alone | New Scientist

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Host, Research, and Writing: Bobby Frankenberger

Cover Art: Scott Johnson

Outro Music: Stravyn

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Toxic social media may be inevitable, ancient England was more diverse than you think, losing your Y chromosome might wreck your heart, and two bee viruses could quietly sabotage hives.

SOURCES

• Social media toxicity can't be fixed by changing the algorithms | New Scientist
• Can We Fix Social Media? Testing Prosocial Interventions using Generative Social Simulation | arxiv.org
• 1,300-year-old skeletons found in England had grandparents from sub-Saharan Africa, DNA studies reveal | Live Science
• Vanishing Y chromosomes seem to be driving heart disease in men | New Scientist
• Two sneaky viruses may be messing with honeybee flight | New Scientist

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Host, Research, and Writing: Bobby Frankenberger

Cover Art: Scott Johnson

Outro Music: Stravyn

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jim Lovell, Apollo 13’s commander, passes away at 97; lights that hide secret codes to fight deepfakes; the first artificial tongue that tastes and learns; and why working past retirement might make you happier.

SOURCES

Jim Lovell, commander of NASA's Apollo 13 moon mission, dies at 97 | Live Science

Scientists hid secret codes in light to combat video fakes | Ars Technica

World's first artificial tongue 'tastes and learns' like a real human organ | Live Science

Working past the age of retirement may improve your life satisfaction | New Scientist

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Host, Research, and Writing: Bobby Frankenberger

Cover Art: Scott Johnson

Outro Music: Stravyn

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new executive order threatens science funding, NASA wants to put a nuclear reactor on the moon, Texas is getting ready for a flesh-eating invasion, and archaeologists uncover evidence of human cannibalism.

SOURCES

• New executive order puts all grants under political control | Ars Technica
• NASA aiming to build nuclear reactor on the moon by 2030 | Live Science
• Texas prepares for war as invasion of flesh-eating flies appears imminent | Ars Technica
• Did a rival tribe kill and eat their neighbors 5,700 years ago? | Ars Technica

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Host, Research, and Writing: Bobby Frankenberger

Cover Art: Scott Johnson

Outro Music: Stravyn

Brought to you by the DTNS Family of podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.