Nature Podcast

By Springer Nature Limited

News & Politics Technology Science & Medicine

What's Nature Podcast about?

The Nature Podcast brings you the best stories from the world of science each week. We cover everything from astronomy to zoology, highlighting the most exciting research from each issue of Nature journal. We meet the scientists behind the results and provide in-depth analysis from Nature's journalists and editors.

For complete access to the original papers featured in the Nature Podcast, subscribe to Nature.

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LAST EPISODE

The floating sensors inspir...

09.22.2021

How tiny seed-like sensors could monitor the environment, and the latest from the Nature Briefing. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Nature Podcast episodes:

09.22.2021 The floating sensors inspired by seeds How tiny seed-like sensors could monitor the environment, and the latest from the Nature Briefing. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
09.15.2021 How to help feed the world with 'Blue Foods' How aquatic foods could help tackle world hunger, and how Australian wildfires spurred phytoplankton growth in the Southern Ocean. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
09.08.2021 The billion years missing from Earth’s history A new theory to explain missing geological time, the end of leaded petrol, and the ancient humans of Arabia. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
09.01.2021 Dead trees play an under-appreciated role in climate change How insects help release carbon stored in forests, and the upcoming biodiversity summit COP 15. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
08.25.2021 Audio long-read: why sports concussions are worse for women As women’s soccer, rugby and other sports gain in popularity a growing body of evidence suggests that female athletes are at a greater risk of traumatic brain injury than men - what's more they tend to fare worse after a ...
08.21.2021 Coronapod: How Delta is changing the game Delta has quickly become the dominant COVID variant in many countries across the world, in this episode we ask why. Over the past few weeks, a slew of studies have started to shed more light on how the Delta variant ...
08.18.2021 What’s the isiZulu for dinosaur? How science neglected African languages A team is creating bespoke words for scientific terms in African languages, and the sustainability of the electric car boom. 24:06 Briefing chat We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, how a tusk-based ‘chemical GPS’ revealed details ...
08.14.2021 Coronapod: COVID boosters amidst global vaccine inequity Several wealthy nations have announced plans to give third vaccine doses in a bid to help increase the protection of their most vulnerable citizens - but the science is not clear on whether this strategy will be effective or indeed ...
08.11.2021 The brain cells that help animals navigate in 3D Researchers uncover how grid cells fire in a 3D space to help bats navigate, and a fabric that switches between being stiff and flexible. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
08.06.2021 Coronapod: Ivermectin, what the science says Ivermectin is a cheap, widely available, anti-parasitic drug that has been proposed by many as a possible treatment for COVID-19. Dozens of trials have been started, but results have been far from clear, with inconsistent results further confused by high ...
08.04.2021 Flood risk rises as people surge into vulnerable regions Satellite imaging has shown population increases are 10x higher in flood prone areas, and a new way to introduce fairness into a democratic process. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
07.28.2021 Has the world’s oldest known animal been discovered? Researchers debate whether an ancient fossil is the oldest animal yet discovered, and a new way to eavesdrop on glaciers. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
07.26.2021 Audio long-read: How ancient people fell in love with bread, beer and other carbs Archaeological evidence shows that ancient people ate bread, beer and other carbs, long before domesticated crops. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
07.24.2021 Coronapod: the latest on COVID and sporting events Early in 2021 the United Kingdom, along with several other countries, allowed mass gatherings as part of a series of controlled studies aimed at better understanding the role events could play in the pandemic. The goal was to inform policy ...
07.21.2021 How the US is rebooting gun violence research Funding for gun violence research in the US returns after a 20-year federal hiatus, and the glass sponges that can manipulate ocean currents. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
07.16.2021 Coronapod: Does England's COVID strategy risk breeding deadly variants? The UK government has announced that virtually all COVID restrictions will be removed in England on Monday 18th July. This will do away with social distancing requirements, allow businesses to re-open to full capacity and remove legal mask mandates. This ...
07.14.2021 How deadly heat waves expose historic racism Heat waves have disproportionate impacts on minorities in US cities, and after critiquing his own papers a researcher extols the value of self-criticism. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
07.09.2021 Coronapod: Will COVID become a disease of the young? For much of the pandemic, the greatest burden of disease has been felt by older generations. But now, for the first time, vaccine roll outs are starting to skew the average age of those infections towards the young. This has ...
07.07.2021 Food shocks and how to avoid them Addressing the problem of sudden food scarcity in US cities, and the up-and-coming field of computational social science. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
07.02.2021 Coronapod: the biomarker that could change COVID vaccines Since the beginning oft he pandemic, researchers have searched for a biomarker which indicates immune protection from COVID-19 known as a correlate of protection. Now, the team developing the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine have published the first results of their so-called ...
06.30.2021 The scientist whose hybrid rice helped feed billions A historian reflects on the life of Chinese crop scientist Yuan Longping, and the possible influence of geothermal energy production on earthquake aftershocks. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
06.28.2021 Audio long-read: How COVID exposed flaws in evidence-based medicine This is an audio version of our feature: How COVID broke the evidence pipeline See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
06.25.2021 Coronapod: should you have a COVID vaccine when breastfeeding? Early vaccine trials did not include pregnant or breastfeeding people which left some people asking whether COVID vaccines are safe and effective for those who are breastfeeding. The latest data suggests that they are and in this episode of Coronapod ...
06.23.2021 Quantum compass might help birds 'see' magnetic fields Researchers isolate the protein thought to allow birds to sense magnetic fields, and astronomers pinpoint the stars that could view Earth as an exoplanet. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
06.18.2021 CureVac disappoints in COVID vaccine trial After a slew of wildly successful vaccine trials, this week marked a more underwhelming result. The third mRNA vaccine to complete phase three trials, developed by CureVac, is just 47% effective at staving off disease according to preliminary data. This ...
06.16.2021 Communities, COVID and credit: the state of science collaborations The pros and pitfalls of collaboration, with insights from researchers and beyond. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
06.11.2021 Coronapod: Counting the cost of long COVID The global burden of COVID-19 has predominantly been measured using metrics like case numbers, hospitalisations and deaths. But the long term health impacts are more difficult to capture. In this episode of Coronapod we discuss one way that public health ...
06.09.2021 Google AI beats humans at designing computer chips An AI that designs computer chips in hours, and zooming in on DNA’s complex 3D structures. In this episode: 00:46 An AI computer microchip designer Working out where to place the billions of components that a modern computer chip needs ...
06.04.2021 Coronapod: Uncertainty and the COVID 'lab-leak' theory Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been allegations that SARS-CoV-2 could have originated in a Chinese lab. A phase one WHO investigation concluded that a 'lab-leak' was "extremely unlikely" and yet, the theory has seen a resurgence in ...
06.02.2021 On the origin of numbers The cross-discipline effort to work our how ancient humans learned to count. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
05.26.2021 New hope for vaccine against a devastating livestock disease A vaccine candidate for a neglected tropical disease, and calls to extend the 14-day limit on embryo research. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
05.24.2021 Audio long-read: How harmful are microplastics? Pervasive plastic specks are of great concern to scientists – but are they really harmful? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
05.19.2021 The 'zombie' fires that keep burning under snow-covered forests Smouldering fires lay dormant before bursting back into flame in spring. 07:39 Research Highlights Aesthetic bias means pretty plants receive the most research attention, and ancient tooth gunk reveals the evolution of the mouth microbiome. Research Highlight: Flashy plants draw ...
05.14.2021 Coronapod: The variant blamed for India's catastrophic second wave Over the past few weeks, India has been experiencing a devastating second wave of COVID-19, recording hundreds of thousands of new cases a day. Evidence is growing that a new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus known as B.1.617, first detected ...
05.12.2021 The brain implant that turns thoughts into text A new neural interface lets people type with their mind, and a crafting journey into materials science. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
05.07.2021 Coronapod: Waiving vaccine patents and coronavirus genome data disputes In surprise news this week, the US government announced its support for waiving patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines, in an effort to boost supplies around the world.As fewer than 1% of people living in low-income countries have received COVID-19 vaccines, ...
05.05.2021 Oldest African burial site uncovers Stone Age relationship with death Uncovering the earliest evidence of deliberate human burial in Africa, and a metal-free rechargeable battery. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
04.30.2021 Coronapod special: The inequality at the heart of the pandemic For more than a century, public health researchers have demonstrated how poverty and discrimination drive disease and the coronavirus pandemic has only reinforced this. In a Coronapod special, Nature reporter Amy Maxmen takes us with her through eight months of ...
04.28.2021 What fruit flies could teach scientists about brain imaging Ultra-precise measurements connect brain activity and energy use in individual fruit-fly neurons. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
04.26.2021 Audio long-read: How drugmakers can be better prepared for the next pandemic Despite warnings, and a number of close calls, drugmakers failed to develop and stockpile drugs to fight a viral pandemic. Now, in the wake of SARS-CoV-2, they are pledging not to make the same mistake again. See acast.com/privacy for privacy ...
04.23.2021 Coronapod: Kids and COVID vaccines As clinical trials to test COVID vaccines in children begin, what are the key questions researchers want to answer? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
04.21.2021 Meet the inflatable, origami-inspired structures The self-supporting structures that snap into place, and how a ban on fossil-fuel funding could entrench poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
04.16.2021 Coronapod: could COVID vaccines cause blood clots? Here's what the science says Reports of rare and unusual blood clots have resulted in several vaccine roll outs being paused while scientists scramble to work out if the vaccines are responsible and if so how. The unusual combination of symptoms, including a low platelet ...
04.14.2021 The sanitation crisis making rural America ill The lack of adequate sanitation in parts of the rural US, and physicists reassess muons’ magnetism. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
04.09.2021 Coronapod: A whistle-blower’s quest to take politics out of coronavirus surveillance Rick Bright exposed former president Trump's political meddling in the US COVID response. Now he is championing a new privately funded initiative to track viral spread and combat new variants. We discuss the challenges of collecting data on a rapidly ...
04.06.2021 Audio long-read: Rise of the robo-writers This is an audio version of our feature: Robo-writers: the rise and risks of language-generating AI See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
04.02.2021 Coronapod: How to define rare COVID vaccine side effects From a sore arm to anaphylaxis, a wide range of adverse events have been reported after people have received a COVID-19 vaccine. And yet it is unclear how many of these events are actually caused by the vaccine. In the ...
03.31.2021 Antimatter cooled with lasers for the first time Laser-cooled antimatter opens up new physics experiments, and the staggering economic cost of invasive species. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
03.26.2021 Coronapod: the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID vaccine - what you need to know Since the beginning of the pandemic the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been plagued by confusion and controversy. The vaccine has been authorised in over 100 countries, tens of millions of doses have been administered, and it has been demonstrated to be ...
03.24.2021 Network of world's most accurate clocks paves way to redefine time A web of three optical atomic clocks show incredibly accurate measurements of time, and the trailblazing astronomer who found hints of dark matter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Older episodes

Nature Podcast

What's Nature Podcast about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Nature Podcast episodes:

The floating sensors inspired by seeds

How to help feed the world with 'Blue Foods'

The billion years missing from Earth’s history

Dead trees play an under-appreciated role in climate change

Audio long-read: why sports concussions are worse for women

Coronapod: How Delta is changing the game

What’s the isiZulu for dinosaur? How science neglected African languages

Coronapod: COVID boosters amidst global vaccine inequity

The brain cells that help animals navigate in 3D

Coronapod: Ivermectin, what the science says

Flood risk rises as people surge into vulnerable regions

Has the world’s oldest known animal been discovered?

Audio long-read: How ancient people fell in love with bread, beer and other carbs

Coronapod: the latest on COVID and sporting events

How the US is rebooting gun violence research

Coronapod: Does England's COVID strategy risk breeding deadly variants?

How deadly heat waves expose historic racism

Coronapod: Will COVID become a disease of the young?

Food shocks and how to avoid them

Coronapod: the biomarker that could change COVID vaccines

The scientist whose hybrid rice helped feed billions

Audio long-read: How COVID exposed flaws in evidence-based medicine

Coronapod: should you have a COVID vaccine when breastfeeding?

Quantum compass might help birds 'see' magnetic fields

CureVac disappoints in COVID vaccine trial

Communities, COVID and credit: the state of science collaborations

Coronapod: Counting the cost of long COVID

Google AI beats humans at designing computer chips

Coronapod: Uncertainty and the COVID 'lab-leak' theory

On the origin of numbers

New hope for vaccine against a devastating livestock disease

Audio long-read: How harmful are microplastics?

The 'zombie' fires that keep burning under snow-covered forests

Coronapod: The variant blamed for India's catastrophic second wave

The brain implant that turns thoughts into text

Coronapod: Waiving vaccine patents and coronavirus genome data disputes

Oldest African burial site uncovers Stone Age relationship with death

Coronapod special: The inequality at the heart of the pandemic

What fruit flies could teach scientists about brain imaging

Audio long-read: How drugmakers can be better prepared for the next pandemic

Coronapod: Kids and COVID vaccines

Meet the inflatable, origami-inspired structures

Coronapod: could COVID vaccines cause blood clots? Here's what the science says

The sanitation crisis making rural America ill

Coronapod: A whistle-blower’s quest to take politics out of coronavirus surveillance

Audio long-read: Rise of the robo-writers

Coronapod: How to define rare COVID vaccine side effects

Antimatter cooled with lasers for the first time

Coronapod: the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID vaccine - what you need to know

Network of world's most accurate clocks paves way to redefine time

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