New Scientist Weekly

Episode 267

The remains of an ancient Neanderthal man discovered in France may be one of the last members of a lost line. Researchers analysing the DNA of the fossil nicknamed “Thorin” (named after the dwarven king in the Hobbit) made the surprising discovery that he’s possibly one of the last of his line. He may have been part of a group that lived in isolation for 50,000 years.

How can we tell climate change is to blame for specific heat waves, hurricanes, or other extreme weather events the planet has been hit by in recent years? That’s where attribution science comes in. Find out how the fingerprints of climate change could one day make it into your daily weather report.

Elephants, chimps and even chickens have shown signs of self-awareness. Even a fish, the cleaner wrasse, has passed the famous ‘mirror test’ in recent years. But new research on this territorial fish has found it can also use mirrors as a tool – to decide if they’re big enough to fight another wrasse. Learn more about how cleaner wrasse size themselves up before picking fights, and what this may say about their cognition.

Private astronauts on a SpaceX mission performed the first ever civilian spacewalk on Thursday. Hear reaction to the historic news and why their state-of-the-art spacesuits are grabbing people’s attention. Plus hear how researchers have created a “cloud atlas”, full of gorgeous pictures of the weird and wonderful – and informative – clouds that fill Mars’ sky.

Reporter James Woodford recently took control of one of the most advanced humanoid robots ever created. An energy company is helping NASA test a robot from its Valkyrie programme in Perth, Australia. James met the robot, nicknamed Val, and even helped use virtual reality tools to control her movements.

Hosts Rowan Hooper and Christie Taylor discuss with guests Alison George, Madeleine Cuff, Corryn Wetzel and James Woodford.

To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.

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🎧 Episode 266

⚡️ The first human blood stem cells have been created in a lab and successfully turned into functioning bone marrow. This research could revolutionise the treatment of blood cancers like leukaemia and lymphoma. So far it’s only been tested on mice, but researchers are hopeful it could work in humans too.

⚡️ In other mouse news, we are now able to turn mice see-through. Using a surprisingly common food dye, researchers have turned the skin of living mice transparent. The technique, which didn’t harm the mice, offers a new (though gruesome) look into the living body.

⚡️ The US is planning to launch spy balloons to carry out surveillance and act as backup communication links. The news comes just a year after the US shot down a Chinese balloon that was full of intelligence-gathering equipment. Coincidence? Find out why balloons are making a comeback.

⚡ Bats have a huge role in human health, often harbouring diseases that are then passed onto us, such as rabies and covid-19. But it turns out when bat populations collapse, that’s also bad for human health. New research finds that when bats die, insecticide use in agriculture goes up and so does infant mortality – find out how the three are linked.

⚡ How dark is deep space? Are there any regions of the universe that are completely and utterly devoid of all light? Researchers now have an answer. Plus, ISS astronauts report a strange noise on Boeing’s stranded Starliner capsule.

🎙️ Hosts Timothy Revell and Christie Taylor discuss with guests James Woodford, Chris Simms, Jeremy Hsu and Michael Le Page.

📕 To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.

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🎧 Episode 265

⚡️ The latest mpox variant has infected a record number of people in central Africa, has been found in travellers in Sweden and Thailand, and the World Health Organization has now declared it a public health emergency of international concern – just 15 months after the previous such declaration for mpox expired in 2023. But is this virus likely to become another covid? And as health authorities in the most affected countries struggle to keep it under control, will we be able to avoid further global outbreaks of the disease?

⚡️ New rogue worlds have been discovered in our galaxy that resemble both planets and stars but are neither. Thought to be brown dwarfs, the sheer number of them calls into question our understanding of how planet-sized objects form. This, plus another failed – but also successful – attempt to find dark matter’s hypothesised WIMPs.

⚡️ As a piece of music builds up to its crescendo, our brains know exactly when the beat is about to drop. Researchers have discovered the parts of our brains that are responsible for making sense of musical changes or “boundaries” – and this is true whether you’re listening to Mozart or Metallica.

⚡ Clothes made from…potatoes? An idea to turn fibres from potato stems into fabric has turned from concept to reality. If we can use potato fibres instead of other more energy intensive materials, the designers say, we could reduce the environmental footprint of clothing production. 

🎙️ Hosts Timothy Revell and Christie Taylor discuss with guests Alexandra Thompson, Leah Crane, Grace Wade and Madeleine Cuff.

📕 To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.

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#264

Some people in comas can understand what’s happening around them. Previously estimated to be 1 in 10, that figure has now shot up to 1 in 5 – meaning this hidden awareness is much more common than we realised. 

Another new drug has been approved to reverse opioid overdoses. Zurnai is more powerful than previous medications, which may be useful as the supply of illicit drugs becomes increasingly toxic. But with the opioid epidemic having killed more than 80,000 people in the US last year alone, are there ways to abate this crisis so fewer people overdose in the first place?

The mysterious Wow! signal, detected by the Big Ear radio telescope in the 70s, was an unusual burst of radio waves that astronomers couldn’t explain – except, for some, the answer was aliens. Alien hunters have clung to this as the best potential evidence of extraterrestrial life, as the signal's origins have remained unexplained for 50 years. But we may have just figured out the answer to where it came from. 

Many mainframe computers in big organisations like banks, airlines and government departments still rely on ancient computer code dating back to the 60s. The trouble is, as mainframe computers have gone out of use in most other contexts, the programming language COBOL is no longer taught to up-and-coming coders. Could AI help, as our understanding of COBOL dies out?

Record fast cooling in part of the Atlantic Ocean is baffling scientists. This cooling isn’t linked to the normal La Niña wind patterns, so what else is at play? And how could it affect our global weather in the coming season?

Hosts Rowan Hooper and Christie Taylor discuss with guests Alexandra Thompson, Grace Wade and Alex Wilkins.

To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.

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#263

Anxiety. We’ve all felt it – some worse than others. But what exactly causes anxiety and why are some of us more likely to be hit by it? Science is finally unpacking the ins and outs of this evolutionary response.

Whether you experience anxiety getting on a plane or when doing something out of your comfort zone, understanding why it happens is the best way to take control of it.

In this special episode, New Scientist journalists and expert guests look at the phenomenon of anxiety. What is happening inside the brain when anxiety kicks in? Why do we need to better understand our own internal, bodily processes to fight anxiety? How much of our tendency towards anxiety is down to genetics?

And they bring actionable advice too, including simple, science-backed lifestyle changes you can make to become less anxious, plus the surprising reasons anxiety can actually be a good thing – and how to make it work for you

Host Christie Taylor discusses with guests Alexis Wnuk, Eleanor Parsons, Sahib Khalsa, David Robson, Caroline Hickman and Todd Kashdan, with additional reporting from Helen Thomson, Graham Lawton and Bethan Ackerley. 

This episode is part of a special issue of New Scientist magazine. Find all the articles at https://www.newscientist.com/issue/3485/

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#262

Geologists have just drilled deeper into Earth’s mantle than ever before. The hole is in an area of the ocean called Atlantis Massif, where the upper mantle is exposed. Reaching 1268 metres deep, this incredible sample core could help uncover secrets to the very origins of life.

Ancient human ancestors called Homo floresiensis and known as the “hobbits” may have evolved their short stature much faster than expected. Remains found on the Indonesian island of Flores suggest a much older group of hominins may have been slightly smaller, averaging just 1 metre tall, and possibly the ancestors of Homo floresiensis. How could this change the story of our mysterious cousins?

Quantum telepathy may allow stock market traders to act faster and get richer. Using quantum entanglement, coordinating transactions in distant stock exchanges could happen faster than the speed of light. And surprisingly, this type of technology wouldn’t be hard to get up and running – so what happens if someone tries it?

If we want to move to Mars one day, we have to make it a bit more enticing to live on. Ideas to terraform the Red Planet, or make it more Earth-like, have mostly been too expensive and unworkable. A method involving glittery clouds could be the answer to coaxing better conditions for human life. 

Plus: The microbes and bacteria that can survive the harsh heat of your microwave; how the microbiome of a baby horse impacts its racing performance in adulthood; and the special trick leeches use to hunt the ultrafast blackworm.

Hosts Christie Taylor and Timothy Revell discuss with guests Chen Ly, Sam Wong, Karmela Padavic-Callaghan and Alex Wilkins.

To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.

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#261

What was the first life on Earth like? Ancient fossils hint it could be a primitive kind of bacteria – but these 3.5 billion-year-old fossilised cells are controversial since they’re vastly bigger than any modern bacteria. But there’s now reason to believe that maybe, just maybe, they really are what they seem.

Three game-changing drugs approved by the US for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease may be less impressive than we first hoped. These are the first drugs to actually slow the progression of the condition – but they also come with risky side effects. Is the benefit worth the risk?

Galaxies usually come in spiral or blob form, but it turns out there may be some that are shaped like… bananas. First spotted by the Hubble Space Telescope, we initially thought their shape was a trick of light. But the much more powerful James Webb Space Telescope is seeing them too. The problem is this doesn’t fit with our understanding of how galaxies form – it may be time for a rewrite.

Do you ever feel addicted to your smartphone? Well, there’s a term for that – problematic smartphone use. The question is, what constitutes addiction and is your smartphone habit impacting you enough to be considered problematic? One group of researchers are working to find out, starting by looking at the link between problematic use and mental health in teenagers.

The diversity of life on Earth may be best safeguarded on the moon. Parts of the lunar landscape are colder than anywhere on Earth, so it may be the best place to cryogenically freeze cells for things like fish, cows and even useful bacteria like those used in cheesemaking. But, as you might expect with the moon, such a biorepository faces some logistical challenges.

Hosts Christie Taylor and Timothy Revell discuss with guests Michael Le Page, Alexandra Thompson, Alex Wilkins, Carissa Wong and James Woodford.

To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.

Find Dr Karan Explores here: https://www.drkaranrajan.com/podcast

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#260

Most of us imagine plants when we think about the production of oxygen. But turns out, in the deep sea, metal-rich rocks also seem to generate oxygen. This surprising discovery suggests they may have a much more important role in their ecosystem than we originally thought – and is fueling more calls to ban deep sea mining, which would target these same rocks. 

Drinking a glass of wine once in a while can’t be that bad, right? Over the decades we heard that drinking a little alcohol might reduce your risk of heart disease, and even make you live longer, but a new review of the research has found serious flaws in these studies. So what’s going on with alcohol and our health?

Physicists have been crashing atoms together for decades, in the hopes of creating heavier and heavier elements. And now, a new method to make the rare, super-heavy element livermorium may also pave the way towards making the elusive element 120, unbinilium. If successfully created, it would be the heaviest element on the periodic table. So what is this new method?

Some disheartening news: our attempts to be more environmentally friendly might still make some things worse. Biodegradable plastics appear to damage soil and hinder plant growth more than conventional ones. What’s going wrong?

Plus: How AI mathematicians are finally catching up to humans; how AI could spy on you through HDMI cables; and what caused the biggest cosmic explosion ever seen.

Hosts Christie Taylor and Timothy Revell discuss with guests Madeleine Cuff, Michael Le Page, Karmela Padavic-Callaghan and Alexandra Thompson.

To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.

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#259

More people in the US are getting bird flu. Though numbers are small – just five new cases, all mild – every new case is a reason for concern. How and why is it being transmitted – and how is it being monitored?

What if you could make a sailboat that’s pushed not by wind, but lasers? Breakthrough Starshot is a mission attempting to send a spacecraft to our nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, using such a lightsail. While lightsail designs have been too expensive and unworkable so far, a new prototype is looking promising.

Climate change is threatening a key part of the global climate system. The Atlantic Meridional Ocean Circulation (AMOC) system transports heat and salinity between the tropics and the poles. Scientists have ongoing concerns about its stability, but it’s now showing signs of potential collapse much sooner than expected. And if it does shut down, the knock-on effects would be drastic.

What makes a planet a planet? Defining this is what knocked Pluto off planetary status, but now one researcher has proposed a new set of criteria. Is the new method useful – and does it change which objects are considered planets?

Believe it or not – sea slugs hunt in packs. A species of sea slug has been seen ganging up on brown sea anemones to avoid its poisonous tentacles. How are they capable of teaming up like this?

Hosts Rowan Hooper and Christie Taylor discuss with guests Grace Wade, Alex Wilkins, Madeleine Cuff and Sophie Bushwick.

To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.

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#258

Fancy a bite of woolly mammoth jerky? A beef-jerky-like fossil of this prehistoric creature has been discovered – a metre-long piece of skin still covered in hair. And the most amazing thing is that the entire genome has remained intact, giving more insight into these creatures than ever before. Could this help bring woolly mammoths back to life?

There is a way to make butter not from cows, not from vegetable oils or even microbes, but from pure carbon. And if you want a climate friendly way of producing a delicious spreadable fat, this may just be it. A company called Savor is using a process that can convert captured CO2 or natural gas into fatty acids. 

The origin of life is a huge scientific mystery: how can something so complex emerge from inert and random molecules? Well, Google has created a simulation to figure this out. The company has used computer code to recreate the random ‘primordial soup’ of early Earth, with results that might baffle you. 

When mammals breastfeed, calcium is stripped from their bones to make the milk, but their bones don’t get significantly weaker. How does that work? Well, a new, bone-strengthening hormone found in mice may have finally solved the long-standing mystery – and could benefit human health.

Plus: How our pupils change size with every breath; how cosmic rays could help protect financial markets; and how ancient Denisovan DNA may have helped the people of Papua New Guinea adapt to their environment.

Hosts Timothy Revell and Christie Taylor discuss with guests Corryn Wetzel, Madeleine Cuff, Matthew Sparkes and Grace Wade.

To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.

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