Episode 321

Humans live a lot longer than other primates - and much of that is down to our immune system. But there’s a price we pay for the capacity to fight off infections: inflammation. Chronic inflammation is to blame for a range of health issues, especially those related to older age. And now research has revealed exactly why inflammation is good for longevity but bad for health. Find out how proteins called death-fold domains often malfunction - and what this could mean for the future of drug development.

Bigger than the Eiffel Tower and closer than the moon - the asteroid Apophis will skim past Earth in 2029 and will be visible to the naked eye. Don’t worry, astronomers assure us it will NOT hit us. But it could be a good testbed for NASA’s asteroid deflection technology, helping us to prepare for more dangerous space rocks in the future. With two major space agencies due to visit Apophis - what will we find?

If you thought there was nothing new to learn about the extinction of the dinosaurs, think again. Something we hadn’t yet considered was the impact dinosaurs had on the ecosystem. Given they were so massive, dinosaurs made wide-ranging changes to the planet’s landscapes, such as shifting rivers. So when they were wiped out, there were huge knock-on effects, which researchers have now been examining. 

Chapters:

(00:00) Intro

(00:41) The evolutionary price we pay for longer lives

(13:47) The asteroid coming very close to Earth

(26:42) How dinosaurs shaped their ecosystem

Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet, with guests Alison George, Alex Wilkins, Sam Wong and Richard Binzel.

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Episode 320

Was Mars once home to alien life? The evidence is stronger than ever, since NASA’s discovery of rocks marked by patterns similar to those made by microbes on Earth. Found in an area now named Bright Angel, these rocks give us a tantalising insight into Mars’ ancient past - but just how definitive is this finding?

It’s long been thought that when the Roman Empire withdrew from Britain in the early 400s, the result was chaos and economic collapse. But a new archaeological discovery suggests that’s not the case. Signs show a boom in the ancient metalworking trade around that time. Do we need to rethink this period of our history entirely?

We’re constantly discovering more and more ways to boost our microbiome and improve our health – everything from eating more fibre and fermented foods to having pets and embracing dirt. And now there’s something else to add to the list: weight lifting. After being put on a weight training programme, a group of sedentary adults showed a surprising uptick in beneficial gut bugs. But how are the two things connected?

Chapters:

(00:00) Intro

(01:19) Strongest evidence for past life on Mars

(14:55) The Romans impact on the British economy

(23:19) Link between exercise and your microbiome

Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet, with guests Mike Marshall, Mike Tice and Sanjeev Gupta.

To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/
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Episode 319

Scientists have created the first complete activity map of a mouse’s brain. Combining brain images from multiple mice, researchers recorded more than 650,000 neurons while these mice manipulated little Lego steering wheels in a driving game. This complex behaviour has allowed scientists to examine the interplay between various parts of the brain - and could help us better understand consciousness.

This might be the weirdest discovery about ants ever. Some eggs laid by Queen Iberian harvester ants (Messor ibericus) contain males of another species - that of the builder harvest ant (Messor structor). They are somehow cloning these males to create workers for the colony - a highly unusual form of reproduction. Find out how they’re doing it - and let us know what your favourite ant is.

Do you scroll on your phone when you’re on the toilet? Well, you might want to stop doing that. For a long time we’ve thought straining on the loo increased your risk of developing haemorrhoids, also known as piles. But a new study shows it might be more to do with how long you’re spending on the loo. Find out how scrolling through addictive apps could increase your risk of haemorrhoids by 50 per cent.

Chapters:

(00:00) Intro

(00:21) First map of mammalian brain activity

(14:21) Queen ant lays eggs of another species

(23:53) The perils of scrolling while on the toilet

Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet, with guests Alexandra Thompson, Sam Wong, Michael Le Page, Alexandre Pouget, Anne Churchland, Matteo Carandini and Jessica Purcell

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

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Episode 318

An ancient organism has been discovered that has been alive for at least 100,000 years. Found in the Siberian permafrost, this lifeform doesn’t appear to have just remained dormant - but instead has actually been growing extremely slowly. Our understanding of life is already quite fuzzy, and this finding adds to the idea that life itself is a fuzzy state of being. 

A breakthrough method of treating previously untreatable chronic pain is showing promise. An intuitive form of deep brain stimulation, guided by machine learning, has provided targeted relief to patients in a small trial. The method also improved various other conditions and may even help with weight loss. Find out how it works.

Throughout history, dramatic changes in the climate often coincide with major revolutions and rebellions. Rapid warming or cooling often have a cascading effect on food production, leading to shortages and rising prices. As the effect of climate change increase today, will we see a repeat of history?

Chapters:

(00:00) Intro

(00:22) 100,000-year-old organism

(10:37) Brain implant treats chronic pain

(18:02) How climate change leads to revolutions

Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet, with guests Alexandra Thompson, James Dinneen and Karen Lloyd.

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

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Episode 317

Winter bugs are notoriously hard to vaccinate against. But as cold, flu and covid season is about to descend on us once more, one group researchers are working on an entirely new solution to the misery. A team out of Columbia University has been testing an mRNA-based treatment that could prime our immune systems to fight against any kind of viral infection, perhaps in the form of an asthma-like inhaler. But there is a catch…

New life has been breathed into one of the most controversial ideas in science. In 1989, a surprising way to generate nuclear fusion at room temperature gained worldwide attention - but the initial experiment couldn’t be replicated. Dead in the water for many years, the idea of ‘cold fusion’ is now being revisited - and it could help us create futuristic electronics.

Ever wondered what makes chocolate taste so good? As with many things, it turns out we have microbes to thank. Chocolate, like kimchi and cheese, is a fermented food product - and scientists are beginning to discover which microbes give chocolate its many flavours. These findings could help us create more delicious chocolate, or even create new flavours we’ve never tasted before.

Chapters:

(00:00) Intro

(00:29) Could we end winter illness?

(08:27) Cold fusion’s comeback

(15:23) The delicious microbiome of chocolate

Hosted by Penny Sarchet and Chelsea Whyte, with guests Michael Le Page, Alex Wilkins and Sam Wong.

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

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Episode 316

“All of the other planets out there are just complete garbage. The Earth is the only good place.” – Kate Marvel

The climate crisis can leave many of us feeling hopeless and overwhelmed. But, as climate scientists Kate Marvel and Tim Lenton say, there are many reasons to be optimistic.Both have new books out that hope to reframe the way we think about the issue.

Kate’s book Human Nature grapples with the complicated emotions that the climate crisis evokes, from anger to hope and love – and explores how we can harness each of them to fight for a better future.

Tim’s book Positive Tipping Points looks at the possibility that we may cause irreversible damage to the Earth’s climate system, from Amazon dieback to ice sheet collapse. But as the name suggests, he also examines the opportunities in leveraging global action against climate change to create “positive tipping points”.

Chapters:

(0:00) Intro

(01:26) Why Tim and Kate have dedicated their lives to climate science

(3:53) Exploring Kate’s book Human Nature - starting with anger

(6:33) How Tim channels his climate anger

(10:16) Processing the 9 emotions of Kate’s book

(13:10) What are negative tipping points?

(15:33) How to use positive tipping points

(21:13) Where can we find hope for change right now?

(23:16) The positive emotions that inspire climate action

(26:50) Kate’s process of writing

(29:52) Why non-violent campaigns are so effective

(35:19) Have we seen any of these positive tipping points yet?

(39:31) How Americans really feel about climate change

(40:46) Kate and Tim’s dream outcomes for their books

Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Madeleine Cuff, with guests Kate Marvel and Tim Lenton.

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

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Episode 315

It’s been 80 years since the first and only use of nuclear weapons in war - events that altered the course of history. The consequences of the widespread destruction, deaths and nuclear fallout are still being dealt with today.

On 6th August 1945, a bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in Japan, and three days later Nagasaki was also bombed. Tens of thousands of people were killed. Since then, many nuclear tests have been carried out. Despite efforts to clean up the fallout, a big threat looms… climate change. Not only does the changing climate risk dredging up old nuclear waste, worsening extreme weather events could even damage current nuclear facilities too.

There’s also a lasting legacy felt by those who survived the bombs and their descendants, not just in Japan, but South Korea, too. The human cost doesn’t stop there. We hear about the communities who first mined the uranium needed for the bombs in the 1920s and 30s - as well as the health consequences for those living near nuclear test sites.

Annie Jacobsen, author of Nuclear War: A Scenario, adds her thoughts on the current threat of nuclear war - and how nuclear technology has become even more destructive. 

It wasn’t just people who survived the bombs - there are trees that made it through too.  

Seeds have been gathered from these survivor trees and we learn how one of them is being  grown in the Wakehurst botanical garden. 

Chapters:

(01:32) Nuclear waste and the threat of rising seas

(11:31) Atomic bomb survivors

(24:35) Annie Jacobsen on the knife-edge of danger

(27:40) The trees that survived the bombs

Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Madeleine Cuff, with guests Jeremy Hsu, Michael Gerrard, MG Sheftall, Annie Jacobsen and Elinor Breman.

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

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Episode 314

Weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy have been shown to slow down - or even reverse - the ageing process. In a trial of 84 people taking semaglutide, their biological age dropped by 3.1 years on average, with some organs becoming almost 5 years younger. Based on this new research, this finding could make these some of the most impactful anti-ageing drugs on the market. So how are they doing it?

Scientists have very nearly created a new lifeform. A synthetic bacterium has been created with 101,000 changes to its genome - clearing up redundant code in its DNA. By freeing up codons in its genetic code, this bacteria could make new kinds of proteins unlike anything that exists naturally - and pave the way for creating virus resistance bacteria.

The recent earthquake off the coast of east Russia was the sixth biggest ever recorded. Thankfully the ensuing tsunami has been manageable - unlike previous record-setting quakes. With two large “foreshocks” before the big one, we ask a professor of tectonics about the geology of the region. 

Chapters:

(00:34) Weight-loss drugs slow down ageing

(10:59) Creation of a new synthetic bacterium

(21:52) Geology of the Russian earthquake

Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Sam Wong, with guests Alexandra Thompson, Michael Le Page, Andrew Steele, Wes Robertson and Lisa Mcneill.

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

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Episode 313

AI has won gold at the world’s hardest maths event. For the first time, AI programs that use entirely natural language like ChatGPT, have used general reasoning to solve incredibly difficult tests at the International Maths Olympiad in Australia. Humans are still in the lead…for now. But could this be a big leap forward in the quest for artificial general intelligence?

Mitochondria - famously the powerhouses of our cells - are linked to sleep in ways we never realised. In a study on fruit flies, researchers discovered that the longer they stay awake, the more damage is caused to their mitochondria. This pressure increasingly pushes the flies to go to sleep - to begin the repair cycle. They also showed ways of engineering and altering fruit fly mitochondria that could impact their sleep duration. Given how mitochondria is essential in all complex life forms - like us - could it one day lead to sleep treatments?

An iconic psychology experiment has been used to trick octopuses. The rubber hand illusion has been used on people - and some other mammals - to fool them into thinking a fake hand is their own. And now it turns out octopuses are fooled just as easily. Researchers used a fake tentacle to recreate the trick - giving us a deeper insight into how octopus brains work.

Chapters:

(00:33) AI wins gold at maths Olympics

(12:24) How mitochondria are linked to sleep

(22:13) Octopus rubber hand illusion

Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet, with guests Alex Wilkins and Alexandra Thompson.

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

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Episode 312

People have been given genetically engineered microbes to prevent a common health condition - and it worked. The gut microbiome is now known to be associated with many health conditions - and in this case, the team managed to treat 9 people who get recurring kidney stones. With the gut’s links to mental health, cancer and more, could engineered microbes be used to treat more conditions in the future?

Is 1.5C dead? It’s looking increasingly likely that we’re going to breach 1.5C of global warming - the goal set out in the Paris agreement. So do we need to set a new goal now? As scientists come up with alternative numbers to aim for, many are worried that moving the goalposts will kill climate ambition. But is there a middle ground that keeps everyone happy?

Where are all the aliens? We may now have a solution to the famous Fermi paradox, which questions why we’ve never met anyone else in the universe, despite the existence of many Earth-like planets. And it’s all to do with tectonic plates - a geological phenomenon that may be rare outside of Earth, helping complex life to emerge on our planet. 

Chapters:

(00:39) Genetically modified gut microbes

(07:03) Setting a new goal for global warming

(17:20) Solving the Fermi paradox

Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet, with guests Grace Wade, Madeleine Cuff, Alex Wilkins, Ilana Seid, Robert Stern and Taras Gerya.

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

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