Alice and Lucy dove head first into some far-out medical science today, starting with the ancient hallucinogen ayahuasca and its potential as a treatment for depression. The psychedelic drug is legal in parts of South America, where it has been drunk for centuries as part of religious rituals, and tourists are increasingly giving it a go while holidaying there. The world's first randomised clinical trial of ayahuasca for treating depression has just been completed, and has found that it can rapidly improve mood over a short period, especially among people with depression that is resistant to antidepressants.

Then they looked into something a little more futuristic - the incredible news that two lambs have been successfully grown in an artificial womb that could one day be used to help human babies that are born prematurely. It looks like a plastic bag filled with fluid, and it mimics a mother's uterus, allowing the foetus to continue breathing oxygen-filled liquid just as it would in a real womb. The team at the Centre for Foetal Research in Philadelphia tested their prototype on two lambs, and hope to have the technology available for humans in less than two years. This would be a huge step forward in the care of babies born prematurely, who suffer from a very high mortality rate and very high rates of illness.

Alice also told Lucy all about her brand new podcast, Dear Science!