The Scientific Enigma of Coral Reef Fish

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In shallow waters across the world, there are bounteous environments of colour and life. These fragile ecosystems are amongst the most productive in the world. This is accomplished even though these environments have relatively low nitrogen and phosphate,. It's been thought that these fast growth rates developed around the time that coral reefs themselves evolved. But a paper in nature this week seems to show that that isn't the case.

In this episode:

00:46 What JWST has revealed about an ancient galaxy

Researchers have pointed the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at JD1, one of the universe's most distant known galaxies. The power of JWST has filled in some of the gaps in what was known about the galaxy, giving greater insight into its age, structure and composition. The team behind the work hope that learning more about how early galaxies like JD1 formed will help explain how the universe evolved into its present state.

Research article: Roberts-Borsani et al.

10:09 Research Highlights

Why your choice of soap might make you irresistible to mosquitoes, and how tardigrade-inspired claws help tiny robots cling to blood-vessels.

Research Highlight: Your favourite soap might turn you into a mosquito magnet

Research Highlight: Claws like a tardigrade’s give swimming microrobots a grip

12:34 How coral reef fish evolved to grow more quickly

Fish that live in coral reefs are some of the fastest growing in the world, despite the environment they live in being relatively nutrient poor. This contradiction has long puzzled researchers, but now, a team has looked deep into the evolutionary history of the fish and discovered a critical point in time when they shifted towards faster growth, much earlier than was previously thought.

Research article: Siqueira et al.

21:29 Briefing Chat

We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, the first frog thought to pollinate flowers, and a field-trial to vaccinate wild koalas against chlamydia.

Scientific American: This Frog May Be the First Amphibian Known to Pollinate Flowers

Associated Press: Koalas are dying from chlamydia. A new vaccine effort is trying to save them

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