How Elephant Seals Sleep at Sea

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Sleeping at sea can be quite hard. Different mammals have different ways of doing it. Some fur seals and dolphins do that uni-hemispheric sleep thing. So, you know, if a predator comes along, they can be awake really quickly and run away. But this researcher wanted to know, okay, how do the elephant seals manage it? She invented a kind of device like a sort of electroencephalography device. It can read brain waves, heart rates, as well as logging where the seal is, the depth and how they're moving.

In this episode:

00:47 A focus on women’s health

Nature’s Kerri Smith and Heidi Ledford join us to discuss two Features published in Nature looking at topics surrounding women’s health. The first looks at efforts to understand how menopause affects brain health, while the second takes a deep-dive into research funding and shows how conditions affecting women more than men receive less money.

Feature: How menopause reshapes the brain

Feature: Women’s health research lacks funding – these charts show how

18:15 Research Highlights

The herb that could be a new source of cannabinoid compounds, and the vibrating crystal that confirms Schrödinger’s cat.

Research Highlight: Old and new cannabis compounds are found in an African herb

Research Highlight: Schrödinger’s cat is verified by a vibrating crystal

20:34 The planet swallowed by a star

Stars have a finite lifespan, and for many their fate is to expand as they reach the end of their lives. It’s long been speculated that these growing stars will consume any planets in their way, but this process has never been seen directly. Now though, a chance observation led to a team catching a dying star in the act of eating a Jupiter-like planet in the distant Milky Way.

Research article: De et al.

30:25 Briefing Chat

We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, a clearer image of the supermassive black hole M87*, and how elephant seals catch some shut-eye while diving.

Nature News: Black-hole image reveals details of turmoil around the abyss

New York Times: Elephant Seals Take Power Naps During Deep Ocean Dives

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