Jeff Tollefson

Dr. James Kinross, a surgeon and AI researcher at Imperial College London, shares insights on the transformative potential of artificial intelligence in healthcare and its accompanying challenges. Jeff Tollefson, a reporter for Nature, discusses the implications of a Trump presidency on scientific progress, especially in climate policy. They also explore the intricacies of science-backed cooking, revealing how physics can perfect classic dishes like cacio e pepe, making pasta not just tasty but scientifically optimized!

Jeff Tollefson, a Senior reporter for Nature, delves into a US Department of Energy report that downplays the economic impact of global warming. He reveals how this controversial finding has sparked outrage within the scientific community, prompting researchers to mobilize against potential policy reversals. Tollefson explains the urgency of presenting a unified front to combat misinformation and discusses the legal challenges and implications for climate policy arising from the report. The dialogue highlights the long-term consequences of such political actions on climate science.

00:46 Martian ‘micro-lightning’The sounds of ‘micro-lightning’ have been recorded by NASA’s Perseverance rover, ending a long search for the phenomenon on Mars. A lack of suitable equipment has made it difficult to gather evidence of lightning on the red planet, but a team of researchers realized that a microphone on Perseverance should be able to pick up the characteristic sounds of electrical discharges. In total they found 55 such examples, along with signs of electrostatic interference indicative of the phenomenon. They dubbed the electric bursts ‘micro-lightning’, as they are far smaller than the lighting seen on Earth, due to the thin Martian atmosphere. The team believe this finding could help better understand Martian chemistry and how best to design equipment to explore the planet’s surface.Research Article: Chide et al.News and Views: Is there lightning on Mars?11:03 Research HighlightsHow the biology of male seahorses’ brood pouches appears similar to mammalian pregnancy— plus, why Neanderthals’ jaws were so beefy.Research Highlight: The origin of male seahorses’ brood pouchResearch Highlight: Neanderthal DNA reveals how human faces form13:36 The key takeaways from COP30The UN’s climate conference, COP30, came to a close last week in Brazil. Nature reporter Jeff Tollefson tells us what was and wasn’t agreed during the final negotiations.Nature: What happened at COP30? 4 science take-homes from the climate summit22:27 Why women may retract less than menA new analysis suggests that female authors retract fewer medical science papers than their male counterparts. Women are known to be underrepresented in the medical sciences, but even accounting for this an AI-tool revealed that female authors featured on far fewer retracted research articles. Reporter Jenna Ahart has been investigating and told us why this might be, and what it means for research more broadly.Nature: Women seem to retract fewer papers than men — but why?Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this insightful discussion, Jeff Tollefson, a climate reporter at Nature, reveals how major fossil fuel producers significantly contribute to the frequency and intensity of heatwaves. He uncovers research showing that nearly a quarter of heatwaves from 2000 to 2023 are directly linked to the emissions of specific energy giants like Exxon and BP. The conversation addresses the growing accountability of these companies and the declining support for scientific research in the U.S., highlighting the urgent need to tackle climate change.

Susana Vasquez-Torres, a researcher at the University of Washington, discusses her groundbreaking work on AI-designed antivenoms for snakebites, aiming to tackle a major public health crisis. She reveals how machine learning has enabled the design of proteins that could offer effective treatment in resource-limited settings. Jeff Tollefson, a Nature journalist, shares urgent insights into Earth's temperature surpassing 1.5°C for the first time, stressing the implications for climate policy and immediate action needed to combat climate change.