The Conversation Weekly

Reindeer's noses may not glow red, but these cold-loving creatures have evolved the ability to change the color of their eyes to help them thrive in northern winters. A neuroscientist explains how he discovered that a part of the reindeer eye called the tapetum lucidum is perfectly adapted to the dim, blue in the Arctic.Featuring Glen Jeffery, a professor of neuroscience at the Institute of Opthamology at University College London in the UK.This episode was produced by Katie Flood. The interim executive producer is Mend Mariwany. Eloise Stevens does our sound design and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. A transcript will be available soon. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.Further readingHow reindeer eyes transform in winter to give them twilight visionFive ways reindeer are perfectly evolved for pulling Santa’s sleigh

If you want to know what happened in the earliest years of the universe, you are going to need a very big, very specialized telescope. Much to the joy of astronomers and space fans everywhere, the world has one – the James Webb Space Telescope. In this episode, we talk to three experts about what astronomers have learned about the first galaxies in the universe and how just six months of data from James Webb is already changing astronomy.Featuring Jeyhan Kartaltepe, Associate Professor of Astrophysics at Rochester Institute of Technology, Jonathan Trump, Associate Professor of Physics at University of Connecticut and Michael J. I. Brown, Associate Professor in Astronomy at Monash University.This episode was produced by Katie Flood and Daniel Merino, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. It was written by Katie Flood and Daniel Merino. Mend Mariwany is the show’s executive producer. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.Further reading:James Webb Space Telescope: what astronomers hope it will reveal about the beginning of the universe – podcastBlueWalker 3, an enormous and bright communications satellite, is genuinely alarming astronomersIs the James Webb Space Telescope finding the furthest, oldest, youngest or first galaxies? An astronomer explainsTwo experts break down the James Webb Space Telescope’s first images, and explain what we’ve already learnt

How do you get a country to change its national diet? That’s what China has been trying by introducing potato as a staple as part of an effort to improve food security. In this episode, we talk to three experts about why countries need to shift what their citizens eat, and what the optimum diet for our planet might be. Featuring Xiaobo Xue Romeiko, assistant professor of Environmental Health Sciences at University at Albany, State University of New York in the US, Paul Behrens, associate professor of energy and environmental change at Leiden University in The Netherlands and Marco Springmann, professor of climate change food systems and health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the UK, and a senior researcher at the University of Oxford. This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany and Katie Flood with sound design by Eloise Stevens. It was written by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware is the show's executive producer. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.Further reading:Our food system is at risk of crossing ‘environmental limits’ – here’s how to ease the pressureWar in Ukraine is pushing global acute hunger to the highest level in this centuryOffering more plant-based choices on menus can speed up diet change 

In the latest episode of Discovery, an ongoing series where we explore the stories behind new research discoveries from around the world, we hear about how a Muslim celebrity footballer helped reduce Islamophobia. In this episode, Salma Mousa, assistant professor of political science at Yale University in the US, explains how she found a "Mo Salah effect" and why she's now testing how durable it is.This episode was produced and written by Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our other producers are Mend Mariwany and Katie Flood. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. More episodes of our Discovery series will be published via The Conversation Weekly every couple of weeks. Further reading and listening:How to depolarise deeply divided societies – podcastBrazil’s iconic football shirt was a symbol of Bolsonaro – here’s how the World Cup is changing that

The amount of alcohol young people drink in many high-income countries has seen a marked decline since the early 2000s. But in many developing countries, the opposite is happening. In this episode we talk to three experts studying trends in youth drinking to find out why and explore the questions this raises about the way young people see themselves and their place in the world. Featuring Amy Pennay, research fellow at La Trobe University in Australia, Jonas Raninen, a researcher at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Emeka Dumbili a lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Nigeria. This episode was produced by Katie Flood, Dan Merino and Mend Mariwany. It was written by Katie Flood and Dan Merino. The executive producer is Gemma Ware. Eloise Stevens does our sound design and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. A transcript will be available soon. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.Further reading:Why are young people drinking less than their parents’ generation did?Some young Nigerians say heavy drinking is fun: controls must keep pace with cultureShould I give my teen alcohol? Just a sip, the whole can, or none at all?

Mental illnesses like obsessive compulsive disorder, depression and addiction are notoriously hard to treat and often don't respond to drugs. But a new wave of treatments that stimulate the brain with electricity are showing promise on patients and in clinical trials. We talk to three experts and one patient about the history of treating mental illness, how new technology and deeper understanding of the brain are leading to better treatments and where the neuroscience of mental illness is headed next. Featuring Rachel A. Davis, a psychiatrist and researcher at University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in the US and her patient Moksha Patel, a physician and professor at the University of Colorado who has severe obsessive compulsive disorder. We also hear from Joseph J. Fins, a neuroethicist and professor of medicine at Wei Cornell Medical College, part of Cornell University in the US and Jacinta O'Shea, a neuroscientist and associate professor at the University of Oxford. This episode was produced by Katie Flood, Dan Merino and Mend Mariwany. It was written by Katie Flood and Dan Merino. The executive producer is Gemma Ware. Eloise Stevens does our sound design and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. A transcript will be available soon. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.Further reading:Deep brain stimulation can be life-altering for OCD sufferers when other treatment options fall shortPatients suffering with hard-to-treat depression may get relief from noninvasive magnetic brain stimulationBrain stimulation can rewire and heal damaged neural connections, but it isn’t clear how – research suggests personalization may be key to more effective therapies

There are many competing theories about what causes Alzheimer's disease. For more than 30 years, Ruth Itzhaki has been accumulating evidence that viruses are involved in its development in the brain. We investigate in the In the third and final part of Uncharted Brain: Decoding Dementia. Featuring Ruth Itzhaki, professor emeritus of molecular neurobiology at the University of Manchester in the UK, Dana Cairns, a postdoctoral research fellow at Tufts University in the US and Davangere P. Devanand, director of geriatric psychiatry and professor of psychiatry and neurology, Columbia University Medical Center in the US.The series is hosted by Paul Keaveny and Gemma Ware and was initially published via The Anthill podcast from the team at The Conversation in the UK.Uncharted Brain was produced by Tiffany Cassidy with sound design by Eloise Stevens. The executive producer is Gemma Ware. The Conversation Weekly theme music is by Neeta Sarl.Further reading:My work investigating the links between viruses and Alzheimer’s disease was dismissed for years – but now the evidence is buildingWe’ve been studying the same people for 76 years – this is what we’ve found out about Alzheimer’s diseaseAlzheimer’s disease: surprising new theory about what might cause it

In the second of a three-part series, Uncharted Brain: Decoding Dementia, we explore chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a form of dementia that athletes from a whole range of sports can develop. We hear about the toll it can take on family members, who are often unaware of what’s happening to their loved ones.Featuring Matthew Smith, a senior lecturer in sport and exercise psychology at the University of Winchester in the UK and Lisa McHale, director of family relations at the Concussion Legacy Foundation.The series is hosted by Paul Keaveny and Gemma Ware and was initially published via The Anthill podcast from the team at The Conversation in the UK.Uncharted Brain was produced by Tiffany Cassidy with sound design by Eloise Stevens. The executive producer is Gemma Ware. The Conversation Weekly theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Further reading:Sport-induced traumatic brain injury: families reveal the ‘hell’ of living with the conditionThe risk of concussion lurks at the Super Bowl – and in all other sportsTackling in children’s rugby must be banned to curb dementia risks

This week we're running a three-part series called Uncharted Brain: Decoding Dementia exploring new research searching for answers to how dementia works in the brain and the damage it leaves behind. The series is hosted by Paul Keaveny and Gemma Ware and was initially published via The Anthill podcast from the team at The Conversation in the UK. In the first episode, we explore how a study which began just after the end of the second world war is revealing new insights into the risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease. Featuring Marcus Richards, professor of psychology in epidemiology and Jonathan Schott, professor of neurology, both at UCL in the UK and David Ward, one of the cohort study participants. Uncharted Brain was produced by Tiffany Cassidy with sound design by Eloise Stevens. The executive producer is Gemma Ware. The Conversation Weekly theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Further reading:We’ve been studying the same people for 76 years – this is what we’ve found out about Alzheimer’s diseaseAlzheimer’s disease: surprising new theory about what might cause itNew Alzheimer’s drug slows cognitive decline – and may be available as early as next year

Momentum is growing for objects stolen during the colonial era that are now held in museums in Europe and North America to be returned to the places and communities that they were taken from. We talk to three experts about what happens to these objects once they're returned and the questions their restitution is raising about the relationship between communities and museums in Africa. Featuring John Kelechi Ugwuanyi, senior lecturer in archaeology and tourism at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka, Farai Chabata, visiting lecturer in heritage studies at the University of Zimbabwe and senior curator of ethnography for the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe and Aribiah David Attoe, lecturer in philosophy at the University of Witwatersrand. This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany and Katie Flood. The executive producer is Gemma Ware. Eloise Stevens does our sound design and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available here. A transcript will be available soon. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.Further readingGermany is returning Nigeria’s looted Benin Bronzes: why it’s not nearly enough3D printing is helping museums in repatriation and decolonisation efforts‘Restitution’ of looted African art just continues colonial policies - much more is at stake