Nature Podcast

00:47 The economic benefits of social connectionsBy looking at data gathered from billions of Facebook friendships, researchers have shown that having more connections with people from higher income groups could increase future incomes by 20%. They also show how such connections can be formed, and how schools and other institutions could help to improve peoples’ opportunities in the future.Research Article: Chetty et al.Research Article: Chetty et al.News and Views: The social connections that shape economic prospectsLink to the data11:06 Research HighlightsHow balloons could help measure quakes on Venus, and the parasitic fungus that tricks flies into mating with fly corpses.Research Highlight: Balloon flotilla detects an earthquake from high in the skyResearch Highlight: The fungus that entices male flies to mate with female corpses13:40 Reviving pig organs hours after deathWhen someone dies, tissues start to irreversibly degrade, but recently this irreversibility has been brought into question by studies showing that some organs can be partially revived several hours after death. Now, working in pigs, researchers have shown it is possible to revive the functions of several organs at once. This could pave the way for improved organ transplantation, but ethicists advise caution.Research Article: Andrijevic et al.News and Views: Improved organ recovery after oxygen deprivationNews: Pig organs partially revived in dead animals — researchers are stunnedSubscribe 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.

Inequity has been a central feature of the COVID19 pandemic. From health outcomes to access to vaccines, COVID has pushed long-standing disparities out of the shadows and into the public eye and many of these problems are global. In this episode of Coronapod we dig into a radical new collaboration of 15 countries - co-led by the WHO, and modelled on open-science. The project, called the mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub, aims to create independent vaccine hubs that could supply the global south, and take on the giants of the pharmaceutical industry in the process. But the road ahead is long - the challenges are complex and numerous, and the odds are stacked against them. But at a time when stakes couldn't be higher, momentum is building and if successful, the tantalising possibility of an end to a dangerous legacy of dependence looms. Can it be done? And if so, what needs to change to make it happen? We ask these questions and more.News Feature: The radical plan for vaccine equityThis project was supported by the Pulitzer Center. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:45 Working out how the ability to digest milk spreadHumans have been drinking milk for thousands of years, but it seems that they were doing so long before the ability to digest it became prevalent. Then around 2000 years ago, this ability became common in Europe, presenting a mystery to researchers – why then? Now by analyzing health data, ancient DNA, and fats residues from thousands of ancient pots, scientists have worked out what caused this trait to suddenly spread throughout Europe.Research Article: Evershed et al.News and Views: The mystery of early milk consumption in Europe08:56 Research HighlightsHow genes stolen from outside the animal kingdom have altered insects’ abilities, and a dormant black hole beyond the Milky Way gives insights into these objects' origins.Research Highlight: Genes purloined from across the tree of life give insects a boostResearch Highlight: A quiet black hole whispers its origin story11:21 Assessing the addiction potential for therapeutic ketamineKetamine has shown great promise as a fast-acting antidepressant, but there have been concerns about the risks of addiction relating to this therapeutic use. Now, a team have looked in mice to see whether ketamine causes the behavioural and neuronal changes characteristic of addictive substances. They find that ketamine likely has a low addiction risk, which could inform future prescribing decisions in humans.Research article: Simmler et al.News and Views: A short burst of reward curbs the addictiveness of ketamine17:51 Briefing ChatWe discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, a report shows a significant decline in Australia’s environment and ecosystems, and how adding a gene greatly increases rice yield.The Conversation: This is Australia’s most important report on the environment’s deteriorating health. We present its grim findingsScience: Supercharged biotech rice yields 40% more grainSubscribe 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.

00:46 When did mammals start to regulate their temperature?The evolution of ‘warm bloodedness’ allowed mammals to live in a more diverse range of habitats, but working out when this occurred has been difficult. To try and pin down a date, researchers have studied the fossilised remains of ancient mammals' inner ears, which suggest that this key evolutionary leap appeared around 230 million years ago.Research Article: Araujo et al.News and Views: Evolution of thermoregulation as told by ear07:14 Research HighlightsA new surgical glue that’s both strong and easy to remove, and southern fin whales return to Antarctica after being hunted to near extinction.Research Highlight: This adhesive bandage sticks strongly — even to hairy skinResearch Highlight: A feeding frenzy of 150 whales marks a species’ comeback09:47 Structure of an enzyme reveals how its so efficientHydrogen dependent CO2 reductase is an enzyme that can convert CO2 from the air into formic acid that can be used as fuel. It also does this extremely efficiently, but nobody has been quite sure how. Now researchers have an idea based on a detailed structural analysis.Research Article: Dietrich et al.17:51 Briefing ChatWe discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, the findings of some big biodiversity reports, and how woodpeckers don’t end up with headaches from their pecking.Nature News: More than dollars: mega-review finds 50 ways to value natureNature News: Major wildlife report struggles to tally humanity’s exploitation of speciesScience: Contrary to popular belief, woodpeckers don’t protect their brains when headbanging treesSubscribe 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.

00:46 A long-term record of climate in the tropicsTo understand the history of the Earth’s climate, researchers often rely on things like ice cores, which contain layered frozen insights of thousands of years of history. However, in the tropics long-term records like these have been absent. Now researchers have uncovered a sediment core in Peru which reveals around 700,000 years of climatic history.Research Article: Rodbell et al.News and Views: Sediment study finds the pulse of tropical glaciers09:40 Research HighlightsThe biological ‘helmets’ that protect shrimp from themselves, and why the colour of wine bottles matters.Research Highlight: ‘Helmets’ shield shrimp from their own supersonic shock wavesResearch Highlight: Why white wine in plain-glass bottles loses its bouquet12:38 The James Webb Space Telescope reveals its first imagesAfter more than two decades of development, the James Webb Space Telescope has broadcast its first images in spectacular detail. We discuss how we got here, what’s next and what these images mean for science.News: Stunning new Webb images: baby stars, colliding galaxies and hot exoplanets21:33 Briefing ChatWe discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, we discuss a crystal made out of starfish embryos.Video: How starfish embryos become living crystalsSubscribe 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 Podcast Extra, Nature's Lizzie Gibney and Federico Levi take a deep-dive into the Higgs boson, describing their experiences of its discovery, what the latest run of the Large Hadron Collider might reveal about the particle's properties, and what role it could play in potential physics beyond the standard model.Nature News: Happy birthday, Higgs boson! What we do and don’t know about the particleNature Editorial: Particle physics isn’t going to die — even if the LHC finds no new particles Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since early in the pandemic, scientists have searched for signals of SARS-CoV-2 transmission by sampling wastewater. This surveillance method has provided vital information to inform public health responses. But the approach has never been particularly specific - pointing to broad trends rather than granular information such as which variants are spreading where. But now a team from the University of California have created two new tools to sample waste water in much greater detail - and spot variants and their relative concentrations up to two weeks faster than testing-based surveillance methods. In this episode of Coronapod, we discuss the paper and ask how a system like this could help countries around the world respond to the COVID pandemic and beyond.News: COVID variants found in sewage weeks before showing up in tests Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:46 Happy birthday, Higgs boson - looking back at a momentous milestone for physicsTen years ago this week, scientists announced that they’d found evidence of the existence of the Higgs boson, a fundamental particle first theorised to exist nearly sixty years earlier.To celebrate this anniversary, we reminisce about what the discovery meant at the time, and what questions are left to be answered about this mysterious particle.Nature News: Happy birthday, Higgs boson! What we do and don’t know about the particleNature Editorial: Particle physics isn’t going to die — even if the LHC finds no new particles11:09 Research HighlightsClever clothes that can cool or warm the wearer, and finding hidden DNA from the endangered red wolf.Research Highlight: ‘Smart’ clothing flexes to provide relief from the heatResearch Highlight: ‘Ghost’ DNA from the world’s rarest wolves lingers in coyotes13:27 Supporting scientists who stutterStuttering is a speech condition that affects around 70 million people worldwide, which can make things like speaking in public, or even one-on-one incredibly daunting. We hear the experiences of one researcher of stuttering, who also has a stutter, as they explain the best way to offer support to others.Careers Feature: The conference challenges faced by scientists who stutter22:10 Briefing ChatWe discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, we discuss how having similar smells could spark a friendship, and how viruses can alter our odour to make humans more attractive to mosquitos.New Scientist: You're more likely to become friends with someone who smells like youNature News: How some viruses make people smell extra-tasty to mosquitoesSubscribe 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 the first episode of our new series Nature hits the books, science journalist Ed Yong joins us to talk about his new book An Immense World, which takes a journey through the weird and wonderful realm of animal senses.In the show, we chat about how our human-centric view of the world has restricted researchers' understanding of animal senses, how to conceptualise what it might be like to be an electric-field sensitive fish, and what bees might make of us blushing...An Immense World, Ed Yong, Random House (2022)Music supplied by Airae/Epidemic Sound/Getty images. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:47 Enteric viruses may spread through salivaEnteric viruses, such as norovirus, cause a significant health burden around the world and are generally considered to only spread via the faecal-oral route. However, new research in mice suggests that saliva may also be a route of transmission for these viruses, which the authors say could have important public health implications.Research Article: Ghosh et al.08:59 Research HighlightsHow devouring space rocks helped Jupiter to get so big, and what analysing teeth has revealed about the diet of the extinct super-sized megalodon shark.Research Highlight: The heavy diet that made Jupiter so bigResearch Highlight: What did megalodon the mega-toothed shark eat? Anything it wanted11:24 Making the tetraneutronFor decades there have been hints of the existence of tetraneutrons, strange systems composed of four neutrons, and now researchers may have created one in the lab. This breakthrough could tell us more about the strong nuclear force that holds matter together.Research article: Duer et al.News and Views: Collisions hint that four neutrons form a transient isolated entity18:46 After Roe v. WadeLast Friday the US supreme court struck down the constitutional right to abortion. In the wake of this ruling, Nature has been turning to research to ask what we can expect in the coming weeks and months.News: After Roe v. Wade: US researchers warn of what’s to comeEditorial: The US Supreme Court abortion verdict is a tragedy. This is how research organizations can helpAdditional show linksVideo: The pandemic's unequal tollCollection: The science of inequalitySubscribe 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.