Science In Action

Scientists detect for the first time an unknown source of GPS interference coming from space. Also, as AI begins to design more and more DNA sequences being manufactured synthetically, how can those manufacturers be sure that what their customers are asking for will not produce toxic proteins or lethal weapons? And… how camera traps in polish forests reveal that the big bad wolf is more scared of humans than anything else. For that last few years instances of deliberate jamming and interference of GNSS signals has become an expected feature of the wars the world is suffering. Yet this disruption of the signals that all of us use to navigate and tell the time nearly always emanate from devices on the ground, or maybe in the air. But in ongoing research reported recently by Todd Humphreys of University of Texas at Austin and colleagues around the world is beginning to reveal that since 2019 an intermittent yet powerful signal has been causing GPS failures across Europe and the North Atlantic. The episodes have been thankfully brief so far, but all the signs suggest it comes not from soldiers or aeroplanes, but from a distantly orbiting satellite somewhere over the Baltic Sea. It may not be malevolent, it could be a fault, but the net of suspicion is tightening. A team of scientists including some from Microsoft report today in a paper in the journal Science an investigation to try to strengthen the vetting of synthetic DNA requests around the world. As AI-designed sequencies increase in number and application, the factories that produce the bespoke DNA are in danger of making and supplying potentially dangerous sequences to customers with malicious intents. But how do you spot the bad proteins out of the almost infinite possible DNA recipes? Tessa Alexanian of the International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science, and one of the authors explains some of the thinking. Finally, Liana Zanette of Western University in Ontario and colleagues have been hanging around in Polish forests scaring wolves. Why? Because as wolf numbers rise in protected reserves, more and more human-wolf interactions occur. And a suspicion has arisen that the legal protection they enjoy has led to them losing their fear of humans in a dangerous way. Not so, says Liana’s team, blowing away the straw arguments and setting fire to the political motivation to reduce their protection status. Wolves are still terrified of Nature’s apex predator – us. Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alex Mansfield Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth (Image: Simulation screen showing various flights for transportation and passengers. Credit: Oundum via Getty Images).

Jonathan Mill, an epigeneticist from the University of Exeter, discusses how epigenetic changes influence brain development and their complex ties to autism. Samia Iqbal, an evolutionary biologist, reveals insights from historic bacterial samples that show how antibiotic resistance evolved and spread. Gabriela Bishop from Wageningen University shares vital research on balancing agricultural land with natural habitats to protect pollinators, emphasizing specific habitat needs for different species.

Join gravitational-wave researcher Alberto Vecchio from Birmingham University as he discusses a groundbreaking LIGO detection, confirming Hawking's area theorem with the merging of two black holes. Vecchio highlights how this elegant math has withstood rigorous testing. The podcast also explores an ambitious ESA plan to catch a pristine comet on its first visit to the inner solar system, supported by insights from Colin Snodgrass and Meg Schwamb about upcoming space missions. Discover the future of cosmic exploration and its exciting possibilities!

Discover the thrilling plans for the interstellar comet 3I/Atlas and an exciting rendezvous with asteroid Apophis in 2029. Explore the unique characteristics of the small asteroid Donald Johansson from NASA's Lucy mission, and delve into the captivating dynamics of a merging asteroid. Join discussions on diverse spacecraft strategies for capturing cometary data and the implications of these celestial wonders. This podcast reveals the collaborative efforts and scientific significance behind exploring our cosmic neighborhood.

Andrew Dessler, a climate scientist from Texas A&M University, discusses Afghanistan's vulnerability to earthquakes and the urgent need for better infrastructure and public education. Alongside Anne Churchland from UCLA, they delve into how brain activity informs decision-making, using groundbreaking research on neural connections in mice. Dessler also challenges misconceptions about carbon dioxide's effects on plant growth, linking climate change to food security. Additionally, listeners learn about the latest interstellar comet discoveries and their implications for astronomical research.

Join asteroid specialist Sarah Russell, who studies interstellar dust, paleo geneticist Ludovic Orlando, who researches horse domestication, and epidemiologist Katerina Laporta, who examines historical rumor spread. They discuss the fascinating parallels between the spread of fear during the French Revolution and modern-day events, revealing how citizen militias shaped revolutionary ideas. Furthermore, uncover the genetic evolution of horses and the cosmic origins of asteroids like Bennu, highlighting the connection between our ancient past and current scientific endeavors.

A desktop nuclear fusion reactor that uses electrochemistry to up the ante. Also, a global survey of human wildfire exposures finds Africa burning ahead, plus tiny swarming robots and record-breaking 2024 ice melts from glaciers on Svalbard. Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alex Mansfield Production co-ordinator: Jana Holesworth (Photo: The Thunderbird Reactor at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Credit: Berlinguette Group/UBC)

US Health Secretary RFK Jr’s call to retract a study on childhood vaccines is resisted by the journal. Also antibiotics get designed by AI, and a new way for stars to die. A study focussing on Danish childhood vaccination data has attracted the US Secretary for Health’s anger, as RFK jr calls for the journal in which it was published, the Annals of Internal Medicine, to retract it. The Editor, Christine Laine, talk to Science in Action about the strengths and challenges of observational studies. The cuts to prestigious US federal science funded research continue, as last week it was announced that $500 million funding for future mRNA vaccines would be withdrawn. Barney Graham, one of the pioneers in the field and prominent during the Covid vaccines, argues that the research will still happen, though maybe not in the US, as mRNA has become a fundamental area of global research. Meanwhile, strides are being made in the field of synthetic biology as Jim Collins and colleagues at MIT and Harvard have used AI to design potentially viable antibiotics for two important drug-resistant superbugs. Previously, AI has been used to comb through libraries of known antibiotics. This study has gone a step further, and used generative AI to design new ones, that can then be synthesised using real chemicals. Though a long way from being prescribable drugs, the team think this could herald a new golden age of antibiotic development – something which has been lacking in recent decades. Finally, it seems astronomers may have discovered a new way for a star to die, sort of. Supernova 2023zkd was seen to explode back in 2023, found by a team looking for odd events. It didn’t seem quite like normal supernovae, in that it took a bit longer to die down. Then the team looked back, and noticed that it had also been getting slowly brighter for almost a year. At 730 million light years away, in a galaxy far, far away, it also seemed to have been stripped of all its hydrogen and even stranger yet, appeared to have exploded twice. As Ashley Villar of the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics explains, the almost unique observation fits with a model of the huge star getting closer to a black hole, the gravity of which may have disrupted the star enough to cause it to explode. Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber with Alex Mansfield Production Coordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth (Image: Child getting a vaccine. Credit: Luis Alvarez via Getty Images)

In this intriguing discussion, Stephanie Eisenbarth, a study leader from Northwestern University, shares groundbreaking research uncovering pathways that could protect individuals from severe allergic reactions. Jay Famiglietti from Arizona State University highlights alarming satellite data indicating critical groundwater depletion worldwide. Also featured is Louis Amaral, who dives into the troubling networks behind scientific fraud, revealing how collaborative efforts may compromise research integrity. The conversation brings urgency to food allergies, climate change, and the importance of ethical science.

After most of the population of the Pacific rim sought higher ground this week, we speak with the architect of the tsunami warning technology. Also how aging Killifish might help us probe our senior moments. This week, an M8.8 earthquake near Kamchatka in the western pacific led to tsunami evacuation alerts thousands of miles away. Seismologist Judith Hubbard was writing about the area in the days leading up to it, following a M7.4 event 9 days before, which we now know to categorize as a foreshock. As she says, it’s these subduction zones between tectonic plates that give out the most energy, produce the biggest quakes, leading to the worst tsunamis. The Tsunami alarms were based on modelling developed by Vasily Titov of NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle. Having studied these phenomena for many decades, he describes the fine balance between the potential accuracy of a prediction, and the practical actionable advice authorities need to give out to save as many lives as possible. Finally, how can a short-lived African freshwater fish help scientists studying senescence? Stanford’s Judith Frydman and colleagues publish this week a study in Science that finds Killifish’s brain cells’ ability to encode proteins degrades with age, in keeping with similar patterns of older human brains. Because Killifish have such brief life cycles, yet seem to follow the brain cycles of most vertebrates, they provide an ideal model species from which to find out more, as she explains. Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Imaan Moin and Alex Mansfield Production Coordinator: Jana Holesworth(Image Credit: Vasily Titov PMEL/NOAA)