00:46 Designing new antivenoms to treat snakebitesResearchers have shown that machine learning can quickly design antivenoms that are effective against lethal snake-toxins, which they hope will help tackle a serious public health issue. Thousands of people die as a result of snakebites each year, but treatment options are limited, expensive and often difficult to access in the resource-poor settings where most bites occur. The computer-aided approach allowed researchers to design two proteins that provided near total protection against individual snake toxins in mouse experiments. While limited in scope, the team behind the work believe these results demonstrate the promise of the approach in designing effective and cheaper treatments for use in humans.Research Article: Vázquez Torres et al.11:28 Research HighlightsHow male wasp spiders use hairs on their legs to sniff out mates, and how noradrenaline drives waves of cleansing fluid through the brain.Research Highlight: ​​​​​​​Male spiders smell with their legsResearch Highlight: ​​​​​​​How the brain cleans itself during deep sleep13:53 Earth breaches 1.5 °C climate limit for the first timeNews broke last week that in 2024, Earth’s average temperature climbed to more than 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels for the first time. Although this is only a single year so far, we discuss what breaking this significant threshold means for the 2015 Paris climate agreement and what climate scientists understand about the speed that Earth is heating up.  Nature: ​​​​​​​Earth breaches 1.5 °C climate limit for the first time: what does it mean?23:39 Briefing ChatNASA delays deciding its strategy for collecting and returning Mars rocks to Earth, and why papers on a handful of bacterial species dominate the scientific literature.Nature: ​​​​​​​NASA still has no plan for how to bring precious Mars rocks to EarthNature: ​​​​​​​These are the 20 most-studied bacteria — the majority have been ignoredSubscribe 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 episode of the Nature Podcast, we catch up on some science stories from the holiday period by diving into the Nature Briefing.00:53 The retraction of a controversial COVID study that promoted unproven treatmentA much-critiqued study demonstrating the now-disproven idea that hydroxychloroquine can treat COVID-19 has been retracted — more than four-and-a-half years after it was published.Nature: Controversial COVID study that promoted unproven treatment retracted after four-year saga09:10 The skin’s unexpected immune systemResearchers have discovered that healthy skin — once thought to be a passive barrier — can actually produce antibodies that fight off infections. It’s hoped that the finding could one day lead to the development of needle-free vaccines that can be applied to the skin.Nature: The skin’s ‘surprise’ power: it has its very own immune system13:02 Researchers fear Europa’s icy crust may be much thicker than thoughtNew estimates, based on data collected by NASA’s Juno spacecraft, suggest that the ice on the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa may be significantly thicker than previously thought. If these estimates prove accurate it could reduce the chances of Europa being habitable for extraterrestrial life.Science: Surprisingly thick ice on Jupiter’s moon Europa complicates hunt for life20:11 Modelling the running prowess of our ancient relatives3D computer simulations of Australopithecus afarensis — an ancient hominin that lived more than three million years ago — reveals that while our relatives could run on two legs, they likely did so at a far slower pace than modern humans.Nature: Humans evolved for distance running — but ancestor ‘Lucy’ didn’t go far or fastSubscribe 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 episode, reporter Miryam Naddaf joins us to talk about the big science events to look out for in 2025. We’ll hear about: the latest Moon missions, 30 years of the United Nations' COP climate summits, the return of Donald Trump, and more.Nature: Science in 2025: the events to watch for in the coming year Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:36 How melting ice is affecting global timekeepingNature Podcast: 27 March 2024Research article: Agnew09:19 Sex and gender discussions don't need to be toxicPodcast extra: 01 May 2024Collection: Sex and gender in science18:10 Research HighlightsResearch Highlight: How to train your crocodileResearch Highlight: Ancient fish dined on bats — or died trying21:09 ChatGPT has a language problem — but science can fix itPodcast extra: 09 August 202426:59 A simple solution to tackle a deadly frog diseaseNature Podcast: 03 July 2024Research Article: Waddle et al.News and Views: Mini saunas save endangered frogs from fungal disease39:57 Briefing ChatNature News: Your brain on shrooms — how psilocybin resets neural networksNature News: NASA cancels $450-million mission to drill for ice on the Moon — surprising researchers Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

02:54 The death star moon and a win for the little guysThe shifting orbit of one of Saturn’s moons indicates that the satellite has a subsurface ocean, contradicting theories that its interior is entirely solid. The finding calls for a fresh take on what constitutes an ocean moon.Nature Podcast: 14 February 2024News and Views: Mimas’s surprise ocean prompts an update of the rule book for moons07:05 Could red mud make green steel?Millions of tonnes of ‘red mud’, a hazardous waste of aluminium production, are generated annually. A potentially sustainable process for treating this mud shows that it could become a source of iron for making steel.Nature Podcast: 24 Jan 2024News and Views: Iron extracted from hazardous waste of aluminium production12:09 A hierarchy of failureA design principle for buildings incorporates components that can control the propagation of failure by isolating parts of the structure as they fail — offering a way to prevent a partial collapse snowballing into complete destruction.Nature podcast: 15 May 2024Nature video: Controlled failure: The building designed to limit catastropheNews and Views: Strategic links save buildings from total collapse17:57 Programable enzyme for genpme editingRNA-guided recombinase enzymes have been discovered that herald a new chapter for genome editing — enabling the insertion, inversion or deletion of long DNA sequences at user-specified genome positions.News and Views: Programmable RNA-guided enzymes for next-generation genome editing Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

01:11 “Ozempic you’re able”In the first of our annual festive songs celebrating the science of the past year, we pay homage to Ozempic, or Semaglutide, that's able to tackle obesity, diabetes and potentially a whole lot more.05:20 A very scientific quizWe gather an all-star cast and see how well they can remember some of the big science stories from 2024 in our annual festive quiz.21:31 “CAR T Cells”In the second of our festive songs, we look at CAR-T cells. These engineered immune cells have shown great promise at tackling cancer, but these treatments are not without their drawbacks.25:43 Nature’s 10Every year, Nature’s 10 highlights some of the people who have helped shape science over the past 12 months. We hear about a few of the people who made the 2024 list, including an economist who now needs to run a country, a Russian science-sleuth, a researcher who’s been sounding the alarm on Mpox, and a PhD student who won a salary bump for researchers in Canada.News Feature: Nature’s 10Subscribe 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.

00:45 A potential treatment for pre-eclampsiaResearchers have shown in mice experiments that an mRNA-based therapy can reverse the underlying causes of pre-eclampsia, a deadly complication of pregnancy for which treatment options are limited. Inspired by the success of mRNA vaccines, the team behind the work designed a method to deliver the genomic instructions for a blood-vessel growth factor directly into mouse placentas. This stimulated the production of extra blood vessels reducing the very high-blood pressure associated with the condition. Pre-eclampsia causes 15% of maternal deaths and 25% of foetal and newborn deaths worldwide and although the work is early and human trials will be required, the team hope that this work demonstrates the potential of using this approach to treat pre-eclampsia.Research Article: Swingle et al.11:00 Research HighlightsStacks of, mass-produced bowls suggest that people founded, but then abandoned an ancient Mesopotamian civilization, and analysis of Venus’s gases suggests that the planet was always dry.Research Highlight: Ancient stacks of dishes tell tale of society’s dissolutionResearch Highlight: Has Venus ever had an ocean? Its volcanoes hint at an answer13:29 Programmable cellular switchesA team of scientists have created cellular switches on the surface of cells, allowing them to control their behaviour. Creating these switches has been a long-term goal for synthetic biologists — especially a group of proteins called G-protein-coupled receptors that already control many cellular processes. However, engineering these proteins has been challenging, as modifications can ruin their function. Instead, the team added another molecular component that blocked the receptors activity, but could be removed in response to specific signals. This allowed the researchers to activate these receptors on command, potentially opening up a myriad of new ways to control cell behaviour, such as controlling when neurons fire.Research Article: Kalogriopoulos et al.19:35 Google reaches a milestone in quantum computingA team at Google has shown it is possible to create a quantum computer that becomes more accurate as it scales up, a goal researchers have been trying to achieve for decades. Quantum computing could potentially open up applications beyond the capabilities of classical computers, but these systems are error-prone, making it difficult to scale them up without introducing errors into calculations. The team showed that by increasing the quality of all the components in a quantum computer they could create a system with fewer errors, and that this trend of improvement continued as the system became larger. This breakthrough could mean that quantum computers are getting very close to realising the useful applications that their proponents have long promised.Nature: ‘A truly remarkable breakthrough’: Google’s new quantum chip achieves accuracy milestoneSubscribe 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.

Zoologist Arik Kershenbaum has spent his career studying animals and how they communicate in the wild. In his book Why Animals Talk: The New Science of Animal Communication, Arik takes a deep dive into the various forms of communication, from wolf howls to gibbon songs, to look at how different species get their points across, why they do it the way they do, and what insights they provide into our own use of language.Why Animals Talk: The New Science of Animal Communication Arik Kershenbaum Penguin (2024)Music supplied by SPD/Triple Scoop Music/Getty ImagesWolf howl via NPS & MSU Acoustic Atlas/Jennifer JerrettSlowed down dolphin whistle via Arik KershenbaumHyrax song via Arik KershenbaumPileated gibbon song via Rushenb CC BY-SA 4.0 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

00:48 Chemotherapy efficacy varies with the menstrual cycleBreast cancer cells are more susceptible to chemotherapy at certain points in the menstrual cycle, new data in Nature suggests. Researchers studied the equivalent hormonal cycle in mice and found that during the oestrous phase, where progesterone levels are low, tumours are more susceptible to chemotherapy. The same effect was shown in humans in a small retrospective study. The team caution that a larger clinical trial would need to be conducted, but hope that this work could open up an, easy to implement, way to boost the effect of chemotherapy.Research Article: Bornes et al.News and Views: What is the best time of the month to treat breast cancer?09:22 Research HighlightsHow coffee changes your gut microbiota, and the first amber deposits found in Antarctica hint at an ancient rainforest.Research Highlight: Do you drink coffee? Ask your gutResearch Highlight: Antarctica’s first known amber whispers of a vanished rainforest11:47 Is human-level artificial intelligence close?The latest AI system released by OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT, is better able to break down problems into smaller chunks, making it closer to a human way of solving problems than other systems. This has reignited discussions about the likelihood of AIs achieving human-level intelligence. Although previously the realm of science fiction, researchers are now taking the idea of ‘artificial general intelligence’, or AGI, more seriously. Although this technology has the potential to help tackle humanity's biggest challenges, there are concerns about the safety of such technology if it were to become autonomous.News Feature: How close is AI to human-level intelligence?21:43 Briefing ChatHow making a bank of centenarians’ stem cells could help unlock the secrets of healthy ageing, and what some 1.5 million year old footprints reveal about how ancient hominin species may have interacted.Nature: What’s the secret to living to 100? Centenarian stem cells could offer cluesNature: These two ancient human relatives crossed paths 1.5 million years agoSubscribe 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 The role of skull bone marrow in ageingDuring ageing, bone marrow in the skull becomes an increasingly important site of blood-cell production. This is in stark contrast to most bones where the ability of marrow to make blood and immune cells declines. Studies in mice and humans showed that ageing results in skull bone-marrow expanding, and in mice this marrow was more resistant to inflammation and other hallmarks of ageing. The team behind the work hope by understanding this process better it may be possible to help organs become more resistant to ageing.Research Article: Koh et al.08:56 Research HighlightsElderly big brown bats show remarkable resistance to age-related hearing loss, and why search-engine algorithms may not be the main driver steering people towards misinformation.Research Highlight: No hearing aids needed: bats’ ears stay keen well into old ageResearch Highlight: Don’t blame search engines for sending users to unreliable sites11:38 How to make lead a useful material to date the Solar SystemResearchers have overcome a major hurdle preventing the radioactive isotope lead-205 from being used as a ‘clock’ to date the age of the Solar System. 205Pb is made in some stars and thanks to its half life of around 17 million years has been proposed as a potential way to date ancient astronomical processes. However, exactly how much 205Pb can escape a star were unclear, limiting its dating potential. Now, researchers have mimicked the conditions seen in stars to pin down how much 205Pb can escape into space, paving the way for its use as a clock.Research Article: Leckenby et al.19:51 Briefing ChatHow millions of Android smartphones were used to map the Earth’s ionosphere, and the ethical implications of a virologist who treated her own cancer.Nature: Google uses millions of smartphones to map the ionosphereNature: This scientist treated her own cancer with viruses she grew in the labSubscribe 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.

Samantha Harvey's Booker Prize shortlisted novel Orbital is set inside an International Space Station-like vessel circling 250 miles above Earth. It looks at a day-in-the-life of the crew, investigating the contrasts they experience during the 16 orbits they make around the planet, crossing continents, oceans and the line separating night and day.On the latest episode of Nature hits the books, Samantha joins us to discuss why the ISS is a rich setting for fiction, the challenges of putting yourself in the shoes of an astronaut, and how distance can give new perspectives on global issues like climate change.Orbital Samantha Harvey Vintage (2024)Music supplied by Airae/Epidemic Sound Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This series was originally broadcast in 2020.Science and politics are not easy bedfellows - "Stick to the science" is a three part series which aims to find out why.In the third and final episode we try to get to the bottom of how journalists, communicators and policymakers influence how science is perceived. We discuss the danger of politicization and ask the question - can science be part of the political narrative without compromising its values?This episode was produced by Nick Petrić Howe, with editing from Noah Baker and Benjamin Thompson. It featured: Deborah Blum, Bruce Lewenstein, Dan Sarewitz, Hannah Schmid-Petri, Shobita Parthasarathy, and Beth Simone Noveck. Further ReadingThe great fish pain debatePoliticization of mask wearingMasks workDonald Trump used a quote from Anthony Fauci to falsely suggest Fauci approved of his actions in the pandemicComparing Norway and Sweden in their coronavirus combating actionsBeth Simone Noveck argues for more open and transparent governanceSolving Public Problems, by Beth Simone NoveckSmart Citizens, Smarter State: The Technologies of Expertise and the Future of Governing, by Beth Simone NoveckThe Received Wisdom Podcast, with Shobita Parthasarathy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.