Podcast Episodes

First skull of mysterious human ancestor; Decoding whale language; Heatwaves 20x more likely to happen

Episode 308

An ancient skull discovered in China has been confirmed to belong to a Denisovan. It’s been tough to study this mysterious human ancestor, as we’ve only ever found a finger and jaw bone -…

Published on 2 months, 1 week ago

Is this the first step to cyborg brains? How drones are reshaping warfare forever; New Vera Rubin observatory goes live

Episode 307

Using new “ultrasoft” electronics, researchers at Harvard have effectively created tadpole cyborgs. A soft bioelectronic device has been implanted into their brains - one which grows with…

Published on 2 months, 2 weeks ago

$1 trillion of platinum on the moon; how your brain distinguishes between reality and imagination; rise of the hyperworm

Episode 306

It’s been discovered that the moon is probably home to $1 trillion worth of platinum. Researchers suggest nearly 6500 of the Moon’s craters were made by asteroids containing commercial qu…

Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago

The real threat of AI - ethics, exploitation and the erosion of truth

Episode 305

As artificial intelligence grows into more and more aspects of our lives, it seems we’re just at the beginning of the boom. Hundreds of billions of dollars are being pumped into advancing…

Published on 3 months ago

Are smartphones really causing mental illness in teens?; More evidence of alien life; Digital oak trees

Episode 304

It seems the world is on heightened alert about the impact smartphones are having on our children’s brains. But are we right to be worried? Jonathan Haidt’s book the Anxious Generation ha…

Published on 3 months, 1 week ago

China’s carbon emissions fall; norovirus vaccine; chaotic breakup of the solar system

Episode 303

China is becoming a de facto leader in the fight against climate change. Right now it’s the world’s biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, but after years of keeping its emissions steady, the…

Published on 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Ocean wonders and the new arguments against deep-sea mining; biophotons emitted from living things; drumming chimps and the origin of religion

We dive into the mysterious world of the deep sea, sparked by a recent executive order aiming to ramp up offshore mineral extraction, as well as new research revealing that 99.999 per cent of the sea…

Published on 3 months, 3 weeks ago

Is our understanding of light completely wrong? Two consciousness theories go head-to-head; decoding dolphin whistles

Episode 301

Our understanding of the nature of light might be completely wrong. The double-slit experiment is one of the most famous experiments in physics and is how we’ve understood light for over …

Published on 3 months, 4 weeks ago

Weekly: Why the climate crisis is an issue of injustice and inequality

Episode 299

In a climate justice special episode of the podcast, the biggest issue of the century is up for discussion. Find out the true impact of climate change on our planet and who should be payin…

Published on 4 months ago

Weekly: First brain engineering in a mammal; landmark in fossil fuel lawsuits, the legacy of Pope Francis

Episode 300

The first genetically engineered synapses have been implanted in a mammal’s brain. Chemical brain signals have been bypassed in the brains of mice and replaced with electrical signals, cha…

Published on 4 months ago