Podcast Episodes

Weekly: Have we really just found the strongest evidence for alien life yet?

Episode 298

Big news has just broken - astronomers claim they’ve detected the strongest evidence for alien life yet. The news has got the world’s media fired up with excitement - but is this really a …

Published on 4 months, 1 week ago

Weekly: Dire wolves (not) brought back from extinction; US science in existential crisis; how to pour the perfect coffee

Episode 297

The “de-extinction company” Colossal Biosciences claims to have brought dire wolves back from extinction. This is an ancient animal that roamed Earth 10,000 years ago and famously is depic…

Published on 4 months, 2 weeks ago

Weekly: How plant skin transplants could supercharge crops; China’s pollution win spikes global temperatures; the oldest ivory tools ever found

Episode 296

There’s a strange phenomenon in the plant world that we’ve known about for ages - but have only just figured out how to make use of it. Thanks to a process that sometimes happens during pl…

Published on 4 months, 3 weeks ago

Weekly: A remarkable view of pregnancy; how to waste less time on your smartphone; superacid diamond rain

Episode 295

The changes the body goes through during and after pregnancy have been examined in more detail than ever before. A landmark study is finally helping us to piece together some of the myster…

Published on 5 months ago

Weekly: Life on Mars; biggest dark energy discovery in decades; the mystery of dark oxygen

Episode 294

Markings discovered on rocks from Mars look to be good evidence that microbial life once existed on the Red Planet. NASA’s Perseverance rover spotted little speckles on rocks in part of Je…

Published on 5 months, 1 week ago

Weekly: America is turning its back on science and the cosmos; photosynthesis limits; mysterious memory illusion

Episode 293

The future of NASA and of US science is under threat, following cuts made by the Trump administration. Johns Hopkins University lost $800 million in grants this week which will impact the …

Published on 5 months, 2 weeks ago

Weekly: Chimps, bonobos and humans have more in common than you might think

Episode 292

Chimps are often seen as our hyper-aggressive ancestral cousins, while bonobos are famously more peaceful and caring. But studies of their sexual habits and practices show they are much mo…

Published on 5 months, 3 weeks ago

Weekly: How to finally get a good night’s sleep - with science

Episode 291

Who got better sleep - hunter-gatherers or modern-day humans? We’re constantly being told we’re in the midst of an epidemic of poor sleep, but were our ancestors spending any longer in bed…

Published on 6 months ago

Weekly: Life-saving mice perform first aid; tiny lab-grown human brains; making skyscrapers and hair condition from wood

Episode 290

Mice have been found saving the lives of their cagemates by performing a resuscitation technique similar to CPR. After opening the mouth of an unconscious mouse, the “attending mouse” yank…

Published on 6 months, 1 week ago

Weekly: Resurrecting frozen brains; giant asteroid heads to Earth; you really do have a ‘dessert stomach’

Season 1 Episode 289

Episode 289

Slices of mouse brains have been revived after being in deep freeze, hinting at the future possibility of reanimating humans who have been cryogenically preserved. While this is just a fir…

Published on 6 months, 2 weeks ago