Podcast Episodes

The evolutionary price we pay for longer lives; the asteroid coming VERY close to Earth; how dinosaurs shaped the ecosystem

Episode 321

Humans live a lot longer than other primates - and much of that is down to our immune system. But there’s a price we pay for the capacity…

1 year ago

Why we can't announce life on Mars (yet); The Romans' impact on the British economy; Link between exercise and your microbiome

Episode 320

Was Mars once home to alien life? The evidence is stronger than ever, since NASA’s discovery of rocks marked by patterns similar to those…

1 year ago

First complete map of brain activity; Queen ant lays eggs of another species; The perils of scrolling while on the toilet

Episode 319

Scientists have created the first complete activity map of a mouse’s brain. Combining brain images from multiple mice, researchers record…

1 year ago

Scientists discovered a 100,000-year-old organism; Breakthrough brain implant uses AI to treat pain; How climate change leads to revolutions

Episode 318

An ancient organism has been discovered that has been alive for at least 100,000 years. Found in the Siberian permafrost, this lifeform d…

1 year ago

Could we end winter illness?; Cold fusion’s comeback; The delicious microbiome of chocolate

Episode 317

Winter bugs are notoriously hard to vaccinate against. But as cold, flu and covid season is about to descend on us once more, one group r…

1 year ago

Climate special: How to fix the climate crisis with Tim Lenton and Kate Marvel

Episode 316

“All of the other planets out there are just complete garbage. The Earth is the only good place.” – Kate Marvel

The climate crisis can le…

1 year, 1 month ago

80 years since Hiroshima: Forgotten victims of the atomic bomb

Episode 315

It’s been 80 years since the first and only use of nuclear weapons in war - events that altered the course of history. The consequences o…

1 year, 1 month ago

Ozempic and Wegovy slow down biological ageing; creation of synthetic bacterium; geology of the Russian earthquake

Episode 314

Weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy have been shown to slow down - or even reverse - the ageing process. In a trial of 84 people taking …

1 year, 1 month ago

AI wins first gold at maths Olympic games; How mitochondria are linked to sleep; Famous psychology trick works on octopuses too

Episode 313

AI has won gold at the world’s hardest maths event. For the first time, AI programs that use entirely natural language like ChatGPT, have…

1 year, 1 month ago

Scientists test engineered microbes to fight disease; Has 1.5 degrees failed?; New theory why we’ve not found aliens

Episode 312

People have been given genetically engineered microbes to prevent a common health condition - and it worked. The gut microbiome is now kn…

1 year, 2 months ago