In this episode:00:46 The mouse brain circuit controlling infanticidal behaviourIn mammals, infanticide is a relatively common behaviour, but not a default one. For example, virgin female mice will often kill young produced by other females, but this behaviour disappears when they become mothers themselves. To understand this switch, researchers have identified a brain circuit associated with infanticidal behaviour that gets switched off after mice give birth. They hope that by better understanding this circuit it could inform why animals engage in such behaviours.Research article: Mei et al.Research Briefing: A battle between neural circuits for infanticide and maternal-care behaviours08:11 Research HighlightsThe cyclone raging at the north pole of Uranus, and the ants that build landmarks to help them find their way home.Research Highlight: A storm is whirling atop UranusResearch Highlight: These hardy ants build their own landmarks in the desert10:52 Getting to the source of fast solar windThe sun produces streams of plasma called solar wind that stretch out and provide a protective bubble around the solar system. However, despite decades of study, there’s much that isn’t known about how the Sun makes it. Now, a team has used data from the Parker Solar Probe and shown that the source of one sort of wind, known as ‘fast solar wind’, appears to be due to colliding magnetic fields that produce the huge amount of energy needed to fire plasma away from the Sun.Research article: Bale et al.Research reveals system underlying behaviour change towards young17:50 Briefing ChatWe discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time the origins of patriarchal societies, and the tiling pattern that never repeats itself.BBC Futures: How did patriarchy actually begin?Nature News: This infinite tiling pattern could end a 60-year mathematical questSubscribe 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:00:46 An AI that predicts gene interactionsMapping the network of genes that control cellular processes can be difficult to do when gene-expression data is sparse, such as in rare diseases or those affecting tissues that are hard to clinically sample. To overcome this, a team has developed an artificial intelligence system trained on a large, general dataset, and used it to make predictions about gene interactions in data-limited situations. As a test-case they look at the heart condition cardiomyopathy, and show that the system can identify potential interactions that could represent new therapeutic targets.Research article: Theodoris et al.09:08 Research HighlightsMicrobes that can break down persistent ‘forever chemicals’, and why intermolecular distances are the key to keeping gummy sweets chewy.Research Highlight: Microbes take the ‘forever’ out of ‘forever chemicals’Research Highlight: Better gummy sweets are within reach, thanks to physics12:06 Briefing ChatWe discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, how chronic stress can inflame the gut, and understanding how rocket launches might impact wildlife.Nature News: Chronic stress can inflame the gut — now scientists know whyNature News: Does the roar of rocket launches harm wildlife? These scientists seek answersSubscribe 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.

Shocked by the impact of online misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, several researchers are launching efforts to survey scientists’ thinking on issues from vaccine safety to climate change. They hope that their projects will make scientific debate, and degrees of consensus, more visible and transparent, benefiting public conversation and policymaking. However, others suggest that these attempts might merely further politicize public debate.This is an audio version of our Feature: Can giant surveys of scientists fight misinformation on COVID, climate change and more? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode:00:45 Tree islands bring biodiversity benefits for oil-palm plantationGlobal demand for palm oil has resulted in huge expansion of the palm plantations needed to produce it, causing widespread tropical deforestation and species loss. To address this, researchers planted islands of native trees among the palms in a large plantation, and showed that this approach increases ecosystem health, without affecting crop yields. The team say that while protecting existing tropical rainforests should remain a priority, tree islands represent a promising way to restore ecosystems.Research article: Zemp et al.09:42 Research HighlightsThe oldest identified ‘blueprints’ depict vast hunting traps with extraordinary precision, and fossil evidence that pliosaurs swimming the Jurassic seas may have been as big as whales.Research Highlight: Oldest known ‘blueprints’ aided human hunters 9,000 years agoResearch Highlight: This gigantic toothy reptile terrorized the Jurassic oceans12:08 Briefing ChatWe discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, how shredded nappies could partially replace sand in construction, and how CRISPR helped crack the mystery of the death cap mushrooms’s deadly toxin.Nature News: World’s first house made with nappy-blended concreteNature News: Deadly mushroom poison might now have an antidote — with help from CRISPRSubscribe 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:00:46 What JWST has revealed about an ancient galaxyResearchers have pointed the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at JD1, one of the universe's most distant known galaxies. The power of JWST has filled in some of the gaps in what was known about the galaxy, giving greater insight into its age, structure and composition. The team behind the work hope that learning more about how early galaxies like JD1 formed will help explain how the universe evolved into its present state.Research article: Roberts-Borsani et al.10:09 Research HighlightsWhy your choice of soap might make you irresistible to mosquitoes, and how tardigrade-inspired claws help tiny robots cling to blood-vessels.Research Highlight: Your favourite soap might turn you into a mosquito magnetResearch Highlight: Claws like a tardigrade’s give swimming microrobots a grip12:34 How coral reef fish evolved to grow more quicklyFish that live in coral reefs are some of the fastest growing in the world, despite the environment they live in being relatively nutrient poor. This contradiction has long puzzled researchers, but now, a team has looked deep into the evolutionary history of the fish and discovered a critical point in time when they shifted towards faster growth, much earlier than was previously thought.Research article: Siqueira et al.21:29 Briefing ChatWe discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, the first frog thought to pollinate flowers, and a field-trial to vaccinate wild koalas against chlamydia.Scientific American: This Frog May Be the First Amphibian Known to Pollinate FlowersAssociated Press: Koalas are dying from chlamydia. A new vaccine effort is trying to save themSubscribe 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.