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 researchers are working on an entirely new solution to the misery. A team out of Columbia University has been testing an mRNA-based treatment that could prime our immune systems to fight against any kind of viral infection, perhaps in the form of an asthma-like inhaler. But there is a catch…
New life has been breathed into one of the most controversial ideas in science. In 1989, a surprising way to generate nuclear fusion at room temperature gained worldwide attention - but the initial experiment couldn’t be replicated. Dead in the water for many years, the idea of ‘cold fusion’ is now being revisited - and it could help us create futuristic electronics.
Ever wondered what makes chocolate taste so good? As with many things, it turns out we have microbes to thank. Chocolate, like kimchi and cheese, is a fermented food product - and scientists are beginning to discover which microbes give chocolate its many flavours. These findings could help us create more delicious chocolate, or even create new flavours we’ve never tasted before.
Chapters:
(00:00) Intro
(00:29) Could we end winter illness?
(08:27) Cold fusion’s comeback
(15:23) The delicious microbiome of chocolate
Hosted by Penny Sarchet and Chelsea Whyte, with guests Michael Le Page, Alex Wilkins and Sam Wong.
To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/
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20:41
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20:41
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 leave many of us feeling hopeless and overwhelmed. But, as climate scientists Kate Marvel and Tim Lenton say, there are many reasons to be optimistic.Both have new books out that hope to reframe the way we think about the issue.
Kate’s book Human Nature grapples with the complicated emotions that the climate crisis evokes, from anger to hope and love – and explores how we can harness each of them to fight for a better future.
Tim’s book Positive Tipping Points looks at the possibility that we may cause irreversible damage to the Earth’s climate system, from Amazon dieback to ice sheet collapse. But as the name suggests, he also examines the opportunities in leveraging global action against climate change to create “positive tipping points”.
Chapters:
(0:00) Intro
(01:26) Why Tim and Kate have dedicated their lives to climate science
(3:53) Exploring Kate’s book Human Nature - starting with anger
(6:33) How Tim channels his climate anger
(10:16) Processing the 9 emotions of Kate’s book
(13:10) What are negative tipping points?
(15:33) How to use positive tipping points
(21:13) Where can we find hope for change right now?
(23:16) The positive emotions that inspire climate action
(26:50) Kate’s process of writing
(29:52) Why non-violent campaigns are so effective
(35:19) Have we seen any of these positive tipping points yet?
(39:31) How Americans really feel about climate change
(40:46) Kate and Tim’s dream outcomes for their books
Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Madeleine Cuff, with guests Kate Marvel and Tim Lenton.
To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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44:25
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44:25
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 of the widespread destruction, deaths and nuclear fallout are still being dealt with today.
On 6th August 1945, a bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in Japan, and three days later Nagasaki was also bombed. Tens of thousands of people were killed. Since then, many nuclear tests have been carried out. Despite efforts to clean up the fallout, a big threat looms… climate change. Not only does the changing climate risk dredging up old nuclear waste, worsening extreme weather events could even damage current nuclear facilities too.
There’s also a lasting legacy felt by those who survived the bombs and their descendants, not just in Japan, but South Korea, too. The human cost doesn’t stop there. We hear about the communities who first mined the uranium needed for the bombs in the 1920s and 30s - as well as the health consequences for those living near nuclear test sites.
Annie Jacobsen, author of Nuclear War: A Scenario, adds her thoughts on the current threat of nuclear war - and how nuclear technology has become even more destructive.
It wasn’t just people who survived the bombs - there are trees that made it through too.
Seeds have been gathered from these survivor trees and we learn how one of them is being grown in the Wakehurst botanical garden.
Chapters:
(01:32) Nuclear waste and the threat of rising seas
(11:31) Atomic bomb survivors
(24:35) Annie Jacobsen on the knife-edge of danger
(27:40) The trees that survived the bombs
Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Madeleine Cuff, with guests Jeremy Hsu, Michael Gerrard, MG Sheftall, Annie Jacobsen and Elinor Breman.
To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/
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34:06
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34:06
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 semaglutide, their biological age dropped by 3.1 years on average, with some organs becoming almost 5 years younger. Based on this new research, this finding could make these some of the most impactful anti-ageing drugs on the market. So how are they doing it?
Scientists have very nearly created a new lifeform. A synthetic bacterium has been created with 101,000 changes to its genome - clearing up redundant code in its DNA. By freeing up codons in its genetic code, this bacteria could make new kinds of proteins unlike anything that exists naturally - and pave the way for creating virus resistance bacteria.
The recent earthquake off the coast of east Russia was the sixth biggest ever recorded. Thankfully the ensuing tsunami has been manageable - unlike previous record-setting quakes. With two large “foreshocks” before the big one, we ask a professor of tectonics about the geology of the region.
Chapters:
(00:34) Weight-loss drugs slow down ageing
(10:59) Creation of a new synthetic bacterium
(21:52) Geology of the Russian earthquake
Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Sam Wong, with guests Alexandra Thompson, Michael Le Page, Andrew Steele, Wes Robertson and Lisa Mcneill.
To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/
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28:24
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28:24
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 used general reasoning to solve incredibly difficult tests at the International Maths Olympiad in Australia. Humans are still in the lead…for now. But could this be a big leap forward in the quest for artificial general intelligence?
Mitochondria - famously the powerhouses of our cells - are linked to sleep in ways we never realised. In a study on fruit flies, researchers discovered that the longer they stay awake, the more damage is caused to their mitochondria. This pressure increasingly pushes the flies to go to sleep - to begin the repair cycle. They also showed ways of engineering and altering fruit fly mitochondria that could impact their sleep duration. Given how mitochondria is essential in all complex life forms - like us - could it one day lead to sleep treatments?
An iconic psychology experiment has been used to trick octopuses. The rubber hand illusion has been used on people - and some other mammals - to fool them into thinking a fake hand is their own. And now it turns out octopuses are fooled just as easily. Researchers used a fake tentacle to recreate the trick - giving us a deeper insight into how octopus brains work.
Chapters:
(00:33) AI wins gold at maths Olympics
(12:24) How mitochondria are linked to sleep
(22:13) Octopus rubber hand illusion
Hosted by Rowan Hooper and Penny Sarchet, with guests Alex Wilkins and Alexandra Thompson.
To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
From the evolution of intelligent life, to the mysteries of consciousness; from the threat of the climate crisis to the search for dark matter, The world, the universe and us is your essential weekly dose of science and wonder in an uncertain world. Hosted by journalists Dr Rowan Hooper and Dr Penny Sarchet and joined each week by expert scientists in the field, the show draws on New Scientist’s unparalleled depth of reporting to put the stories that matter into context. Feed your curiosity with the podcast that will restore your sense of optimism and nourish your brain.
For more visit newscientist.com/podcasts
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