Nature Podcast

A study reveals how the asexual Amazon molly defies evolutionary expectations — plus, evidence of what may be powering superluminous supernovae. In this episode: 00:46 Unravelling the genetics of an asexual fish that should be extinct Research Article: Ricemeyer et al. News and Views: How an all-female fish species defies evolutionary expectations 10:19 Research Highlights Nature: ​​​​​​​Jam-packed star system is most compact of its kind ever found Nature: ​​​​​​​Peanut-processing microbes ward off dangerous allergic shock 11:31 How a superluminous supernova got so bright Research Article : ​​​​​​​Farah et al. News and Views: ​​​​​​​Ultra-bright supernova wobbles like a spinning top Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: https://www.nature.com/briefing/signup Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode: 00:25 How paediatricians’ antibodies could treat serious viral infections New Scientist: Paediatricians’ blood used to make new treatments for RSV and colds 04:22 Galileo’s annotations in an ancient text Science: Galileo’s handwritten notes found in ancient astronomy text Subscribe 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.

Injectable fluid safely fills area in which blood clots can form, in animal trials — plus, strong evidence that an elusive form of diamond has been made in the lab. 00:47 A magnetic seal to stop clots forming in the heart Research Article : Wang et al. News and Views: Magnetic fluid offers better seal in heart-plugging medical procedure 07:02 Research Highlights Nature: Sewage systems secretly waft pollution into the air Nature: This ant species is composed of only queens — no workers or males 11:31 Making hexagonal diamond Research Article: Lai et al. Subscribe 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.

This is an audio version of our Feature: Many people have no mental imagery. What’s going on in their brains? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode: 00:15 How Pokémon inspired fields as diverse as evolution, biodiversity and research integrity. Nature: Pokémon turns 30 — how the fictional pocket monsters shaped science Subscribe 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.

High-speed footage reveals shoe squeaks can start with a tiny bolt of lightning — plus, evidence that a debated brain phenomenon exists in humans. 00:44 The science of squeaky shoes Research Article : Djellouli et al. Basketball sound effects via Bradley Kanaris/Getty. 09:05 Research Highlights Nature: Runaway black hole leaves a trail of stars Nature: Super-sticky feet help a robot to climb the walls 11:31 Evidence of hippocampal neurogenesis Research Article: Disouky et al. Subscribe 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.

00:25 How brains differ by sex and age Nature: Brain differences between sexes get more pronounced from puberty 07:14 Bumblebees ‘fan themselves’ during flight to keep cool Science: How do busy bees avoid overheating from flying? Video: Birds gliding through bubbles reveal aerodynamic trick Subscribe 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.

00:46 Data stored in glass Nature: Microsoft Research Project Silica Team Nature: Microsoft team creates 'revolutionary' data storage system that lasts for millennia 08:09 Research Highlights Nature: Parasitic wasps use tamed virus to castrate caterpillars Nature: Flexible joints: robot morphs into a range of cyborg species 10:10 An mRNA vaccine for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Nature: Sahin et al. Subscribe 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: 00:26 Moderate caffeine intake might reduce dementia risk, study suggests Nature: Coffee linked to slower brain ageing in study of 130,000 people 04:15 Using AI to work out the rules of a long-forgotten board game Scientific American: Rules of mysterious ancient Roman board game decoded by AI Subscribe 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 The immune cells that eat waste fats from fruit flies’ brains Nature: Cho et al. 10:21 Research Highlights Nature: Beetle is locked into an eternal dance ― with an ant Nature: Super-sniffer aeroplane finds oil fields’ hidden emissions 12:41 Ancient DNA evidence reveals a nuanced story of the Bell Beaker Expansion Nature: Olalde et al. Subscribe 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: 00:42 External, artificial-lung system keeps patient alive for transplant Nature: 48 hours without lungs: artificial organ kept man alive until transplant 06:22 How lung cancer in mice hijacks neurons to outwit the immune system Nature: How tumours trick the brain into shutting down cancer-fighting cells Subscribe 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.

00:46 Understanding how rete ridges form in the skin Nature: Thompson et al. 09:32 Research Highlights Nature: Genetically engineered ‘stinkweed’ comes up roses for making seed oil Nature: Largest galaxy survey yet confirms that the Universe is not clumpy enough 11:52 The open-source AI that performs scientific literature reviews Nature: Asai et al. Subscribe 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: 00:36 Study probes genetics of extreme longevity Nature: Still working at 107: supercentenarian study probes genetics of extreme longevity 05:32 Controlling fluorescent proteins’ brightness with magnets Nature: ‘Remote controlled’ proteins illuminate living cells Subscribe 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 Why completing difficult tasks feels rewarding Nature: Touponse et al. 11:34 Research Highlights Nature: Disappearing ‘planet’ reveals a solar system’s turbulent times Nature: Getting to the (square) root of stock-market swings 13:43 How extreme weather events could threaten malaria elimination efforts Nature: Touponse et al. Subscribe 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.

This is an audio version of our Feature: ‘I rarely get outside’: scientists ditch fieldwork in the age of AI Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode: 00:24 How babies share their gut microbes Nature: Sending babies to nursery completely reshapes their microbiome 05:25 First evidence of tool use in cattle Science: No bull: This Austrian cow has learned to use tools Subscribe 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.

00:46 Protein-sized superposition surpasses previous experiments Nature: Pedalino et al. News: Schrödinger's cat just got bigger: quantum physicists create largest ever 'superposition' 11:46 Research Highlights Nature: Ancient pottery reveals early evidence of mathematical thinking Nature: Gifted dogs learn new words by overhearing humans 14:11 How Trump’s second term has impacted research Nature: US science after a year of Trump Nature: US science in 2026: five themes that will dominate Trump’s second year Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode: 00:40 The rock samples destined to remain on Mars Nature: NASA won’t bring Mars samples back to Earth: this is the science that will be lost 05:24 The genetics of dogs’ droopy ears Nature: Do their ears hang low? The genetics of dogs’ adorable floppy ears Subscribe 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: 00:47 AI can boost research productivity — at what cost? Research article: Hao et al. 10:10 Research Highlights Nature: Ancient ‘snowball’ Earth had frigidly briny seas Nature: Putting immune cells into ‘night mode’ reduces heart-attack damage 12:41 JWST images are full of red dots, what are they? Nature: Rusakov et al. Subscribe 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.

00:54 Turning an undersea cable into a seismic detector Researchers have shown that they can piggyback a signal on a 4,400-kilometer-long telecom cable that runs from California to Hawaii, allowing it to act like 44,000 separate seismic-activity detectors. Their method takes advantage of impurities found in glass fibre-optic cables, which reflect light differently when they are stretched and distorted by the pressure of seismic waves. Science: Seafloor telecom cable transformed into giant earthquake detector 04:17 The origin of an ancient boat Chemical analysis of the caulking found on the wood an ancient boat has helped researchers identify the origins of the vessel, that sank off the coast of Denmark 2,400 years ago. The team’s analysis suggests it voyaged from much farther away that had been thought — perhaps coming from the Baltic Sea region. The team also found a fingerprint left in the caulk, although who it belonged to is unknown. LiveScience: Fingerprint of ancient seaborne raider found on Scandinavia's oldest plank boat 08:29 How heating up helps some plants pollinate Some plants called cycads (Zamia spp.) heat up to attract the beetles that pollinate them. These beetles have heat-seeking sensors in their antennae, which they use locate the plants. Male cycads warm up around 3 hours before females, meaning that beetles head to them before first carrying pollen over to the females. Science: Heat-seeking beetles drawn to plants that glow in infrared 13:08 The exoplanet shaped like a lemon The discovery of exoplanet PSR J2322-2650b reveals how unusual other worlds can be. This exoplanet takes just 7.8 hours to orbit an ultra-dense pulsar whose intense gravity pulls PSR J2322-2650b into a lemon shape. New Scientist: Strange lemon-shaped exoplanet defies the rules of planet formation Subscribe 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.