logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2025
29m 3s

Weekly: First brain engineering in a mam...

NEW SCIENTIST
About this episode
Episode 300 The first genetically engineered synapses have been implanted in a mammal’s brain. Chemical brain signals have been bypassed in the brains of mice and replaced with electrical signals, changing their behaviour in incredible ways. Not only did they become more sociable, they were also less anxious and exhibited fewer OCD-like symptoms. This work h ... Show More
Up next
Oct 2
Emergency in Antarctica; How movement changes the brain; Why women live longer than men
Episode 323 Temperatures in Antarctica have soared by over 35°C. Scientists are concerned about how quickly things are changing on the continent as these warmer temperatures impact the polar vortex. Coupled with record lows in sea ice cover over the last decade, this could be a s ... Show More
30m 56s
Sep 26
Skull rewrites story of human evolution; Autism and Tylenol; discovery of wind coming from black hole
Episode 322 An ancient skull discovered in China may have just rewritten the story of human evolution. It’s widely accepted that the common ancestor of Homo sapiens, Denisovans and Neanderthals came out of Africa. But this skull upends that assumption - potentially showing human ... Show More
33m 57s
Sep 19
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 to fight off infections: inflammation. Chronic inflammation is to blame for a range of health issues, especially those related to ... Show More
32m 59s
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2025
The Life Scientific - Anna Korre
As the famous frog once said, it's not easy being green. And when it comes to decarbonising industry, indeed, reducing emissions of all sorts, the task is a complex one.Fossil fuels are used to manufacture some of mankind’s most ubiquitous products, from plastics to cement to ste ... Show More
26m 29s
Jan 2025
Make science great again
Nasa's OSIRIS-REx mission to collect a sample from an asteroid has been a great success. Asteroid Bennu's sample yields a watery pool of history, thanks to an international team of scientists including the London Natural History Museum's Sarah Russell. Also, in a week of tumultuo ... Show More
40m 41s
Feb 2024
A New Volcanic Era?
As lava consumes homes on the Reykjavik Peninsula in Iceland, evacuated communities have been witnessing eruptions shifting and intensifying. We take a look at the latest science that’s helping teams on the ground accurately predict where the danger is coming from, helping people ... Show More
27m 53s
Apr 2025
The Catholic Church after Pope Francis
Wall Street stocks dropped as President Donald Trump attacked Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell, Pope Francis passed away on Monday after leading the Catholic Church for 12 years, and more than half of nearly 1,500 business leaders support a shift to a renewables-based electricity ... Show More
11m 39s
May 2022
Getting Serious About Our Energy Future
Michael Edesess, a mathematician, economist, and former chairman of the board of the Rocky Mountain Institute, discusses his recent article for the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, "We need to get serious about the renewable energy revolution—by including nuclear power." We discuss ... Show More
49m 33s
May 2024
John J. Berger, "Solving the Climate Crisis: Frontline Reports from the Race to Save the Earth" (Seven Stories Press, 2023)
Solving the Climate Crisis: Frontline Reports from the Race to Save the Earth (Seven Stories Press, 2023) is a hopeful and critical resource that makes a convincing and detailed case that there is a path forward to save our environment. Illustrating the power of committed individ ... Show More
47m 47s
Sep 18
Could solar panels in space be the energy source of the future?
As new research looks at the financial and environmental case for solar panels in space, we explore how likely the technology could be to power our future energy needs back on Earth. Marnie Chesterton hears from the author of a new study into the topic, Dr Wei He from King’s Coll ... Show More
28m 7s