episode-header-image

Sep 11

15m 55s

Briefing Chat: The Bunsen burner myth th...

SPRINGER NATURE LIMITED

About this episode

Up next

Phone tutoring boosts math scores when schools are forced to close

In this episode:00:46 How telephone teaching could boost education during school shutdownsNature: Pick up the phone! Phone calls with tutors keep kids learning when schools shut down11:42 Research HighlightsNature: Super-precise optical clocks in four nations tick in harmonyNatur ... Show More

Briefing Chat: How 1,000 pairs of buried underpants helped measure soil health

In this episode:00:21 Our picks of this year’s Ig Nobel prizesNature: Buried underpants and a new definition of kissing win 2026 Ig Nobel prizes07:47 Massive xenon experiment detects tantalizing hint of dark matterNature: Is this the first glimpse of dark matter? Data point excit ... Show More

Audio long read: Could mending damaged DNA prolong life?

Scientists are amassing evidence that unrepaired or poorly repaired DNA damage underlies many of the hallmarks of ageing. This has led to research into whether boosting DNA repair can keep people healthy for longer.This is an audio version of our Feature: Could mending damaged DN ... Show More

Recommended Episodes

Helping A Man Walk Again With Science

This week's science news roundup reunites All Things Considered host Ailsa Chang with Short Wave hosts Emily Kwong and Regina G. Barber to dig into the latest headlines in biomedical research, also known as cool things for the human body. We talk new RSV vaccines, vaccination by ... Show More

COP28, swine flu, Bennu asteroid and digital twins.

Dr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs, In this week's episode... what’s on the agenda for the COP28 climate summit? What do we know about the new strain of swine flu found in North Yorkshire? Samples from the Bennu ... Show More

Cargo-sorting molecular robots, humans as the ultimate fire starters, and molecular modeling with quantum computers

This week we hear stories on the gut microbiome’s involvement in multiple sclerosis, how wildfires start—hint: It’s almost always people—and a new record in quantum computing with Online News Editor David Grimm. Andrew Wagner talks to Lulu Qian about DNA-based robots that can car ... Show More

Chatbots that look like they're alive, and what colour wine bottles to avoid

Dr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs.The week the team review some of the scientific highlights of the last month, including what the James Webb telescope will reveal about our place in the Universe, how orcas are ... Show More

Sea squirts and 'skeeters in our science news roundup

Science in the headlines: An amazingly preserved sea squirt fossil that could tell us something about human evolution, a new effort to fight malaria by genetically modifying mosquitos and why archeologists are rethinking a discovery about a Copper-age leader. All Things Considere ... Show More

Spinal cord injury treatments, red fire ants and asteroid samples.

Dr Chris Smith and the Naked Scientist team present the latest science news, analysis and breakthroughs.In this week's episode... A breakthrough in treating spinal cord injuries, worrying news about red fire ants in Sicily, we look at what it means for us in the UK and NASA is se ... Show More

Two Heartbeats A Minute

The strange story of an unlikely crew of people who band together to take on one of our largest problems using nothing but whale sounds, machine learning, and a willingness to think outside the box. Even stranger, several of the world's most accomplished scientists seem to think ... Show More

#173 Understanding chronic health conditions; Artificial sweetener linked to heart attacks; Re-thinking galaxies; UN geoengineering report

As millions of people around the world suffer from long covid, research into how viruses trigger chronic health conditions is getting a lot more focus. The team explores the role of viruses in both chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, and touch on our latest understanding o ... Show More

How hippos help and a news roundup (14 November 2014)

David Grimm and Meghna Sachdev discuss robots that can induce ghostly feelings, the domestication of cats, and training humans to echolocate. Elizabeth Pennisi discusses overcoming hippos' dangerous reputation and oddly shaped bodies to study their important role in African ecosy ... Show More

Why This Gravitational Waves News Is A Big Deal

New gravitational waves, why orcas might be attacking boats and a new robot prototype inspired by animals: it's all in our latest roundup of science news, with All Things Considered host Ari Shapiro, Regina G. Barber and Geoff Brumfiel.Have questions about science in the news? Em ... Show More