Stay ConnectedThe Nature Podcast brings you the best stories from the world of science each week. We cover everything from astronomy to zoology, highlighting the most exciting research from each issue of the Nature journal. We meet the scientists behind the results and provide in-depth analysis from Nature‘s award-winning journalists.
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A team of researchers have repurposed tiny syringe-like structures produced by some bacteria to deliver molecules directly into human cells. They hope that this method could be used to overcome a big challenge in modern medicine, namely ensuring that therapeutics are delivered into the precise cells that need to be treated.
Research article: Kreitz et al.
News and Views: Mix-and-match tools for protein injection into cells
A diamond-like material could protect spacecraft from intense radiation, and how gene editing could help in the treatment of a rare genetic condition.
Research Highlight: A gem of a material could provide a shield for spacecraft
Research Highlight: Gene editing holds promise for babies with deadly immune disease
Chronic pain affects millions of people worldwide and it can be debilitating. Research into the condition has come a long way in the past few years, but this knowledge hasn’t necessarily resulted in better outcomes for those with chronic pain. Nature’s Lucy Odling-Smee has written a Feature article on the topic, and she joined us to discuss why this disparity exists, and about her own experiences of chronic pain.
News Feature: Chronic pain: the long road to discovery
Resources for chronic pain: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/chronic-pain;https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/pain/ways-to-manage-chronic-pain/
If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please reach out. You can find help through a suicide-prevention line: see https://findahelpline.com for information.
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Truly autonomous vehicles, ones that don't require a driver to be present and are driven by AI, aren't yet safe for public use. Part of the reason for this is it has been difficult to train them to deal with rare dangerous situations. Now researchers are unveiling a new approach to present lots of these infrequent events to the AI very rapidly, speeding up the training and testing process.
Research Article: Feng et al.
News and Views: Hazards help autonomous cars to drive safely
Video: The driving test for driverless cars
How bird-flu is adapting to mammals, and the effect of negative headlines.
Research Highlight: Bird-flu virus makes itself at home in Canada’s foxes and skunks
Research Highlight: It’s bad! Awful! Negative headlines draw more readers
Bats are known to tolerate a lot of viruses that are deadly to humans without much issue. With the ongoing pandemic, this has driven researchers to dive more into the world of bats in the hopes of applying bats' tolerance to humans. Reporter Smriti Mallapaty has been writing about this renewed interest and she joined us to tell us more.
News Feature: Bats live with dozens of nasty viruses — can studying them help stop pandemics?
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Researchers have engineered bacteria with synthetic genomes to be immune to viral infection. The team streamlined the bacteria’s genetic code, and re-engineered the protein-producing machinery to insert the wrong amino acid if used by a virus, effectively making the bacteria ‘speak’ a different language to any invaders. It’s hoped that this technique could be used to reduce unwanted sharing of genes from modified organisms.
Research article: Nyerges et al.
News & Views: Synthetic bacterial genome upgraded for viral defence and biocontainment
Estimating the methane output of an enormous wetland ecosystem, and how honeybees improve their dance moves with a little help from their elders.
Research Highlight: Methane from one of Earth’s largest wetland complexes is set to soar
Research Highlight: Watch them waggle: bees dance better after lessons from elders
Magnetic resonance imaging is a standard technique in clinical care. However many people, particularly those living in low- and middle-income countries have limited access to this technology. To address this, new types of smaller MRI scanners are being designed that are more affordable and practical for use in rural settings or small clinics. We hear from a researcher working on one of these systems about ways improve them and ensure they are available to all.
Comment: Five steps to make MRI scanners more affordable to the world
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, how researchers have developed embryos from two male mice and new claims of room-temperature superconductivity.
News: The mice with two dads: scientists create eggs from male cells
Quanta Magazine: Room-Temperature Superconductor Discovery Meets With Resistance
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Smoke from the devastating Australian wildfires of 2019-2020 led to a reduction in ozone levels in the upper atmosphere, but it’s been unclear how. Now, a team proposes that smoke’s particulate matter can enhance the production of ozone depleting chemicals, matching satellite observations during the Australian fires. The results spark concerns that future wildfires, which are set to grow more frequent with ongoing climate change, will undo much of the progress towards restoration of the ozone layer.
Research article: Solomon et al.
News & Views: How wildfires deplete ozone in the stratosphere
A global analysis of bats reveals the species most likely to be hunted by humans, and the stem cells that allow deer antlers to regrow.
Research Highlight: Big bats fly towards extinction with hunters in pursuit
Research Highlight: Mice grow ‘mini-antlers’ thanks to deers’ speedy stem cells
Recent global crises have highlighted the fragility of the interconnected systems involved in getting food from farm to fork. However, siloed datasets have made it hard to predict what the exact impacts of these events will be. In a World View for Nature, researcher Zia Mehrabi argues that precise virtual models like those used in the aerospace industry should be developed for food systems. These so-called ‘digital twins’ could inform global food policy before emergencies unfold.
World View: Sims-style ‘digital twin’ models can tell us if food systems will weather crises
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, what the stray dogs of Chernobyl could reveal about the effects of chronic radiation exposure, and the debate surrounding the fate of Pablo Escobar’s ‘cocaine hippos’.
News: What Chernobyl’s stray dogs could teach us about radiation
News: Pablo Escobar’s ‘cocaine hippos’ spark conservation row
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Anxiety can make the heart beat faster, but could the reverse be true as well? That question has been much debated, but hard to test. Now, a team has shown that artificially increasing a mouse’s heart rate can induce anxiety-like behaviours, and identified an area in the brain that appears to be a key mediator of this response. They hope that this knowledge could help to improve therapies for treating anxiety-related conditions in the future.
Research article: Hsueh et al.
News & Views: How an anxious heart talks to the brain
The chance discovery of the smallest rock seen so far in the Solar System, and the first brain recording from a freely swimming octopus.
Research Highlight: Asteroid photobombs JWST practice shots
Research Highlight: How to measure the brain of an octopus
In September 2022, NASA’s DART spacecraft smashed into a space rock known as Dimorphos, which orbits a near-Earth asteroid. The aim of the mission was to test whether asteroids could be redirected as a method to protect Earth against future impacts. This week, multiple papers have been published describing what researchers have learnt about the impact and its aftermath. Reporter Alex Witze joined us to round up the findings.
News: Asteroid lost 1 million kilograms after collision with DART spacecraft
Research article: Thomas et al.
Research article: Daly et al.
Research article: Li et al.
Research article: Cheng et al.
Research article: Graykowski et al.
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Twitter has become indispensable to many scientists. It is a place to share findings, raise their profile, and is even used as a source of data in many studies.
In recent months though, the site has been in turmoil after a swathe of policy changes in light of Elon Musk's takeover. Never a stranger to misinformation and abuse, these problems have reportedly gotten worse. Additionally, the ability to use Twitter as a source of data is in peril, and malfunctions are more commonplace.
In this episode of Nature's Take we discuss how these changes are affecting the platform and the knock-on effects on science.
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Imprinting is a quirk of the immune system in which someone’s initial exposure to a virus biases their immune response when they meet the same virus again.
Studies are showing how imprinting shapes people’s responses to SARS-CoV-2; those infected with earlier strains can mount weaker responses to a later Omicron infection.
This phenomenon is dampening the hope that variant-tailored boosters will markedly reduce transmission of the virus, although researchers agree that variant-tailored boosters are worth getting because they still provide some immunity, and prevent serious illness.
This is an audio version of our Feature: How your first brush with COVID warps your immunity
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To better visualise how electrons are ‘moving’ in materials, a team have developed the Quantum Twisting Microscope. This instrument puts two 2D layers of atoms into close contact, allowing them to interact, which can give useful information about their properties. The microscope can also rotate one of the layers, helping researchers look for so-called ‘magic angles’, where 2D materials like graphene can exhibit extraordinary properties.
Research article: Inbar et al.
News & Views: A twist in the bid to probe electrons in solids
How an extinct insect larvae’s prodigiously long ‘neck’ may have helped it hunt, and surveying the levels at which coastal cities are converting water into land.
Research Highlight: Extinct insects hunted like predatory giraffes
Research Highlight: Cities worldwide claw vast amounts of land from the sea
This week marks the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We discuss how science has fared in Ukraine over the past 12 months, and how international collaborations are shaping the future of research in the country.
News Feature: The fight to keep Ukrainian science alive through a year of war
Editorial: Rebuilding Ukrainian science can’t wait — here’s how to start
World View: Ukrainian science has survived against the odds — now let’s rebuild together
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, the US Food and Drug Administration’s requirements to increase diversity in clinical trials, and research suggesting that snakes are better listeners than previously thought.
Nature News: FDA to require diversity plan for clinical trials
Science Alert: Snakes Can Hear You Better Than You Think
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In the past, increasing the speeds of electronics required designing smaller components, but further reductions in size are being hampered by increasing resistance. To get around this, researchers have demonstrated a ‘metadevice’, which prevents resistance building up by concentrating the flow of signals into specific regions of the device. The hope is that this meta-method could be used to create even smaller electrical components in the future.
Research article: Nikoo & Matioli
How waiting times for services are higher for people in the US with low incomes, and how your brain hears an alarm while you’re asleep.
Research Highlight: Who wastes more time waiting? Income plays a part
Research Highlight: Noise shatters deep sleep thanks to dedicated brain circuit
In the last ten years, levels of social media use and reported levels of mental health issues among adolescents have both increased. There is much concern that these trends are linked, but hard evidence has been hard to come by. So how can scientists get a better understanding of what’s going on? In a Comment article for Nature, researchers argue that, rather than lumping ‘young people’ into one homogeneous group, future studies should consider where they are in terms of their development, as this could influence the potential impacts of social media use.
Comment: How social media affects teen mental health: a missing link
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, we discuss self-burying devices that can plant seeds in remote areas from the air, and scientists’ reactions to a talk by CRISPR-baby researcher He Jiankui.
Nature Video: This device corkscrews itself into the ground like a seed
Nature News: Disgraced CRISPR-baby scientist’s ‘publicity stunt’ frustrates researchers
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Quaoar is a small, rocky object that lies beyond Neptune’s orbit. In an unexpected discovery, researchers have shown that this object has its own orbiting ring, similar to those seen encircling planets like Saturn. However, Quaoar’s ring shouldn’t exist, as it is at a distance far outside the theoretical limit at which rings are thought to be stable, and researchers are trying to figure out why.
Research article: Morgado et al.
News and Views: A planetary ring in a surprising place
A repurposed skin-disease drug suppresses alcohol consumption in people with alcohol-use disorder, and how volcanic eruptions may have contributed to social unrest in ancient Egypt.
Research Highlight: Pill for a skin disease also curbs excessive drinking
Research Highlight: Volcanic quartet linked to bad times in ancient Egypt
Exposure to polluted air has been linked to millions of deaths each year. But while much is known about the sources and impacts of outdoor air pollution, significantly less is understood about the pollution that people are exposed to indoors, despite it causing a significant health burden. In a Comment article for Nature, a group of researchers argue for more research in order to inform future public health initiatives.
Comment: Hidden harms of indoor air pollution — five steps to expose them
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, the discovery of a new type of ice, and how caffeine’s kick comes at a cost.
Nature News: Scientists made a new kind of ice that might exist on distant moons
The Conversation: Nope, coffee won’t give you extra energy. It’ll just borrow a bit that you’ll pay for later
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