The World, the Universe and Us

Latest Episodes:

CultureLab: The weird ways animals sense the world – Ed Yong on his book An Immense World Sep 05, 2023

Show notes

Whether it’s the hidden colours of ultraviolet that bees can see, the complex rhythms and tones of birdsong that we’re unable to hear, or the way a dog can smell the past in incredible detail, the way humans experience the world is not the only way.

Every animal has its own ‘umwelt’ – a unique sensory experience that allows it to perceive the world differently. As humans we can barely begin to understand what the world looks like to many of the other creatures that inhabit the Earth. But author Ed Yong is helping to paint a picture…

In this episode of CultureLab, Christie Taylor speaks to Ed about the paperback release of his book An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us, which looks at more than 100 different species and explores the amazing ways their sensory worlds are shaped by light, sound, vibrations, heat and even electrical charge.

To read about subjects like this and much more, visit newscientist.com.

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Weekly: Our ancestors nearly went extinct?; Why beer goggles aren’t real; Smelling ancient Egyptian perfume Sep 01, 2023

Show notes

#213

Our ancestors may have very nearly gone extinct. Around a million years ago, there were just 1300 humans left and it stayed that way for over a hundred thousand years. This is the dramatic claim of research into the genetic diversity of our early ancestors – though some scientists disagree with the conclusions.

Despite being completely paralysed and unable to speak, Rodney Gorham can still communicate… by typing messages with his mind. Rodney is one of the first people in the world to use a new type of brain computer interface. The company behind it, Synchron, is focusing on medical uses like this for brain implants, rather than more outlandish superhuman technology.

Ever wondered what a 3000-year-old mummified noblewoman would’ve smelled like? Wonder no more! Scientists have recreated the exact scent of an ancient Egyptian woman’s perfume – giving them a fascinating insight into millenia-old burial traditions and early trading.

Beer goggles; when you’ve drunk just enough alcohol that everyone starts to look more attractive. It’s a well-known phenomenon, but is it actually real? A study that got its participants a little tipsy has some answers.

Plus: How tall people have more diverse gut microbiomes, why a meteor that crashed on Earth in 2014 may – or may not – be an interstellar visitor from outside our solar system and how pirate spiders catch their prey.

Hosts Timothy Revell and Christie Taylor discuss all of this with guests Michael Le Page, Jeremy Hsu, Sofia Quaglia and Chen Ly. To read more about these stories, you can subscribe to New Scientist at newscientist.com.

Events and Links:

Dead Planets Society Episode 4

New Scientist Live tickets

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Dead Planets Society #4: Asteroid Gong Aug 28, 2023

Show notes

In an unexpected twist of empathy, Leah and Chelsea are putting their heads together to save the Earth… yes, you read that right!

Asteroid researcher and planetary astronomer Andy Rivkin of John Hopkins University joins them to discuss the myriad ways in which we could deflect, destroy or intercept asteroids headed towards Earth. Among the team’s suggestions: a humongous net (a world-wide-web?), a gigantic gong… and Bruce Willis.

Dead Planets Society is a podcast that takes outlandish ideas about how to tinker with the cosmos – from punching a hole in a planet to unifying the asteroid belt to destroying the sun – and subjects them to the laws of physics to see how they fare.

Your hosts are Leah Crane and Chelsea Whyte.

Check out Leah’s asteroid Armageddon story here.

If you have a cosmic object you’d like to figure out how to destroy, email the team at deadplanets@newscientist.com. It may just feature in a later episode… And if you just want to chat about this episode or wrecking the cosmos more generally, tweet @chelswhyte and @downhereonearth.

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Weekly: India lands on the moon; Placenta cells could heal the heart; Mind-altering drugs and binge drinking on the rise Aug 25, 2023

Show notes

#212

India is celebrating after successfully - and gently - landing on the Moon. A huge win for the country, which is now only the fourth nation to do so. A look at the country’s next ambitions after a historic touchdown. Plus why Russia’s rival mission ended in disaster, and the future of lunar exploration worldwide.

Cells found in placentas may be able to treat heart attacks. Researchers were first clued into this amazing healing capability after two pregnant women spontaneously recovered from heart failure. What clinical research in mice can tell us so far.

Use of psychedelics and other mind-altering drugs is booming in US adults under 55, with marijuana use breaking records. But why is substance use on the rise, and does this mean people are turning away from alcohol?

Artificial intelligence could help us detect tsunamis earlier, and perhaps help save lives in the process. How ocean disturbances can travel as far as the Earth’s ionosphere, where GPS satellites can detect them.

Plus: How turtle shells can store the historical record of nuclear activity, how dog poo is making the Norwegian tundra greener and how coffee grounds can make concrete almost 30% stronger.

Hosts Christie Taylor and Chelsea Whyte discuss all of this with guests Leah Crane, Alice Klein, Grace Wade and Jeremy Hsu. To read more about these stories, you can subscribe to New Scientist at newscientist.com.

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CultureLab: Must watch science shows – the best TV of 2023 Aug 22, 2023

Show notes

Struggling to choose what to watch? Whether it’s sci-fi, medical dramas or documentaries about the natural world, we’ve got you covered. Our TV columnist Bethan Ackerley shares a rundown of her top TV choices from 2023 so far, as well as what to look out for the rest of the year.

Reviews of some of the shows featured in this episode:

Foundation (Apple TV)

The Last Of Us (HBO Max and Sky Atlantic)

Best Interests (Sky Go, Amazon, Apple TV)

Wild Isles (BBC iPlayer, Amazon)

Dead Ringers (Amazon)

Silo (Apple TV)

To read all of Bethan’s TV columns visit newscientist.com/author/bethan-ackerley

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Weekly: Climate Special - an antidote for doom; plus the key ingredient for alien technology, and surprising revelations about an ancient tattooed mummy Aug 18, 2023

Show notes

#211

The hottest July on record, a global surge in wildfires, bleached corals and collapsed cactuses - the story of climate change feels dire right now. But before you bury your head in the sand or succumb to doom and gloom - a dose of reality and hope. In this climate special, a look at how our record-setting year fits the predictions, the incredible good news about the global energy transition and an appeal to the power of our decisions to make a difference in the future.

There’s a new covid-19 variant in town - EG.5 or “Eris”. What you need to know as cases rise around the world.

Why haven’t we heard from intelligent alien life yet? It might not be down to their lack of intelligence, but rather their lack of the key ingredient for technology as we know it – oxygen.

Plus: He might be 5300 years old, but we’re still learning new things about Ötzi, Europe’s oldest known naturally preserved (and tattooed) mummy; how AI has recreated a classic rock song by reading people’s minds; and a lampshade that removes air pollution from your home.

Hosts Timothy Revell and Christie Taylor discuss all of this with guests James Dinneen, Michael Le Page, Alexandra Thompson and Alex Wilkins. To read about these subjects and to check out the magazine’s version of the climate special, you can subscribe to New Scientist at newscientist.com.

Grab the UK release ofTimothy’s new book, The Secret Lives of Numbers, here. (Out in the US in January).

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Dead Planets Society #3: Gravitational Wave Apocalypse Aug 14, 2023

Show notes

As if burrowing through a planet and blowing up the sun weren’t enough… This time, Chelsea and Leah hope to harness the power of gravitational waves to destroy everything we know and love.

Christopher Berry at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) explains how they could create their own gravitational waves using a bespoke black hole machine, and helps them understand how to control such a device for their nefarious purposes…

Your hosts are Leah Crane and Chelsea Whyte.

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Weekly: Ultra-processed foods not so bad?; Another milestone toward fusion power; Mapping the genes we know nothing about Aug 11, 2023

Show notes

#210

Ultra-processed foods are bad for us and we should avoid them at all costs – right? Well, it’s actually not as clear cut as that.The foods may actually form a much more important part of healthy diets than we release.

Nuclear fusion, which could some day offer a low-waste source of clean power, is one step closer to becoming viable. Last year scientists managed to get more power out of a fusion reactor than they put in – a huge breakthrough for the technology. And this year they’ve done one better, squeezing even more power out of it.

There’s a lot that’s “unknome” about the human genome. More than 20 years since we discovered humans have just 20,000 different genes, we still don’t have a clue what thousands of them even do. A project is now finally looking at the proteins that science forgot.

We’re getting 70s space race vibes. Russia has launched its first mission to the moon in nearly 50 years – just behind India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, which entered lunar orbit earlier this week. With both heading to the moon’s south pole, who’s going to get there first?

Plus: a potential vaccine for the virus that causes mononucleosis – often called “the kissing disease” – and is linked to multiple sclerosis; whether robots are better than humans at the very CAPTCHA tests designed to block robots; and the slightly gross treasure hiding in 200-million-year-old fossilised poop.

Hosts Timothy Revell and Chelsea Whyte discuss all of this with guests Grace Wade, Matt Sparkes, Michael Le Page and Leah Crane. To read about these subjects and much more, you can subscribe to New Scientist at newscientist.com.

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CultureLab: Adventures of a prehistoric girl – Alice Roberts on her new book Wolf Road Aug 07, 2023

Show notes

Scientist and broadcaster Alice Roberts has written her first children’s book. The fictional tale follows prehistoric girl Tuuli, and captures the story of her encounter with a strange boy who leads her on a great adventure.

Inspired by her own experiences trekking through the arctic, the book imagines what life would’ve been like for humans of the time, how they might’ve interacted with neanderthals and grapples with questions like: how were the first wolves domesticated?

In this episode of CultureLab, New Scientist’s comment and culture editor Alison Flood, and her 10-year-old daughter Jenny, ask Alice about the inspiration for the book and the science behind it.

To read about subjects like this and much more, visit newscientist.com.

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Weekly: Surprise superconductor claims put to the test; Alzheimer’s test goes on sale; how NASA (briefly) lost Voyager 2 Aug 04, 2023

Show notes

#209

The saga of the room-temperature superconductor continues. The creators of a new material called LK-99 maintain that it perfectly conducts electricity at room temperature and pressure and so other scientists are racing to try to test it for themselves. If the findings are true it would be transformative to science and technology. It’s not just researchers, however, who are testing the material, citizen scientists are also trying to create it at home. Early results are now in.

There’s a plan to pump millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the seafloor off Canada’s west coast, but some worry that this could trigger earthquakes. A new study works out just how likely that would be.

Earth to Voyager, this is NASA – do you copy? NASA has lost contact with the Voyager 2 space probe but all is not lost. The team discusses the future of the mission, as well as that the Euclid space telescope has just come online and started sending back its first images.

A blood test for Alzheimer’s has gone on sale that may indicate your risk of developing the disease before symptoms show. But how accurate is the test? And if you find out you’re at risk, is there anything you can do about it?

Plus: How the foundations of your house could store energy, how the Maillard reaction – responsible for the deliciousness of toast – can happen on the ocean floor, and the discovery of the world’s oldest jellyfish fossil.

Hosts Timothy Revell and Christie Taylor discuss all of this with guests Karmela Padavic-Callaghan, Clare Wilson, Leah Crane and James Dinneen. To read about these subjects and much more, you can subscribe to New Scientist magazine at newscientist.com.

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