The World, the Universe and Us

#121: Creation of artificial life; gene therapy saves children’s lives; new understanding of chronic pain

01 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Synthetic cell membranes have been fused with protein machinery from living cells to create an artificial membrane. Could this be a precursor to the c...

#120: DeepMind claims artificial intelligence breakthrough; searching for ancient life on Mars; Stonehenge surprise; monkeypox latest

26 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

DeepMind’s new artificial intelligence, Gato, is a step beyond anything we’ve seen before. But how close has it brought us to the coveted goal of ...

#119: How to tackle the global food crisis; rainforest animal orchestra; George Monbiot on humanity’s biggest blight

19 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We’re in the middle of a global food crisis, brought on by a combination of the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and the war in Ukraine. As food...

#118: Heatwaves push limits of human tolerance; chemical computer to mimic brain; first non-human to practice medicine

12 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It feels like temperature records are being broken almost daily. We’ve seen heatwaves already this year in Texas and Mexico, with forecast highs of ...

#117: US threat to women’s health; saving the world with bacteria; Darwinian feminism and primate gender; invasion of the earthworms

05 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Women’s abortion rights are under threat in the US. Leaked documents suggest the Supreme Court is on the verge of overturning the landmark Roe v Wad...

#116: DNA from outer space; Devi Sridhar on covid lessons; climate change in an Oxford wood

28 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Could life on Earth have an extraterrestrial origin? The team revisits this ancient theory as we’ve now found all four of the key building blocks of...

#115: Quantum consciousness; next decade of space exploration; songs played on rat whiskers

21 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What is consciousness? We’ve discussed many theories on the podcast, but in this episode the team explores a particularly bonkers one. Experiments w...

#114: A message to aliens, phage therapy for acne, calibrating the world’s oldest computer

14 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Two teams are developing messages to send into space, in the hope that some advanced alien civilization will be able to pick them up. While METI is se...

#113: Climate change: suing governments to cut emissions; shock discovery in particle physics; a new function for dreams

07 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The latest major report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is out, and the message is clear. Time is running out to keep global warmin...

#112: Gene therapy success; biodiversity talks; the genetics of blood sucking; the farthest star ever seen

31 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A world-first gene therapy has been used to successfully treat a rare genetic skin disease. Referred to as “the worst disease you’ve never heard o...

#111: Antarctic and Arctic record-breaking heat; octopus brains insight; black hole paradox explained

24 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Extreme weather events have been recorded at both of Earth’s polar regions, as the Arctic and Antarctic are hit by major heat waves. To put this int...

#110: Solution for Ukraine food crisis; why young blood rejuvenates; climate horror in Australia; Hannah Peel’s new music

18 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

As 10 percent of the world’s wheat comes from Ukraine, Russia’s attack on the country could spark global food shortages. But the team discuss a si...

#109: Ukraine war stokes energy crisis; emergency sounded over Amazon rainforest; secular intelligent design; mammalian virgin birth

11 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The war in Ukraine has sparked an energy crisis, as European countries attempt to cut ties with Russia. The team discusses what this means for the fut...

#108: Ukraine: health crisis and threat of nuclear war; IPCC report on limits to climate adaptation; Wuhan origin of covid

04 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

As the war in Ukraine intensifies, Vladimir Putin raised Russia’s nuclear readiness level. The team discusses what this means about the likelihood o...

#107: Ukraine invasion: cyberwar threat and effect on climate targets; Covid pandemic isn’t over; how we sense pain

25 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Russia has begun its invasion of Ukraine, a move which will have far reaching consequences. The team discusses two of those - the first being western ...

#106: Saving children from cancer; new ways to remove greenhouse gases; brain growth in adults

18 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Children with some of the most aggressive forms of cancer are being saved by a personalised medicine treatment programme in Australia. The Zero Childh...

#105: Electrodes treat paralysis; first detected isolated black hole; the ancient human inhabitants of a French cave; breakthroughs in transplant organs from pigs; why you should pick up your dog’s poo

11 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Three men paralysed from the waist down have regained their ability to walk. They’re the subjects of a breakthrough operation which involves implant...

#104: Gene variant for extreme old age, gravitational waves and dark matter, what fruit flies tell us about nature and nurture

04 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The quest for a longer life continues - raising the question of whether we can escape death. The team discusses a rare gene variant that may explain w...

#103: How covid affects brain function; glacier loss on Svalbard; start of the Anthropocene; hottest life on Earth

28 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Covid-19 can have profound consequences for the brain, and now we’re beginning to understand why. The team explains how the virus causes issues from...

#102: Living with covid; Tonga eruption; neutral atom quantum computers; phage therapy for superbugs; AI with Beth Singler

21 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We’re being told we have to “learn to live with covid”, but what exactly does that mean? In this episode the team discusses how we live with flu...

#101: Man gets first pig heart transplant; robot therapy for mental health; omicron update; dolphin sexual pleasure

14 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

David Bennett has become the first person in history to have a pig to human heart transplant. Scientists have edited several genes to make this possib...

#100: New Scientist journalists pick out their scientific and cultural highlights for 2022

07 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this special episode the team looks ahead to the next 12 months, sharing the science and cultural events they’re most looking forward to in 2022....

#99: The legendary New Scientist end-of-year holiday party and quiz

24 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What a year 2021 has been. For our final podcast of the year, we’re signing off with a party and quiz. And as this is a Christmas special, this quiz...

#98: Brain cells wired to the Matrix; omicron latest; how to make truly intelligent machines; the mysterious border between sleep and wake

17 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In a step towards creating intelligent cyborg brains, Cortical Labs in Melbourne have trained lab-grown brain organoids to play a classic 1970s video ...

#97: The latest on omicron; Don’t Look Up review; Steven Pinker on human rationality; the sound of melting glaciers

10 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Omicron is spreading quickly and once again we’re facing another wave of infections and restrictions over the holiday period. The team says although...

#96: What does the rise of omicron mean for us?; living robots able to reproduce; mini black holes and the end of the universe

03 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Omicron, a new covid-19 variant of concern, has become the most common variant in South Africa and is spreading fast. The team examines fears that it ...

#95: The origin of coronavirus; how red light boosts eyesight; deflecting asteroids; body chemical changes human behaviour

26 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Where did covid-19 really come from? Well, the team explains why the wet market in Wuhan is back on top as the most likely place of origin. They also ...

#94: IBM’s huge quantum computer, Russia’s anti-satellite weapon, the verdict on COP26, AI predicting the next legal highs

19 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The race for quantum supremacy continues, with IBM setting a new benchmark for processing power. But the new supercomputer hasn’t actually demonstra...

#93: COP26 special, week 2: voices from the Global South; what does the Glasgow Accord look like - and where does it go from here on climate action

12 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Young climate activists from nations bearing the brunt of climate change speak out. In this COP26 special, hear the moving and impassioned words of th...

#92: COP26 week 1 special from Glasgow; first Earthlings to go interstellar; genetically engineered microbes for our cells

05 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It’s the most consequential climate meeting in a generation. COP26 is underway and we’re bringing you special episodes of the podcast featuring in...

#91: Earth heading for climate disaster; Kim Stanley Robinson looks to the future; hunt for aliens; Tesla worth $1 trillion

28 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Earth could be heading for disaster. In the lead up to COP26 the team discusses The Emissions Gap, a new UN report which has found that even if co...

#90: COP26 climate playlist; the science of Dune; life-saving treatment for children without immune systems; covid sweeps Iran

21 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In rare cases children can be born without an immune system, and sadly their chances are very bad. Fortunately the team brings news of a life-saving i...

#89: Climate-ready food of the future; the biology of poverty; deepfake audio; mystery cosmic signal; Captain Kirk in space

14 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Breadfruit could help us weather the storm of climate change. The team hears how the tropical fruit is tough enough to survive Earth’s warming tempe...

#88: Should climate activism go to extreme levels?; malaria vaccine; new drugs to treat covid; mission to the asteroid belt

07 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The team opens with the welcome news that after 37 years of development, the world’s first malaria vaccine has been approved. They then hear from Sw...

#87: Mini black holes impacting the moon; first CRISPR gene-edited food goes on sale; why leaves turn brown in autumn

30 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

CRISPR gene-edited food has gone on sale commercially for the first time. The team finds out about this ‘super tomato’ which has been created by a...

#86: The woman who couldn’t smell; solving the climate and biodiversity emergencies; China’s quantum of solace

23 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Imagine going your whole life without being able to smell - and then suddenly you can. The team tells the amazing story of a woman who first gained th...

#85: The violent frontline of climate change; bringing back the mammoth; another first for SpaceX

16 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In some parts of the world, taking a stand for the planet can be incredibly dangerous. This week we hear from Laura Furones, of the campaign group Glo...

#84: Health benefits of male flatulence; cave dwellings on Mars; covid booster shots

09 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Great news for the more flatulent among us - breaking wind is a sign of good gut bacterial health. The team discusses a slightly unsavoury experiment ...

#83: Low carbon shipping; Anil Seth on consciousness; humanity’s ancient history in Arabia; quantum gravity

02 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A bold move from the world’s largest shipping company could have big implications for the planet . Maersk has bought ships which can run on both tra...

#82: Taliban seize Afghan biometric equipment; uploading our brains to machines; investigating Nazi uranium

26 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Equipment from a massive biometrics programme in Afghanistan has been seized by the Taliban. From police and election commission programmes, they “h...

#81: Breakthrough in nuclear fusion; mini human brain grown with eyes; rapid evolution of synthetic bacteria

19 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Recreating the power of the sun, the dream of nuclear fusion - it’s a dream we’re inching ever closer to. A new breakthrough at a lab in the US ha...

#80: Analysis of IPCC climate report; the rise of synthetic milk; discovery of new carnivorous plant

12 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A lead author of the latest IPCC climate report, Tamsin Edwards, joins the team for a special episode of the podcast. News headlines have left many co...

#79: Google creates a time crystal; microplastics in human placenta; boosting China’s vaccines; our climate future

05 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

As severe weather events around the world give us a very real taste of the devastating effects of climate change, we’re also getting a better unders...

#78: Will covid evolve to evade vaccines?; the oldest animal fossils ever found; predicting climate change’s extreme weather

29 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

More than a week since England lifted its covid restrictions, infection numbers in the UK are very high. The team examines how the country has set up ...

#77: Is dropping covid restrictions unethical?; methane hints to life on Mars; Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin’s road to space

22 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Freedom day arrived in England this week, as the country dropped most covid restrictions. But as cases continue to rise and many people, children incl...

#76: Harm of race-based medicine; space tourism industry is go; America’s heatwave challenges

15 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Race-based medical practises are being challenged more and more, as it becomes increasingly clear they have little basis in science. The team finds ou...

#75: Vaccine for kids; legacy of Dolly the sheep; how to repair the climate; China’s quantum advantage

08 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the UK, rules around attendance at schools after a covid outbreak are changing, but the country still hasn’t decided whether or not to vaccinate ...

#74: ‘Dragon man’ could be new species of human; Wally Funk goes to space; human and financial cost of heatwave; how covid affects the brain

01 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A unique kind of human skull has been discovered in China. The team describes the details of this skull, known as the ‘Dragon Man’, and explains h...

#73: How to treat long covid; evolution of cooperation; Turing’s ACE computer; aliens watching Earth

24 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The symptoms of long covid are diverse and numerous, and we’re still getting to grips with a clinical definition. Adam Vaughan visited the UK’s fi...

#72: The evil in all of us; delta variant of coronavirus; glacier memory project

17 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The delta variant of covid-19 has torn across India, and is making its way around the globe, forcing the extension of lockdown measures in the UK. The...

#71: Alzheimer’s treatment approved; human brain map breakthrough; time flowing backwards

10 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For the first time in 18 years, a new drug for Alzheimer’s disease has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. This is big news becaus...

#70: Coronavirus origin story; Big Oil’s nightmare; history of the gender pain gap

03 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From a bat… or from a lab? It seemed the question of where SARS-CoV-2 originated had been settled, but recently it's been reignited. Amid lots of co...

#69: Coronavirus evolution; geoengineering and food supply; Alice Roberts on the revolution in archaeology

27 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A new variant of coronavirus which originated in India is spreading rapidly. The team explains how both this new mutation and the UK variant are capab...

#68: Climate change and methane mystery; breathable liquid; covid vaccines

20 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When it comes to climate change, carbon dioxide usually gets the spotlight, but methane, although shorter-lived in the atmosphere, is more potent as a...

#67: Brain plasticity; entropy and the nature of time; vaccine booster shots

13 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Efforts to fight covid-19 won’t stop even when everyone is vaccinated. There’s a good chance we’ll need vaccine booster shots to keep on top of ...

#66: Sea level rise; Bitcoin carbon pollution; how to measure self-awareness

06 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The most detailed analysis yet of global warming and sea level rise has been published. The paper’s lead author, Tamsin Edwards of King’s College ...

#65: Chernobyl radiation safety; Chinese space station; wisdom of trees

29 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It’s been 35 years since the devastating explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. But new research shows there has been no increase in geneti...

#64: Earth Day rescue plan: climate change and biodiversity special

22 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

To mark Earth Day 2021, we’ve assembled a panel of experts to discuss climate change and biodiversity loss - “two runaway crises tightly interlink...

#63: Musical spider’s webs; magic mushrooms for treating depression; the sound of coronavirus

15 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The vibrations of a spider’s web have been transformed into some spectacularly haunting pieces of music. The team shares the work of MIT researcher ...

#62: Synthetic life; rescue plan for Earth; muon g-2 new physics

08 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Scientists tinkering around with the creation of synthetic life have taken a significant step forward. The team explains how synthetic cells could one...

#61: Worse allergies; black hole in our backyard; new flavours of vanilla

01 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Spring has sprung and… ACHOO!! Yep, hay fever is back with a vengeance. This week the team has some bad news for hay fever sufferers, as allergies a...

#60: New physics; anti-ageing human embryos; Mars update

26 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Large Hadron Collider might, just might, have found something that challenges the Standard Model of particle physics. The team hears why an anomal...

#59: Vaccine success; hibernation and anti-ageing; world’s first computer

19 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’re tantalisingly close to resuming normal life, as promising news from Israel has shown that vaccines are swinging the fight against covid-19 in ...

#58: Covid good news; cold water swimming; quantum unreality

12 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week: relief and joy for people in the US, with the news that those who’ve had two doses of vaccine will be allowed to meet up inside with frie...

#57: Moon base; Neanderthal speech; Elizabeth Kolbert on geoengineering

05 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ever looked up at the Moon and thought “I could live there”? Well… this week we hear how Chinese researchers have managed to make an almost comp...

#56: How to spend a trillion dollars; landing on Mars; exercise and metabolism myths

26 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What could you do with a trillion dollars? Rowan Hooper tackles this question in his latest book which examines how the money could be used to safegua...

#55: Rescuing nature; Mars missions; new covid mutation

19 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

2021 could well go down in history as the year we saved our planet… the alternative really doesn’t bear thinking about. Luckily the team brings ne...

#54: Next-gen vaccines; alien space probes; ethics of fish

12 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Whilst we’ve been celebrating the rollout of the covid-19 vaccines, new variants of the virus have thrown a spanner in the works, and there’s a co...

#53: Pandemic burnout; vaccines for the world; sustainable fuel

05 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

By now most of us have felt or are feeling the effects of pandemic burnout. From unexplained exhaustion to emotional detachment and general uneasiness...

#52: Life after vaccination; gaslighting; mind reading

29 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A year on from the launch of our podcast, the team reflects on the news highlighted in the first ever episode, of a small outbreak of an unknown virus...

#51: Covid evolution; new dinosaur; missing genome data

22 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

As we continue to discover new mutant variants of the covid-19 virus, the team looks at how these will impact vaccination efforts and discuss the long...

#50: Covid vaccine dosing; superconductors; coral restoration

15 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The coronavirus vaccines that have been approved so far all require two doses to be given 3-4 weeks apart. But the UK has chosen to delay the time bet...

#49: New coronavirus variants

08 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Two fast-spreading variants of coronavirus have been discovered in the UK and South Africa. With case numbers soaring, it’s feared these variants co...

#48: Must-know science of 2021

01 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Happy New Year! This special episode previews some of the biggest science stories to keep an eye on over the coming year. Coronavirus, the story that’...

#47: Christmas special quiz of the year

18 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

2020 has been unconventional to say the least, and this Christmas special is full of much needed hope, optimism and laughter. The team brings you high...

#46: Stardust hunting, the illusion of the self, space rocks return to Earth

11 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

One hundred tonnes of cosmic dirt rains down on us every day, so there’s a good chance you have a meteorite on your roof... well, a micrometeorite. ...

#45: Vaccine roll out in UK and China; Chris Packham on connectedness; AlphaFold breakthrough

04 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

With the UK becoming the first country in the world to approve the roll out of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, the team discusses issues around safety, e...

#44: When we’ll get the vaccine; fast-expanding universe; lunar missions

27 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Vaccine scientist Katrina Pollock answers some of the biggest questions about covid-19 vaccines: when are we going to get one, and when will life go b...

#43: How the covid RNA vaccine works; systemic racism; origin of humans

20 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Even as covid-19 cases keep going up, we’ve had some good news about possible vaccines for coronavirus. Two of the promising vaccines are mRNA vacci...

#42: Vaccine for covid-19; origin of animals; overpopulation

13 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

There are exciting results in trials of two coronavirus vaccines. But just how excited should we be? We discuss the latest findings, the strength of t...

#41: The function of dreams

06 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On this week’s election-distraction special, we hear about a new hypothesis which could explain an age-old mystery. Dreams could be a way of freeing...

#40: Halloween special: real-life vampires, the science of ghosts, deep-sea zombies, monster black holes

30 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What price would you pay for eternal youth? Some real-life vampires in California took part in a trial where they infused themselves with the blood pl...

#39: Social lives of viruses; CRISPR to fight antibiotic resistance; dealing with risk; George RR Martin and the moon

22 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When we think about the way a virus operates, we tend to think of it as a lone assassin. But it turns out viruses have surprisingly rich social lives ...

#38: Tackling the climate crisis; essential, like, filler words of, um, language; mystery of the human penis; your covid questions answered

15 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

2020 was meant to be a pivotal year in the fight against climate change, but a rather pressing issue has knocked us off course. But there are still wa...

#37: Black holes and CRISPR gene editing spring Nobel surprises; climate change and indigenous people in the Arctic; symptom clusters identified for covid-19

08 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This year’s Nobel prize season has been the most thrilling in ages. Not only are we celebrating fascinating scientific breakthroughs, but this is al...

#36: Hunt for life on Venus and Mars; how the paleo diet affects your age; strategy for the second wave of coronavirus; species extinction crisis

01 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Hopes of discovering life on Venus have been dampened somewhat as the sheer scale of the task becomes clear. But don’t get in a slump just yet, beca...

#35: The first woman on the moon; evolution special; purpose of sleep and dreams; deep water mystery

24 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve all wondered why we dream, or even why we sleep. We know it’s good for you, but we don’t really know what’s going on in the brain while ...

#34: Race to find life on Venus; coronavirus claims lives of 1 million people; extinction crisis; how the brain slows time

17 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Move over Mars - Venus might actually be the best place to find alien life in our solar system. Phosphine, a molecule that on Earth is only created by...

#33: The healthy-eating revolution; China’s cosmic ambitions; Russia’s pursuit of gene-editing technology; the world’s greatest mammal

10 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

If you’ve longed for the day when scientists announce pizza is actually good for you, you *may* be in luck. It turns out there’s no such thing as ...

#32: Billionaire plan to geoengineer the planet; how the moon affects your health; Neuralink’s telepathic pigs

03 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

If we’re not going to make the effort to cut carbon emissions, why don’t we manipulate Earth’s climate, forcing it to cool down? Obviously that’...

#31: Widening the search for alien life on habitable planets; why unconscious bias training might not work; the microbiome of cancer tumours

27 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The universe is so large, so expansive, it’s hard to believe that life doesn’t exist elsewhere. Over the years we’ve found a handful of planets ...

#30: Redefining time; why mindfulness can cause problems; secrets of super-resilient tardigrades

20 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Our measurement of time isn’t up to scratch. We can’t define a second or an hour or even a day by referring to the length of time it takes the Ear...

#29: Loneliness during lockdown; medical artificial intelligence beats doctors; who gets the coronavirus vaccine first

13 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

By now we’re all feeling the effects of video call fatigue. Even though we’ve found new ways to connect with each other virtually during lockdown,...

#28: Origin of life on Earth; second wave of coronavirus; science of miscarriage

06 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

How did life spring up on planet Earth? What happened to turn sterile, lifeless rock into cells that could harness energy, grow and reproduce? In the ...

#27: Putting plastic back on the agenda; revisiting the iconic black hole image, how dinosaurs dominated the planet

30 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

With the threat of coronavirus taking centre stage in all our minds, has the issue of plastic waste taken a backseat - has the public lost interest? I...

#26: The hidden dark matter of our food; NASA’s new search for life on Mars; smallpox in the American civil war

23 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What’s in our food? By now you’d think we’d have a pretty firm handle on that question, but it turns out we don’t know the half of it. In the ...

#25: Coronavirus effects on children, and on other diseases; changing the way you sit could add years to your life; supercrops for a climate-changed world

16 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Contracting covid-19 isn’t the only thing that’s making coronavirus deadly - the outbreak could lead to a jump in the number of deaths from diseas...

#24: Half a year in a world of covid-19; meat production breaking Earth’s nitrogen limits; what does gravity weigh?

09 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It’s been half a year since coronavirus and covid-19 emerged and the world dramatically changed. Our understanding of the virus and the disease has ...

#23: Coronavirus immunity and vaccine implications; evolutionary reasons for the types of world leader; treating people with CRISPR gene editing

02 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Coronaviruses don’t usually produce a strong “immune memory”, and that has been worrying scientists, because it spells trouble for long-term imm...

#22: Consciousness from the body as well as the brain; record temperatures in the Arctic; long-term symptoms of covid-19

26 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

If your brain was put in a vat and supplied with food and oxygen, would it be able to think? Would it be you? For much of the 20th century, people ass...