Share
Nature Podcast
Neanderthals mastered fire — 400,000 years ago
•
00:46 Evidence of the earliest fire
Baked soil, ancient tools, and materials that could be used to start fires show that Neanderthals were making fire in the UK 400,000 years ago — the earliest evidence of this skill found so far. Ancient humans are known to have used naturally occurring fires, but evidence of deliberate fire-starting has been hard to come by. A new suite of evidence pushes back the date of fire mastery by 350,000 years. The team behind the finding believe it helps create a more nuanced picture of Neanderthals, who perhaps gathered round fires and told stories in ancient Europe.
Research Article: Davis et al.
News and Views: Oldest known evidence of the controlled ignition of fire
Machine-learning algorithms can help to identify traces of life in ancient rocks — plus, why paintings containing a vivid green pigment lose their lustre over time.
Research Highlight: AI finds signs of life in ancient rocks
Research Highlight: The mystery of emerald green — cracked
Research suggests that artificial-intelligence chatbots can influence voters’ political views and have a bigger effect than conventional campaigning and advertising. One study found that chatbot conversations swung participants’ candidate preferences by up to 15 percentage points, while another revealed that the chatbots’ effectiveness stems from their ability to synthesize a lot of information in a conversational way.
Nature: AI chatbots can sway voters with remarkable ease — is it time to worry?
More episodes
View all episodes
Briefing Chat: Meet the snakes that cartwheel away from trouble
10:45|In this episode:00:27 The snake that rolls at the first sign of dangerTiktok: This snake does cartwheelsResearch article: Kojima et al.05:10 Evidence of ancient blood cells in a dinosaur fossilScience: Did scientists just find 115-million-year-old dinosaur blood?Nature: Patrick Stewart dies: how Captain Picard inspired today’s science leadersSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
Ancient DNA charts spread of Celtic and Germanic languages
25:16|Ancient genomes from thousands of individuals show how migrations helped shape Celtic and Germanic languages — plus, how the brain may regulate emotions differently than we thought. 00:49 How Celtic and Germanic languages spread across EuropeResearch Article: McColl et al.Research Article: McColl et al.13:00 Research HighlightsNature: Barn owls’ ancestors made a transatlantic flightNature: Even stupendous black holes can’t explain dark matter15:34 Why part of the brain may not be controlling emotions in the way researchers thoughtResearch Article: Sicorello et al.Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.Correction: This article originally stated Simon Rodway’s name incorrectly. The podcast has now been updated to correct this.
Briefing Chat: Dog years: could longevity science extend your pets' lives?
09:59|Nature staff discuss the emerging field of pet longevity — plus, a researcher decides not to care about their student reviews. Are they wrong? 00:24 Could research help boost your dog’s lifespan?Nature: Can science make your dog live longer? Longevity craze comes to pets05:16 Is it wrong to not care about student reviews?Nature: What students think about my teaching doesn’t matter. Am I wrong?Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.This Arabian desert was once a lush paradise. Why did ancient humans avoid it?
26:05|Expedition revealed that water wasn’t enough for human settlement — plus, proposals to block sunlight get serious. 00:49 A failed desert expedition to find human tools reveals what humans needed to thriveResearch Article: Dellmour et al.12:33 Research HighlightsNature: Sleep declines in rural communities after electricity arrivesNature: AI doctors’ orders come with a sky-high bill15:14 Could satellites help cool the Earth?Nature: Could a giant sunshade in space 'solve global warming'? Scientists are taking the idea seriouslySubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
Briefing Chat: How physicists successfully trapped the electron's antimatter equivalent
14:59|In this episode:00:21 New experiment looking for mismatch between matter and antimatterNature: A single antimatter particle in a cage opens door to ‘revolutionary’ physics08:32 JAXA's mission to PhobosAerospace America: JAXA’s MMX mission will include the first wheeled rover to drive in ultra-low gravitySubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.Scientists put a salt marsh in a giant wave-machine: here's what they learned
19:53|In this episode:00:46 How salt marshes could protect coastal regions from super-stormsResearch Article: Willemsen et al.10:56 Research HighlightsNature: Orangutan mothers arrange play dates for their babiesNature: Lead-tainted teeth reveal medieval mines’ unequal toll13:30 Putting a face to the DenisovansResearch Article: Xing et al.Nature: This is what the mysterious Denisovans looked likeSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.Audio long read: How to stay smart in the age of AI — the science of critical thinking
16:05|Critical thinking is a skill that is under threat from the AI revolution in large language models. But all is not lost. Specialists in education and cognition have long been studying critical thinking, and some have useful tips on how to stay cognitively sharp in the age of AI.This is an audio version of our Feature: How to stay smart in the age of AI: the science of critical thinking
Briefing Chat: An invisible tattoo that appears under UV light – and then disappears
09:33|In this episode:00:15 An appearing, disappearing tattoo inkNature: Watch this invisible tattoo appear under UV light04:13 How the epigenome could help explain why big dogs age fasterNature: Big dogs age faster than little ones — rogue ‘jumping genes’ might be to blameSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.The world is closer to a major conservation target than scientists thought
21:37|Analysis suggests number of protected areas is hugely underestimated but biodiversity is still in peril — plus, a huge study looking at the health effects of brown fat.00:45 The world may have more conservation areas than previously thoughtResearch Article: O’Neill et al.08:38 Research HighlightsNature: The Solar System could die one billion times earlier than thoughtNature: Chimp and gorilla brains resist weight loss with age — unlike human brains11:19 Giant study expands list of brown fat’s health benefitsResearch Article: Gómez-Banoy et al.Nature: Overlooked 'brown' body fat linked to wide range of health benefitsSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.