Share
Nature Podcast
Tongan volcano eruption leaves scientists with unanswered questions
Scientists scramble to understand the devastating Tongan volcano eruption, and modelling how societal changes might alter carbon emissions.
In this episode:
00:46 Understanding the Tongan eruption
On the 15th of January, a volcano in the South Pacific Ocean erupted, sending ash into the upper atmosphere, and unleashing a devastating tsunami that destroyed homes on Tonga’s nearby islands. Now scientists are trying to work out exactly what happened during the eruption — and what it means for future volcanic risks.
News Feature: Why the Tongan eruption will go down in the history of volcanology
08:49 Research Highlights
The genes associated with reindeers’ roaming behaviour, and how fossilised puke has thrown up new insights into pterosaurs’ stomachs.
Research Highlight: A reindeer’s yearning to travel can be read in its genes
Research Highlight: Petrified puke shows that ancient winged reptiles purged
11:29 Modelling societal changes to carbon emissions
A team of researchers have modelled what humans might do in the face of climate change, and looked at how societal, political and technological changes could alter future emissions.
Research article: Moore et al.
18:12 Briefing Chat
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, China alters its guidelines for gene-edited crops, and how Guinea worm infections have been driven down from millions of cases a year to just 14.
Nature News: China’s approval of gene-edited crops energizes researchers
Nature News: Just 14 cases: Guinea worm disease nears eradication
More episodes
View all episodes
Briefing chat: How hovering bumblebees keep their cool
13:59|00:25 How brains differ by sex and ageNature: Brain differences between sexes get more pronounced from puberty07:14 Bumblebees ‘fan themselves’ during flight to keep coolScience: How do busy bees avoid overheating from flying?Video: Birds gliding through bubbles reveal aerodynamic trickSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
This chunk of glass could store two million books for 10,000 years
21:40|00:46 Data stored in glassNature: Microsoft Research Project Silica TeamNature: Microsoft team creates 'revolutionary' data storage system that lasts for millennia08:09 Research HighlightsNature: Parasitic wasps use tamed virus to castrate caterpillarsNature: Flexible joints: robot morphs into a range of cyborg species10:10 An mRNA vaccine for Triple-Negative Breast CancerNature: Sahin et al.Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
Briefing Chat: Caffeine slows brain ageing, suggests decades of data
09:52|In this episode:00:26 Moderate caffeine intake might reduce dementia risk, study suggestsNature: Coffee linked to slower brain ageing in study of 130,000 people04:15 Using AI to work out the rules of a long-forgotten board gameScientific American: Rules of mysterious ancient Roman board game decoded by AISubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.These hungry immune cells tidy sleeping flies' brains
25:02|In this episode:00:46 The immune cells that eat waste fats from fruit flies’ brainsNature: Cho et al.10:21 Research HighlightsNature: Beetle is locked into an eternal dance ― with an antNature: Super-sniffer aeroplane finds oil fields’ hidden emissions12:41 Ancient DNA evidence reveals a nuanced story of the Bell Beaker ExpansionNature: Olalde et al.Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
Briefing Chat: 'External lungs' keep man alive for 48 hours until transplant
11:03|In this episode:00:42 External, artificial-lung system keeps patient alive for transplantNature: 48 hours without lungs: artificial organ kept man alive until transplant06:22 How lung cancer in mice hijacks neurons to outwit the immune systemNature: How tumours trick the brain into shutting down cancer-fighting cellsSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.These mysterious ridges could help skin regenerate
22:05|00:46 Understanding how rete ridges form in the skinNature: Thompson et al.09:32 Research HighlightsNature: Genetically engineered ‘stinkweed’ comes up roses for making seed oilNature: Largest galaxy survey yet confirms that the Universe is not clumpy enough11:52 The open-source AI that performs scientific literature reviewsNature: Asai et al.Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
Briefing Chat: What Brazilian centenarians could reveal about the science of ageing
10:21|In this episode:00:36 Study probes genetics of extreme longevityNature: Still working at 107: supercentenarian study probes genetics of extreme longevity05:32 Controlling fluorescent proteins’ brightness with magnetsNature: ‘Remote controlled’ proteins illuminate living cellsSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.How your brain chemistry rewards hard work
24:02|00:46 Why completing difficult tasks feels rewardingNature: Touponse et al.11:34 Research HighlightsNature: Disappearing ‘planet’ reveals a solar system’s turbulent timesNature: Getting to the (square) root of stock-market swings13:43 How extreme weather events could threaten malaria elimination effortsNature: Symons et al.Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.Audio long read: ‘I rarely get outside’ — scientists ditch fieldwork in the age of AI
18:29|This is an audio version of our Feature: ‘I rarely get outside’: scientists ditch fieldwork in the age of AI