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Nature Podcast
Why skin grows bigger as you stretch it
Skin's unusual response to stretching is finally explained, and the latest in a huge effort to map DNA.
In this episode:
01:06 Stretching skin
For decades it’s been known that stretching skin causes more skin to grow, but the reasons why have been a mystery. Now, researchers have uncovered a mechanism to explain the phenomenon. Research Article: Aragona et al.; News and Views: Stretch exercises for stem cells expand the skin
07:49 Coronapod
We discuss how the coronavirus pandemic has affected scientific meetings and how the learned societies that organise them are adapting. How scientific conferences will survive the coronavirus shock; How scientific societies are weathering the pandemic’s financial storm;
A year without conferences? How the coronavirus pandemic could change research
18:18 Research Highlights
A genetic trait for pain-resistance, and the accessibility-aware ancient Greeks. Research Highlight: A gene helps women in labour to skip the painkillers; Research Highlight: This temple was equipped with accessibility ramps more than 2,000 years ago
20:42 ENCODE updates
The ENCODE project aims to identify all the regions in the human genome involved in gene regulation. This week, data from its third iteration has been published and we examine the highlights. Research Article: Snyder; News and Views: Expanded ENCODE delivers invaluable genomic encyclopaedia
28:50 Briefing Chat
We take a look at some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time we look at how smallpox may be much older than previously thought, and how the Earth’s atmosphere rings like a bell. Nature News: Smallpox and other viruses plagued humans much earlier than suspected; Physics World:
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Briefing Chat: Testosterone and sperm may get a boost from obesity drugs
12:16|Nature staff discuss preliminary data on the effects of GLP-1 drugs on male fertility plus a two-year trial of a brain-computer interface.00:18 Brain-computer interface makes a life-changing impactNature: At-home brain implant gives man with motor neuron disease his daily life back05:39 The possible benefits of obesity drugs on testosteroneNature: The latest benefit of obesity drugs: boosting testosterone and sperm qualitySubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
DNA from hunter-gatherer teeth reveals secrets of ancient plague
26:42|In this episode:00:45 Ancient evidence of deadly plague outbreaksResearch article: Macleod et al.12:33 Research HighlightsNature: Bones of Iron Age skeleton were whittled into toolsNature: Giant crustacean of the deep sea steals a trick from bacteria14:52 A prototype atom interferometerResearch article: Baynham 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: The epic journey of Stonehenge’s central stone
11:20|In this episode:00:37 Evidence that Stonehenge's Altar Stone travelled by glacierBBC Science Focus: We may have just cracked one of Stonehenge's greatest mysteries05:44 Fossilized faeces reveal DNA from ancient ecosystemNature: Ancient ground squirrels feasted on carcasses like ‘zombies of the Pleistocene’Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.Newly-discovered whale graveyard dates back millions of years
21:38|In this episode:00:46 A giant, ancient whale necropolisResearch article: Peng et al.News & Views: A vast whale necropolis has been found08:52 Research HighlightsNature: Babies’ birth weight improves with help of payments to parentsNature: Earliest signs of vision recorded in ancient sea-floor tracks11:11 Turning plant material into chemical building-blocksResearch article: Mains 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: Spinosaurs with salt glands could have lived in marine environments
11:25|In this episode:00:23 Fossil evidence that spinosaurs had an aquatic lifestyleScience: Some spinosaurs cried salty tears to thrive in brackish waters04:57 The explosive immune cells that kill in minutesNature: Bang! Exploding immune cells splatter potent toxins everywhereSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.Your phone can use tiny skin-colour changes to measure your heart rate
18:23|In this episode:00:57 How your smartphone’s camera could measure your heart rateResearch article: Liao et al.08:55 Research HighlightsNature: A star gone rogue tears through the GalaxyNature: Gold keeps glittering courtesy of surface chemistry11:04 Should you try something new in a restaurant? Maths has the answerNature: Feynman solved the ‘restaurant dilemma’ 50 years ago — now a study confirms his mathematicsSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
Briefing Chat: When to trust eyewitness memory – according to science
17:14|In this episode:00:21 When witnesses identify suspects from police line-ups, confidence mattersNature: Memory on trial: the new science of when to trust eyewitness testimony07:15 Registered Reports: how this ‘double peer review’ process could benefit scientists and their resultsNature: Nature is expanding Registered Reports to all the fields in which we publishMajor Ebola outbreak is escalating: what happens next
12:01|On 17 May the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an ongoing Ebola outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. Centred on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, the outbreak has seen mounting numbers of suspected cases and deaths linked to the rare Bundibugyo species of Ebola virus.In this podcast we hear what's currently known about the outbreak and the efforts of clinicians, researchers and public health officials to halt its progress.Nature: Ebola outbreak is a global health emergency: what happens nextNature: Race begins to trial Ebola drugs amid current outbreakNature: Ebola outbreak spirals out of control: how might it have started?Nature: Will this Ebola outbreak be the biggest yet?AI ‘scientists’ promise to accelerate research — how do they work?
27:55|In this episode:00:46 Meet the AI scientists designed to accelerate researchResearch article: Ghareeb et al.Research article: Gottweis et al.Nature: Teams of AI agents boost speed of researchEditorial: Why AI cannot do good science without humansNature: Do you hate or love AI? Take Nature’s poll13:25 Research HighlightsNature: Dried to survive: desiccated tardigrades tolerate high heatNature: Pristine Antarctic ice records the Solar System’s travels15:35 Using LiDAR to look around cornersResearch article: Somasundaram et al.Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.