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New Scientist Podcasts
Weekly: World’s Oldest Ritual; Quantum Wi-Fi; Report from the Arctic
#257
Two extraordinary findings have been unearthed about our ancient ancestors. The first is a discovery from a cave in Australia – evidence of what could be the world’s oldest ritual, practised continuously for 12,000 years. And the second is the discovery that the world’s oldest evidence of storytelling may be even older than we thought.
We may be able to mine for nickel using flowers. The method is much more sustainable than traditional mining and is actually being used by some companies. Is it enough to turn mining green?
Quantum communication is going wireless. The new chip responsible for this quantum Wi-Fi is a huge step forward for the technology and could speed up the creation of safer, unhackable internet networks.
From onboard a kayak roaming the Arctic Ocean, Rowan Hooper brings a report from his trip to Svalbard, where he saw first-hand the retreating glaciers that have been melting rapidly due to climate change. As these glaciers disappear, soil is being exposed for the first time. What impact is this having on the landscape? Rowan speaks to arctic biogeochemist James Bradley of Queen Mary University, London.
Plus: The first non-human animal to perform medical amputations; giving the moon a time-zone; and how eggshells can help regrow broken bones.
Hosts Timothy Revell and Christie Taylor discuss with guests James Woodford, James Dinneen, Karmela Padavic-Callaghan, Rowan Hooper and James Bradley.
To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.
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35:27|With so many new TV series and documentaries available, it can be tough to decide what's truly worth your time. That’s where our TV columnist Bethan Ackerley comes in. From the genetically-gifted superheroes of Supacell…to a sobering documentary about the ethics of assisted dying, she has a wealth of options for your next night in.Bethan and host Christie Taylor share a rundown of the top science TV shows from 2024 so far. They also get excited for what’s still to come this year and next, with recommendations on what to keep an eye out for.Explore all of Bethan’s TV columns at newscientist.com/author/bethan-ackerley.In this episode Christie and Bethan discuss the following series:Science fiction:Dr. Who (BBC/Disney+)Time Bandits (Apple TV+)Supacell (Netflix)The 3-Body Problem (Netflix)Fallout (Amazon Prime Video)Scavengers Reign (Netflix)Historical fiction:The Decameron (Netflix)Documentary:Our Living World (Netflix)Better Off Dead? (BBC - UK-only at this time)The Space Shuttle that Fell to Earth / Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight (BBC/Max/Hulu/Others)Yet to come:Secret Lives of Orangutans (Netflix, August)Dune: Prophecy (Max/Sky/NOW, November)Silo, season 2 (Apple TV+, November)Squid Game, season 2 (Netflix, December)Severence, season 2 (Apple TV+, January 2025)Andor, season 2 (Disney+, early 2025)The Last of Us, season 2 (Max/Hulu/Others, 2025)262. Weekly: Deepest hole ever drilled in Earth’s mantle; Glitter on Mars; Quantum telepathy
27:00||Season 1, Ep. 262#262Geologists have just drilled deeper into Earth’s mantle than ever before. The hole is in an area of the ocean called Atlantis Massif, where the upper mantle is exposed. Reaching 1268 metres deep, this incredible sample core could help uncover secrets to the very origins of life.Ancient human ancestors called Homo floresiensis and known as the “hobbits” may have evolved their short stature much faster than expected. Remains found on the Indonesian island of Flores suggest a much older group of hominins may have been slightly smaller, averaging just 1 metre tall, and possibly the ancestors of Homo floresiensis. How could this change the story of our mysterious cousins?Quantum telepathy may allow stock market traders to act faster and get richer. Using quantum entanglement, coordinating transactions in distant stock exchanges could happen faster than the speed of light. And surprisingly, this type of technology wouldn’t be hard to get up and running – so what happens if someone tries it?If we want to move to Mars one day, we have to make it a bit more enticing to live on. Ideas to terraform the Red Planet, or make it more Earth-like, have mostly been too expensive and unworkable. A method involving glittery clouds could be the answer to coaxing better conditions for human life. Plus: The microbes and bacteria that can survive the harsh heat of your microwave; how the microbiome of a baby horse impacts its racing performance in adulthood; and the special trick leeches use to hunt the ultrafast blackworm.Hosts Christie Taylor and Timothy Revell discuss with guests Chen Ly, Sam Wong, Karmela Padavic-Callaghan and Alex Wilkins.To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.9. Dead Planets Society: Can We Move the Sun?
31:53||Season 2, Ep. 9Earth and all the other planets in our solar system are being dragged on a joyride through the universe, as the Dead Planeteers attempt to move the sun.How slowly would you have to move the sun for its gravity to hold onto the planets? Would any planets end up flinging out of orbit? And which planets can we afford to lose along the way?To answer their many questions, Leah and Chelsea are joined by Jay Farihi, an astrophysicist at University College London.A big hurdle they first have to overcome is how exactly to move the sun in the first place. Luckily, the team has a variety of whacky ideas, including black holes. From sun sails to graviton generators to popping the sun like a balloon, hear the team’s unconventional methods for getting the job done and discover where in the universe their final destination is. Pillars of creation anyone?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 – and subjects them to the laws of physics to see how they fare.Your hosts are Leah Crane and Chelsea Whyte.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.261. Weekly: The first life on Earth; Banana-shaped galaxies; When is smartphone use ‘problematic’?
31:08||Season 1, Ep. 261#261What was the first life on Earth like? Ancient fossils hint it could be a primitive kind of bacteria – but these 3.5 billion-year-old fossilised cells are controversial since they’re vastly bigger than any modern bacteria. But there’s now reason to believe that maybe, just maybe, they really are what they seem.Three game-changing drugs approved by the US for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease may be less impressive than we first hoped. These are the first drugs to actually slow the progression of the condition – but they also come with risky side effects. Is the benefit worth the risk?Galaxies usually come in spiral or blob form, but it turns out there may be some that are shaped like… bananas. First spotted by the Hubble Space Telescope, we initially thought their shape was a trick of light. But the much more powerful James Webb Space Telescope is seeing them too. The problem is this doesn’t fit with our understanding of how galaxies form – it may be time for a rewrite.Do you ever feel addicted to your smartphone? Well, there’s a term for that – problematic smartphone use. The question is, what constitutes addiction and is your smartphone habit impacting you enough to be considered problematic? One group of researchers are working to find out, starting by looking at the link between problematic use and mental health in teenagers.The diversity of life on Earth may be best safeguarded on the moon. Parts of the lunar landscape are colder than anywhere on Earth, so it may be the best place to cryogenically freeze cells for things like fish, cows and even useful bacteria like those used in cheesemaking. But, as you might expect with the moon, such a biorepository faces some logistical challenges.Hosts Christie Taylor and Timothy Revell discuss with guests Michael Le Page, Alexandra Thompson, Alex Wilkins, Carissa Wong and James Woodford.To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.Find Dr Karan Explores here: https://www.drkaranrajan.com/podcastCultureLab: Carlo Rovelli on the link between quantum physics and world peace
28:17|Quantum theory describes the tiny building blocks that make up everything around us. It has made many successful predictions but could a new, more radical idea help us make better sense of the world around us? Could it even be the answer to creating world peace?Carlo Rovelli is an Italian theoretical physicist and writer behind the relational interpretation of quantum mechanics. His idea suggests that the fundamental building blocks of the universe are not particles or objects as many of us are taught in school, but relationships and interactions between them.In this episode, Rovelli explains why he believes we should all be applying his theory to our everyday lives and relationships. And how it could even help improve international relations. To read about subjects like this and much more, visit newscientist.com.260. Weekly: Shocking source of deep sea oxygen; Alcohol really is unhealthy; ‘Green’ plastic downsides
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26:11||Season 1, Ep. 259#259More people in the US are getting bird flu. Though numbers are small – just five new cases, all mild – every new case is a reason for concern. How and why is it being transmitted – and how is it being monitored?What if you could make a sailboat that’s pushed not by wind, but lasers? Breakthrough Starshot is a mission attempting to send a spacecraft to our nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, using such a lightsail. While lightsail designs have been too expensive and unworkable so far, a new prototype is looking promising.Climate change is threatening a key part of the global climate system. The Atlantic Meridional Ocean Circulation (AMOC) system transports heat and salinity between the tropics and the poles. Scientists have ongoing concerns about its stability, but it’s now showing signs of potential collapse much sooner than expected. And if it does shut down, the knock-on effects would be drastic.What makes a planet a planet? Defining this is what knocked Pluto off planetary status, but now one researcher has proposed a new set of criteria. Is the new method useful – and does it change which objects are considered planets?Believe it or not – sea slugs hunt in packs. A species of sea slug has been seen ganging up on brown sea anemones to avoid its poisonous tentacles. How are they capable of teaming up like this?Hosts Rowan Hooper and Christie Taylor discuss with guests Grace Wade, Alex Wilkins, Madeleine Cuff and Sophie Bushwick.To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.