New Scientist Podcasts

Episode 267The remains of an ancient Neanderthal man discovered in France may be one of the last members of a lost line. Researchers analysing the DNA of the fossil nicknamed “Thorin” (named after the dwarven king in the Hobbit) made the surprising discovery that he’s possibly one of the last of his line. He may have been part of a group that lived in isolation for 50,000 years.How can we tell climate change is to blame for specific heat waves, hurricanes, or other extreme weather events the planet has been hit by in recent years? That’s where attribution science comes in. Find out how the fingerprints of climate change could one day make it into your daily weather report.Elephants, chimps and even chickens have shown signs of self-awareness. Even a fish, the cleaner wrasse, has passed the famous ‘mirror test’ in recent years. But new research on this territorial fish has found it can also use mirrors as a tool – to decide if they’re big enough to fight another wrasse. Learn more about how cleaner wrasse size themselves up before picking fights, and what this may say about their cognition.Private astronauts on a SpaceX mission performed the first ever civilian spacewalk on Thursday. Hear reaction to the historic news and why their state-of-the-art spacesuits are grabbing people’s attention. Plus hear how researchers have created a “cloud atlas”, full of gorgeous pictures of the weird and wonderful – and informative – clouds that fill Mars’ sky.Reporter James Woodford recently took control of one of the most advanced humanoid robots ever created. An energy company is helping NASA test a robot from its Valkyrie programme in Perth, Australia. James met the robot, nicknamed Val, and even helped use virtual reality tools to control her movements.Hosts Rowan Hooper and Christie Taylor discuss with guests Alison George, Madeleine Cuff, Corryn Wetzel and James Woodford.To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.

Have you ever heard a haddock knock? What about a cusk eel’s chatter? Sound travels four-and-a-half times faster through water than air and can be heard across huge distances. It’s how whales are able to communicate hundreds of kilometres apart. Yet, for all its wonder, much of the underwater acoustic world remains a mystery to scientists.Although human ears can’t detect most marine sounds, the invention of hydrophones – microphones designed to capture underwater audio – is helping scientists begin to unravel this hidden world.So how does sound move through water? And how do underwater creatures perceive and use sound? Amorina Kingdon’s new book ‘Sing Like Fish’ explores these questions, revealing how marine life depends on ingenious uses of sound to communicate, navigate, and thrive.In this episode, Kingdon and host Christie Taylor explore the fascinating ways fish and other marine animals produce sound, the physics of underwater ears, and how humans are impacting critical underwater soundscapes. Plus, samples of some of the most captivating underwater sounds she’s encountered in her research.To read about subjects like this and much more, visit newscientist.com.

🎧 Episode 266⚡️ The first human blood stem cells have been created in a lab and successfully turned into functioning bone marrow. This research could revolutionise the treatment of blood cancers like leukaemia and lymphoma. So far it’s only been tested on mice, but researchers are hopeful it could work in humans too.⚡️ In other mouse news, we are now able to turn mice see-through. Using a surprisingly common food dye, researchers have turned the skin of living mice transparent. The technique, which didn’t harm the mice, offers a new (though gruesome) look into the living body.⚡️ The US is planning to launch spy balloons to carry out surveillance and act as backup communication links. The news comes just a year after the US shot down a Chinese balloon that was full of intelligence-gathering equipment. Coincidence? Find out why balloons are making a comeback.⚡ Bats have a huge role in human health, often harbouring diseases that are then passed onto us, such as rabies and covid-19. But it turns out when bat populations collapse, that’s also bad for human health. New research finds that when bats die, insecticide use in agriculture goes up and so does infant mortality – find out how the three are linked.⚡ How dark is deep space? Are there any regions of the universe that are completely and utterly devoid of all light? Researchers now have an answer. Plus, ISS astronauts report a strange noise on Boeing’s stranded Starliner capsule.🎙️ Hosts Timothy Revell and Christie Taylor discuss with guests James Woodford, Chris Simms, Jeremy Hsu and Michael Le Page.📕 To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.

Ever wondered how your teenage years shaped the person you are today? Or why certain rebellious behaviours, like underage drinking, seem almost inevitable, no matter which generation you look at? Adolescence is a crucial, yet often misunderstood, phase of life. Adolescent psychologist Lucy Foulkes’s new book ‘Coming of Age: How Adolescence Shapes Us’ will leave you reflecting on your own formative years in a whole new light – and offers insights that may help settle your anxieties as a parent of teens. In this episode, Foulkes explains to New Scientist editor Catherine de Lange why adolescence is often such a challenging period, explains how these struggles are essential for self-discovery and shares tips on how adults can help the young people in their lives navigate this tricky period. To read about subjects like this and much more, visit newscientist.com.

#264Some people in comas can understand what’s happening around them. Previously estimated to be 1 in 10, that figure has now shot up to 1 in 5 – meaning this hidden awareness is much more common than we realised. Another new drug has been approved to reverse opioid overdoses. Zurnai is more powerful than previous medications, which may be useful as the supply of illicit drugs becomes increasingly toxic. But with the opioid epidemic having killed more than 80,000 people in the US last year alone, are there ways to abate this crisis so fewer people overdose in the first place?The mysterious Wow! signal, detected by the Big Ear radio telescope in the 70s, was an unusual burst of radio waves that astronomers couldn’t explain – except, for some, the answer was aliens. Alien hunters have clung to this as the best potential evidence of extraterrestrial life, as the signal's origins have remained unexplained for 50 years. But we may have just figured out the answer to where it came from. Many mainframe computers in big organisations like banks, airlines and government departments still rely on ancient computer code dating back to the 60s. The trouble is, as mainframe computers have gone out of use in most other contexts, the programming language COBOL is no longer taught to up-and-coming coders. Could AI help, as our understanding of COBOL dies out?Record fast cooling in part of the Atlantic Ocean is baffling scientists. This cooling isn’t linked to the normal La Niña wind patterns, so what else is at play? And how could it affect our global weather in the coming season?Hosts Rowan Hooper and Christie Taylor discuss with guests Alexandra Thompson, Grace Wade and Alex Wilkins.To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.

#263Anxiety. We’ve all felt it – some worse than others. But what exactly causes anxiety and why are some of us more likely to be hit by it? Science is finally unpacking the ins and outs of this evolutionary response.Whether you experience anxiety getting on a plane or when doing something out of your comfort zone, understanding why it happens is the best way to take control of it.In this special episode, New Scientist journalists and expert guests look at the phenomenon of anxiety. What is happening inside the brain when anxiety kicks in? Why do we need to better understand our own internal, bodily processes to fight anxiety? How much of our tendency towards anxiety is down to genetics?And they bring actionable advice too, including simple, science-backed lifestyle changes you can make to become less anxious, plus the surprising reasons anxiety can actually be a good thing – and how to make it work for youHost Christie Taylor discusses with guests Alexis Wnuk, Eleanor Parsons, Sahib Khalsa, David Robson, Caroline Hickman and Todd Kashdan, with additional reporting from Helen Thomson, Graham Lawton and Bethan Ackerley. This episode is part of a special issue of New Scientist magazine. Find all the articles at https://www.newscientist.com/issue/3485/

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)

#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.