New Scientist Podcasts

Everything Is Predictable: How Bayes' Remarkable Theorem Explains the World is a book about an 18th century mathematical rule for working out probability, which shapes many aspects of our modern world. Written by science journalist Tom Chivers, the book has made it onto the shortlist for the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize. In the lead up to the winner’s announcement, New Scientist books editor Alison Flood meets all six of the shortlisted authors.In this conversation, Tom explores the life of Thomas Bayes, the man behind the theorem, and how he had no clue his discovery would have such sweeping implications for humanity. He explains the theorem’s many uses, both in practical settings like disease diagnosis, as well as its ability to explain rational thought and the human brain. And he digs into some of the controversy and surprising conflict that has surrounded Bayes’ theorem over the years.The winner of the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize will be announced on the 24th October. You can view all of the shortlisted entries here:https://royalsociety.org/medals-and-prizes/science-book-prize/ To read about subjects like this and much more, visit https://www.newscientist.com/ 

Women have evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to have more sensitive noses, sharper hearing at high frequencies, and longer life expectancy than men. But why have women's bodies been so under-researched? It’s one of the many questions Cat Bohannon raises in her book Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution. Shortlisted for the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize, Eve explores how women’s biology has shaped human history and culture. In the lead up to the winner’s announcement, New Scientist books editor Alison Flood meets all six of the shortlisted authors.In this conversation, we hear what motivated Cat to spend more than a decade researching and writing the book, how understanding the evolution of female traits can give us deeper insights into the workings of our species, and the overlap between sexism and science. The winner of the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize will be announced on the 24th October. You can view all of the shortlisted entries here:https://royalsociety.org/medals-and-prizes/science-book-prize/ To read about subjects like this and much more, visit https://www.newscientist.com/

Why We Die is a book about ageing and death, written by Nobel Prize-winning biologist and former president of the Royal Society, Venki Ramakrishnan.Venki is on the shortlist for the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize. In the lead up to the winner’s announcement, New Scientist books editor Alison Flood meets all six of the shortlisted authors.In this conversation, Venki explores humankind’s unique ability to understand and contemplate our own mortality, why some animals live such short lives and others for hundreds of years, if ageing is simply an inevitable and evolutionary practical part of life and whether emerging technologies will make it possible for us to life forever - if that’s really what we want.The winner of the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize will be announced on the 24th October. You can view all of the shortlisted entries here:https://royalsociety.org/medals-and-prizes/science-book-prize/ To read about subjects like this and much more, visit https://www.newscientist.com/ 

As the heated race to settle humans on Mars continues, is it really a good idea? And what are the biggest challenges to making interplanetary life a reality?These are the questions Kelly and Zach Weinersmith explore in their book, A City on Mars. The pair have been shortlisted for the prestigious Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize, and ahead of the winner's announcement, New Scientist books editor Alison Flood meets with all six shortlisted authors.In this conversation, Kelly and Zach dive into the potential and the perils of building a sustainable human colony on the Red Planet, shedding light on some of the biggest hurdles humans would face. We also hear what inspired them to write the book, and they answer the million dollar question… would they move to Mars? The winner of the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize will be announced on October 24th. You can view all of the shortlisted books here:https://royalsociety.org/medals-and-prizes/science-book-prize/ To read about subjects like this and much more, visit https://www.newscientist.com/

How often do you upload a picture of yourself online? And what happens to that photo long after it's been posted? The truth may shock you, as we find out in this episode.In Your Face Belongs to Us: A Tale of AI, a Secretive Startup, and the End of Privacy, New York Times journalist Kashmir Hill investigates the world of facial recognition technology and its implications for privacy. The book traces the story of Clearview AI, a mysterious startup selling cutting-edge facial recognition software to corporations and law enforcement.Shortlisted for the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize, Your Face Belongs to Us raises urgent questions about the future of security and personal privacy in an age of pervasive surveillance.As part of the lead-up to the winner’s announcement, New Scientist Books Editor Alison Flood interviews all six shortlisted authors. In this conversation, Kashmir recounts her journey to uncover the truth behind Clearview AI. She explores the significance of their vast facial recognition database and its impact on our privacy in the digital age.The winner of the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize will be announced on the 24th October. You can view all of the shortlisted entries here:https://royalsociety.org/medals-and-prizes/science-book-prize/ To read about subjects like this and much more, visit https://www.newscientist.com/ 

Episode 269Could we re-freeze the Arctic… and should we? The Arctic is losing ice at an alarming rate and it’s too late to save it by cutting emissions alone. Geoengineering may be our only hope. A company called Real Ice has successfully tested a plan to artificially keep the region cold - but what are the consequences and will it work on the scale we need?Octopuses and fish have been found hunting together in packs in an unexpected display of cooperation. Not only do the fish scout out potential prey, they even signal to the octopuses to move in for the kill. And a fish doesn’t prove helpful? They get punched.The world’s oldest cheese has been found in China - and it’s 3,500 years old. As we get a fascinating look into the fermenting habits of ancient humans, find out how modern day fermentation is being repurposed to help us create biofuels, break down microplastics and more. We hear from Tom Ellis, professor of synthetic genome engineering at Imperial College London.Our bodies are littered with microplastics - they’re in our livers, kidneys, guts and even our olfactory bulb. How worried should we be? Microplastics have been linked to some pretty serious health consequences - but are they the cause?Hosts Rowan Hooper and Sophie Bushwick discuss with guests Madeleine Cuff, Michael Le Page and Grace Wade.To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/ Get your tickets for New Scientist Live: https://www.newscientist.com/nslivepod

Episode 268Research has long linked loneliness to surprising health conditions, including diabetes and some cancers. The assumption has been that loneliness in some way causes these issues, perhaps through increased stress or inflammation. But in a study of tens of thousands of people’s biomedical data, that link has gotten more complicated. Where does this leave the relationship between loneliness and health, and the public health programs that are trying to tackle both?Supermassive black holes are so big and existed so early in the universe’s history that astronomers are unsure how they formed. Dark matter to the rescue? Among the theories of how they formed is “direct collapse,” which a study finds may be possible with some help from decaying dark matter. But a specific type of dark matter is needed to make this theory work…so what’s next?A photon has been observed travelling in negative time. It was caught leaving a cloud of atoms before it ever entered it. How is this possible? Is this a time travelling photon? Well, somehow, no laws of physics were broken. Obviously some quirky quantum effects are in play – but what exactly is going on?Plus: How Earth may have once had a ring around it; a pair of black hole jets that are 23 million light years across; how some long-stemmed flowers have evolved to help bats pollinate them; and the discovery of a brand new, teeny tiny chameleon.Hosts Timothy Revell and Christie Taylor discuss with guests Leah Crane, Sophie Bushwick and Karmela Padavic-Callaghan.To read more about these stories, visit newscientist.com.Get 10 weeks of unlimited digital access to newscientist.com and our app for £10/$10 by visiting: https://www.newscientist.com/podcast 

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.